CasesFeatureReviews

Fractal Design’s ERA Chassis Review

We would like to thank Fractal Design for providing us with a review sample of their ERA ITX chassis. Without their generosity, this case review would not be possible. Way back at CES 2019, representatives at Fractal were quick to quell our disappointment in their case lineup by asking that we to stay tuned, and to rest assured that the ITX audience had not been forgotten. Immediately, I expected Fractal to simply take the easy route and refresh their wildly popular Node 202 chassis with some brushed aluminum variant but I am very glad that I was wrong. Available in …

Read more…

Power SuppliesReviews

SilverStone’s SX700-PT – Mini Platinum Goodness

Platinum. That step above 80+ Gold that makes us question ROI (return on investment), saving the planet, and why we just can’t have +12V out of the wall. There’s a significant price premium for each 80+ ranking, however. But, in the world of SFF, efficiency is key – be it space or power. Wasted space is a sin in our little world, and wasted power leads to heat – the mortal enemy of SFF. SilverStone showed us their SX700-PT at Computex this year – almost ready for production. Not only is this a true SFX power supply (not SFX-L), it …

Read more…

Power SuppliesReviews

Fractal Design’s Ion SFX 650W Gold – A SFX-L Value Proposition

Fractal Design, no stranger to the SFX(-L) market (including a 450w Integra SFX unit with their Node 202 chassis), has decided to dive a little deeper into our world. Today, Fractal Design launches the new Ion SFX-L range with a pair of units hitting shelves at 500W and 650W spec levels. We have the 650W unit on the test bench today – let’s put it to the test! A disclaimer first before we get started: SFF Network does not possess the expertise or equipment to fully test the electrical performance of PC power supplies, and as such, this article should …

Read more…

CasesOtherReviews

Battle of the Boutiques Part 2: A4-SFX | S1 | SM550 | SM560

The following article is for Part 2 of our multi-part review. If you haven’t already seen it, you can view Battle of the Boutiques Part 1 here. We had originally intended to release the 2nd and final part of this review back in July but due to immature BIOS issues with Ryzen’s latest CPUs, we experienced some questionable voltage results and instability, so we decided to wait it out. Finally, on the 15th of August, ASUS provided a BIOS update(1.0.0.3 Patch AB, still not perfect) to their ROG STRIX X470-I GAMING motherboard, so I decided to crank through this in …

Read more…

News

CES 2019: Odds’n’Ends

A quick selection of miscellaneous stuff from around the show!   A quick pop in to In-Win’s display, with a selection of SFF cases and power supplies on display. Do want. That is all. Quantum computing. Dark magic! A close up of the AMD Radeon VII die. HBM!     Thoughts? Discuss them in the forum.
News

CES 2019: Corsair

Corsair, proprietors of peripherals, memory, cooling and even complete systems put on a display for interested press, and interested we were. Let’s dive in and see what they had on display. A better look at the low profile Cherry MX keyswitches that Corsair uses in some of their products. This is the same form factor as CoolerMaster will be using in their new keyboard. This particular keyboard is 21mm thick and its thinnest; And just under 27mm thick at the thickest point. The Corsair One has had a major upgrade, featuring current generation CPUs and GPUs. Yep, that’s ASRock’s Little …

Read more…

News

SilverStone’s SX700-G is Shipping!

At Computex this year, we covered the new 700W SilverStone SFX power supply – the SX700-G. Offering a true SFX form factor at a massive (seriously) 700w, the PSU is impressive to behold. With a Gold efficiency rating, this power supply builds on the solid previous generation SilverStone power supplies.   Check out more info at the official product page: https://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=833 MSRP: North America – USD$155.99 – ETA Mid-end December Australia  – AUD$205 – ETA Mid-end December New Zealand – NZD$239.99 – ETA Mid-end December Europe  – €139.99 (exclude VAT) – ETA End Dec/Early January   Thoughts? Discuss them in the …

Read more…