Cooler Master occupies an unusual position in the power supply market. Founded in Taiwan in 1992 and best known for the cases and coolers that made its name, the company has spent more than two decades selling PSUs without ever being a PSU manufacturer in the strict sense. Like most brands in this space, it commissions platforms from numerous OEMs, and the quality of a given Cooler Master unit has historically tracked the quality of whoever built it. The MWE line sits at the volume end of the company's catalog: sensible, mainstream units aimed at builders who want a dependable supply without paying for a flagship badge. We take a closer look at the Cooler Master MWE Gold 750 V4 to see if it belongs among our list of the best power supplies in the market today.

The MWE Gold V4 series is the latest iteration of that formula, and it arrives with more substance than the mid-range positioning suggests. The platform was developed by Gospower in collaboration with Cooler Master, and it is currently dedicated to them - you will not find this design wearing another brand's sticker for the time being. The series is fully compliant with ATX 3.1 and PCIe 5.1, carries a native 12V-2x6 connector, and introduces Cooler Master's patent-pending GPU Shield current-monitoring feature alongside a digital control scheme for the PFC and LLC stages. The 750W model reviewed here targets the heart of the mainstream gaming market, backed by a ten-year warranty and a $119 MSRP.

Specifications and Design

In the Box

The MWE Gold 750 V4 ships in a cardboard box with a purple-blue sleeve wrapped around plain kraft board, a render of the unit on the front, and the important badges - ATX 3.1 with 12V-2x6, PCIe 5.1 readiness, the 80 PLUS Gold logo, and the ten-year warranty shield - laid out along the bottom edge. It is a clean, honest presentation for the class, with the GPU Shield feature called out in its own corner.

Inside, the supply is sandwiched between protective packaging. The bundle is basic: the AC power cord, a set of mounting screws, a handful of zip ties, and a few reusable Velcro straps, plus a leaflet explaining Cooler Master's recommended PCIe cable installation practices. There are no cable combs, no tester, and no storage pouch, which is a defensible economy at this price point, even if competitors occasionally throw in more.

The modular cables themselves are all-black, flat ribbon types. The 12V-2x6 cable uses the two-color connector design that the ATX 3.1 spec encourages, making an incompletely seated plug easy to spot, but we would argue that dark purple was not the best choice for this application. Wire gauges are appropriate throughout, and the flat design makes routing behind a motherboard tray painless.

External Appearance

At 140 x 150 x 86 mm, the MWE Gold 750 V4 is a compact ATX unit - 140 mm of depth is as short as modern PSUs practically get, and it will drop into any case that accepts an ATX supply at all, with room to spare for cable slack. The rhombille tiling fan grille stands out, framed by four exposed screws, with a thin gold pinstripe and gold MWE branding on the side panels, providing the only decoration on an otherwise all-black chassis. The finish deserves a mildly critical word. It is smooth and appealing - not a bad paint job by any means - it simply is not as special as the rest of the unit's feature sheet might lead you to expect.

The rear face carries the AC receptacle and a receded main rocker switch surrounded by a generous perforated exhaust area. There is no switch for the semi-passive fan mode - the Zero RPM behavior is automatic and not user-selectable, which some builders will not appreciate. The front face hosts the fully modular connector bay, clearly silkscreened, with a shared 8-pin socket group for the PCIe and CPU cables, the native 12V-2x6 socket, and a small indicator LED between them. The specifications sticker lies on the top face.

That small LED is the visible face of GPU Shield, Cooler Master's patent-pending current-management feature, and the marketing centerpiece of the V4 series. The circuit monitors the current flowing through the individual pins of the 12V-2x6 connector in real time, and if it detects an abnormal draw on any of them - the classic signature of a poorly seated or damaged connector - it intervenes and flags the fault through the LED. Given how much grief melting connectors have caused over the past few years, a per-pin watchdog on a $119 unit is a genuinely useful inclusion rather than a gimmick, even if we hope most owners never see the LED do anything at all.

Internal Design

Cooling is handled by a 120 mm Hong Hua HA1225H12F-Z fan, a hydrodynamic bearing (HDB) model rated for 2400 RPM at 0.58A. Hong Hua is a familiar name inside value-oriented and mid-range PSUs, and while it lacks the cachet of a premium Japanese fan, the HDB variant is a reasonable, durable choice at this tier, and its ceiling speed gives the platform plenty of thermal headroom to call on.

As noted in the introduction, the platform is a Gospower design produced in collaboration with Cooler Master and currently exclusive to them, so there is a clear answer to the perennial 'who really makes it' question. The layout is clean and modern, with sizable heatsinks for the power output, vertical daughterboards for the minor rails, and generous helpings of grey silicone glue securing the components.

The transient filtering stage begins on a small PCB behind the AC receptacle and continues on the main board, with two Y capacitors, two X capacitors, two filtering inductors, and a MOV - a basic but complete filter without omissions. A relay handles inrush current bypass duty alongside the usual NTC thermistor. Two bridge rectifiers are mounted on their own heatsink, feeding the APFC stage, whose boost components share the long heatsink with the primary inversion stage MOSFETs. A single 590 μF capacitor from TK (Toshin Kogyo), a renowned Japanese manufacturer.

The primary inversion stage uses a half-bridge LLC resonant topology, the mature and cost-effective arrangement that dominates this class, with Cooler Master claiming the digital tuning of the PFC and LLC stages is worth roughly three points of efficiency over the previous MWE generation - a dubious claim as the unit still lands on Gold-level efficiency class. On the secondary side, the 12V rail is generated by four MOSFETs arranged in synchronous rectification on the main PCB, while the 3.3V and 5V rails are derived from DC-to-DC converters on a vertical daughterboard. Secondary filtering leans heavily on CapXon capacitors.

Cold Test Results (25°C Ambient)

Cold Test Results (25°C Ambient)

For the testing of PSUs, we are using high precision electronic loads with a maximum power draw of 2700 Watts, a Rigol DS5042M 40 MHz oscilloscope, an Extech 380803 power analyzer, two high precision UNI-T UT-325 digital thermometers, an Extech HD600 SPL meter, a self-designed hotbox and various other bits and parts.

At 25°C ambient, the MWE Gold 750 V4 delivers exactly the efficiency profile its badge promises. It averaged 90.4% at 230 VAC and 89.3% at 115 VAC across the nominal load range, peaking at 92.6% (230 VAC) near 50% load and holding 90.2% even at a sustained 750W. The curve is not exactly flat, but there is no dramatic full-load sag. The figures sit comfortably within 80Plus Gold territory. What the unit does not yet have is a Cybenetics certification: at the time of writing, there is no entry for the MPM-75F4-AFG in the Cybenetics database.

Acoustically, the cold run is very good news. The Zero RPM mode keeps the fan completely stopped up to almost 40% load (roughly up to 300W), which covers desktop work and light gaming outright. The fan spins up at about 40% load, registering a whisper-quiet 31.6 dB(A), and ramps gently from there, crossing 39 dB(A) only past 80% load and topping out at 44.2 dB(A) at a sustained 750W. Thermal performance gives no cause for concern, with the primary and secondary heatsinks reaching just 64°C and 66°C, respectively, at full load.

Hot Test Results (~45°C Ambient)

Hot Test Results (~45°C Ambient)

Inside the hotbox at roughly 45°C ambient - slightly above the unit's own 40°C rating - efficiency drops by about two percentage points, averaging 88.4% at 230 VAC and 87.4% at 115 VAC, with full-load figures of 86.5% and 85.2% respectively. That degradation is significant but entirely ordinary for the temperature delta, especially considering a unit that is now operating beyond its rated envelope.

Noise is where the heat reshapes the unit's character. The fan abandons its passive mode sooner and climbs steadily to 47.8 dB(A) at full output - a level you will definitely hear, though short of the wind-tunnel territory some compact Gold units reach under the same conditions. Internal temperatures are the figures to watch: the primary heatsink reached about 104°C and the secondary about 105°C at full load. The platform held composure, and component ratings give some reassurance, but sustained full-load operation in a 45°C environment is clearly not this unit's design brief, nor should it be for any mainstream 750W supply.

PSU Quality and Bottom Line

Power Supply Quality

Voltage regulation is relatively solid for the class. Across the 20% to 100% load span, the 12V rail moved by 0.9%, the 3.3V rail by 1.1%, and the 5V rail by 1.4%. Nothing here approaches the sub-1% figures of premium digital platforms, but every rail stays comfortably tight, and the 12V line - the only one modern systems seriously stress - is well controlled at under 1% regulation.

Ripple suppression follows the same pattern of honest adequacy. The 12V rail peaked at 54 mV under full load and 50 mV under the 12V-focused cross-load test, while the 5V and 3.3V rails topped out at 32 mV and 30 mV. Against the 120 mV and 50 mV ATX design limits, these are comfortable passes with roughly 55% headroom on the critical rail, though enthusiast-class platforms routinely halve these numbers. For the components a 750W Gold unit will realistically feed, the filtering is more than sufficient.

During our thorough assessment, we evaluate the essential protection features of every power supply unit we review, including Over Current Protection (OCP), Over Voltage Protection (OVP), Over Power Protection (OPP), and Short Circuit Protection (SCP).

All protection mechanisms were verified and triggered correctly during testing. With the unit hot, OCP tripped at 134% on the 3.3V rail, 136% on the 5V rail, and 128% (80A) on the 12V rail, with OPP shutting the unit down at roughly 130% of rated output, or about 975W. These thresholds are on the generous side for a mainstream unit but not unexpectedly so.

Bottom Line

The MWE Gold 750 V4 is a well-judged mainstream power supply that knows exactly what it is trying to be. The Gospower-built platform - developed jointly with Cooler Master and currently dedicated to them - is modern where it matters: ATX 3.1 compliance with a native 12V-2x6 connector, digital control of the PFC and LLC stages, and the GPU Shield monitoring feature as a genuinely novel extra at this price. The engineering fundamentals are in noticeably better shape than the MWE badge historically implied, and the 12V-2x6 connector protection can bring sales from worried consumers.

The measurements back the badge without embarrassing it. Efficiency lands squarely and honestly in Gold territory with a predictable curve, and its 80Plus listing is real and verifiable. Regulation and ripple are comfortably within specification on every rail, with the 12V line particularly steady, even if neither metric threatens the enthusiast tier. Acoustics at normal ambient temperatures are a quiet strength, with a true fanless window covering 300W of load and restrained ramping beyond it.

The compromises are easy to enumerate and, mostly, easy to live with. The capacitor selection is almost entirely Taiwanese, leaning on CapXon polymers - fine parts, but the ten-year warranty is doing some load-bearing work there. The unit gets audible under sustained heavy load in hot environments, where the internal temperatures also climb higher than we would like. None of these is a genuine weakness at this price point - they are simply the fingerprints a $119 budget inevitably leaves somewhere.

At an MSRP of $119 and with retail pricing typically drifting below that figure, the value calculus is straightforward. There are quieter units, better-built units, and units with prestigious component sheets - all of them costing meaningfully more. For a mainstream ATX 3.1 build around a mid-range or upper-mid-range graphics card, the MWE Gold 750 V4 delivers verified Gold efficiency, current-generation connectivity, unusual protective touches, and a decade of warranty coverage at a price that undercuts most of the units it competes with. That is an easy recommendation, delivered with only minor reservations.

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What makes Cooler Master’s new V4 Alpha and V8 Ace 3DHP air coolers stand out against their competitors? Well, it’s in the name of the product – the company’s new 3DHP (3D heatpipe) technology represents a serious advancement in cooling.

Traditional copper heatpipes are typically formed in a “U” shape, and work well enough in most scenarios. But Cooler Master’s 3DHP heatpipes look more like a trident, with three ends instead of two. There’s more to the tech, which we will cover in more detail below.

Additionally, the V8 Ace 3DHP features two of the strongest fans we’ve ever tested from a Cooler Master product, with liquid crystal polymer blades and backed by a six-year warranty.

Let's take a look at the specifications and features of these coolers. Then we’ll go over thermal and noise benchmarks to decide if the V4 Alpha and V8 Ace 3DHP air coolers are good enough to make our list of the best CPU coolers we’ve tested.

Cooler specifications

Features of Cooler Master’s V4 Alpha and V8 Ace

▶️ Innovative 3DHP Heatpipes

Both the V4 Alpha and V8 Ace are powered by Cooler Master’s innovative 3DHP heatpipe technology. To simplify things somewhat, while most heatpipes are “U” shaped, with one prong of each heatpipe on the left and right sides of a heatsink, 3D heatpipes add a prong in the middle to give it more of a trident shape, enhancing the efficiency of thermal transfer.

Traditional heatpipe setups don’t usually fully saturate the fins of a heatsink, only providing 70% fin utilization, according to Cooler Master. This makes sense, as you’ll often see that temperatures continue to rise in extended-length cooler testing as the fins become more fully saturated. Cooler Master claims that with its 3D heatpipes, fin utilization is increased to 95% or more. We’ll see how that plays out in our benchmark testing shortly.

▶️ RAM Clearance

RAM compatibility is excellent with both of these coolers. The V4 Alpha doesn’t overhang or interfere with RAM DIMMs at all, allowing for compatibility with all sizes of DDR4 or DDR5 DIMMs.

The V8 also has wide RAM compatibility. Its intake fan does overhang the DIMM slots, but if your RAM is particularly tall – like our T-Force Xtreem DDR5-7200 featured below – the sliding rail system allows you to easily adjust fan position, so things fit properly. We had to raise the fan by a few millimeters for proper clearance, but I think the sticks I’m using are about the tallest on the market, at 48.8mm height. Officially, RAM up to 45mm in height is supported.

▶️ 30mm thick Liquid Crystal Polymer fans

There’s more to a cooler than just the heatsink. The included fans have a direct impact on aesthetics, noise levels, and overall thermal performance. The fans on the V8 Ace 3DHP are made for longevity, built with liquid crystal polymer (LCP) blades and loop dynamic fan bearings.

They come pre-installed with a sliding rail system, allowing for simple installation and height adjustment.

▶️ Aesthetics

You might notice the top of the V8 Ace 3DHP looks like it has eight gigantic heatpipes – but note they’re not actually real heatpipes. Does that mean it’s only decorative, and serves no real purpose? I wouldn’t say that. The “fake” heatpipes here seem to be made from metal and are cold to the touch, indicating that they do have the ability to absorb heat.

I decided to take the cooler apart for a better look at this piece, and it appears the primary function is actually to prevent air leakage. If you look closely at the picture below, you’ll see the fans are slightly taller than the heatsink. If that’s not a concern for you and you prefer an “old-fashioned” look that shows the ends of the copper heatpipes, the cooler works just fine without the top, though you’ll lose a small amount of thermal efficiency.

▶️ Packaging

The outer packaging highlights the design of the product in a colorful but subtle way, incorporating a purple background on the top and black on the bottom.

Pulling on the purple tab in the front reveals the fanciest inner packaging I’ve ever seen for an air cooler, seemingly designed for store displays.

Intel and AMD-specific models

Cooler Master sells versions of these coolers labeled specifically for Intel or AMD CPUs. We tested the AMD model with our 9950X3D. Both versions do come with mounting hardware for platforms from both companies, so you could install, say, an Intel-specific version of this cooler on an AM4 or AM5 CPU / motherboard.

But a Cooler Master rep told us that the AMD version has a flatter IHS, while the Intel version is more convex, to make the best contact with CPUs from each platform. The V8 Ace reportedly also has different internal liquid volumes to best target heat on each platform. We're told both versions target the same performance metrics, but you should use the correct cooler for your platform for the best results – as we did when running our benchmarks, shown below.

Included with the package are:

• Mounting hardware for AMD and Intel platforms
• 120mm fans
• Cryofuze thermal paste
• Installation manual

▶️ V8 Ace 3DHP AM5 Installation

To begin putting things together, you’ll first need to remove the default AM4/5 retention bracket. Next, place the studs over the exposed holes.

Afterwards, take the mounting bars and secure them with the included screws.

It’s time to apply the thermal compound. If you’re not sure how to do that, we have a handy thermal paste application guide that covers the different methods you can use.

After thermal paste is applied, take the CPU block and press it against the mounting bars, using the built-in screws to secure it in place.

Finally, you’ll want to attach both fans by sliding them into the rail system built into the cooler, then connect their cables to the motherboard’s PWM header.

Real-world testing configuration – AMD AM5 platform

We’ve tested coolers with both the Ryzen 9950X3D and its non-V-Cache sibling, the 9950X in the past year. There are some differences in how the 9950X and 9950X3D CPUs are impacted by thermal events. While the heat output of the CCDs of AMD’s 9950X3D is relatively balanced, the 9950X I used has one CCD that runs much hotter than the other, with a difference of over 10 degrees Celsius in some scenarios, shown below.

For now we’ve returned to using a 9950X3D for cooler testing, as it has a more balanced heat profile, and is almost certainly a more widely adopted CPU. The benchmark results shared in these reviews may differ from others because I emphasize results that are comparable to real-world use. This means I generally test CPU coolers inside of a closed desktop case, which increases cooling difficulty compared to other testing methods.

Many reviewers test coolers on open test benches, which have a combination of lesser airflow needs and lowered ambient temperatures. This results in making weak coolers appear stronger than they really are. Some publications have also used generic thermal plates to test cooling solutions. I reject both of these methods because they don’t accurately reflect real-world cooler conditions.

Our latest testing setup uses the FLOVA F50 computer case from Tryx.

This case features a unique “crossflow” fan that pulls air from the side, which the company claims is more effective than traditional intake fans. For air cooling tests, we’ve added a single Noctua NF-A12 G2 intake fan.

PBO Performance and maximum noise levels

We’re going to start by focusing on a traditional maximum performance test, with the CPU cooler’s fans allowed to reach their fastest speeds, for the best cooling possible.

Turning on PBO allows AMD’s Ryzen 9 9950X3D to stretch its legs to an extent and consume over 260W. Enabling PBO enables high power consumption and heat output, when using MSI’s X870E Carbon Wifi motherboard the CPU will reach its TJ Max (peak temperature) of 95 degrees Celsius (203 Fahrenheit) and thermally throttle to some extent with most coolers. When this throttling occurs, I’ve measured the average power consumption to determine performance.

You’ll notice there are two results for Cooler Master’s V8 Ace 3DHP, one marked with an asterisk. I wanted to include a test to see if there’s any point to using stronger or more powerful fans. When we tested the first iteration of Cooler Master’s 3DHP technology in the Hyper 212 3DHP, replacing the default fans with Montech’s flagship E28 fans resulted in ~5% better thermal performance.

Fortunately, the fans included with the V8 are strong enough to extract the maximum thermal potential of the 3DHP technology – the results are basically on par with the best coolers on the market.

The included fans are also a bit different than your average 120x25mm PC fan, measuring 30mm thick. At 45.6 dBA, their maximum noise level is audible, but those who prefer silence will be satisfied with our noise-normalized results.

The V4 Alpha’s thermal performance might not seem impressive at first glance, until you consider its noise level. Measuring at a maximum of 38.9 dBA, it is the quietest cooler we’ve tested in over a year.

200W thermal benchmarks

For the next thermal test, I leave the motherboard settings at their defaults, which results in a power limit of 200W when running Cinebench R23.

Thermal results in this scenario were similar to our first test, with Cooler Master’s V8 Ace taking second place. The V4 Alpha’s results were on the low end of our charts, but that’s more or less to be expected with its quiet, low-power fans.

150W + GPU thermal results

Our next test runs Cinebench on the CPU with a 150W power limit, while also running Furmark on MSI’s RTX 4070 Ti Super Ventus 3x OC. This causes the GPU to consume ~295W of power. This test is designed to emulate the thermals of games, which primarily stress the CPU and GPU.

You’ll see there are two results for Cooler Master’s V8 Ace: the result in blue was obtained after pairing the heatsink with Montech’s flagship E28 fans, which are extremely strong. The result in red was testing performed with the default fans included.

This test highlights the one “weakness” of Cooler Master’s 3DHP lineup – the reduced fin area results in worse thermal results when the internal temperature of the computer case is higher, such as you’d see in warmer environments or when your GPU is being fully utilized (like in gaming.)

Noise-normalized testing

Most testing is performed with the cooler tied to the default fan curve of our MSI X870E Carbon motherboard, but some of y’all prefer to see tests when the noise levels of coolers are equalized. This is especially important to those of you who prefer silent computers. This next test has the CPU cooler noise-normalized to 38.9 dBA, with PBO enabled for the Ryzen 9 9950X3D CPU.

This test is especially difficult because in addition to the reduced noise from the CPU cooler, our current test bench’s system fans are configured to run extremely silently, below the floor of the noise meter I use to measure dBA.

Most coolers can’t keep the CPU from reaching its peak temperature (TJ Max) in this stress test. Cooler Master’s V8 Ace did especially well here, with the second-best result we’ve ever recorded. The V4 Alpha’s results aren’t as impressive at first glance, until you remember that it is powered by only two heatpipes – it outperforms other coolers with four to six heatpipes!

Karhu DDR5 RAM thermals testing!

Your CPU cooler does not operate in isolation. It has an impact on not just your CPU’s temperatures, but also the other components in your build, like your RAM and GPU. To that end, I’ve run the Karhu RAM stress test. This places a load of ~153W on the CPU and ensures system RAM (DDR5 in my case) is fully stable. In this type of scenario, most AIOs tend to produce worse results than air coolers.

Both of Cooler Master’s 3DHP coolers performed exceptionally well in this RAM thermal test. The V8 Ace outperformed all competing dual-tower air coolers, and the V4 Alpha tied with Arctic’s Freezer 36-S for the best results we’ve seen that don’t include a dedicated RAM fan!

Conclusion

Cooler Master’s V8 Ace is an engineering masterpiece, using two 3D heatpipes and four standard copper heatpipes, combined with a single-tower heatsink to deliver thermal performance that beats most dual-tower heatsinks with eight heatpipes. Installation is simple, and noise levels are reasonable.

There’s not much more you could want in a cooler – except for a lower price. But as with all new cutting-edge technology, there’s an early adopter tax with a price tag of $119.99 for the V8 Ace. If you’re looking for a similarly powerful cooler with a lower price tag, I’d recommend Thermalright’s Royal Pretor 130. Alternatively, if you want a less-powerful, more-affordable option that incorporates Cooler Master’s three-pronged heatpipe tech, the Hyper 212 3DHP also impressed us in testing, and costs around $25. And of course there's the middle-ground V4 Alpha, which we also tested here and found to be one of the quietest air coolers you can buy. That model has a list price of $49, but was selling for $44 at Amazon when this was published.

I look forward to testing future products as Cooler Master continues to refine and improve its 3DHP manufacturing processes. I can imagine a future iteration of this technology will empower an air cooler stronger than anything previously possible.

The entire point of highly customizable creator-oriented macropad-like streaming decks is that they're, well... highly customizable. While most of them still center around a series of translucent plastic LCD keys, we've seen both Elgato and Loupedeck add a variety of other input options — dials, knobs, touch buttons, touchscreens, and more — but what if you could make your own custom streaming controller?

That's the premise of Cooler Master's MasterHUB, a fully-customizable modular macropad/controller for any and all creators — or at least, that's what it was supposed to be.

The MasterHUB was actually announced almost two years ago: Cooler Master initially put it on Kickstarter, where it was fully-funded within an hour, raising a total of $267,491 by the end of its run. It had a somewhat rocky start and began shipping to backers a year ago, and has since lagged on the promised software updates and functionality. You can now find the MasterHUB Creator Kit on Amazon for $170, which is the same price as the Elgato Stream Deck+, so let's take a look at what you're getting.

Design of the MasterHUB

The MasterHUB comes in a few different packages — there's the MasterHUB Creator Kit, which includes the base module, a 15-key IPS module, a 5-fader module, and a 2-roller module. There are also two other modules, which are currently sold separately: a module with three knobs, and a module with an encoder dial, which is a clickable dial with a customizable screen.

The MasterHUB is bigger than most Stream Decks — it measures 7.4 x 4.9 inches (190 x 126.5mm), which makes it slightly larger than the 32-key Stream Deck XL (7.2 x 4.4 inches / 182 x 112mm). The base station is 0.6 inches (16.2mm) thick, but with the modules attached it's about 1 inch (25.4mm) thick, not including the additional height of buttons or knobs. So it's not the most space-friendly customizable macropad, since the base station is always a requirement no matter how you set it up.

The MasterHUB also comes with a small rubber stand that attaches magnetically to the back and angle the entire hub up slightly (there are two attachment points, so you can orient the MasterHUB horizontally or vertically. The base also has ports — a mini DisplayPort and a USB-C port — on two sides, again, for horizontal or vertical usage. The base has "MASTER HUB" debossed on its longer (horizontal) sides, and has customizable lighting around the entire bottom edge.

Setting up the MasterHUB is surprisingly easy — all you have to do is pop the modules onto the base and plug it in. The modules can be arranged in a number of ways — there are some limitations, but not many. Each module has a single, square pogo pin connector that needs to fit into one of the base module's slots, and the base has several guides to make sure you get everything placed correctly. Modules can be hot-swapped.

In the box, the MasterHUB Creator Kit comes with the base station and three modules (15-key IPS, 5-fader, and 2-roller), as well as a 6-foot (1.8m) detachable USB-C to USB-C cable. It also comes with a small rubber stand that attaches to the back of the base station so it sits at a slight angle. It does not come with a stand, however.

Specs

Buttons, Dials, Etc.

The MasterHUB comes with three modules in the main Creator Kit, and offers two additional module types sold separately. You can have more than one of the same type of module on your MasterHUB.

The "main" module is the 15-key IPS module, which looks similar to the LCD keys of the Elgato Stream Deck MK.2 or the Loupedeck-powered Razer Stream Controller X: 15 square 0.6-inch (15mm) clear plastic buttons over a larger, full-color (in this case, IPS) display. Each key is fully customizable for function and image/icon, and changes as the setup changes; e.g. if you have different profiles or pages of key functions on your MasterHUB. I do like the way these keys feel — they're snappy, not mushy like Elgato's, and they have more give than Loupedeck's. They're not perfect, but they feel nice and responsive to press.

The module features Cooler Master's text logo along the bottom, which I don't love, because it means you can't really use the module in a vertical position (well, it's not really set up to be used vertically at all, I suppose, and you'd have to manually rotate images for it to look right — but, technically, it could be done).

The 5-slider module also comes in the Creator's Kit, and features five smooth plastic sliders. I love the idea of this module, but at the moment there's not much you can do with it — as only certain controls can be mapped to the sliders, and there aren't many of them. In fact, there are only four of them as of this writing: MasterHUB brightness, system volume control, OBS Studio audio mixer, and Streamlabs audio mixer. Assuming you use all of these programs, you still can't use all five of the sliders. I assume Cooler Master has plans to add in support for other functionality, but I don't know when (if ever) that will happen.

The final piece of the puzzle in the Creator's Kit is the dual-roller module, which features two notched plastic rollers. These have a lot more potential functionality than do the sliders, and can be mapped to do things like control your media, switch between desktops, zoom and scale, and perform specific key actions. The rollers are not clickable.

The other two modules are a three-dial module, which has three clickable metal dials with light rings around each, and an encoder dial module, which has a large plastic dial with a customizable screen in the center. The three-dial module is probably my favorite — it's well-made, with premium, sturdy-feeling machined metal knobs, and it just seems to make more sense than the rollers or the sliders, especially with the current limitations of the software. The encoder dial is nice because it provides an extra screen, but what the screen can display is limited to a clock/date display, CPU/GPU usage, CPU/GPU temp, or an image of your choosing. (Of course, I'm not sure what else I'd like it to be able to display, but I feel limited regardless.)

I love the modularity of the MasterHUB, and I can certainly see situations in which different modules would be useful for different workflows. But with customizable macro pads like these, it all sort of ultimately comes down to the software — and Cooler Master's software leaves quite a bit to be desired.

Software

The MasterHUB uses Cooler Master's MasterHUB software, which is definitely not perfect — though it has been updated twice in the past couple of months, so it's possible (fingers crossed) that it will get better. The software's layout is pretty straight-forward, especially if you've used software for similar devices before — you can click on any part of the MasterHUB to reassign functions to that button, dial, or knob; the functions you can assign will depend on the type of input (e.g. the sliders can only accept a handful of functions).

There are several built-in functions from Cooler Master that can be assigned to most inputs, including functions to control the MasterHUB itself (switch profile, change lighting, navigate through pages, etc), as well as for controlling your system (opening apps, web pages, and files; controlling volume/media; switching desktops; etc). You can also assign hotkeys and macros to specific buttons/inputs, and set up inputs to perform multiple actions from the function menu at once — "multitasking," which is probably the most powerful and unique feature of these types of devices.

MasterHUB also comes with some app integrations: OBS Studio, Twitch, Streamlabs, Photoshop, Illustrator, and Premier Pro, as well as MasterCTRL, which is for controlling the lighting on other Cooler Master components and peripherals. These integrations are useful, but they're nowhere near as extensive as, say, the plugins in the Elgato Marketplace for Stream Decks. Of course, many actions for various programs can be manually programmed using hotkeys and macros (most of the preset actions are, after all, just hotkeys and macros), but it's nice to not have to do the work.

The main limitation I found with the MasterHUB software in my testing was the way hotkeys are programmed, however — they need to be entered using a keyboard, and there's no drop-down menu to pull key actions from. This is an issue, of course, if you don't have a keyboard with, say, a numberpad, and you want to enter in numberpad keys. Or if you want to use function keys beyond F12. I was able to assign F18 to a key by recording a macro and using the shortcut from a different stream deck (actually, the stream deck on the Corsair Galleon 100 SD), but that seems like it sort of defeats the point.

You can also use the MasterHUB software to customize the device's lighting, though I was disappointed to find that I could only customize lighting by individual modules — not individual inputs. Meaning I could change the color of all three dials or all five sliders, but not the colors of individual dials or sliders (which would be much more useful for distinguishing functionality). This seems like something Cooler Master could add in the future, however.

The Bottom Line

The MasterHUB has a lot of potential, but it's still just... potential. The modular system works surprisingly well — it's easy to put together, the modules are well-built and hot-swappable, and you can set it up in several different layouts depending on what works for you. I'm actually very impressed with how well they managed to pull off the modularity aspect of the MasterHUB, as that part seemed like the trickiest to get right.

But like all macropads, stream decks, programmable... knobs, etc, the hardware is only one (relatively small) part of the equation. The MasterHUB software is definitely still a work in progress, and while it's been updated a couple of times in recent months — leading me to believe (or, well, at least hope) that Cooler Master hasn't abandoned the project — it still has quite a ways to go before it gets anywhere near as functionally as Elgato or Loupedeck.

You can pick up the entire set — the Creator's Kit and the knob and encoder modules — at B&H for $270 right now, or you can get the Elgato Stream Deck+, which has eight buttons, four knobs, and a touchscreen display for $180. The most unique inputs on the MasterHUB are the sliders, and you can't even use all five of them with Cooler Master's current software.

Along with all of the cases, coolers, and fans Cooler Master showed off during its Computex 2026 keynote, they also showed off the new MWE Gold V4 power supplies that, with the use of GPU Shield technology, help prevent your system from being fried by a high-powered Nvidia graphics card like the RTX 5090 (or even the RTX 4090). Additionally, they offer an inline connector, the aptly named GPU Shield adapter, to further reduce the risk of system failure caused by the GPU.

GPU Shield technology offers per-pin monitoring and current balance on every pin. When a current anomaly occurs (a pin goes over 9A), it dynamically scales the power down, in the case of an RTX 5090, from 600W to 450W in an effort to reduce the chance of melting cables and failure. A red light on the plug side of the power supply (where you can’t see it…) blinks then goes solid red and cuts ALL power if it stays in that anomalous state for three minutes, thus protecting your PC from imminent failure. But that drop in wattage also means a notable loss of performance that you’ll notice.

The new, fully modular, 80 Plus Gold certified PSUs range from 750-1000W, which is plenty for almost any single-card system, including the 600W RTX 5090. The Digital control design improves efficiency and stability through more precise power regulation than analog-based units, while the optimized thermal design with increased airflow and heat dissipation helps maintain lower internal temperatures, and it’s engineered to be quiet under load. We should see these on the market soon. In fact, you can pre-order the 850W ($139.99) and 1000W ($159.99) versions on Newegg. They also come in black or white. While there’s nothing truly groundbreaking about the technology, having a safety net for your expensive, high-power graphics card is priceless, especially given the rising costs over the past several months.

GPU Shield technology now extends to a standalone 12V-2x6 cable that’s an inline connection between your PSU and GPU with a built-in buzzer and lighting for instantly visible overcurrent alerts. It comes in two versions: the standard (described above) and the Pro version, which adds integrated RGB lighting and a buzzer for real-time overcurrent conditions. It also includes an extended ARGB cable for lighting control, compatible with popular RGB control software. If you’re reading this and don’t have a Cooler Master power supply, that’s OK, as the GPU Shield adapter works in all other power supplies.

We should see these on store shelves and e-tailers soon, too, though pricing wasn’t mentioned.

If you thought DDR5 was already too expensive right now, Cooler Master and G.Skill have a surprise in store for you. The two manufacturers are partnering up to make "MasterDIMM" — a new line of DDR5 memory kits that come with active cooling and a promise of temperatures that are up to 15 degrees cooler than conventional RAM. These sticks feature a thick heatsink with a fan built-in to emulate a blower-style cooler you see in some GPUs. There are no pricing or availability details yet, but it's not hard to imagine these kits, made for "demanding next-gen systems," will be even pricier than regular DDR5.

MasterDIMM will be properly shown off at Computex 2026 in just a few days, so expect more information then. For now, we know that these are high-end UDIMMs (desktop) that will push the envelope for DDR5 RAM in terms of style. The design of these sticks is very classy, sporting a black and gold aesthetic with part of the copper heatsink visible on the front, along with the fan on the other end. Naturally, they're a little larger than regular DIMM's, so motherboard compatibility remains to be seen.

There are two RGB strips running along the top, also flanked by gold accents, and the whole thing looks oddly similar to a fancy M.2 SSD. The RAM itself is made by G.Skill, while the heatsink is designed by Cooler Master. MasterDIMM will offer speeds up to 6,000 MT/s at CL26 latency with AMD EXPO, or up to 8.400 MT/s on Intel platforms via XMP 3.0. Capacities will scale up to 128GB at the top-end through 64GBx2 configs.

The companies claim the fan inside is whisper-quiet, delivering optimal cooling at just 35 decibels. That's the same noise level as a library. The heatsink and fan combo can drop temperatures by up to 15 degrees Celsius, which would be a remarkable improvement if proven true in testing. Keep in mind that DDR5 RAM, in general, is already rated for operation at up to 95°C, but it stays between 70-80°C in most cases.

Now, this is not the first time someone has put a massive cooler, or even two fans, on some RAM, but it's the most mainstream version of such a combination yet. Both G.Skill and Cooler Master are huge names in the PC hardware industry, so it'll be interesting to see how well this product does. Of course, that depends on pricing, and DDR5 prices are still out of control despite some semblance of the AI boom slowing down as of late.

More than a decade ago, Corsair tried to actively cool memory with its Vengeance Airflow modules, and vendors have tried to fit their DIMMs with creative heatsinks forever. Last year, we even tested a Silverstone AIO that could attach optional fans to itself to cool your memory and SSD.

What do Google Sheets experts do for fun? In the case of the staff at sheets.works, they have built The Listening Museum for mechanical keyboard audio aficionados. This is a collection of 36 iconic to modern classic keyboards that have been multisampled and put into an interactive site. Just click on any of the keyboards represented on the page, turn up your speakers, and bash away. The museum features keyboard models, including the IBM Model M, a multitude of Cherry MX models, and popular modern product samples from the likes of SteelSeries and Logitech.

I’ve owned, and still own, some great keyboards, with some vintage models dating back to the 1980s, and newfangled models with hall-effect adjustable actuation switches. However, there are plenty of samples at the Listening Museum that I can’t recall testing/hearing.

The interface at the online museum is pretty good. Clicking on the IBM Model M (for example), a soft keyboard panel appears to the right, so you can make keystrokes by mouse clicking. I did this as I’m currently using a CoolerMaster CK720, which has pretty noisy Cherry MX Blues and Greens across its various zones.

Back to the IBM, and I do believe it would be even noisier than my compact modern input device with gaskets and foam dampening layers. The museum makers assert that the Model M is “the archetypal ‘clacky’ keyboard and the reason people collect vintage boards.”

Its characteristic sound comes from the way “the coiled spring buckles sideways and slaps a pivoting hammer into the membrane. The spring resonates like a tuning fork inside the hollow ABS barrel; the steel backplate amplifies that ring; the big case acts as a soundbox,” explains the Model M section of the museum. “That is why nothing modern sounds like it.”

Audio accuracy?

As I’m actually using Cherry MX Blues while perusing the Listening Museum, I had to check out the accuracy – in the context of my ears, speakers, and environment. There are three MX Blue sampled keyboards to check through, and I must say none of them sounded like my CK720.

That’s a bit of a shame, considering the work put into making the museum. The curators have thought about such disparity, though. If you scroll down to the bottom section of the main page, you can read the headlined plea “A note before you flame us.”

There, it is made clear that “sound tests are inherently limited: microphone, room, host board, keycap set, codec, and your speakers all color the result.” And key sound can vary a lot between hosts for numerous other reasons. Fair enough, and I was never tempted to flame the curators...

Despite those observations, The Listening Museum could still be a valid resource for understanding the plethora of keyboards and keyswitches out there – and their audible feedback, which is a major part of the experience. If you are interested in exploring keyboards and don’t have a big electronics mall handy, YouTube is another good place to hear lots of well-known and obscure keyboards in action.

Check out our frequently updated Best Gaming Keyboards 2026: We've Tested Full-size, TKL, Mini, and more features to see what the cream of the crop is right now, according to our experts.

Cooler Master was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan, producing computer cases, power supplies, CPU coolers, and peripherals. The company started with CPU coolers, then introduced the world's first side-window computer case in 1995, the first modular power supply in 2000, and the first heat pipe CPU cooler in 2005. Over thirty years, it grew from a thermal solutions specialist into a broadly recognized PC hardware brand with a global distribution network and manufacturing facilities in Huizhou, China. PSUs have been part of that portfolio from early on, though the division has historically attracted less attention than the company's cooling and chassis products.

The MWE series sits at the entry point of Cooler Master's PSU lineup. It has gone through multiple revisions over the years, and the Bronze V2 is a mature iteration designed to be certifiable, reliable, and inexpensive. It is currently being cleared from retail shelves to make space for the incoming MWE V4 generation, which has pushed street prices down to ludicrously competitive levels. We take a closer look at the MWE Bronze V2 to see if it belongs among the best power supplies in the market today.

The 230V designation is not a footnote. This unit was built exclusively for 230 VAC mains supply, the standard across most of Europe and large parts of Asia, and offers no 115 VAC compatibility whatsoever. This matters for certification context: Clearesult's 80Plus Bronze requirements at 230V are stricter than the equivalent 115V standard. A unit that clears Bronze under 230V conditions would very likely meet Gold, or at least Silver, if tested on a North American line. Note that frequency does not matter; 50 or 60 Hz, this unit will work, so South American and Southeast Asian markets are not excluded.

Specifications and Design

In the Box

The MWE Bronze V2 ships in a compact cardboard box in Cooler Master's familiar black and purple branding. Protection inside is minimal. The unit sits in a nylon bag with no foam padding, which is not the most reassuring approach.

The accessory bundle is stripped down to the bare minimum. Only mounting screws, an AC power cable, and a basic printed leaflet are included. Nothing more. Cable management aids are absent, as is anything beyond the absolute minimum.

The cables are hardwired, which is expected at this price point but worth noting for builders who care about cable routing. On the other hand, the wires are flat and ribbon-like, finished uniformly in black with matching black connectors. The connector count is generous for a 650W unit: four 6+2 pin PCI Express connectors are present, covering dual-GPU light gaming setups or configurations with a single power-hungry card and some headroom. There is no 12V-2x6 connector, which limits compatibility with the newest high-end GPU designs, though that is not really the audience for a unit in this class.

External Appearance

At exactly 140mm in length, the MWE Bronze V2 conforms to the ATX standard without deviation. It will fit in any ATX-compliant case without compatibility concerns. The chassis is finished in satin black, which looks clean but picks up fingerprints readily. The design is plain. A decorative sticker on the right side is the only visual flourish over what is otherwise a generic enclosure.

The fan finger guard uses a classic concentric ring design. The left side carries the electrical specification and certification sticker. The front panel holds the standard power switch and AC receptacle. The rear panel is completely bare except for the cable exit point.

One detail on the top panel is unusual - four punched holes serve as mounting points for the internal PCB, a technique more commonly associated with PSU construction from the 1990s than with modern units. It is not a functional issue, but it is a visible indicator of how aggressively the cost envelope has been managed.

Internal Design

Cooling is provided by a Hong Hua HA1225H12F-Z 120mm fan with a fluid dynamic bearing. Fluid dynamic bearings represent a reasonable compromise between longevity and noise at moderate speeds. They are quieter than ball bearings at low RPM and more durable than sleeve bearings under sustained use. The rated maximum speed is 2400 RPM, which is notably high for a 650W unit.

The OEM is Gospower, a Chinese manufacturer operating since 2006. Gospower is a familiar name in budget and mid-tier PSU production, and their platforms have appeared inside products from several recognized brands. Assembly quality here is consistent, even remarkable for such a tier, and the design choices reflect a team that understands what is required.

The input filtering stage is properly equipped with four Y capacitors, two X capacitors, two filtering inductors, and a single rectifying bridge mounted on a basic heatsink. A physical metallic EMI shield is present at the input stage, which is something rarely seen at this price point and speaks to a conscious effort to maintain power cleanliness beyond what the budget strictly demands.

The APFC circuit uses two Jilin Sino-Microelectronics JCS13N50FC MOSFETs and one diode. The passive components include a small taped inductor and a CapXon 470µF bulk capacitor rated at 85°C. CapXon is a reputable manufacturer and their capacitors are generally reliable under normal operating conditions. The 85°C temperature rating is the concern here - it means that sustained high temperatures inside the chassis will noticeably shorten this capacitor's service life, even if the temperature will not reach that mark. For a unit deployed in a well-ventilated case in a temperate room and not heavily loaded most of the time, this is not a serious issue. If the PSU is stressed though, this becomes a liability worth taking seriously.

The primary inversion stage employs two Jilin Sino-Microelectronics JCS18N50FH MOSFETs in a full-bridge configuration, sharing a heatsink with the APFC MOSFETs. A half-bridge + LLC topology is nowadays typical for quality PC PSUs. The heatsink itself is rudimentary, but adequate for the power output involved.

On the secondary side, four NCE Power 40H12 MOSFETs generate the 12V rail through synchronous rectification, mounted on a pair of simple heatsinks. Synchronous rectification replaces the diodes used in older designs with active switches, improving efficiency and reducing heat at the secondary stage. A vertical daughterboard handles DC-to-DC conversion for the 3.3V and 5V rails. A copper strip EMI shield protects the output wiring. Secondary side filtering is handled entirely by CapXon capacitors, electrolytics and polymer alike, with the exception of one unidentified polymer capacitor on the DC-to-DC board.

Cold Test Results

Cold Test Results (25°C Ambient)

For the testing of PSUs, we are using high precision electronic loads with a maximum power draw of 2700 Watts, a Rigol DS5042M 40 MHz oscilloscope, an Extech 380803 power analyzer, two high precision UNI-T UT-325 digital thermometers, an Extech HD600 SPL meter, a self-designed hotbox and various other bits and parts.

The MWE Bronze V2 meets the 80Plus Bronze certification requirements comfortably on a 230 VAC input. Efficiency across the nominal load range is stable and consistent, averaging at 87.3%, with no significant drops at either end of the load curve. As noted earlier, the 230V certification threshold is more demanding than 115V testing, so the unit's actual performance may be stronger than the Bronze badge suggests when considered in a global context. There are many “Gold” PSUs in the market with similar average efficiency as this one – they have just been certified with an 115 VAC input.

The fan increases speed near-linearly with load and does not cause acoustic concern at low-to-moderate output. At heavy load, it becomes noticeable. Thermal performance is relatively good but nothing to write home about.

Hot Test Results

Hot Test Results (~45°C Ambient)

Average efficiency at 230 VAC under elevated ambient conditions reaches 86.3% across the nominal load range. The degradation compared to cold testing is modest, and there are no visible signs of thermal stress at full load, which reflects well on Gospower's thermal design margins.

However, the fan tells a different story - it reaches maximum speed at 70% load and stays there, producing clearly audible noise through to 100% output. Internal temperatures remain relatively controlled up to 50% load. Beyond that point, the fan is working at its limit and the chassis temperatures rise. The unit was not designed for sustained heavy loading in warm environments, and it does not pretend otherwise.

PSU Quality and Bottom Line

Power Supply Quality

Voltage regulation is mediocre by current standards. The 12V rail holds to within 2.1%, the 5V rail to 3.4%, and the 3.3V rail to 2.8%. These figures are not alarming for a budget unit but they would be unacceptable in a mid-range or premium product. Ripple suppression is equally unexceptional. The 12V rail peaks at 68mV, the 5V rail at 28mV, and the 3.3V rail at 26mV. All three sit well inside the ATX specification limits of 120mV on the 12V rail and 50mV on the minor rails. For a product in this class, those are fairly good numbers.

During our routine evaluation, we examine the fundamental protection features of all power supply units we review, including Over Current Protection (OCP), Over Voltage Protection (OVP), Over Power Protection (OPP), and Short Circuit Protection (SCP). Protection circuit behavior is acceptable but quite slack for a unit this stressed. The 3.3V rail triggers OCP at 140% of rated current, the 5V at 146%, and the 12V at 138%. OPP under hot conditions activates at 142% of rated output. These are OK settings for a product designed for gamers and enthusiasts but floppy on a product that will be fighting for its life if stressed that much.

Bottom Line

The MWE Bronze V2 230V 650W is a unit with an identity that hardly matches its price. Strip away the budget packaging, the nylon bag instead of foam, the basic leaflet, and the hardwired flat cables, and what is inside represents platform-level engineering that belongs in a higher class of product. Gospower has used a platform and topologies more commonly associated with mid-tier products. DC-to-DC conversion for the 3.3V and 5V rails keeps the minor lines isolated and regulated independently of the 12V output, which is meaningful under asymmetric loading conditions and practically necessary for modern PCs. Many corners had to be cut to lower the price of this unit down to the absolute minimum but what matters is there.

Voltage regulation and ripple suppression is not impressive but the power quality is acceptable. The figures are not alarming in isolation, but they are mediocre by current standards and would be scrutinized far more harshly on a more expensive unit. For a home office or mainstream gaming build, they are unlikely to cause any practical issue. The CapXon 85°C bulk capacitor in the APFC stage is the most consequential compromise. Capacitor lifespan is an exponential function of temperature. Sustained operation at or near the rated ceiling degrades a capacitor far faster than operation in cooler conditions. In a well-ventilated case in a room at normal temperature running a modest workload, this is not a unit that will fail prematurely. In a cramped or warm enclosure running sustained heavy loads, the calculus changes. The rest of the secondary side capacitance is also CapXon throughout but all rated at 105°C. CapXon is a reputable manufacturer and the concern here is not one of quality but of margin. A 105°C capacitor, under any operating conditions, would simply last longer.

Acoustics deserve a thorough mention. Under light and moderate load at room temperature, the unit performs quite well and it will not trouble anyone. Once the ambient rises and/or the sustained load is high, the Hong Hua fan reaches its upper speed range and the result can easily get beyond just audible. This is a unit that was not designed for silent operation under pressure, and it does not pretend otherwise. Builders who need a quiet PSU for a machine that runs intensive workloads should look elsewhere.

At the price it is currently offered, which is around 50€, it is a good deal. However, it can also be regularly found for under 30€, due to Cooler Master clearing the way for the MWE V4 that is coming soon. At such a low price, this unit makes a very strong case for itself in the context it was designed for - a mainstream gaming or home office PC running well within the rated output, in adequate ventilation, with no expectation of whisper-quiet operation at full load. The five-year warranty provides assurance that Cooler Master stands behind the platform for the duration of a typical build's lifecycle. Do not overstress it, do not underestimate the thermal environment, and it will repay that restraint with years of reliable, clean power delivery.

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Cooler Master's Cosmos case has been a staple in the PC industry for almost 20 years. From the original Cosmos 1000 to the C700M flagship chassis, multiple iterations have combined bold, premium designs with aluminum external handles and a solid internal framework for mounting your precious hardware – with space for lots of it. Cooler Master's marketing team claims the new Cosmos Alpha, “... represents a significant step forward in the evolution of cases and what can be achieved with the latest generation of designs”. That's a bit over the top, but if you're a fan of big cases with room for lots of hardware, there's plenty to appreciate here.

For me, the star of the show is the FreeForm 2.0 platform, which evolved from a modular design to a more open, customizable platform, with Cooler Master describing it as freedom, scale, and personalization without compromise. In the Cosmos Alpha, this means the freedom to customize fan sizes and locations and the ability to adjust the motherboard. Eventually (they did not have an ETA), they’ll post measurements, dimensions, and tolerances on the Cooler Master website (and at Printables.com) so you can create 3D-printed items yourself or find other community-driven items to print for additional functionality.

The Cosmos Alpha is a step forward in design, keeping the familiar hands and feet, while maturing from the C700M to a simpler, more premium aesthetic. A hinged smoked-glass panel dominates one side, providing a tinted view of the inside, while a perforated panel covers the other. The IO panel features updated, ample connectivity, with six USB ports (two Type-C, four Type-A). You can install up to four 360mm radiators within the immense internal space ( 420mm is supported on the side, in front of the motherboard tray). Additionally, the Alpha also uses moveable fan mounts (so you can change fan size and location), and the motherboard tray slides back and forth so you can show off your hardware or make room for larger components (more on that later).

Cooler Master Cosmos Alpha Specifications

External Design and IO Panel

Starting with the outside, this is a full-tower – a huge one measuring a whopping 26 x 13 x 25 inches (LxWxH), including the handles and feet. It feels very structurally sound, and even when empty, it is heavy. Be sure you have the room for it and a substantial base if it isn’t going to be on the floor, because this case weighs well over 70 pounds once populated with hardware.

The outer frame, with handles and feet, is grey/silver with a matte finish. All panels (front/rear, sides, and top) are black, providing a nice contrast. The front features a decorative plastic grille with large cutouts shaped like the Cooler Master logo, a dust filter behind it, and the two included SilentFlow 200mm fans. A similar grille, with smaller air gaps, is on the rear. Here we see a single Mobius 120mm fan (included), but the space holds up to three 120mm fans — yes, three rear exhaust fans. The ‘exoskeleton’ and grille on the back hide your cables exiting the rear, routing them out the bottom for a much cleaner look than most cases.

On top is a black mesh grille that runs the full depth of the case. The important front IO panel features modern connectivity with four USB Type-A (5 Gbps) ports and two Type-C (20 Gbps) ports – effectively like having a USB hub built into the top of your case. There are also three buttons just below the USB ports. On the right are the power and reset buttons; in the middle is a status (power) indicator light; and on the left is the RGB light switch. It’s a sleek design and includes all the functionality expected from a new high-end chassis.

Internal Features

Inside the case is where the real fun begins. The Cosmos Alpha supports the full range of motherboard sizes, from Mini-ITX to E-ATX/EEB. It’s also rear-connect motherboard/BTF-compatible, which can really clean up the wires. Inside, you can install up to 12 fans (a 4-fan hub with RGB support included) in typical locations (front/side/top/rear), or 4 radiators (up to 420mm on the side). To fit four radiators, three can be mounted on the back, behind the motherboard, with the fourth on top. You can cool anything with that much space available for fans and radiators. Additionally, you can mount your power supply at the top or bottom, where it is hidden from view.

On the motherboard tray, there are removable panels on the right to hide cables, or you can remove them to install additional fans and create space behind the motherboard tray to store wires. You don’t have to move a thing, as there’s roughly two inches (53mm) of space between the motherboard tray and decorative panel. As you'd expect, given the case's size, there are plenty of places to route the wires and mounting points, with velcro straps to keep things neat. Another panel hides most of the wires, so neat routing isn’t terribly important if you don't want to worry about that. But if you’re anything like me, you will group and route the cables using the tie downs.

Compared to how some previous Cosmos cases could hold up to 18 drives, the three available (confirmed by Cooler Master) on the Alpha feel a bit paltry. We realize M.2-based storage has become increasingly popular, reducing the need for most internal SATA-based storage (specifically HDDs), but we’d wager there are some niche buyers looking for more than that in a full-tower case. You can likely print some for it, as there is room and files for generic mounts/rails exist.

You’ll find movable crossbars for fans in front, at the top, and at the bottom, and oval slots for screws/mounting let you install different-sized fans and adjust their locations to reduce hot spots or just fine-tune placement. Moving the crossbars was easy, but the sliding mechanism didn't feel as smooth as I expected/wanted. It's a minor complaint, but this is an expensive case.

The motherboard panel moves back and forth to increase clearance for, say, large air coolers versus AIOs, mounting fans or radiators behind it, or just to tweak airflow. You can also bring it closer to the side panel to show off your GPU and create more room behind the motherboard. Just be careful, as you can see from our mock build, the GPU can get very close to the smoked-glass side panel, which isn't great for the graphics card's cooling. The chassis supports vertical GPU mounting, but the hardware is not included ($69.99 at Amazon) on the Cosmos Alpha.

Cooler Master also includes an adjustable crossmember that runs from front to back, designed to support large graphics cards. On this bar is a movable support bracket that slides under the GPU to prevent GPU sag and bending.

Bottom Line

The new Cosmos Alpha ($399.99 on Newegg) builds on two decades of Cosmos legacy, modernizing the case with a sleek, solid redesign. The FreeForm 2.0 platform offers greater modularity and personalization, and Cooler Master promises access to open-source 3D files to design your own parts.

The unique sliding fan brackets and a movable motherboard tray are standout features that enable flexible layouts and more configurable cooling. While its size allows for a wide variety of motherboard types, radiators (up to 4), and fan support (up to 12), the case can be cumbersome due to the large footprint and weight. And SATA drive capacity feels limited for the size. Still, the update looks great, uses fast modern IO, and will host the biggest, most power-hungry hardware, along with the fans to cool it. It certainly isn’t cheap, but it could last through multiple builds.

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Cooler Master Technology Inc., established in 1992 and headquartered in New Taipei, Taiwan, is a renowned manufacturer of PC computer hardware with decades of experience under its belt. As the name suggests, the company began as a PC cooling solution manufacturer but soon began diversifying towards anything PC power and cooling related, as well as PC-related furniture and peripherals. Alongside its retail business, Cooler Master is also an original equipment manufacturer of cooling devices for other manufacturers.

In this review, we examine the Elite NEX W600, an entry-level 600W power supply that represents the absolute bottom tier of Cooler Master's PSU portfolio. This unit targets the budget-conscious consumer with its 80Plus White certification and three-year warranty. However, beneath its basic exterior lies a design philosophy that feels lifted from a previous decade. The dual-forward topology with group regulation is a relic from an era when PC power requirements were fundamentally different, and its continued presence in new products raises serious questions about value and longevity. Unfortunately, the Elite NEX W600 fell short and did not get a spot in our best power supplies list. While the unit carries an affordable price point, its technical compromises are substantial enough to warrant careful consideration before purchase.

Specifications and Design

In the Box

The Cooler Master Elite NEX W600 arrives in a durable cardboard box featuring the black and purple aesthetic that Cooler Master frequently uses. The front prominently displays an image of the unit itself. Internal protection is minimal, consisting only of basic cardboard inserts without any protective pouch or foam padding.

The bundle reflects the unit's budget positioning. Inside you will find only the AC power cable and mounting screws. There are no cable ties, straps, or accessories of any kind. This spartan approach is typical for the lowest price segment.

All cables are hardwired directly to the unit, eliminating any modular flexibility. The cables feature an all-black color scheme with black connectors and wires. Only the ATX 24-pin cable receives an additional black sleeving. The remaining cables are exposed, with larger bundles held together by basic cable ties. The unit is ATX 2.42 compliant, meaning there is no 12V-2x6 connector for modern graphics cards. This immediately limits its applicability in contemporary builds requiring ATX 3.x compatibility.

External Appearance

Cooler Master has applied a matte black chassis paint to the Elite NEX W600, creating a clean and professional appearance. The finish quality is acceptable, though it shows a tendency to scratch more easily than premium powder coating. The design remains thoroughly conventional, adhering to the standard rectangular PSU form factor without any aesthetic embellishments beyond function.

A decorative sticker adorns the left side of the chassis, while the electrical specifications and certification sticker occupies the right side. The top surface remains completely plain. The unit measures exactly 140 mm in length, conforming precisely to ATX standards. This ensures compatibility with any ATX-compliant case without requiring clearance verification.

The front panel hosts only the standard AC cable receptacle and on/off switch. The rear side is unadorned, as all cables are hardwired and enter the chassis internally. The fan finger guard integrates directly into the chassis with a typical circular cutout pattern.

Internal Design

Cooling duties fall to a 120 mm fan carrying the part number DF1202512SEHN. This is a common sleeve bearing design frequently sold by Cooler Master, though the actual OEM is likely Martech. Sleeve bearing fans offer reasonable quietness and reliability under normal conditions but represent the least durable fan type in modern PSU applications. These engines are particularly vulnerable to shortened lifespans when exposed to sustained high temperatures. While no official datasheet exists for this specific model, our measurements indicate a maximum speed of approximately 2200 RPM.

The OEM responsible for this unit is HEC, also known as Compucase, a Taiwan-based manufacturer established in 1979. HEC is one of the world's leading manufacturers of computer cases and switching power supplies, with manufacturing facilities in both Taiwan and mainland China. The company operates as both an OEM supplier to major electronics brands and maintains its own retail product lines.

The input filtering stage provides adequate suppression with four Y capacitors, two X capacitors, and two filtering inductors. Unusually for a contemporary design, a glass fuse sits in the circuit path. A single rectifying bridge follows the filtration stage, notably without any heatsink to assist thermal dissipation.

The APFC circuitry utilizes two CS13N50F MOSFETs paired with a diode for active components. One small encased inductor and a single Teapo 330 μF capacitor handle the passive duties. The primary inversion stage employs two SVF20N50F MOSFETs configured in a half-bridge topology. These share a heatsink with the APFC components. While the heatsinks appear basic, they should prove adequate for a 600W power output, though thermal margins are not generous.

The secondary side reveals the most problematic aspect of this design: a dual-forward topology with group regulation. This architecture is severely outdated by modern standards. The topology utilizes a shared toroidal inductor for the 12V and 5V rails, intrinsically linking their regulation. This creates inevitable voltage stability issues under unbalanced cross-loads, which is precisely the loading pattern modern systems exhibit. Furthermore, the design employs Schottky barrier diodes instead of synchronous rectification with MOSFETs, directly resulting in lower efficiency and higher thermal losses.

Secondary side capacitors come primarily from Teapo, with a few Jamicon units appearing after the primary side. Neither manufacturer ranks among the most prestigious names in the capacitor industry, but both are established and reliable within the budget segment. This represents better component selection than typically expected at this price point.

Cold Test Results

Cold Test Results (25°C Ambient)

For the testing of PSUs, we are using high precision electronic loads with a maximum power draw of 2700 Watts, a Rigol DS5042M 40 MHz oscilloscope, an Extech 380803 power analyzer, two high precision UNI-T UT-325 digital thermometers, an Extech HD600 SPL meter, a self-designed hotbox and various other bits and parts.

This particular EU model operates exclusively with an input voltage range of 200-240 VAC, limiting our testing to 230 VAC input. Cooler Master offers a wide input variant (100-240 VAC) for global markets. The nominal load range efficiency proves disappointing at 85.9% average. Efficiency peaks at approximately 50% load but drops significantly at both lower and higher loads, creating an unstable efficiency curve. The unit meets the most basic 80Plus certification from CLEAResult (White) at 230 VAC input. It carries no Cybenetics or PPLP.info certifications.

The fan operates continuously across all load ranges. Fan speed increases almost linearly with load but never reaches maximum velocity even at 100% output. Thermal performance remains passable, which is adequate given the unit's substantial thermal losses from poor efficiency.

Hot Test Results

Hot Test Results (~45°C Ambient)

Under elevated ambient temperatures, efficiency degradation reveals concerning patterns. Average nominal load efficiency drops to 84.5% at 230 VAC input, representing expected reduction at low-to-medium loads. However, efficiency collapses sharply when load approaches maximum, suggesting severe thermal stress under adverse operating conditions. The low efficiency translates to more than 120 watts becoming thermal losses at full load, and the unit's modest cooling infrastructure struggles with this burden.

The fan responds aggressively to thermal stress, spinning faster and reaching maximum speed at 100% load despite the relatively modest 600W power output. Internal temperatures climb to very high levels for a unit in this power class, though they remain within operational limits without triggering over-temperature protection. The unit successfully maintains full rated power output with ambient temperatures exceeding 45 degrees Celsius, but the thermal stress is evident. Acoustically, performance is poor. The unit becomes audibly loud even at half-load, and full-load operation produces intrusive noise levels.

PSU Quality and Bottom Line

Power Supply Quality

The Cooler Master Elite NEX W600 delivers acceptable voltage regulation, maintaining deviations below 3% for all voltage rails as the design guide dictates. The 12V rail shows 2.4% regulation, while the 5V and 3.3V rails demonstrate 1.7% and 1.9% respectively. Voltage ripple filtering proves competent for an entry-level product, remaining well below recommended limits with maximum ripple measuring 74 mV on the 12V rail, 36 mV on the 5V rail, and 32 mV on the 3.3V rail. The group regulation architecture creates predictable problems. Heavily loading the 12V line causes significant voltage dip on that rail while simultaneously producing notable overvoltage on the secondary rails. These voltage excursions remain within acceptable ranges that do not trigger protection circuits, but this is not clean power delivery. Modern systems with their heavy 12V emphasis will encounter this cross-regulation issue frequently, potentially impacting component longevity.

During our thorough assessment, we evaluate the essential protection features of every power supply unit we review, including Over Current Protection (OCP), Over Voltage Protection (OVP), Over Power Protection (OPP), and Short Circuit Protection (SCP). All protection mechanisms were activated and functioned correctly during testing.

All mechanisms activated and functioned correctly. The OCP triggers at 117% for the 3.3V rail, 119% for the 5V rail, and 106% for the 12V rail. The OPP threshold sits at 108% under hot conditions. These protection thresholds are appropriately conservative.

Bottom Line

The Cooler Master Elite NEX W600 represents superseded engineering forced into a modern market. HEC brings over four decades of manufacturing experience to this design, and the assembly quality reflects professional workmanship. Component selection from Teapo and Jamicon, while not prestigious, remains adequate for the application. The fundamental issue lies not in execution but in the choice to resurrect a decades-old topology that modern PC requirements have rendered obsolete. The dual-forward topology with group regulation creates inherent voltage stability problems under the 12V-dominant loading patterns that characterize contemporary systems. The use of Schottky diodes instead of synchronous rectification sacrifices efficiency for cost savings, resulting in thermal performance that requires aggressive fan profiles to maintain safe operating temperatures. This manifests as poor acoustics even at moderate loads.

Electrical performance shows the design's limitations clearly. While voltage regulation and ripple suppression meet basic standards, the cross-regulation behavior under unbalanced loads creates power quality issues that modern DC-to-DC regulated designs simply do not exhibit. The efficiency curve is unstable and barely scrapes past the 80Plus White threshold, earning none of the more stringent certifications that indicate modern quality engineering. Acoustically, the unit fails to meet modern expectations. The sleeve bearing fan operates continuously even during light loads. Under sustained operation, it becomes loud and intrusive, making it unsuitable for any system where noise matters.

At its current retail pricing, the Elite NEX W600 offers poor value. The three-year warranty provides some confidence given the design's thermal stress patterns and use of sleeve bearing cooling. This unit might serve as an emergency replacement part for an aging system or a very basic office PC that will never approach its power limits. For any other application, spending marginally more money purchases dramatically superior products with modern topologies, better efficiency, modular cables, and even ATX 3.x compliance.

The Elite NEX W600 exists in a market segment that has largely moved beyond it. While it technically functions, it represents everything modern PSU design has evolved away from. Unless discovered at deep discount pricing for an appropriate legacy application, this unit warrants passing over in favor of more contemporary alternatives.

MORE: Best Power Supplies

MORE: How We Test Power Supplies

MORE: All Power Supply Content

Cooler Master just introduced a coolant distribution unit, or CDU, with a massive capacity of 900 to 2,500 watts. The Tom’s Hardware team saw the rather compact unit at CES 2026. The company says it is designed for CPUs, GPUs, and ASICs, balancing the ease-of-use of AIOs and the maximum cooling performance you get from open-loop systems. Each unit measures around 10 x 10 x 19.6 inches (255 x 255 x 497 mm) or around 32 liters and weighs between 12 and 18 kg (between 26 and 40 pounds), so you’re not going to fit this inside the case of your gaming PC. Instead, it’s built for specialized desktop systems that need robust cooling, like those that feature multiple GPUs for AI applications.

Another thing that makes the Aquagate MAX an excellent solution is its modularity and scalability. You can get this CDU with either a 240mm, 280mm, or 360mm radiator, allowing you to increase its cooling capacity without drastically taking up more space. And if that is not enough, Cooler Master says that you can connect multiple units in both serial and parallel connections, allowing you to expand your cooling capacity as you add more units to your system.

We don’t expect to see this cooling solution among the server racks you’d find in a data center (Cooler Master has the LTL In Rack CDU for that). Instead, this will probably be located at labs running high-end workstations or on AI and compute development systems where AI engineers are working on next-generation LLMs. Some overclockers might also find this a useful solution, although they might prefer liquid nitrogen cooling over this industrial-grade cooler. Aside from the Aquagate MAX and the LTL In Rack CDU, Cooler Master also showed off a Mini-Charge Tool designed to quickly refill cooling systems with coolant.

For gamers and consumers, Cooler Master released the GPU Shield Adapter Cable, which detects abnormal currents and adjusts power output in real time for improved stability, the MWE Gold V4 power supply with built-in GPU Shield capability, and a variety of fans, air coolers, and AIOs. There are also several PC cases of varying sizes, including the Q300L V3, Qube 540 SP, MasterFrame 500 Mesh V2, and the limited-edition Cosmos Alpha Gold, which only has 199 available units and features a 24K pure gold-plated CM logo.

If you're looking for stellar performance in a compact system, then look no further than Cooler Master's own MasterLiquid 240 Atmos, which is 34% off at Amazon UK. The cooler's design and superb aesthetics are just the cherry on top of what is one of the best 240mm AIOs that money can buy.

In our 4.5-star review, we noted that the cooler boasted strong performance, quiet noise levels, and excellent aesthetics. Given the discount on offer here, it's unlikely that you'll find a better 240mm AIO deal at this price point, so long as you're not bothered about having a configurable display.

• Grab the Cooler Master MasterLiquid Atmos 240 at Amazon UK

In the box, expect to find a pair of Cooler Master's Sickleflow Edge 120mm fans, alongside CryoFuze thermal paste and applicators, a PWM Splitter, ARGB hub and splitter, and support for all modern CPU sockets. This AIO is commonly used in small-form-factor builds for its size and performance, as the CPU block is relatively low-profile, which means you'll have no issue with clearance for any large RAM heat spreaders. Additionally, with a total radiator and fan thickness of just 52mm, it'll fit just about anywhere.

Boasting impressive results in our testing, considering its size class, the MasterLiquid Atmos 240 often performs on the same level as a 360mm AIO, without all of the bulk. Expect this cooler to be able to handle the most power-hungry chips out there. If you're using a less demanding chip, the Atmos 240 will be able to handle it with no sweat.

Cooler Master's AIO was observed as reaching 38.2 dBA when paired with a Core 17-13700K, which is plenty quiet using the default fan curves. Just note that things can be noisier when pushing the cooler to its limits. Given the performance on offer here, even if you have a larger chassis, this might still be an excellent purchase. But if you have a smaller case that can only support up to a 240mm AIO, then Cooler Master's MasterLiquid Atmos 240 becomes a no-brainer.

Given that the price has plummeted by 34% this Black Friday season, it's reasonable to assume that you'll likely not find a better cooler than this right now. Thanks to its low-profile design, it'll fit just about anywhere, and the CPU block looks great, without being outwardly garish, as many RGB-laden PC components lean toward.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best Black Friday PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, or CPU Deals pages.

As evidenced by a recent unexpected surge of sales of optical drives as the Windows 10 upgrade cycle unfolds, Japan still uses physical media, perhaps more than any other region in the world. Due to the country's strong roots in technology and entertainment, mixed with culture, it's the only place that still prefers a disc over downloading or streaming content. Owing to that legacy, a new PC case launched in Japan by Cooler Master honors this tradition, allowing users to fit a disc drive in the MasterBox CM695, which features a 5.25-inch open bay in the front.

Usually, in modern cases this space is reserved for AIO radiators or just used for aesthetics, but the CM695's drive bay can prove to be much more functional — especially at a time when the country is migrating from Windows 10 to 11 and experiencing a dramatic surge in demand for disc drives. Not only that, but the CM695 can also hold up to four 3.5-inch hard drives for the ultimate off-the-grid media experience, or kickstart your NAS aspirations.

The rest of the chassis complements these drive bays with a vintage design that calls back to classic PC cases of the past, while still sporting a mesh grill up front, behind which lie 2x 120mm fans for optimal airflow. It's a large mid-tower enclosure, measuring about 209 mm (W) × 466 mm (D) × 478.5 mm (H), which supports GPUs up to 398mm long — plenty to house even the most gigantic cards of today.

There are actually two variants of the CM695: one with a restricted side panel authentic to vintage towers, and one with a transparent glass side panel for a more modern look. Otherwise, they both still feature solid I/O at the top with a USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C port at the top, allowing for up to 20Gbps transfer rates. Combined with the disc drive, you'll be able to rip discs and copy over the files to a flash drive pretty fast, or vice-versa.

It's also important to note that, unlike the recently unveiled Fujitsu Ryzen laptops that come with an optical disc drive built in, you have to supply your own for this case; it just comes with a slot for one. This might make the package seem less desirable since an external disc drive can serve the same purpose, but it's still an option for those who prefer to keep their setup consolidated.

Translating from Japanese, TSUKUMO eX., a popular computer store in Tokyo, spoke to local outlet IT Media about how they expect the case to sell in the region:

“It probably won’t be a massive hit, but there’s definitely a strong following among people who still want to build PCs the old-fashioned way. With the ongoing shift from Windows 10 to 11, those needs are growing. Being able to choose something that says ‘you don’t have to give up’ — that’s a good thing.”

The MasterBox 695 costs 24,000 yen, which comes out to roughly $157, so it's definitely not cheap, but it represents more than just surface-level value. A chance to carry forward your physical collection means more there than in the West, and, as IT Media describes it in their coverage, "If it's junk, BD drive is also," alluding to how a case like this transcends conventional budget-conscious outlooks. If you want a Blu-Ray drive in your PC, you now have an option to do so in a modern chassis.

The 12V-2x6/12VHPWR power connector is already one of the most unreliable connector designs ever made for PCIe cards, even in optimal conditions. There's no telling what the connector might do if it's tampered with, but that is exactly what Cooler Master customer service recommended to one of its customers, Igor's Lab reports.

The customer, who owned an Asus RTX 5070 Ti graphics card, went to Cooler Master's support team to complain about their MWE Gold V2 1250-watt power supply's integrated right-angled 12V-2x6 power cable not working with their graphics card's power connector. The connector was allegedly offset inside the graphics card, preventing the cable from plugging in correctly.

Despite the customer requesting a different cable design to be shipped to them, Cooler Master customer support recommended the customer do the unthinkable, and jerry rig their existing 12V-2x6 power cable to make it work. Customer service recommended that they disconnect to remove two clips on either side of the power connector to free it from its external housing, so it would fit inside the GPU's own power connector. The external cover is what makes the cable right-angled, so removing it essentially turns the cable into a standard straight power cable.

Luckily, the customer was smart enough not to dismantle their existing power connector and instead bought a third-party cable from Cablemod, solving the connectivity issue and inevitably freeing the customer's RTX 5070 Ti from a fiery death.

Ironically, Igor's Lab reports that the modification Cooler Master's customer service recommended would not have solved the problem anyway. The problem is that removing the two clips holding the external housing of the cable together does not reduce the physical connector's flatness, which is the actual problem. Even with the "removable" cover removed, the internal housing juts outward and interferes with the GPU cooler. Igor's Lab tested the cable on an MSI RTX 5090 Suprim and had the same compatibility issue.

This wouldn't be a problem if Cooler Master's quality control department had caught sight of the error when it was initially designed. Igor's Lab points out that Cooler Master's cables' internal housing is not long enough to allow the connector to be fully recessed into the GPU power connector. Igor's Lab compared Nvidia's reference 12V-2x6 power adapter with the cable and discovered the Cooler Master connector's housing is 3.2mm shorter than the Nvidia one. Nvidia's adapter is built explicitly for the CEM 5.1 standard, so it can be used as a solid reference point.

Removing the right-angle cover from the original Cooler Master cable might not sound like a bad idea; however, these 12V-2x6 connectors are so delicate that bending the wires straight can wreak havoc with the internal integrity of the pins themselves. If you've read any of our previous coverage on the 12V-2x6 or 12VHPWR power connector, you'll know that subtle movements of the pins inside can increase electrical resistance, which can increase the chance of a fire or meltdown.

Today we’re testing Cooler Master’s Hyper 212 3DHP. And yes, this feels like the 20th iteration of the company’s Hyper 212. The company has certainly rebranded the Hyper 212 numerous times, but this revision might be the most significant air cooler release in the past decade.

What makes the Hyper 212 3DHP so important? It's in the name of the cooler – the company’s new 3DHP heatpipe technology. Traditional copper heatpipes are typically formed in a “U” shape, and work well enough in most scenarios. But Cooler Master’s 3DHP heatpipes are formed in a trident-like shape, with three ends instead of two.

Will this new cooler make our list of best CPU coolers on the market? Well, let’s put it this way: It features genuine innovation – a rarity in the rather stale air cooling market, and features a nearly silent fan. Let’s go through the features and benchmarks of this cooler, and you can decide for yourself if it is worth sinking $29.99 of your cooling budget into.

Cooler specifications

Packing and included contents

The cooler arrives in a simple brown box, with a purple label showing the design of the product and its specifications. Inside are two smaller boxes: One contains the heatsink and fan, while the other includes the mounting accessories.

Included with the product are the following:

• 1x 120mm fan
• Single tower heatsink with two 3DHP copper heatpipes
• CryoFuze thermal paste
• Mounting for AMD and Intel platforms
• Installation manual

Features of Cooler Master’s Hyper 212 3DHP

▶️ Innovative 3DHP copper heatpipes

This isn’t just another Hyper 212 rebrand – the Hyper 212 3DHP is the first cooler on the market with Cooler Master’s new heatpipe technology. Most traditional heatpipes are formed in a “U” shape, but the 3DHP heatpipes are trident-shaped. As you’ll see in our benchmarks, this groundbreaking and effective design allows for just two of these new heatpipes to outperform four traditional direct-touch copper heatpipes!

Part of the reason these heatpipes perform better is that they more effectively remove heat from the center of the CPU. As an example, Cooler Master has kindly provided this thermal image showing how the hotspot of the CPU is reduced with this new heatpipe design.

▶️ Single tower aluminum heatsink

The Hyper 212 is Cooler Master’s entry-level air-cooling line, and as such, it features a single-tower aluminum heatsink, shown in the photo above.

▶️ Copper CPU plate

The base of the CPU plate is pure copper.

▶️ Full RAM compatibility

As the picture above demonstrates, the Hyper 212 3DHP does not interfere with or overhang DIMM slots in any manner, ensuring compatibility with all sizes of RAM, no matter how tall.

▶️ Low noise 120mm fan

The fan included will appeal to enthusiasts who prefer a PC with the lowest volume levels possible, with our noise measurements reaching just 38.2 dBA. The version reviewed features ARGB support, but there is a solid black version of this cooler without ARGB, if you don’t want lights in your rig.

AM5 and 1851 installation

The installation of the cooler is fairly simple for AMD systems – but it’s somewhat of a pain on Intel systems because the backplate of the cooler must be held in place during the install process.

1. You’ll first need to apply the included backplate if you’re using an Intel CPU. AMD users will remove the default mounting mechanism.
2. Next, you’ll need to install the mounting bars onto the cooler.

3. Apply thermal paste to the CPU. If you’re unsure of the best way to do this, you can follow our thermal paste application guide.
4. Place the heatsink on top of the CPU, and secure it with the included screws.
5. Attach the fan with the included fan clips, and then connect the PWM/ARGB headers to your motherboard – installation is now complete!

Real-world testing configuration –AMD AM5 platform

My results may differ from others because I am looking for results that are comparable to real-world use. This means that I test CPU coolers inside a closed desktop case, which increases cooling difficulty compared to other testing methods.

Many will test CPU coolers outside of a case, on an open test bench. Open benches have lowered ambient temperatures, which in turn makes weak coolers appear stronger than they really are. Some publications have used generic thermal plates to test cooling solutions. I reject both of these methods because they don’t accurately reflect the real-world conditions where a CPU cooler is used.

CPU-only thermal results with AMD Ryzen 9 9950X

Today’s review is going to be a little different than our recent ones, partly because our main testing 9950X3D system is encountering problems at the moment, but also because we wanted to have this review focus on the technological improvement that comes with the 3DHP heatpipes.

We’re using AMD’s Ryzen 9 9950Xm and tested the Cooler Master Hyper 212 3DHP (Single tower, 2x 3DHP heatpipes) against Montech’s NX400 (Single tower, 4x traditional heatpipes) and a prototype dual-tower heatsink with six heatpipes and two fans.

100W thermal results

We’ll start today’s review on the low end, focusing on a 100W workload.

For today’s tests, I’ve compared the Hyper 212 3DHP against Montech’s NX400 and a dual-tower air cooler. Montech’s NX400 is one of the best single-tower air coolers on the market, utilizing four copper heatpipes and a high-power E28 fan. Even with those advantages, the Hyper 212 3DHP outperforms the NX400 by 1.2 degrees Celsius!

It is also worth noting that the Hyper 212 3DHP ran virtually silently in this scenario, with noise levels lower than I could measure, whereas the NX400 was still audible.

200W

For this next test, we’re testing the CPU at its maximum stock power consumption – 200W, twice the thermal load of our previous test.

Here again we see the Hyper 212 3DHP slightly outperforming Montech’s NX400, by 0.8 degrees C.

150W, with fan normalized testing

After completing the first two tests, I started to wonder if the fan on the Hyper 212 3DHP might be holding back the potential of the 3DHP heatsink. After all, it runs very quietly – no more than 38.2 dBA.

To test this theory, I switched out the default fan included by Cooler Master with the newly released high-power E28 fan that comes with Montech’s NX400 – and boy, the results were interesting!

The Hyper 212 3DHP with its default fan continued to outperform the NX400 by a small amount, but when paired with a stronger fan it had significantly higher performance – trailing a dual-tower air cooler by only 0.6 degrees C!

The noise measurements here are intended to show you just how quietly the Hyper 212 3DHP runs with the default fan. In this scenario, it was only 37.3 dBA. In all lower power scenarios, the fan runs quieter than I can measure.

PBO Performance with fan normalized testing

Without power limits enforced, the hottest CPUs on the market – like the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X tested today - will hit their peak temperature (TJ Max) and thermally throttle with even the strongest of air coolers and even most liquid coolers on the market in intensive stress testing.

When the CPU reaches its peak temperature, I’ve measured the CPU package power to determine the maximum wattage cooled to best compare performance. It’s important to note that thermal performance can scale differently depending on the CPU it’s being tested with.

Like our previous test, the results are most interesting with Cooler Master’s 3DHP when it is paired with a high-power fan. In this configuration, it trails a prototype dual-tower cooler by only 13W! This is extremely impressive to see two heatpipes competing with a dual-tower air cooler that has six heatpipes!

If you prefer to use the stock fan, overall cooling performance will only be slightly better than Montech’s NX-400 – but its noise levels will be low, as detailed in the next section.

Maximum noise levels

In terms of noise levels, Cooler Master’s Hyper 212 3DHP is one of the quietest on the market – reaching only 38.2 dBA according to our measurements! This basically makes it the go-to cooler for those who want an entry-level heatsink with low noise levels.

Conclusion

Cooler Master’s Hyper 212 3DHP is an exciting addition to the air cooler market. Its two 3DHP heatpipes are genuinely innovative, improving cooling performance and efficiency. It’s also reasonably priced, at $29.99 in the U.S.

Don’t expect this cooler to surpass the best big air coolers, like those from Thermalright. But keep in mind that’s not what Cooler Master is trying to do here. The company will also release higher-end air coolers with its 3DHP tech, which we look forward to testing soon. If those larger coolers can scale up the 212 3DHP’s capabilities, while keeping costs and fan noise in check, Cooler Master may soon be making a run for a few spots on our Best CPU Coolers list. In the meantime, if you’re looking for a quiet cooler with impressive mainstream performance, the Hyper 212 3DHP is easy to recommend.

Cooler Master showed off its 3D Heatpipe technology back at Computex 2025, and now it's finally coming to the public just a few months later. This quick turnaround time can be attributed to perhaps the ingenious simplicity of this solution. Instead of having the heatpipes only go up against the edges of the heatsink fin stack, another one cuts through the center, allowing for more even heat dissipation — and now Cooler Master is bringing it to its legendary Hyper 212 lineup, as reported by TechPowerUp.

If you've been in the PC community for even a smidge, the name Hyper 212 must ring a bell. Originally launched almost two decades ago, the Hyper 212 has gone through countless revisions, modernizing it for every generation of PC gaming. The latest in this line of iterations is the aforementioned 3D Heatpipe technology, dubbing the new cooler "Hyper 212 3DHP." To understand why this is special, we should first look at how (most) standard air coolers work. Generally, these tower coolers feature a dense heatsink with multiple fins stacked atop each other, through which a U-shaped heatpipe runs.

This pipe takes heat from the CPU's IHS and carries it across the finstack, where the mounted fans blow fresh air onto it to cool it down. This is a pretty decent thermal exchange, but it can be made better. Instead of just two heatpipes at the periphery of the fin stack, Cooler Master introduced a third one running through the middle, essentially forming a trident-like shape. This results in much more efficient distribution and dissipation of heat, since each pipe will not only be responsible for less heat now, but they will cover a larger area on the fin stack.

Cooler Master has finally made the NR200P V3 available in retail stores, with the Mini-ITX case available on Amazon for around $150. It first appeared at CES 2025, where the company showed off its latest line of cases. The biggest change for the V3 is the addition of a cutout covered with a mesh cover where the GPU is designed to sit, allowing it to get the most optimal airflow. You can even remove the mesh panel if you want unimpeded airflow (at the cost of more dust).

Aside from that, the case is slightly lengthened to 378.2mm (from 372mm), allowing it to accept the larger GPUs like the RTX 5090. Because it’s slightly larger, you’re getting better clearance for your CPU cooler (70mm vs. 67mm for the V2 model), too. A PCIe 5.0 riser cable is also included in the package, ensuring you can get the most out of your graphics card.

Cooler Master, one of the leading PC case and cooling solutions providers, is featuring several products at Computex 2025. Tom’s Hardware visited the company’s headquarters in Taiwan to see what it has to offer to PC enthusiasts this year, and we’ve seen several new and interesting offerings that caught our attention. These include new MasterFan models, the budget-friendly QUBE 500 Core, the panoramic MasterFrame 360, and the Cooling X Pro that features dual CPU and GPU AIO cooling loops.

We’re jumping right onto one of the more premium offerings of the company — the Cooling X Pro. This is a pre-built desktop PC that has a massive 360 x 360 mm radiator that is used to cool both the CPU and GPU. Four 180 mm fans are mounted on this massive fin stack, allowing it to stay cool without making a racket. Cooler Master also put performance gauges right on the case, allowing you to see how hot (or how cool) the PC is running.

The spec list shows that the Cooling X Pro is powered by an AMD Ryzen 9 9950X mounted on an MSI X870E motherboard and paired with G.Skill Trident Z non-RGB memory sticks. It also has an RTX 5090 Waterblock GPU with a 1250-watt power supply.

Those who prefer building their own PCs would love the MasterFrame 360 Panoramic, which features glass on three sides of the case. The sample on display at Cooler Master’s headquarters shows a liquid-cooled setup with custom hardline tubing. The glass walls of the case come in three pieces, with the front piece featuring curved sides to give you the illusion of a seamless cover.

This is the perfect PC case for those who are meticulous at assembling their components, turning a machine into a work of art. But if that’s not your thing, the MasterFrame’s modular ethos means that you can change the build any way you like. For example, Cooler Master also showed off an AK Mods X Bounce version that has an LED screen and an action figure highlighted by a couple of small spotlights.

But if you’re more of a budget builder (or don’t want to spend too much on a case you’ll keep under your desk), the company is also bringing the QUBE 500 Core, which is the most affordable version of its QUBE 500 lineup. Despite being relatively small, it has enough internal space to take on a standard ATX motherboard. It’s also fully modular, allowing you to build it as you like — either with official Cooler Master accessories or by printing your own, which you can find on Printables.com.

Cooler Master just launched the Hyper 612 Apex, the newest generation of its Hyper 612 V2 CPU air cooler, which has long since been discontinued. The Cooler Master page lists the new version as 30% smaller than the previous model while offering better performance, in part delivered by the two Mobius 120P fans that can go as high as 2,400 RPM to supercharge its cooling capacity. Perhaps it will be good enough to make it to our best CPU cooler picks.

The single-tower heat sink also features a stealthy visual design, with a sleek, removable top cover hiding the top of the fins from view. The ‘stealth’ moniker indicates here that it doesn’t have LED lights, which might not be to your liking if you want everything to light up inside your case. Conversely, if you’re looking for a clean, sleeper build, then this air cooler could be exactly what you’re looking for. The company also claims that the plain plastic cover makes it easier to customize the heat sink, as you can easily apply a sticker to it and change its look as you please.

Cooler Master has showed off four new cases at CES 2025, giving everyone a lot of designs, sizes, and form factors to choose from. We saw four PC case lines at the company’s booth in Las Vegas: the SFF MasterBox NR200P V3, the compact tower Ncore 100 Air, and the highly customizable mid-tower MasterFrame Aluminum series. These computer cases enable you to build just about any kind of system without having to worry about whether you can get a case that will fit your needs.

MasterFrame Aluminum

The MasterFrame Aluminum series comes in three different sizes—400, 600, and 800. Whether you’re going for a micro ATX motherboard or need all the space that an E-ATX motherboard requires, you can get a MasterFrame PC case to suit your requirements. But aside from its available sizes, this case’s modular design allows you to set it up exactly to your needs. You could even customize the exterior panels. You can install glass, mesh, or even solid wood panels, and it has an optional panoramic glass panel, allowing you to view your components without the obstruction of one of the corner posts.

MasterBox NR200P V3 and Ncore 100 Air

Small form-factor fans also get an option from Cooler Master with the MasterBox NR200P V3. This is the company’s third iteration for its MasterBox NR200P case, and it incorporates all the lessons that it’s learned from the previous two generations. So, despite its small size, the company was able to install powerful components like an AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, an Asus ROG Strix 4090 BTF GPU, and liquid cooling for the CPU. It also features a unique side panel that places the entire GPU behind a mesh cover, allowing it to get optimal air cooling.

For users with even more limited desk space, the Ncore 100 Air SFF case would give you the performance you need without needing to worry about its footprint (about the size of a small booklet) due to its slim vertical configuration. Despite that, it supports the latest GPUs, ITX motherboard, and SFX PSUs, with its internal volume of 14.7 liters. You can also expand the case to 16.4 liters if you need to install bigger and more powerful components.

Cooler Master Cooling X Pro

Those who don’t want to bother with a custom-built PC but want one that will squeeze every drop of performance from your parts would love the Cooling X Pro PC. This pre-built expands upon the previous Cooling X PC by giving it a larger 360 x 360 mm custom radiator on one panel for watercooling its CPU and GPU. It comes with an AMD Ryzen 9 9950X mounted on an Asus ROG Crosshair X870E Hero motherboard with 64 GB of memory and a 512 GB Kingston SSD, all powered by 1300-watt Cooler Master X Silent PSU.

Unfortunately, the company did not provide the details on the display’s GPU, but with the 1300-watt capacity, it would likely be at least an RTX 40-series or quite likely RTX 50-series GPU. And, for sure, you could upgrade its internals to get more storage and maybe even expand its RAM capacity.

Cooler Master introduced a range of new CPU cooling solutions and case fans at CES 2025, showcasing both air and liquid cooling options. The lineup includes the V-Series and V-Lite Series air coolers, the MasterLiquid Atmos II AIO liquid cooler, and the MasterFan XT series. They are all designed to improve cooling performance and offer practical customization features.

V-Series and V-Lite Series Air Coolers

The V-Series air coolers take inspiration from the design of high-performance automotive engine blocks, featuring top plates resembling engine hoods or cylinder heads. The series is led by the V10 3DHP, which features a wide fin stack and ten 6mm-thick copper heat pipes for heat dissipation. Other models include the V8 3DHP with slimmer eight heat pipes, the V6 3DHP with six heat pipes, and the V4 3DHP with four 8mm-thick heat pipes.

All models feature Cooler Master’s 3D Heat Pipe (3DHP) technology, which places a central heat pipe directly above the CPU’s heat spot for better heat transfer. Each cooler is equipped with dual 120mm fans designed for efficient airflow and quieter operation. The V8 and V10 models incorporate dual-tower designs to handle higher thermal loads, rated up to 340W TDP.

The V-Lite Series offers plainer designs that also eschew the ARGB lighting found in the V-Series. These models feature simpler RGB accents on the top plates and come in V6 and V4 variants with six and four heat pipes, respectively.

MasterLiquid Atmos II AIO Liquid Cooler

Cooler Master also revealed the MasterLiquid Atmos II, an update to its 2023 Atmos model. This closed-loop liquid cooler features a slimmer pump block with modular attachments, known as the Flex Kit. The attachments include options like illuminated hexagon designs with infinity mirrors, LED displays for system monitoring, and additional cooling modules such as a mini 30mm fan.

The Atmos II will be available in 280mm and 360mm radiator sizes, offering flexibility for various system builds and cooling requirements.

MasterFan XT Series and Sickleflow Edge Fans

Cooler Master expanded its fan lineup with the MasterFan XT series, including the XT Pro, which operates at speeds of up to 3,000 RPM. These fans deliver static pressure up to 15mm H₂O and airflow ranging from 101 to 125 CFM. They use dual-ball bearings rated for 200,000 hours of operation and come with a six-year warranty.

The XT and XT ARGB models, as the name suggests, will be available with or without ARGB lighting and include daisy-chain functionality for easier cable management.

Additionally, the Sickleflow Edge fans feature a single-frame design which means they only require one set of cables reducing cable clutter. Cooler Master's Sickleflow Edge fans are optimized for radiator use and will be available in 360mm and 240mm configurations.

Availability

The V-Series air coolers are expected to launch in March 2025, with other products, including the Atmos II and MasterFan XT Pro, following later in the year.

For those who are hunting for a great monitor deal, it is hard to ignore the discount on the Cooler Master Tempest GP27U monitor, which now you can buy for US$199. This exact model originally cost $799.99. Given the functions and features this monitor has, many who are on the lookout for a 4K monitor - either for single or multi-display setups - will love this deal. And if you want an expert, unbiased, third-party opinion on this monitor - we reviewed it last year.

The Cooler Master Tempest GP27U is a mini LED monitor providing a 4K resolution monitor with a 160 Hz refresh rate, plus Adaptive Sync (48 to 144 Hz). At the time of review, this monitor was selling for $800 and we thought that whatever few flaws it had could be excused. At a sub-$200 price, it is going to be difficult to ignore.

The GP27U has a Quantum Dot film for high color gamut and 1,200 nits brightness when we tested it. It supports both AMD Freesync and Nvidia G-Sync. The monitor has a KVM switch function and a USB-C which allows video input and a 3.5mm audio jack. Aesthetically, the monitor has a thin flush bezel with an 8mm frame at the top on the side.

You get two HDM 2.1 ports, one DisplayPort, and multiple USB ports - one USB Type-C, one USB Type-B for the KVM function, and two USB 3.2 Type-A. Should you wish to have it mounted on a stand, it supports VESA 100 X 100mm brackets. But its stand allows a wide range of movements between tilt, swivel, height, and pivot on a solid stand with excellent build quality.

Woot! is offering the GP27U at a jaw-dropping price of a cent under $200, when retailers like Amazon are currently selling it for $100 more than this deal. It is likely these will sell quickly with this attractive pricing on both sites - but a further $100 savings over the Amazon listing is incredible for something that would otherwise get you a 27-inch 1440p monitor of lesser caliber.

We are working hard to find the best deals for you this Cyber Monday. If you're looking for other products, check out our Cyber Monday Computer Hardware Deals Live blog for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals Live blog, Monitor Deals Live, Graphics Card Deals, or CPU Deals pages.

Cooler Master launched the Hyper 411 Nano to rival the best CPU coolers. The Hyper 411 Nano is the successor to the Hyper 410R, which gave life to the Amazon Basics CPU Cooler.

The Hyper 411 Nano is a single-tower air cooler with a single black fan, perfect for placing in small form factor PC builds. This little cooler is compatible with multiple generations of Intel and AMD processors, so you can pick this cooling solution whether you’re building a PC with the latest parts or just changing your current computer’s cooling solution. The 411 Nano has an all-black aesthetic, although Cooler Master says it will launch an ARGB version in early 2025.

The Hyper 411 Nano is Cooler Master’s latest addition to the Hyper series of air coolers, expanding its portfolio of small CPU coolers with an even smaller model that would fit the most compact CPU cases. This cooler has four heat pipes that directly contact the processor’s integrated heat spreader (IHS) for more efficient heat removal, while it uses a single 92mm fan that spins up to 2,500 RPM for airflow.

Compared with the iconic Hyper 212, the 411 Nano’s length is 23 mm shorter and 16 mm shorter. However, the Hyper 411 Nano makes up for these smaller dimensions with its thickness, adding 11mm more than the Hyper 212.

Since the Hyper series all feature small fans, you can expect them to be noisier than larger air coolers like the Monster XX. Its noise level is 30.04 dBA, which is still within an acceptable range. Of course, if you want a quieter cooling solution, you should look at the larger MasterAir air cooler or even go for an AIO. However, the Hyper 411 Nano is a great option if interior space is a limitation.

So, if you’re planning a new SFF or compact PC, Cooler Master gives you a solution with the Hyper 411 Nano air cooler. Although Cooler Master didn’t provide the availability or pricing for the Hyper 411 Nano, some Hong Kong-based retailers have already listed the cooler.

SE Computer Ltd and WCSL Mall have listed the Hyper 411 Nano for $17.86. These could be placeholders, so we’ll need to wait until the CPU cooler hits the market to ensure its pricing.

Cooler Master is now selling the case that makes up its Shark X pre-built gaming PC as an independent product in Japan. The case manufacturer has announced that its Shark X case will be available starting today for 658,000 yen (tax included), roughly $4,300 at the Yodobashi Akiba2F PC parts store and other stores in the future.

"The Shark X is more than just a high-performance PC, it's a masterpiece of technology and art that epitomizes Cooler Master's innovative design and technical prowess." —Jimmy Sha, CEO of Cooler Master.

The Shark X case is an exotic mini-ITX gaming case that takes on the literal appearance of a shark. The case measures 31.10 x 35.75 x 35.20 inches (790 x 908 x 894 mm), with the Shark' propped up vertically from its tail, sitting on a hexagonal RGB base. The shark is painted white and surrounded from head to toe in RGB lighting, including RGB at the base, RGB integrated into the tail area, and two RGB rings on the right and left fins.

The main system components are housed beneath the jaw area, with room for a mini-ITX motherboard. The top of the case, where the top shark fin is located, houses the case's main cooling elements, supporting an AIO liquid cooler and a discrete graphics card.

The Shark X case first appeared in Cooler Master's pre-built Shark X PC, unveiled at CES 2023 and showcased again at CES 2024. The case itself was inspired by a mod called Leviathan by Inony, which won the 2019 Cooler Master Case Mod World Series. A few months ago, Cooler Master launched the Shark X PC for a whopping $7,000, featuring a Core i7-14700F and RTX 4070 Ti Super.

Thankfully, Cooler Master charges less than $7,000 for the Shark X case. However, it is still well beyond the price of traditional cases, which are priced at a sky-high $4,200. It's unclear if the Shark X case will be available outside the Japanese market.

Looking like someone has cut off Optimus Prime's foot, this gaming PC from Cooler Master looks like a high-tech robot sneaker. Yet it still houses a fully functioning gaming PC that will comfortably play the latest games. Today's deal sees a large reduction in the retail price for this prebuilt gaming PC, but it must be stated that you can very easily build a gaming PC for less, but it might not include all the small form-factor parts and extremely funky sneaker case.

This deal is available at Woot, where the Cooler Master Sneaker X is on sale for $1,609, reduced from the original $2,299. As I mentioned previously, you can build a similar hardware-specced PC for less, for example, you can pick up an RTX 4070 GPU for $499 (GPU usually being the most expensive part) leaving you just a little over $1,100 to pick up the rest of the parts, but the case alone is part of the selling point. It's quite unique and if you're into the design, then that's what is going to appeal to you.

Although built for housing a mini-ITX PC build, the Cooler Master Sneaker X does contain a lot of sull-sized parts such as the large 360mm cooling radiator and Nvidia RTX 4070 GPU. The motherboard is a mini-ITX board and the Sneaker X packs in a powerful 850W small form factor SFX power supply. It uses a 13th Gen Intel Core i7-13700K, which was released three generations ago, but it could be updated to a 14th Gen processor later if you can find a cheap one as they use the same LGA socket.

There's a pre-installed Cooler Master MF120 Halo fan, and an ARGB controller for jazzing up the Sneaker X even more than it already is, and even with the trainer aesthetics there are the usual connectivity ports available. Ports on the Sneaker X include: 1x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2x2, 4x USB-A 3.0 / 3.1 / 3.2 Gen 1, 2x HDMI, and 4x DisplayPort.

If you're in any way a bit of a sneaker-head, or just want something a bit different with a unique styling the Cooler Master Sneaker X is definitely worth taking a look at whilst it's on sale.

Last year, we covered Cooler Master's unconventional, sneaker-shaped series of Mini ITX form factor specialty PCs, the uber-expensive Cooler Master Sneaker X. Now listings for the Cooler Master Sneaker X with just the case, cooling, and PSU are starting to pop up online, ranging from roughly $985 USD (at Skycomp Technology, an Australian retailer) to $1,028 USD (at PC 21, a French retailer) depending on the store.

The Cooler Master Sneaker X makes for a bold choice in PC cases, to say the least, even when you're buying just the case for about a grand and not one of the prebuilt full PCs which started at $6,999 on release. Its giant sneaker-shaped design features a Mini ITX motherboard and pre-installed fans including a 360mm AIO liquid cooler to facilitate decent performance in a factor not otherwise particularly conducive to good airflow. Fortunately, Cooler Master's established pedigree in cases, fans, and power supplies make the Sneaker X PC case purchase (which includes fans, AIO, and 850W Gold PSU all supplied by Cooler Master) a generally reliable purchase, if perhaps difficult to justify at the price point for all but the most enthusiastic sneakerheads.

At a footprint of 5.6 x 12.0 x 25.6 inches (650 x 306 x 651 mm), this is far from the smallest and most compact Mini ITX PC case you could get your hands on. It's hardly a practical pick for any of our more generalized "Best Cases" lists, but it's not really targeted at mainstream customers, either. However, if we must include a practical critique of such a customized PC case at such a high price point, we can't help but highlight the fact it only has a single 2.5-inch drive bay — surely more could have been possible within such hefty dimensions, right?

Fortunately, the pre-installed 360mm AIO and clearance for triple-slot GPUs up to 304mm in length should still allow for some high-performance PC builds in this chassis, so long as the limitations of the 850W SFX PSU are respected (or replaced, if you so choose). There are definitely more price-practical ways to achieve such desired performance, though.

I've always wanted to build a powerful gaming rig and slot it into a small form-factor PC case, but I have never taken the plunge as there are normally always some compromises to make when trying to build small. One of the compromises is price, to get small yet high performance normally commands a premium price, and if its well above the cost of the same hardware in a larger size then it's hard to justify. Today's deal features one of our favorite mini-ITX cases, perfect for housing a tiny build, and in my opinion, looks absolutely gorgeous.

This is the lowest-ever price this ITX case has been, thanks to a discount and an extra $10 coupon offer. Clip the coupon on the Amazon page and pick up the Cooler Master NR200 Mini-ITX PC case for just $51 - an incredibly low price for such a quality case. We had the chance to review the NR200 back in 2021 when the case was first released and we loved it, awarding the Cooler Master NR200 4.5 stars out of 5, earning it a coveted Editor's Choice award from our reviewer.

Although this case is designed for a small ITX motherboard and SFX power supply, the Cooler Master NR200 can still fit a large graphics card up to an RX 7900 XTX / RTX 4080 Super, which is pretty impressive. However, if the particular model of GPU exceeds 330mm or three slots in thickness, then it won't fit.

To combat the traditional issues with heat in a PC, especially a small form factor PC, the NR200 maximizes cooling efficiency by having all but the front panel vented for high airflow. The case supports radiator mounting for liquid cooling loops and supports 240mm/280mm radiators when side-mounted. To get the cool air in and hot air out, the NR200 can use up to 6 fans to promote airflow.

Cooler Master launched a passive heatsink called Kaze for cooling M.2 2280 SSDs. It uses a dual vapor chamber design and a long heatsink array while maintaining a low profile. It provides cooling for double-sided M.2 SSDs.

Cooler Master promises that its Kaze M.2 cooler provides an ultra-thin vapor chamber made in a way that maintains the low-profile design to complement the SSD and the area in which it is mounted. Further, the cooler is designed to accommodate double-sided M.2 SSDs, something that's rare to see with default heatsinks bundled with motherboards—the heatsink design elongated groves to give maximum coverage over the M.2 2280 form factor.

What's interesting is that Cooler Master mentions it was made for the 'tightest spaces,' including the PlayStation 5. It would make sense why the cooler has multiple horizontal and arrow-shaped grooves through the heatsink, allowing it to drive air through based on the device in which it is mounted.

While it is unlikely to fit any notebooks, having an effective heatsink for double-sided SSDs is always helpful. This is needed as M.2 drives perform better with proper cooling and heat dissipation, which is also why some M.2 SSD makers sell units with a heatsink.

Many companies make M.2 heatsinks and coolers with fans, but it's rare to see those designed for dual-sided M.2 drives while maintaining a low profile for tight spaces, unlike tall M.2 heatsinks. That said, passive heatsinks rely on the airflow around them.

The heatsink has a removable cover on top, which Cooler Master didn't explain its role. While one might think it's to direct the airflow through the heatsinks, there are cuts on the cover itself. However, Cooler Master did not advertise this heatsink with any temperature readouts from a setting, which would have been helpful. Regardless, it would be interesting to see how this performs- more so on a PlayStation 5.

The Kaze's pricing is only mentioned on its UK-based page: €21.99, roughly converting to $24. It would be interesting to see how this performs against something like the ID-Cooling M05 and the M15, which we mentioned in our test and narrowed down to thirty M.2 SSD heatsinks.

The Cooler Master Kaze must perform well on both PC and PlayStation 5 to justify its price tag, as both heatsinks from ID-Cooling were available at $5 and $10. The brand name alone isn't sufficient to explain the heavy price tag.

Cooler Master is a well-known brand in the PC hardware industry, offering a wide range of products including computer cases, cooling systems, and power supplies. With over 30 years of experience, the company has established itself as a reliable and innovative provider of PC components. In recent years, Cooler Master has been expanding its portfolio to include smaller form factor power supplies, known as SFX units, to cater to the growing demand for compact and portable gaming PCs.

The company's  V SFX Platinum 1100 is a powerful 1100-Watt power supply that also boasts an 80 Plus Platinum certification, ensuring high efficiency and lower energy consumption. Designed to compete with the best power supplies for high-end gaming and workstation systems, the Cooler Master V SFX Platinum 1100 is a fully modular unit that can support multiple high-performance graphics cards (such as the best GPUs), CPUs, and storage devices. Aside from its ludicrous power output for an SFX unit, the V SFX Platinum 1100 also brings ATX 3.0 compliance and has a 12VHPWR connector in SFX format. In this review, we will take a closer look at the $200 V SFX Platinum 1100 and evaluate its performance, design, and features. 

Specifications and Design

In the Box: Cooler Master V SFX Platinum 1100

Cooler Master supplies the V SFX Platinum 1100 in a sturdy and colorful cardboard box. The combination of vibrant colors certainly has the box standing out on a shelf and enough information about the PSU and its capabilities can be found on the sides and rear of the box. Inside the box, sizable packaging foam pieces protect the unit itself. With its dimensions and weight in mind, this packaging could withstand the harshest of shipping conditions.

Inside the box, we found a relatively basic but functional bundle. The company supplies the typical AC power cable, an ATX-to-SFX adapter, eight screws (four for the PSU and four for the adapter, if necessary), a few cable ties, and two cable straps. Considering the short cables this PSU has, these should be enough. We also received a manual and a leaflet with instructions concerning the 12VHPWR cable. Both are very detailed for end-user documentation, down to the pinout diagrams of the connectors. We should note that Cooler Master suggests that the 12VHPWR connector should be used for up to 30 connection/disconnection cycles.

The Cooler Master V SFX Platinum 1100 is a fully-modular PSU and every cable can be detached, including the 24-pin ATX cable. All of the connectors and wires are black, with ribbon-like “flat” wires. The sole exception is the 12VHPWR cable, which is sleeved. The cables are shorter than those of an ATX PSU, which is a boon for those with smaller cases and compact systems where every millimeter counts, but it can be an issue if someone tries to install this unit inside a large ATX case using the adapter. Furthermore, the total number of connectors is rather small for a unit with that kind of power output.

External Appearance of Cooler Master V SFX Platinum 1100

A mere glance at the Cooler Master V SFX Platinum 1100 reveals what an engineering feat this product truly is – the designing engineers managed to fit a platform capable of 1100 Watt continuous output and capable of excursions over 2000 Watts inside a standard 125 × 63.5 × 100 mm / 4.92 × 2.5 × 3.94 in (W×H×D) SFX form factor chassis. And let me reiterate that: that's the base SFX form factor, not the extended SFX-L form factor we typically see used for higher power units. The power-to-mass ratio of this unit is significantly greater than anything we've previously reviewed.

For the most part, the chassis of the V SFX Platinum 1100 is that of a standard SFX-sized unit that is sprayed with matte black paint. The company punched the left side of the unit with a geometric C-like shape, with the company and series logo printed in the middle. A large sticker with the unit’s certifications and specifications covers the top side of the chassis.

The rear side of the unit is fairly dull, home only to the necessary AC cable receptacle. There is no on/off switch as the designers of this unit needed every last bit of space they could get. The front side is densely populated with the connectors for the modular cables. The connectors are not color-coded but there is a basic legend printed on the chassis indicating what each connector is for. All of the connectors are keyed.

Internal Design of Cooler Master V SFX Platinum 1100

The 92 mm fan responsible for the cooling of the V SFX Platinum 1100 is made by Hong Hua (HA9215SH12FD-F00), an established manufacturer of quality products. It is a low-profile 15 mm thick fan with a very high current rating (0.46A) for its size. The maximum speed of 2800 RPM is high, but not unsurprisingly so for such a power-dense product and relative fan size. It has a fluid-dynamic bearing, which technically is a high-quality sleeve bearing. These last very long if not overstressed and will run significantly quieter compared to a typical ball bearing fans.

Although the design of the V SFX Platinum 1100 reminisces of CWT designs, the OEM behind its creation is a Taiwanese company named Sysgration. This is the first time we have encountered Sysgration as the OEM of a computer PSU, but Sysgration has been around for nearly 50 years, with a vast portfolio ranging from automotive electronics to battery systems. As a large percentage of the company is focused on energy systems, including on-grid and off-grid power products, their know-how of power electronics should not be underestimated.

The word “packed” does not suffice in describing the interior of the V SFX Platinum 1100. Whoever designed this unit is exceptionally good at making things fit (and we can only assume they spent their youth mastering Tetris). The filtering stage starts on the back of the AC receptacle, consisting of four Y capacitors, three X capacitors, and two filtering inductors – a royal filter for a design where every bit of space counts. There is only one bridge rectifier, on its own heatsink. The heatsink is simplistic but has sufficient surface area and openings for airflow.

The APFC circuit is almost textbook, with the active components on the large heatsink across the edge of the PCB, one filtering coil and a single capacitor. One obvious difference here is that the huge 450V/800μF capacitor is placed sidewards, underneath the heatsink. The capacitor is made by EPCOS. On the primary side of the transformer, we find four primary side inversion MOSFETs that form the heart of an LLC resonant full-bridge design.

A vertical PCB on the secondary side of the transformer holds the ten MOSFETs that generate the main 12V line. We commonly find this practice on modern CWT designs, and now we see another manufacturer implementing it. This approach requires careful electrical and thermal design, as the secondary side MOSFETs essentially need to dissipate their thermal losses directly and/or via what tiny heatsinks can be attached to the vertical PCB. As with all modern PSU designs, the 3.3V and 5V lines are derived via DC-to-DC conversion circuits. All of the polymer capacitors are supplied by Nippon Chemi-Con and the few electrolytic capacitors are supplied by Rubycon.

Cold Test Results

Cold Test Results (22°C Ambient)

For the testing of PSUs, we are using high precision electronic loads with a maximum power draw of 2700 Watts, a Rigol DS5042M 40 MHz oscilloscope, an Extech 380803 power analyzer, two high precision UNI-T UT-325 digital thermometers, an Extech HD600 SPL meter, a self-designed hotbox and various other bits and parts.

The efficiency of the Cooler Master V SFX Platinum 1100 is exceptional, with it being one of the very few units that meets the 80Plus certification regardless of the voltage input. It is significantly more efficient when powered via an 230V AC source, with an average efficiency of 93% across the nominal load range. That figure drops down to 91.3% when the unit is powered from a 115V AC source, but that still is very high and the PSU easily meets the 80Plus Platinum certification requirements.

Due to the very high efficiency, the thermal losses are low, thus we would normally expect to see very low internal temperatures. This is not the case here because the V SFX Platinum 1100 is very dense and its cooling capacity much lower than that of a comparable ATX unit, expectedly resulting in higher-than-regular internal temperatures. Nevertheless, these temperature figures are perfectly safe for the unit.

As expected from such a compact and power-dense unit, the designer did not risk having a fanless operation mode, which also led to fewer components for the thermal control circuit and saved a bit of precious space. The 92 mm fan will start immediately once the PSU is powered on but does stay relatively quiet while the load is low. It will speed up depending on the load, slowly at first but abruptly once the load is higher than 700 Watts. The PSU does get very loud when the load is very high, but not unexpectedly so – despite the high efficiency, its very compact dimensions and small cooling fan fashion a challenging cooling design.

Hot Test Results

Hot Test Results (~45°C Ambient)

Many performance indexes of the Cooler Master V SFX Platinum 1100 are greatly affected when the ambient temperature is very high, suggesting extreme thermal stress. The average efficiency degradation is greater than 2% across the nominal load range, one of the worst figures we ever recorded. Furthermore, the degradation of the unit’s efficiency near or at maximum capacity is extremely high, reaching a maximum of over 5.1%, suggesting extreme thermal stress.

Regardless of the fan’s valiant efforts, the internal temperatures of the Cooler Master V SFX Platinum 1100 reach extremely high figures while the unit operates heavily loaded inside our hotbox. The PSU was either operating extremely close to the thermal shutdown limit, or it was just a matter of time until it was triggered, as we recorded surface temperatures of over 120°C. Such temperatures easily justify the thermal stress that the unit is exhibiting on electrical performance figures.

The 92 mm cooling fan starts at a relatively low speed but it now will be audible even if the load is just 100 Watts. Still, the noise figures are not high and the PSU would be tolerable for daily use. However, the fan quickly increases its speed as the load increases and even reaches its maximum speed when the V SFX Platinum 1100 is operating at just 60% capacity. After that, the fan is powerless to do anything else and is the reason why the internal temperatures of the unit climb so high. The designer of this unit clearly did not mean it to be used inside very hot environments and/or heavily loaded for prolonged periods of time, something also hinted at by the number of connectors it has.

PSU Quality and Bottom Line

Power Supply Quality of Cooler Master V SFX Platinum 1100

The electrical performance of the Cooler Master V SFX Platinum 1100 is fair while the load is low to middling but poor while the unit is heavily loaded. All of the voltage ripple figures do stay within the recommended design limits but it has been many years since we have seen a ripple greater than 100 mV on the 12V line, especially from a unit of this class and efficiency. On the other hand, voltage regulation is extremely tight on the 12V line and excellent on the minor 3.3V/5V lines. It is apparent that the tight dimensions prevented the designer from installing sufficient filtering.

As part of our standard testing, we test the primary protections of all PSUs we review (Over Current, Over Voltage, Over Power, and Short Circuit). The Cooler Master V SFX Platinum 1100 passed all of our tests successfully. It is also worthwhile to note that the OCP protection and OPP protection of this PSU were relatively low compared to other ATX 3.0 units, at 110% and 115% respectively. Other manufacturers have these protections set very high in order to achieve ATX 3.0 compliance but it would seem that this newly developed platform achieves compliance and reasonable protection figures at the same time.

Bottom Line

With such extreme power density and ATX 3.0 compliance in SFX proportions, the Cooler Master V SFX Platinum 1100 PSU certainly is a very unique product - albeit one that is a mixed bag when it comes to performance. It does have excellent build quality and components, most likely thanks to its OEM, Sysgration, which has years of experience in power electronics design. However, the cramped design of the unit hampers its overall performance, particularly at higher loads, where insufficient filtering and thermal stress result in poor power quality.

Voltage regulation is excellent at all times and the protections of the unit function perfectly, but filtering leaves much to be desired, with figures that barely stay within the recommended design limit. It is evident that the designers of this platform just ran out of space for additional filtering and the high temperatures made matters even worse for the unit. Considering that no figure went above the limit, the Cooler Master V SFX Platinum 1100 does pass in terms of acceptable power quality, but enthusiasts have come to expect more from a premium product.

The PSU performs well enough in room-temperature environments, but struggles to maintain fair operating temperatures when the ambient temperature is high. This is a significant issue, as extreme thermal stress leads to performance degradation, making it difficult to recommend for use in high-temperature environments. Noise levels are acceptable at room temperature, but high ambient temperatures result in very high noise levels, which may not be suitable for noise-sensitive environments.

Overall, the Cooler Master V SFX Platinum 1100 PSU is a unique product that caters to specific needs. With a current street price of $200, it is not unreasonably expensive for such a power-dense SFX unit but it remains a significant investment. Its excellent build quality, unique SFX form factor, and high-power output make it a compelling option for compact PC gaming and deep learning systems. However, the substantial prerequisites to avoid thermal and noise issues and high price point make it difficult to recommend as a mainstream product. It may be suitable for users looking to build a high-performance, compact PC and willing to pay the significant premium, but Cooler Master will have a hard time convincing the vast majority of the market.

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Cooler Master introduced the MasterHUB at Computex 2024, showcasing a modular control panel you can customize to your heart’s desire. The company has now published a Kickstarter page for the MasterHUB, with product shipments expected to start in September 2024, and offering discounts to early birds.

Early supporters who place a $40 fully refundable deposit get about 25% off the list price of a MasterHUB, reserving a spot on the first delivery schedule. Cooler Master is initially offering two packages for the MasterHUB: the $299 Starter Kit includes the FlexBase, a 15-key IPS display, a five-slider module, and a two-roller module; and the $399 Pro Kit, includes everything in the Starter Kit plus a three-knob module, and the rotary encoder, with a 1.3-inch IPS display.

Aside from these kits, you can purchase the modules separately, although it’s not apparent if you can do that at the Kickstarter stage. Cooler Master also plans to launch additional modules, including an 8-inch touchscreen and other smaller displays, although we aren't sure when these will be available.

The $299 sale and $399 regular price might be a bit steep, especially as you can get the basic 15-key Elgato Stream Deck for just $125.99 (down from its $149.99 regular price) on Amazon. Although the MasterHUB is more than double the price of the Stream Deck, you also get the sliders and rollers, giving you more functionality.

More than that, with Cooler Master's solution you don’t have to buy a completely new gadget if you need to upgrade. The MasterHUB’s modularity allows you to add additional features down the road, like the encoder and knob modules, whereas you need to buy a completely new console like the Stream Deck+ or the Loupedeck Live S if you need more keys and functions later down the line.

Cooler Master took over four long years to bring the MasterHUB to market, but it’s now finally almost ready to hit store shelves. We’re excited to get this little gadget on our desks to speed up our workflow, especially as its modular build will allow us to customize it as we see fit. 

So, if you’re in the market for a custom control panel for your PC, head on to the Kickstarter page to see and read more about the MasterHUB. However, even with a big brand like Cooler Master, the same early-bird crowdfunded product warning applies. Sometimes it is wiser to wait for the general release of a product to benefit from the clarity and judgment of third-party reviews before parting with your cash.

Today on the test bench we’ve got Cooler Master’s latest ION 360 AIO liquid cooler. In many ways, it’s similar to the Atmos 360 AIO the company released last year, but it includes upgraded features, like a new 2.1-inch LCD display. 

Bells and whistles are nice, but does the ION 360 have what it takes to earn a spot on our best AIO coolers list? We’ll have to put it through testing, pairing it with Intel’s i7-13700K CPU, to find out. But first, here are the specifications from Cooler Master.

Cooler Specifications

Packing and included contents 

The packaging of the AIO is rather different from most coolers, with the parts neatly packed in individual boxes.

Rather than including a traditional user manual, the installation instructions are printed on the outside of the boxes. However, if you prefer a traditional manual, one can be downloaded by scanning the QR code shown in the picture above.

Included with the cooler are the following:

• 360mm radiator and CPU block
• Three 120mm fans, preinstalled
• Mounting hardware for modern AMD and Intel Platforms
• Cryofuze thermal paste
• Cable management clips for the AIO tubes and ARGB connections

Features of Cooler Master’s ION 360 AIO

● Full RAM compatibility

As this AIO does not interfere or overhang DIMM slots in any manner, all sizes of RAM, no matter how tall, are compatible with Cooler Master’s ION 360.

● 27mm thick radiator

The radiator included is a standard 27mm size, for a total of 52mm in thickness if you include the fans attached.

●  2.1-inch LCD display, MasterCTRL software

Cooler Master’s ION 360 features a 2.1-inch round display, surrounded by programmable LEDs.

The display is controlled by Cooler Master’s MasterCTRL software, which you can also use to modify fan behavior or customize the AIO.

I found one major flaw in the MasterCTRL software: There is no ability for the end user to modify the behavior of the AIO’s pump. I’ll touch on this more later. 

● AIO tubing and ARGB cable Management Clips

Two types of cable management clips are included with the ION 360. Most users will be familiar with the first type of clips, which help keep the tubing of the AIO organized.

The second set of included cable management clips I’ve seen in some models of AIOs, but seems to be less common. These clips slide around the sides of connected ARGB cables, keeping them secure and preventing them from slipping apart.

● 3x 120mm Mobius 120P fans

There’s more to a cooler than just the heatsink or radiator. The bundled fans have a significant impact on cooling and noise levels, as well as how the cooler looks in your case. 

Cooler Master includes its latest Mobius 120P fans with the ION. The most interesting feature of these fans is that they are designed for very long lifespans – Cooler Master indicates its confidence in the quality of its fans with a MTTF rated at over 200,000 hours.

● Thermal paste and grease spreading tool

Cooler Master includes a typically sized tube of their premium Cryofuze thermal paste, sufficient for multiple applications.

Also included with the product is a grease application tool, which can help novice users in application of thermal paste.

What I don’t like about the ION 360

● No ability to modify pump behavior

Cooler Master’s ION 360 doesn’t let you modify pump behavior. I suspect the pump’s default behavior is the reason I observed less-than-expected performance when the fans were set to low noise levels, as you’ll see in our noise normalized performance results below.

● Delayed pump activity, resulting in bursty fan noise

The pump does not react quickly to temperature changes. As a result, whenever a workload begins that raises the temperature, the fans will run louder than they should for a few moments until the pump kicks in and temperatures stabilize.

● Louder than its predecessor, the Atmos 360

Last year I reviewed this AIO’s predecessor, the Atmos 360, and found it to be one of the best AIOs on the market in terms of performance and noise levels in common scenarios. The ION 360 offers similar thermal performance, but runs much louder in the same tests.

● High Price

At $249.99 USD, the ION is one of the more expensive AIOs on the market. This would be acceptable if it was a notable improvement over the Atmos 360, which is $100 USD cheaper. But in many ways the performance of the ION 360 is a regression compared to its predecessor.

● “Warranty void when removed” 

While Cooler Master provides an accessible refill port, they cover it with a “warranty void when removed” sticker. According to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), these policies violate the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, which prohibits companies from putting conditions on their warranties based on the use of a product or service, such as a repair service. The FTC has recently cracked down on these sorts of violations warning Gigabyte, ASRock, and Zotac that they are in violation of US law.

Testing Methodology, and how my testing differs vs the competition

My cooler testing is specifically designed to emulate the conditions a user would actually experience when using a computer. Some reviewers test coolers using an open bench. I do not like this method, it reduces cooling difficulty. When you use a case, the internal temperature of that case will become higher than that of the room’s ambient temperature, increasing the saturation of the cooler and overall cooling difficulty. Testing outside of a case will give an advantage to weaker coolers, especially those with fans that aren’t very strong. 

Others test using a thermal heatplate. This method suffers from all the drawbacks of an open bench, but also doesn’t accurately represent cooling a CPU. A thermal plate evenly distributes a thermal load across the copper heat conduction square. The problem with this type of testing is that modern AMD Ryzen and Intel Core CPUs have most of their heat concentrated in a few hotspots – and cooling a concentrated source of heat is more difficult than cooling a source that’s spread evenly.

The last thing I do differently from some cooler testers is that I insist on using relatively new CPUs for cooler testing because people building new PCs should be using recent CPUs. Also, thermal density is just different with newer CPUs. Products like Ryzen 3000 “Zen 2” and older 14nm Intel CPUs have lower heat density compared to modern counterparts, due to a combination of using older manufacturing processes and running at lower clock speeds. Using a weaker cooler with an older CPU can make the cooler look better performing than it actually is with current-gen silicon. 

Today's highest-end CPUs, whether Intel or AMD, are difficult to cool in intensive workloads. In the past. reaching 95 degrees Celsius or more on a desktop CPU might have been a cause for concern. But with today’s top-end CPUs, this is considered normal operation. Similar behavior has been present in laptops for years due to cooling limitations in tight spaces.

All testing is performed with a 23C ambient room temperature. Multiple thermal tests are run on each CPU to test the cooler in a variety of conditions, and acoustic measurements are taken with each result. These tests include:

1.  Noise-normalized testing at low noise levels

2.  “Out-of-the-box”/Default configuration thermal and acoustic testing

     a.  No power limits enforced 

     b. Because CPUs hit TJ Max in this scenario, the best way to compare cooling strength is by recording the total CPU package power consumption.  

3. Thermal and acoustic testing in power-limited scenarios 

    a. Power limited to 175W to emulate a medium-intensity workload 

     b. Power limited to 125W to emulate a low-intensity workload 

The thermal results included are for 10-minute testing runs. To be sure that was sufficiently long to tax the cooler, we tested both Thermalright’s Assassin X 120 R SE and DeepCool’s LT720 with a 30-minute Cinebench test with Intel’s i9-13900K for both 10 minutes and 30 minutes. The results didn’t change much at all with the longer test: The average clock speeds maintained dropped by 29 MHz on DeepCool’s LT720 and 31 MHz on Thermalright’s Assassin X 120 R SE. That’s an incredibly small 0.6% difference in clock speeds maintained, a margin of error difference that tells us that the 10-minute tests are indeed long enough to properly test the coolers.

A note about testing with this specific cooler

Typically when testing AIOs I will test them using 100% pump speeds and fan speeds set on a curve. If the cooler’s software operates differently out of the box, I’ll test both in the default configuration and when set to my typical system settings. However, Cooler Master’s ION does not allow the user to modify the AIO’s pump behavior. For this reason, I’ve only tested the ION 360 in its default behavior when used with the MasterCTRL software for this review.

Testing configuration – Intel LGA1700 platform

There are many factors other than the CPU cooler that can influence your cooling performance, including the case you use and the fans installed in it. A system's motherboard can also influence this, especially if it suffers from bending, which results in poor cooler contact with the CPU.

In order to prevent bending from impacting our cooling results, we’ve installed Thermalright’s LGA 1700 contact frame into our testing rig. If your motherboard is affected by bending, your thermal results will be worse than those shown below. Not all motherboards are affected equally by this issue. I tested Raptor Lake CPUs in two motherboards. And while one of them showed significant thermal improvements after installing Thermalright’s LGA1700 contact frame, the other motherboard showed no difference in temperatures whatsoever! Check out our review of the contact frame for more information.

Installation

The cooler installation is simple and easy. The fans come pre-installed, saving a few moments of installation time. I generally recommend securing the radiator to the case before proceeding to other steps.

1. Place the CPU bracket against the rear of the motherboard, and secure it using the included standoffs.

2. Next, apply the included thermal paste to the top of your CPU. If you’re not sure how to do this, we have a guide you can read for more details. Cooler Master also includes a stencil to help simplify the process.

3. Press the CPU block against the standoffs, and secure it using the included thumbscrews.

4. After securing the CPU block, you’ll need to connect the pump to a USB header using the included cable. You’ll also need to connect the power cord to the CPU block and a SATA power port. Finally, connect the ARGB and PWM cables to finish installation.

Thermal results without power limits

Without power limits enforced on Intel’s i7-13700K, the CPU will hit its peak temperature (TJ Max) and thermally throttle with even the strongest of air coolers. When the CPU reaches its peak temperature, I’ve measured the CPU package power to determine the maximum wattage cooled to best compare their performance.

The general exception to this comes with the strongest AIOs on the market, which can keep Intel’s i7-13700K under TJ Max. This is no small task, as many 360mm AIOs fail this test.

Cooler Master’s ION performs exceptionally well here, with the best thermal performance on the market we’ve seen from any CPU cooler. This level of thermal performance is matched by two other coolers we’ve tested, Lian Li’s GA II Performance 360mm AIO and Cooler Master’s own 360 Atmos AIO.

To achieve this level of performance, the unrestricted fans run up to 50.0 dBA. This is louder than I am personally comfortable with, and is a regression from last year’s Atmos 360, which ran 2.3 dBA quieter.

Thermal results with noise normalized to 38.2 dBA

Finding the right balance between fan noise levels and cooling performance is important. While running fans at full speed can improve cooling capacity to some extent, the benefits are limited and many users prefer a quieter system. With this noise-normalized test, I’ve set noise levels to 38.2 dba. This level of noise is a low volume level, but slightly audible to most people.

With the noise of the fans limited to 38.2 dBA, Cooler Master’s ION 360 only cooled 216W. This is a significant regression compared to the Atmos 360, which cooled 233W at the same noise level setting. I believe the reason the ION performed so poorly in this scenario is due to the behavior of the pump, which can’t be changed or modified by the user.

175W Cinebench results

Most coolers on the market can keep Intel’s i7-13700K under its peak temperature if the power consumption is limited, so for this test, we’ll be looking at the CPU’s actual temperature.

The result of 49 degrees C over ambient is one of the best we’ve tested, tied for second place – but it is 1C behind the performance of the Atmos 360. That would be fine if noise levels were similar, but they’re not. The ION 360 ran at 45.6 dBA, a significant 4.7 dBA louder than its predecessor the Atmos 360 AIO.

125W Cinebench results

The lowest power limit I test with Raptor Lake CPUs is 125W. This is a high enough limit to allow the CPU to maintain its base clock speeds even in the most intensive tests, and most coolers should be capable of keeping the CPU below TJ Max (the max temperature before throttling) – even low-end coolers.

Really, thermals do not matter in this scenario, because even Intel’s stock cooler can handle a load like this with ease. Noise levels, rather than CPU temperature, are the most important factor here. That said, thermal performance – while good – is 2C behind the performance of last year’s Atmos 360 AIO.

This would be a nothingburger if noise levels were similar, but the ION 360 has the worst noise levels of any AIO we’ve tested in this situation – reaching 42 dBA!

Conclusion

Cooler Master’s ION is a strong performing AIO with a customizable 2.1-inch screen. But I can’t recommend it because it has worse thermal performance and louder noise levels than its predecessor. That said, these issues might be fixed with a future software update. Unless you really need that fancy display, I’d recommend looking at Cooler Master’s Atmos 360 instead.

Cooler Master has finally listed its first completely fanless power supply for sale, with a highly enticing early adopters deal. For a limited time, buyers can get the power supply for $399 and a 27-inch curved gaming monitor for free.

The X Silent Edge Platinum 850 is a fully fanless power supply, the largest-wattage ATX power supply without a fan commercially available today. The PSU offers all the standard power supply leads for an 850-watt computer, including a 12V graphics card cable. Also included are USB and PMBus headers for connecting your PSU to monitoring software and an extra fan header. The power supply, as the name suggests, is rated for 80 Plus Platinum efficiency and comes with a 15-year warranty from Cooler Master.

The X Silent Edge Platinum 850 will first ship at the end of June, but for buyers who order soon, a limited number of units will be priced at $399 rather than the MSRP of $549. These units will also come bundled with a Cooler Master GM27-CFX 27" curved gaming monitor, a 1080p (1920 x 1080), 240 Hz panel with DisplayHDR400 rating; not true HDR, but bright enough to make a slight improvement over many other panels. Also included in the early bird bundle are an ATX 24-pin 90-degree adapter and an M.2 SSD thermal pad.

The Cooler Master X Silent series of power supplies has been talked about since Cooler Master started building hype for the line in the lead-up to CES 2024. The X Silent Edge Platinum 850 is the only model released for sale now and is the smallest power supply in the stable. Still yet to come are the X Silent Edge Platinum 1100W, X Silent Max Platinum 1300W, and X Mighty Platinum 2000W, with the 1300W and 2000W models housing a large fan inside for silent operation some of the time and really-quiet the rest of the time.

The X Silent Edge Platinum 850 and 1100 achieve a fanless design through a substantial metal cooling block threaded with copper heat pipes on their undersides. The thick block adds serious heft to the power supplies based on our hands-on time at Cooler Master HQ in December. Cooler Master says it decided to go all-in on fanless both for the convenience of the user chasing a silent PC and for the long-term life of the PSU, as dust entering through the fan can cause early power supply death.

Those looking to chase an entirely silent PC at higher power draws can look no further than the X Silent Edge Platinum 850; no other passive power supplies are yet on the market at this wattage or above. The closest is the Seasonic Prime Fanless TX-700, which retails for around $250, significantly cheaper than even the X Silent Edge's $399 early-bird price tag, but not enough for more power-hungry systems. We're excited to get our hands on the X Silent Edge and see whether it ranks among our best PSUs.

We're now on Day Two of our Computex 2024 coverage, and the news isn't showing any signs of slowing down. Today, we have some insights from Intel on its next-generation Xeon 6 processors, which will be available in low-power/efficient and high-performance variants to take on AMD's potent EPYC family. There are new power supplies from Seasonic and Super Flower (including a 2800W monster) and a massive new 57-inch Dual 4K monitor from Cooler Master. 

Intel's Xeon 6 processors are on deck to challenge AMD's EPYC family Earlier this week, AMD announced its new 3nm Turin-based EPYC processors, which are available in up to 192-core configurations. Today, however, is Intel's turn to shine with its Xeon 6 processors. The Xeon 6 family will be split into families, with the first being "Sierra Forest," featuring efficiency-optimized E-Cores with up to 144 cores are available now (288-core models will debut in 2025). The second family, "Granite Rapids," will feature up to 86 P-cores and launch during the third quarter of 2024 (up to 128 P-core SKUs arrive in 2025).

• Intel Launches 144-core' Sierra Forrest' Xeon 6 CPUs, Granite Rapids Follows in Q3

New Power Supplies from Super Flower and Seasonic
In the world of power supplies, Seasonic and Noctua have collaborated to launch the Prime TX-1600 Noctua Edition. This 1,600W power supply has been infused with a 120mm Noctua NF-A12x25 fan that spins at up to 2,000 RPM, an optimized grill fan, and includes 12V-2x6 connectors. It also comes in a brown finish that is indicative of the Noctua influence.

But if you need even more power, look no further than the Super Flower Leadex SF-2800F14HP 3.1. This PSU is rated for a staggering 2800W and supports up to four GeForce RTX 4090 graphics cards using 12V-2x6 connectors. Despite the insane power rating, Super Flower says the Leadex SF-2800F14HP 3.1 only supports a single PC.

• Seasonic's latest big and silent 1,600W PSU gets a quieter 120mm Noctua fan upgrade
• 2800W Super Flower PSU boasts four 12V-2x6 power connectors — good for quad GPU setups used for AI training, not gaming

CAMM2 Memory Standard Backed by Kingston and MSI
Both Kingston and MSI are embracing the CAMM2 standard for desktop motherboards. The new space-saving standard is aimed primarily at laptops as a lower-profile alternative to SO-DIMMs (they are 57 percent thinner). However, it will also have a place in the desktop world, as witnessed by Kingston's Kingston Fury Impact DDR5 CAMM2 modules. They first will be available in 32GB and 64GB capacities, with 128GB and 256GB capacities arriving at a later date.

MSI has already announced a desktop motherboard supporting CAMM2 modules, which left many people scratching their heads. Now we see why the company opted for this route: the space-efficient design of CAMM2 allowed it to design a special waterblock to cool the memory directly.

• Kingston unveils new CAMM2 RAM modules at Computex — bold new RAM form factor comes to PC on MSI and Asus boards
• A curious use case for CAMM2 memory modules on desktops: Liquid cooling

Phanteks and InWin Have New PC Cases on Display
If you want to upgrade your gaming rig's enclosure, we have two intriguing options. First is the Phanteks Evolv X2, which has glass panels on three sides, which gives you a nice wraparound look at the hardware lurking inside. Power connectors are hidden, the fans are recessed, and a secret channel hides all those pesky cables. The result is an incredibly clean design that also aids in airflow. Despite the good looks and trick design features, Phanteks says the case will retail for just $150.      

For something a bit more unorthodox, there's the Infinite Signature case from InWin. It features a large 180-degree curved glass panel. The case is also motorized, allowing it to rotate 45 degrees to give you a better look at the internal components.

For something more mainstream, there's the F3 microATX case that can be fitted with plastic, wood, or steel panels to give it your unique and personal touch. Pricing starts at $149 and goes up to $160 if you want wood paneling.

• Phanteks Evolv X2 is the perfect showcase PC chassis — floating motherboard tray and recessed fans a delight
• InWin flexes its glass-bending skills with new Signature case — Infinite and F3 revealed at Computex 2024

ASRock and Cooler Master Showcase Exciting New Gaming Monitors
Computex has always been a big draw for gaming monitors; this year is no exception. ASRock drew in eyeballs with its new Phantom Gaming PG032UFS2B, which features a 32-inch 4K OLED panel with a 240 Hz refresh rate. However, if you dial the resolution back to 1080p, the maximum refresh rate jumps to 480 Hz. 

If 480 Hz isn't fast enough for you, there's the PG27FFX2A, which is claimed to be the world's fastest IPS panel, with a refresh rate of 520 Hz (at 1080p).

For those who want an absolutely massive monitor to dominate your desk and give you an immersive gaming experience, there's the Cooler Master GP57ZS. While it's still a prototype, the GP57ZS is a Dual-4K (7,680 x 2,160) resolution monitor boasting an insane 57-inch diagonal. With a 1000R curve and 2,304 Mini-LED backlit zones, we're eager to get our hands on a future production sample.

• ASRock's 32-inch, 480 Hz OLED monitor is a feast for the eyes and your router
• Cooler Master showcases a massive 57-inch super ultrawide dual-4K Mini LED gaming monitor

The Best of the Rest

• ASRock shows off new AMD Ryzen 9000 motherboards
• Ducky One X keyboard first to use Cherry's innovative induction switches
• MSI launches AI+ laptops for gamers and creators, boasting 100 to 542 TOPS

A gargantuan curved gaming monitor takes up a lot of desk space at Cooler Master’s Computex 2024 show area. The new Cooler Master GP57ZS is built around a 57-inch diagonal display with dual-4K resolution. Boosting immersion, Cooler Master has leveraged a 1000R curvature and punchy visuals driven by VA Mini-LED technology, which covers 98% of the DCI-P3 gamut.

For now, the Cooler Master GP57ZS is primarily a tease. The firm says that it is a proof of concept for several supporting technologies, such as a new custom heatsink (yes, this monitor needs cooling), a new sound system, and a new design aesthetic.

Sitting in front of a 57-inch monitor with 7,680 x 2,160 pixels and 1000R curvature, it would be difficult not to be immersed. However, the 2304-zone Mini LED backlight for excellent contrast and the wide color gamut on display should crank your immersion levels even higher. Cooler Master sums up the GP57ZS by claiming the new screen will help you “lose yourself in colorful worlds.”

We don’t have detailed specs available for the Cooler Master GP57ZS, as it is still in development. However, it certainly looks like it could be a good alternative (or even be somehow related) to the Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 Dual-UHD or the Acer Predator Z57 gaming monitors. Stay tuned for pricing and availability information.

In addition to the unobtainium of the GP57ZS, Cooler Master has some more mainstream monitors on show at its Computex showcase. We noticed two attractive new 27-inch monitors with sweet-spot QHD resolution panels, represented by the Cooler Master GP27QP premium every day (flat) monitor and the Cooler Master GM27QP for work and play (curved).

Whichever of these 27-inch monitors you prefer, the flat or the curved one, you will benefit from their high PPI display supporting fast refresh rates (up to 240 Hz for the GP27QP and 160 Hz for the GM270P), quick 1 ms response times, built-in stereo speakers, and low-blue-light and flicker-free ergonomics.

The ‘premium’ model, the Cooler Master GP27QP, doesn’t only offer slightly faster max refresh rates, it has HDR1000 (vs HDR400) and superior contrast thanks to Mini LED technology with 1,152 dimming zones. It also benefits from USB Type-C display connectivity (alongside HDMI and DP), which is very convenient for plugging in laptops, smart devices, etc.

Cooler Master has a lot of intriguing prototypes and upcoming products at its Computex 2024 booth. But somewhere between the 57-inch curved monitor, the chassis that looks like a 1960s briefcase and the MasterHUB modular streaming console, a tiny device caught my eye. The Retro Screen looks like an old arcade machine was hit with shrink ray and then given a Cooler Master black and purple design aesthetic. 

The Retro Screen is a prototype so it's still very much under development and may never come to market.  But what a fascinating concept design it is! The device has a colorful full HD display, a tiny thumb stick, four purple game buttons and some menu buttons. It's about the size of a bobble-head doll.

On the screen, there's an app menu showing various icons, one of which is Spotify. In theory, you could not only play games on the Retro Screen, but also launch a music player or another function such as a clock or a photo viewer. 

Cooler Master reps didn't share the type of processor the Retro Screen uses, but they did say that it employs a proprietary operating system that they created. If it comes to market, programmers will be able to write apps for it to handle all kinds of tasks, including gaming. 

Despite what its name might imply, the Retro Screen will not come with an aracde emulator, a Cooler Master rep said. Instead, the company will have to have games that you can install which are legally licensed or made by the community.

The software on the demo unit at the booth didn't do much. After hitting one of the buttons, the look of the menu changed slightly, but I wasn't able to fire up any of the apps and try them. 

However, the buttons and joystick had a nice feel to them. And the screen seemed pretty bright and colorful.. The Retro Screen joystick and buttons aren't big, but they are large enough for an adult to use. The entire device is much larger and likely more usable than one of My Arcade's Micro Players, which do have officially-licensed arcade games on them but are so small that the joystick would fit in a Barbie's hand.

The Retro Screen also has Bluetooth connectivity. So we an imagine it being able to pair with an external peripheral or a speaker. Or perhaps it can be the speaker. 

In addition to the Retro Screen, Cooler Master had another prototype, the Vuenex Display Speaker, at its booth. This diminutive device has a similarly-sized HD display to the Retro Screen and it sports the same UI. However, it doesn't have the joystick or buttons needed to play games.

The Vuenex Display Speaker looks more like a smart speaker / clock that would live on your desk or your night stand than the Retro Screen. But either device seems like it could be a fun desktop companion.

We don't know whether either the Retro Screen or the Vuenex Display Speaker will come out in their current forms or ever. Given that they are prototypes, we'd expect to see some changes in a potential final product.

Cooler Master released an official statement on X saying that its latest product, the Cryofuze 5, is not ‘AI thermal paste’. The term came from a Google-translation of the Chinese page for the Cryofuze 5, where the original Chinese characters — AI竞彩导热膏 — were translated as ‘AI competitive thermal paste’ or ‘AI thermal paste’.

The official statement from Cooler Master says that the company isn’t actively promoting the Cryofuze 5 as an ‘AI thermal paste’ in the sense that it uses AI to help transfer heat from your CPU or GPU to the water block or heat sink. Instead, the original term meant to say that the Cryofuze 5 is perfect for AI-enabled chips, especially as these could generate more heat.

As we have previously reported we thought that Cooler Master’s new thermal paste was designed for high power AI applications, like Intel’s 1500-watt TDP Falcon Shores and Nvidia’s B100 and B200 GPUs that could reach 1000 watts. This was especially true with the company’s claimed stability for the thermal paste from -50 to 240 degrees Celsius — meaning the Cryofuze 5 will perform as expected even if you use liquid nitrogen to cool your PC, like how this M4 iPad Pro was cooled.

Cooler Master shows that it isn’t just capitalizing on the AI trend by slapping "AI" to its new products. Instead, the company made the Cryofuze 5 to help PC builders get ready for even hotter CPUs, APUs, and GPUs, especially as AI powered processors are now slowly becoming available to the PC building community.

The ‘AI Thermal Paste’ was talked about for a short while, especially as many people pondered on the meaning or significance of ‘AI Thermal Paste’. This statement clarifies the air and shows that it was all a misunderstanding.

Nevertheless, the few days in which we all pondered ‘AI Thermal Paste’ is a marketing win for the company, as the efforts of its marketing team reached more people and ‘AI thermal paste’ became a minor meme because of this harmless snafu. At the very least, Cooler Master achieved what it wrote on it’s X bio—“Your #1 go-to for the coolest PC hardware memes!”

Cooler Master just released a new line of CryoFuze 5 'AI Thermal Paste' that comes in six different colors. The company uses zinc oxide and aluminum powder to make the colorful thermal paste, while also claiming that it uses 'nano-molecular technology' to deliver stable performance.

While the added colors are likely just a gimmick or for creators filming their PC builds, the bigger claim here is the thermal paste’s performance and stability across a wide range of temperatures. According to the CryoFuze 5 China product page, the thermal paste has a thermal conductivity coefficient of 12.6 W/mK, giving it better performance than all other thermal pastes we’ve tested in our Best Thermal Paste for 2024 guide, save for the SYY 157 that has a rating of 15.7 W/mK. It won't match the values you can get from liquid metal thermal pastes, however, which offer thermal conductivity ratings of 73 W/mK or higher.

Cooler Master uses the AI branding on CryoFuze 5, but there is nothing AI about a thermal paste solution. While perhaps Cooler Master could've designed it for AI processors, especially as next-generation AI chips like Intel’s Falcon Shores and Nvidia’s B100 and B200 GPUs have TDPs higher than 1,000 watts, the CryoFuze 5's thermal performance isn’t that far ahead of its competitors.

The CryoFuze 5 might not mean much for the average PC builder. But enthusiasts looking for style points on their video builds might love it (even though no one will ever see it again once the PC is assembled, unless they take the CPU cooler off). This also isn’t the first colored thermal paste from Cooler Master, as it already sells the CryoFuze Violet thermal grease.

More importantly, the CryoFuze 5’s high thermal conductivity (for a thermal paste) allows overclockers to push high-performance silicon even more. This is particularly crucial for builders using more exotic solutions, like using the EKWB AIO liquid-cooler designed for delidded CPUs, or those who replace the stock heat spreader on the processor with a custom one from Thermal Grizzly.

The stability of Cooler Master’s colorful thermal paste adds another advantage, especially for overclockers who aim to get the most out of their silicon. If you’re one of the few who use liquid nitrogen to cool your PC, you'll appreciate the CryoFuze 5's ability to work from -50C to 240C.

Liquid metal should still perform better than the CryoFuze 5, but it comes with the added risk of shorting components as it's a conductive material. While the color options and AI branding are likely just for marketing purposes, its improved performance should help enthusiasts looking to redline their systems.

Gaming companies are leaning in pretty hard when it comes to racing/flight simulator games at CES 2024 — we saw several companies with dedicated controllers (wheels, pedals, flight sticks, etc.) and racing/flight sim cockpits for those so dedicated to immersion that they need a full setup. 

Cooler Master showed off its Dyn X cockpit, which features a heavy-duty steel frame and a fiberglass racing seat that can be adjusted to fit 14 different driving positions for different racing styles (including Formula, GT, NASCAR, and Trophy Truck). The Dyn X is just the frame, but it has pre-drilled mounting points for a racing wheel/flight controller and pedals, as well as for a shifter mount and a monitor mount.

It's also compatible with Cooler Master's Dyn X Motion System, which lets you mount the Dyn X frame to a motorized rig — which costs an additional several thousand dollars. Cooler Master says the Dyn X Motion System is compatible with "most actuators on the market," including Sigma Integrale, D-BOX, and Qubic System. Pricing isn't final, but Cooler Master said the Dyn X alone will cost "around a couple thousand" when it launches.

Of course, that price only includes the frame and the seat. Everything else — controllers, monitor mount, monitors, motion system and actuators, and, of course, PC, you'll need to purchase or provide yourself. According to Cooler Master, the full setup we saw at CES cost upwards of $25,000. 

Thermaltake's take is more affordable — but, again, this is just the frame and chair. The GR500 racing simulator cockpit is smaller and lighter than the Dyn X, with an aluminum and steel frame and a fiberglass bucket seat that moves backwards, forwards, and reclines. It's not as adjustable as the Dyn X, but it does have an adjustable pedal mount and pre-drilled mounting points for your racing wheel/flight stick, shifter, and pedals. It doesn't have mounting points for a monitor mount; instead, Thermaltake is selling a Triple Racing Monitor Stand separately. 

Like the Dyn X, the GR500's pricing isn't final, but Thermaltake said it would likely cost around $799 — which is still pretty expensive, but not too much more than some of the higher-end racing wheels and flight sticks we've seen. Again, that's only for the frame and the chair. All accessories, screens, and PCs are sold separately. 

It's kind of difficult for me to imagine a world in which anyone has room for a full-size racing simulator cockpit at home, but I live in Los Angeles. My colleagues who live in places like Kansas and Colorado assured me they have plenty of room for something like this in their basements. Naturally, I've taken this to mean they're volunteering to review the Dyn X and GR500 when they launch later this year. 

Cooler Master has officially unwrapped its X Silent family of power supplies (PSUs) ahead of CES 2024. The name reveals the big attraction here – silent PSUs, which deliver surprising amounts of power, breaking boundaries for fanless power supplies. There are three new X Silent PSUs in all, with power ratings spanning 850W, 1100W, and 1300W, and two of them are entirely passive fanless designs.

The fanless and thus completely silent stars of the X Silent family are the Cooler Master X Silent Edge Platinum 850W and 1100W PSUs. However, if that isn’t enough silent power, Cooler Master is also touting the X Silent Max Platinum 1300W PSU featuring an ultra-quiet Mobius fan with a sub-20dB ambient noise profile.

Cooler Master’s X Silent Edge Platinum 850W and 1100W PSUs are entirely passive. For heat dissipation, they rely on heatpipes merged into the thick aluminum PSU casing, or what the maker calls “an innovative modularized thermal structure.” We took photos of this thermal structure on our visit to Cooler Master HQ back in December.

Turning up the power a little higher, Cooler Master's X Silent Max Platinum 1300W PSU features the Edge models' thermal design and one of the firm's Mobius fans. In the video, you can see this is a sizable spinner, and it is built to actively cool while maintaining a "sub-20db ambient noise output," according to the firm. Moreover, the Mobius fan has a zero-RPM mode, so it will only typically start rotating when the system is under load.

As a family, the Cooler Master X Silent (Edge / Max) Platinum PSUs have much in common. Other than the fanless and fan-cooled differences explained above, the 850W, 1100W, and 1300W PSU all have the following attractive qualities:

• Silent and efficient power delivery
• Digital monitor and MasterCTRL software controls provide real-time monitoring of temperature, load, and fan speed
• 80 Plus Platinum efficiency certification, with over 92% efficiency at typical loads
• ATX 3.0 support and a durable 90-degree 12VHPWR cable
• Infineon electronic components
• Long 15-year warranties

Cooler Master reckons its new X Silent PSUs will appeal to gamers, creative professionals, or anyone who appreciates the quality of silence.

The above trio of PSUs has been featured as part of Cooler Master’s Tech Experience Sneak Peek video series, warming up enthusiasts for CES 2024. As such, we don’t have the full specifications, availability, or pricing details we expect to be shared during CES 2024. Stay tuned for more on the above, and we are expecting more information on other PSU ranges, including SFX units and high-power PSUs with twin 12VHPWR connectors and cables.

We recently visited Cooler Master's headquarters in Neihu, Taipei, as the team prepared to send piles of hardware to Las Vegas for CES 2024. The company discussed the latest trends in the PC market, including a broad industry move to support motherboards that have all of the connections on the rear and the rise of more powerful passive power supplies. The company had all of its latest products, and more, on display at its headquarters.

It is easy to know when you have arrived at the Cooler Master HQ — pulling up at the curbside in a taxi, you immediately see the substantial office block, which has been built to look like a colossal passive CPU cooler. Though we arrived and left in the daytime, we were informed  that the building is lit up with RGB at sundown.

Entering the building, which has been Cooler Master’s HQ for nearly two years, you are greeted with an impressive atrium. On one side is the reception desk; on the other is a staged set of Cooler Master hardware highlighting PC cases, pre-builts, an immersive Orb X setup, and more. 

Right in front of you is a chandelier-type arrangement, which turns out to be an interactive artwork dubbed the Cyclonic Bloom. If you look closely, this sizable installation is made from articulated Cooler Master fans, and they also feature lighting. A touchscreen console in front of the Cyclonic Bloom lighting feature allows visitors to change lighting and animation presets.

After being greeted by our Cooler Master contacts, our first stop, naturally, was the Cooler Café to meet with executives from various key departments and to enjoy some refreshments and beef noodles. Interestingly, Cooler Café is open to the general public, though employees rightly get a discount on food and drink. The café also features free-to-play arcade machines, a pinball table, and other geek-friendly distractions.

You may wonder how a humble PC “cases and cooling” company can afford such a prestigious HQ. The answer surprised us. We were given the impression that the Cooler Master that we know as PC enthusiasts and DIYers is just a small cog in a big machine that has extensive business interests in industrial solution areas such as AI and cloud computing, 5G telecoms, automotive and renewables, and smart manufacturing. 

Some of the images below, from the firm’s fifth-floor exhibition area, show that Cooler Master heatsinks and fans turn up in all sorts of unexpected places like automobiles, e-car chargers, refrigeration devices, and, of course, servers.

Cases (CPT = Case, Power, Thermal)

One of the most important consumer-facing divisions within Cooler Master looks after PC system case design and development and oversees power and thermal operations. The managers in this department were proud to showcase three existing and new designs, namely the Ncore 100 Max, which is a Mini ITX tower with pleasing aesthetics, the Qube 500 Flatpack DIY case design, and a traditional but imposing PC tower case called the TD500 Max. 

You might have seen these devices before at Computex, for example, but the Ncore 100 Max will actually hit retail in January, and the TD500 Max should be purchasable soon, in 2024. The Qube 500 Flatpack cases are already available to purchase in three colors, and you might even find them discounted at Amazon.com, for example, priced from $85 at the time of writing.

We examined each product's design, features, and construction during some hands-on time. The Ncore 100 Max is quite large and heavy for a Mini ITX case, but it still has a small footprint and is probably pleasing to the eye for those with PCs in view in their living space. 

To minimize the footprint, it has to be quite tall for those who might want to fit a long triple-slot GPU. It can fit up to 3.9 slots wide GPUs, but the case side expansion option beyond 3.2 slots wasn’t ideal in the test sample, as it seemed to encroach on the back panel connectors. This $379.99 product isn’t just a case; you also get an SFX 850W PSU plus a 38mm radiator liquid cooler and riser cable in the box.

Cooler Master’s TD500 Max is impressive thanks to the capacity, flexibility, PSU shroud with built-in screw-keeper, and pre-routed cables, making this an airflow-friendly mid-tower case for DIY. Moreover, it seems very easy to build a very slick and tidy PC from this foundation which again features a pre-installed 360mm / 38mm liquid cooler and 850W Gold-rated PSU. Cooler Master doesn’t have pricing to share at this time, though. 

Cooler Master has interesting ideas about the latest and upcoming PC case trends and some thoughts about trends that are sliding out of fashion.

The departmental managers told us that several trends are in the ascendancy: aquarium-style cases with lots of glass, integrated display cases, high-end showcase chassis, plus designs with tasteful RGB lighting. Case trends on the wane include designs featuring ‘old school’ RGB, classic towers – due to modern component sizes, and pure workstations due to the host of attractive alternatives now available.

Cases: the back-plug tide is coming in

The positive trend predictions also include back-plug motherboard-compatible cases. Bruce Kao, the general manager of the CASE BU, had quite a lot of thoughts to share about the impending wave of back-plug motherboards. Asus calls these the DIY APE motherboards, MSI refers to them as Project Zero motherboards, and Gigabyte calls them Project Stealth motherboards. 

Kao says that supporting back-plug motherboards will be very important in 2024. Cooler Master has over 100 case SKUs in its portfolio, and it would require a lot of work to re-tool for both traditional and back-plug motherboards. However, starting from CES 2024, all-new case designs will support all the latest ATX / mATX size back-plug motherboards from Asus, MSI, Gigabyte, et al.

Cooler Master is enthusiastic about making cases for the new back-plug motherboards as it is believes the PC build process will be made easier by the new DIY paradigm. Moreover, the simpler, cleaner, more beautiful, and improved airflow precipitated by back-plug motherboards is expected to reignite interest and consumer spending in PC DIY.

Cases: materials

We also talked about case design and materials. Today’s case and system customer wants more colors and customization options than ever. Cooler Master sees this trend, and you can already get more colors and select premium materials with some of its wide range of cases and systems. This movement can also be seen with rival brands, and it is a broad industry trend.

During our tour, we saw some interesting work being done with case materials and finishes. Based on what we saw, more exteriors featuring leather, wood, and bamboo alongside traditional PC case materials like metal, glass, and plastic are coming. There is also some momentum behind adopting more eco-friendly materials. Lastly, we are glad to see that imaginative materials won’t be limited to prestige-level products.

Power

The Power team wanted to show us some new and upcoming PC power supplies from Cooler Master. There appeared to be several trends pushing forward PSU development at the company, and these were: quieter and passive PSUs, delivering more watts for silent and SFF builds, offering more 12VHPWR connectors, and providing white versions of new and upcoming PSUs.

We reported on the Cooler Master X Silent models and X Mighty PSUs in early November. However, now we have more in-depth information about the trio of PSUs from this family, dubbed the X Silent Edge Platinum (850W and 1100W), the X Silent Max Platinum (1300W), and the X Mighty Platinum (2000W).

Some hands-on time with the fanless Cooler Master X Silent Edge Platinum 1100W, with its substantial metal cooling block threaded with heat pipes, really brought home its weighty design. It is claimed to be the first fanless 850W / 1100W PSU for totally silent computing. As well as the innovative aluminum PSU case with heat pipes pictured, Cooler Master implemented some custom modularized thermal components, which it is keeping out of public view for now.

The identical-looking X Silent Max Platinum 1300W has a similarly thick aluminum case, but it eschews the heat pipes as there is a fan in the design. Cooler Master says it still earns the ‘X Silent’ moniker thanks to its Mobius sub-20dB high-pressure semi-passive fan. Again, we saw some key cooling components from the modularized thermal structure inside.

The final member of this family, the X Mighty Platinum, again hides an advanced thermal structure inside. A large semi-passive fan is employed here, too. Buyers of the X Mighty Platinum will have two 12VHPWR connectors/cables available. 

All the members of this family include common features such as a digital monitor interface, integration with the MasterCTRL software, 80 Plus Platinum certification, ATX 3.0 support, plus purportedly durable 12VHPWR cable(s) with 90-degree connector to one side. Moreover, all these PSUs have long warranties: 15 years for the Silent models and ten years for the Mighty ones.

Cooler Master’s V Platinum series power supplies are also set for a revamp with a crop of V2 models. On trend, higher-power models will be on the way, with 1600W, 1300W, and 1100W models. The cooling performance will be boosted with ultra-quiet ring-blade Mobius fans featuring high-pressure characteristics, oil-bearing construction, and anodized heatsinks. 

Higher power models in this range will also be graced with twin 12VHPWR connectors, as pictured. Also, the images show the bundled twin-pack of angled 12VHPWR connectors with these PSUs. The Cooler Master V Platinum V2 family all come with 12-year warranties.

As mentioned above, white PSU options are also set to grow. Cooler Master showed us some attractive new white versions of the 80 Plus Gold rated GX III Gold family and the compact and bijou V SFX Platinum and Gold series PSUs delivering up to 1300W and sporting fetching white attire. 

All these new PSUs also feature anodized heatsinks, said to boost cooling by up to five degrees Celsius, plus color-matched 90-degree 12VHPWR connector cabling. Cooler Master provides 10-year warranties with these PSU families.

CMIMX

Cooler Master’s CMIMX business unit is concerned with delivering more immersive experiences. At present, the unit seeks to succeed in its immersion goal without stepping into the world of AR, VR, MR, XR, and similar technologies that require users to wear a display on their face. This more traditional PC monitor-based philosophy remains for now, but a future step into XR isn’t ruled out as a matter of policy.

During our visit, we got to test immersive experiences with hands-on time and sat inside the latest Dyn X Dynamic Racing Experience. Playing F1 22 in this setup was indeed immersive, as Cooler Master had equipped the simulator suite with some of the best peripherals, sound, and haptic feedback.

Readers should expect to see some interesting enhancements to the Dyn X in the coming months. If you’ve thought about ways this product might be improved, perhaps Cooler Master has thought of them too…

The immersive experience when sitting in the Orb X Gaming Throne was quite a contrast, and it was interesting to hear that this futuristic computing station isn’t all about gaming; it is quite an attractive and very comfortable pod for getting work done. Cooler Master’s Orb X is thus marketed outside the gaming sphere, aiming to attract remote workers and luxury high-tech consumers.

The last product we saw with the senior marketing manager at CMIMX was the Throne X drum stool. This is something of a curiosity, as far as PC enthusiasts go, as it is a haptic stool to help musicians keep perfect time, like a metronome in your seat.

Advanced System Products

Cooler Master’s Advanced System Products business unit handles the firm’s pre-built PC products. Though the unit might be best known for the designs that make a big splash at trade shows, like the Shark X and Sneaker X, it also has some sober and carefully designed premium mainstream PCs in its portfolio, like the HAF5 Pro and Cooling X systems. 

The business unit divides its attention across three portfolio areas, like 'Make it Yours,' which is the mainstream portfolio of advanced systems, 'Be Different,' which is the portfolio focused on more artsy designs, and 'Be Excellent,' which is focused on Performance and B2B solutions.

Visiting the Advanced System Products department, we saw all the above-named systems and various cooling components on display. We heard from the Advanced System Products marketing lead about upcoming refinements to designs like the Shark X. It was also notable that the creatives in this department continued to work on crazy new designs – one of which we couldn’t photograph and share. Stay tuned for CES 2024 next month.

Among the well-known but extraordinary Shark X  and Sneaker X systems, we were intrigued to see a similar quality motorbike PC, which you can see in the photo gallery below. This isn’t a consumer product, though. We were told that the Cooler Master boss commissions custom PCs occasionally in designs that tickle his fancy, and this is one of those projects. It is nice to know that custom PC design appreciation goes right to the top of the company.

Our visit to the Advanced System Products BU ended with a look around and inside the Cooling X workstation. We saw this at Computex, and only one configuration remains for sale at US$6,999. 

In the flesh, it is incredibly rigid and very heavy, but it exudes quality and is pleasingly compact (SFX PSU, Mini ITX). Remember, this design uses custom liquid cooling for the CPU and GPU (an AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080), which attach to the thickly ridged aluminum sides to extract heat from inside the case. A pair of 120mm rear fans, positioned just above the 850W SFX PSU, pull air from the case.

Perhaps the Cooling X pre-built system didn’t make the splash it envisaged. The design team is convinced more interest can be spurred in this pre-built with a few spec changes and optimizations. Hopefully, with a refresh, they can democratize this design and perhaps edge it under $5,000.

Cooler Master interviews and personnel profiles

During our visit to Cooler Master HQ, we spoke to several of the people shaping the company and its most important products. To get to know some of the key people behind the brand, we asked two executives about their backgrounds, their interest in PC DIY and gaming, and the PC cases and components trends they expect to unfold in the coming months.

Carlos Villanueva, Head of Global Marketing

Carlos began his computer industry career in the media, working in the U.S. at outlets such as Fox, IGN, and MTV, but most recently, was in a role at electronics retailing giant Newegg. As a PC gaming enthusiast, Carlos is on the product side of the computing industry with Cooler Master as its Global Marketing Director.

The first PCs that Carlos owned were off-the-shelf Dell systems. In his early PC days, he replaced his pre-built systems with newer pre-builts when games started to get slow or too demanding. His head was turned in the noughties when he got into PC DIY. Carlos says that his first full pre-built system was completed in the Cooler Master Storm Trooper case. According to the Global Marketing Director of Cooler Master, the style and design of a PC are a high priority, and he will typically choose the case before any components.

Carlos predicts small form factor (SFF) systems will get stronger in the DIY segment, and consumers will grow more sophisticated with more diverse demands. Materials choices will be something that can help companies differentiate in 2024. Lastly, he predicts Cooler Master will continue to push PC experiences with systems like Sneaker X, Shark X, and more to come.

Bruce Kao, GM of CASE BU

Bruce has worked at other iconic PC brands, spending a large slice of his prior career as a product manager in the Asus ROG motherboard business unit, as well as developing various Asus ROG AIO liquid cooling series. After Asus, he worked for a spell as a Product Manager at Supermicro, working on the firm’s server products.

After completing an introductory few months at Cooler Master, Bruce became GM of CASE. Perhaps his introductory period provided some insight into possible synergies between Cooler Master departments. It probably isn't any coincidence that we are now seeing more full systems and barebone-style product bundles from Cooler Master.

While the GM of CASE at Cooler Master asserts he has been a “die-hard gamer” for as long as he can recall (with over 8,000 hours charted by Steam), he admits he wasn’t into PC building until he started working in the industry. In this chosen career, he felt duty-bound to deeply understand all the products in the businesses where he worked, and this drive became knowledge and experience. 

Of course, there was plenty of opportunity for PC building and refinement while working at Asus ROG. Before leaving Asus, he had certainly become a dedicated PC DIY enthusiast. Bruce’s PC-building skills were evident as he ended up being responsible for every showcase system built for prestigious trade shows like Computex, CES, and more.

Bruce’s product design philosophy is “I only make products that I want to spend money to buy.” This sounds like a no-nonsense foundation for products. But the GM of CASE also let it be known that he still frequently builds gaming PCs to work on innovations and refinements, which he hopes is reflected in all new Cooler Master brand products. 

Cooler Master is preparing a mighty, powerful, passive PSU. Cowcotland saw Cooler Master’s 1100W monster (h/t FanlessTech) and shared a video with views of it inside and out. If this power supply reaches retail, it will make quite an impression. The next most powerful passive fanless PSU commonly available is probably a 700W model from SilverStone, which retails for about $310.

French Tech site Cowcotland is on a tour of Taiwan to celebrate 20 years in publishing. It visited the Cooler Master HQ in Taipei and got some eyes-on and hands-on time with various PC tech goodies. At around three minutes into the video, our Gallic host begins to ponder over some new Cooler Master X-Silent PSU models, which include fanless and silent designs. He is initially taken aback by the raw wattage on offer from the new X-Silent models. He picks one up and says it is rated at 800W before quickly correcting himself with the correct figure – 1100W.

In a brief analysis of the PSU in hand, Cowcotland’s expert explains that the 1100W rating is supported by hardware connected to “heatsinks that are absolutely huge.” It is also noted that a large heat dissipation module forming the whole back of the PSU case is made from a substantial aluminum block. Centrally embedded in this aluminum is a square copper block threaded with multiple fat heat pipes (probably 8 or 10mm in diameter).

Cooler Master is also preparing to launch some semi-passive PSUs into the X-Silent family. In the video, we can see one such device, the X-Silent 1300. The PSU’s reputedly quiet fan is shown on top of the product to make it clear it is a semi-passive design. On the same shelf, we see an X-Mighty design offering 2000W, which may again be semi-passive with a 220mm fan; we aren’t sure about this specification from the video commentary.

Also noteworthy in the video is Cooler Master’s latest attempt at refining the 12VHPWR power connector, a hot news topic that is trending yet again.

The most potent passive PSU we reviewed at Tom’s Hardware is the Seasonic Prime Titanium Fanless 600W. However, the newer and more powerful SilverStone NightJar 700 may be the current king of this hill.

Cooler Master has been busy updating its entire cooling lineup, and this summer and fall we expect to be testing many releases from the company. We recently reviewed the MA824 Stealth air cooler, which impressed us with its high-end cooling performance, combined with quiet operation. 

Here we’re looking at Cooler Master’s latest 360mm AIO liquid cooler, the MasterLiquid 360L Core ARGB. It features a new “Gen S” dual-chamber liquid pump and a thicker radiator for improved cooling capacity vs its predecessor, the PL360 Flux. But is it enough to earn a spot on our best AIO Coolers list? We’ll have to install and test the cooler to find out. 

Cooler Specifications

Packing and Included Contents 

Cooler Master’s MasterLiquid 360L Core ARGB arrives in a box similar in size to other coolers in its class.

The inner contents are protected by molded foam and cardboard, helping to ensure the cooler arrives undamaged.

Included with the package are the following:

• 360mm Radiator & Gen S Water Pump
• Three 120mm Fans
• CryoFuze Thermal Paste
• ARGB & Fan Splitters
• Mounting for Intel and AMD Platforms

Installation on LGA1700

Installing the cooler on our LGA 1700 testbed was a pretty standard process.

1. Apply the backplate to the back of the motherboard.

2. Secure the mounting standoffs on the mounting holes.

3. Screw in the mounting bars against the base of the CPU block, and then secure the mounting bars against the standoffs using the included thumbscrews.

4. Attach the fans to the radiator, and then secure the radiator to your computer’s case.

5. Lastly, connect the fans to the PWM & ARGB splitters, and then connect the splitter cords to the motherboard.

Features of Cooler Master’s MasterLiquid 360L Core

Gen S Dual Chamber Pump

The MasterLiquid 360L’s pump features the latest dual-chamber “Gen S” design, which features boosted water flow and stronger liquid pressure levels over previous models, for improved cooling performance.

Full Copper Heatplate

The copper contact plate has been redesigned to target heat spots with precision.

New Pump Aesthetic 

The MasterLiquid 360L Core features a newly redesigned CPU block.

Complete RAM compatibility

As the compact CPU block of the AIO does not overhang or interfere with RAM in any way, all sizes of DDR4 & DDR5 DIMMs are supported.

CryoFuze thermal paste

While many companies only include a bare minimum of thermal paste, Cooler Master includes a full tube of its signature CryoFuze thermal paste along with the cooler.

Increased fin surface area

Compared to previou- generation Cooler Master liquid coolers, the radiator fins of the MasterLiquid 360L Core are larger to allow for increased heat dissipation. 

Three 120MM ARGB fans

There’s more to a cooler than just the heatsink or radiator. The bundled fans have a significant impact on cooling and noise levels. Included with the MasterLiquid 360L Core are three new ARGB fans designed for use with radiators.

Foreword

Modern high-end CPUs, whether Intel or AMD, are difficult to cool in intensive workloads. In the past, reaching 95C+ on a desktop CPU might have been a cause for concern. But with today’s processors, it is considered normal operation. Similar behavior has been present in laptops for years due to cooling limitations in tight spaces. 

Despite assurances from the CPU manufacturers that there is no concern in running the CPU at or near its maximum temperature, many enthusiasts still prefer to have their CPUs run at lower temperatures. The majority of coolers won’t be capable of achieving this in the strongest and most power-hungry of workloads, but the strongest of 360mm AIOs are able to handle the heat with Intel’s i7-13700K.

Our expectations are high for Cooler Master’s MasterLiquid 360L Core, and as such we’ll be testing it against two of the strongest AIOs on the market: DeepCool’s LT720 and MSI’s MAG S360.

LGA1700 Socket Bending

There are many factors other than the CPU cooler that can influence your cooling performance, including the case you use and the fans installed in it. A system's motherboard can also influence this, especially if it suffers from bending, which results in poor cooler contact with the CPU. 

In order to prevent bending from impacting our cooling results, we’ve installed Thermalright’s LGA 1700 contact frame into our testing rig. If your motherboard is affected by bending, your thermal results will be worse than those shown below. Not all motherboards are affected equally by this issue. I tested Raptor Lake CPUs in two motherboards. And while one of them showed significant thermal improvements after installing Thermalright’s LGA1700 contact frame, the other motherboard showed no difference in temperatures whatsoever! Check out our review of the contact frame for more information.

Testing Methodology

All testing is performed at a 23C ambient room temperature. Multiple thermal tests are run on each CPU to test the cooler in a variety of conditions, and acoustic measurements are taken with each result. These tests include:

1. Noise-normalized testing at low noise levels

2. “Out of the box”/Default Configuration Thermal & Acoustics Testing

     a.) This means no power limits on Intel’s i7-13700K

     b.) Because CPUs normally hit Tjmax in this scenario, the best way to compare cooling strength is by recording the total CPU package power consumption.

3. Thermal & Acoustics testing in Power Limited Scenarios

     a.) I’ve tested with limits of 175W and 125W enforced.

The thermal results included are 10-minute testing runs. To be sure that was sufficiently long to tax the cooler, we tested both Thermalright’s Assassin X 120 R SE and DeepCool’s LT720 with a 30-minute Cinebench test with Intel’s i9-13900K for both 10 minutes and 30 minutes. The results didn’t change much at all with the longer test: The average clock speeds maintained dropped by 29 MHz on DeepCool’s LT720 and 31 MHz on Thermalright’s Assassin X 120 R SE. That’s an incredibly small 0.6% difference in clock speeds maintained, a margin of error difference that tells us that the 10-minute tests are indeed long enough to properly test the coolers

 MORE: How to Buy the Right CPU Cooler

MORE: How to Check CPU Temperature

MORE: All CPU Cooling Content

Thermal results with noise normalized to 38.2 dBA

Finding the right balance between fan noise levels and cooling performance is important. While running fans at full speed can improve cooling capacity to some extent, the benefits are limited and many users prefer a quiet system.  

Those who prefer low noise levels will be pleased to know that Cooler Master’s MasterLiquid Core 360L performs especially well in this scenario, tying with MSI’s S360 for the best noise-normalized result.

Thermal results with no power limits

Without power limits enforced on Intel’s i7-13700K, the CPU will hit its peak temperature and thermally throttle with even the strongest of air coolers. We would normally measure the total watts cooled in this scenario. However, all three of the liquid coolers we’ tested for this review are capable of keeping Intel’s i7-13700K under its peak temperature – so we’ll compare the actual temperature of the CPU instead.

At 66 degrees Celsius over a 23 C ambient temperature, Cooler Master’s Core 360L narrowly beats both DeepCool’s and MSI’s competing AIOs. This is an extremely good result, but this victory comes at the cost of noise levels. With total system noise measured at 50.2 dBA, the 360L runs a bit louder than the competition.

175W Cinebench Results

Most coolers on the market are able to keep Intel’s i7-13700K under it’s peak temperature if the power consumption is limited, so for this test we’ll be looking at the CPU’s actual temperature.

With this slightly restricted workload, Cooler Master’s MasterLiquid 360L Core again achieves a narrow 1 degree victory over DeepCool’s & MSI’s competing AIOs. I would consider this good, but again this cooler runs much louder than the competition in this scenario, nearly 6 dBA louder than DeepCool’s LT720.

125W Cinebench Results

The lowest power limit I test with Raptor Lake CPUs is 125 watts. This is a high enough limit to allow the CPU to maintain its base clock speeds even in the most intensive tests, and most coolers should be able of keeping the CPU below Tjmax – even low-end coolers.

Cooler Master maintains its trend of narrowly defeating the competition in thermal performance in this low-TDP test. As with the previous results, it still runs louder than the competition here – but the gap is much smaller than the 175W loads. The results are relatively similar, with 41.4 dBA for Cooler Master’s AIO vs 40.3 dBA for the competing DeepCool and MSI products.

Conclusion

Cooler Master’s Master Liquid 360L Core provides excellent top-tier cooling performance at a budget price of only $119. And our noise-normalized results show that it’s capable of maintaining that performance while running quietly. This is a great pairing for any modern Intel or AMD CPU. Our only complaint is that, out of the box, the cooler runs noisier than it needs to be – you’ll want to implement a custom fan curve if you prioritize quiet operation.

 MORE: How to Buy the Right CPU Cooler

MORE: How to Check CPU Temperature

MORE: All CPU Cooling Content

Melting and overheating 12VHPWR power connectors have caused quite a splash among enthusiasts, which is why makers of PSUs and cables are trying to address these issues in any way they possibly can. PSU manufacturer Cooler Master recently started to bundle its latest PSUs with a revamped 12VHPWR cable with a 90-degree plug.

Cooler Master says that its new 90-degree 12VHPWR auxiliary PCIe 5.0 power connector is more durable and has a better thermal structure than competing products. In particularly, the company says that it produces 5 degrees Celsius lower temperature, has 25% thicker contacts, features a 45% lower impedance change rate, a 12% higher insertion withdrawal force, and has four springs instead of two. Cooler Master says that the new connector is safer to use than typical 12VHPWR connectors.

The cable with the new connector is supplied with the Cooler Master GX III Gold 850W PSU and it is likely that it will ship with some other power supplies, too. 

Cables and connectors need to comply with rather strict standards designed by organizations like PCI-SIG. To that end, there is only so much makers of PSUs, graphics cards, and cables/connectors can do about improving those connectors as many things are tightly regulated for compatibility. 

That said, the new connector probably has nothing to do with the pending 12V 2x6 standard connector, but is probably a slightly improved version of the 12VHPWR that is 100% compatible and compliant with it. In any case, users should properly plug the new cable to their graphics cards to avoid failures.

Cooler Master’s influence in the realm of PC cooling is undeniable. Well known for products like the classic Hyper 212 Evo air cooler and its giant HAF series of PC cases amongst other offerings, the company has recently been expanding its offerings even further, with its MasterHub modular Stream Deck competitor impressing us at Computex recently.

I was also impressed when I demoed the company’s Cooling X pre-built system at CES, an interesting fanless pre-built computer, that features a 7950X3D and RTX 4080 in a unique liquid loop, which utilizes the computer case to act as a giant heatsink to cool the components effectively without fans. 

Next month, Cooler Master will also be launching its new MasterControl software which will offer control of cooling and other hardware via an open API. Today though, we’re looking at Cooler Master’s latest air cooler, the MA824 Stealth. The company is clearly aiming for air cooling supremacy here. The Stealth a formidable challenger that features 8 heatpipes of varying widths, upgraded fans, and a supremely simple installation process. But is that enough to outmatch Noctua’s NH-D15S? 

To answer that question, I rested the Noctua’s king of air cooling specifically for this review to find out if the MA824 has what it takes to dethrone Noctua and land a spot in our list of best coolers. But before we look at the benchmarks, let’s look at the features and installation of this cooler.

Cooler Specifications

Packing and Included Contents 

Cooler Master’s MA824 MasterAir Stealth arrives in a box that’s pretty large for an air cooler, at 8x10x9.5 inches. But of course, this isn’t a small cooler.

The inner contents are protected with foam, cardboard, and plastic – ensuring the cooler arrives in pristine condition no matter how rough the shipping was.

Included with the package are the following:

• Dual-tower heatsink with pre-installed 140mm fan
• 1x 120mm fan
• Fan Clips
• Mounts for all modern CPU sockets (including AM5 and LGA1700)
• PWM splitter cable
• Thermal paste
• Screwdriver
• Manual & Warranty leaflets

Installation on LGA1700 and AMD AM4 AM5

Cooler Master has clearly prioritized user convenience with the Master Air MA824 Stealth. The installation process has been streamlined to the point that I would consider it one of the easiest coolers to install. 

It’s very simple, whether you’re using an AMD Ryzen- or Intel-based motherboard. Users of any and all experience levels should find no difficulty during installation.  

First, if you’re running an AMD Ryzen system, you’ll need to start by removing the default retention bracket. Intel users will need to apply the backplate to the motherboard. Next, for either CPU company, secure the mounting standoffs to the motherboard.

Then, place the mounting bars above the mounting standoffs and secure them with the included thumbscrews.

Take the heatsink and press it against the mounting bars, then secure using the screws on top of the cooler.

Lastly, attach the back 120mm Mobius fan using the included clips, and then connect the fans to the motherboard using the included PWM splitter cable.

Features of Cooler Master’s MA824 Stealth

⋇ Eight Heatpipes, Pre-Applied thermal paste

Cooler Master’s MA824 Stealth features eight heatpipes, which is the most we’ve ever seen included on an air cooler. But these heatpipes are a little different than those included with other coolers. Most cooling heatpipes are of uniform thickness, but the thickness of the MA824’s heatpipes varies.

The cooler arrives with Cooler Master’s Cryofuze thermal paste pre-installed on the cooler.

⋇ 42mm RAM Compatibility

The back end of the MA824 is recessed, allowing for 42mm (1.65 inches) of clearance for DDR4 or DDR5 DIMMs.

⋇ Full Mini-ITX compatibility

Some high end air coolers won’t fit properly on a Mini-ITX motherboard - but that’s not a problem with Cooler Master’s MA824 Stealth, it fits motherboards both large and small.

⋇ Solid all black “Stealth” design

The MA824 features a solid, all black, “stealth” design with an aluminum top cover and no aRGB lighting.

⋇ Two Mobius fans, 120mm and 140mm

There’s more to a cooler than just the heatsink or radiator. The bundled fans have a significant impact on cooling and noise levels. The MA824 comes with two fans: one pre-installed 140mm that’s not designed to be removed, and one 120mm fan. Both fans are from Cooler Master’s new Mobius lineup, which deliver strong airflow at low noise levels. 

Cooler Master advertises the following features with its Mobius lineup of fans:

• Ring Blade Design (RBD): Interconnecting fan blades designed for a reinforced and rigid structure, eliminating vibration for stable and fluid fan operation.
  
• Angled inner frame rim with chambered side vents boost airflow draw, maximizing force induced air pressure and diminishing dead air.
  
• Loop Dynamic Bearing: New bearing design utilizes thick oil coating and lubrication to allow for stable performance.
  
• Oil Reflow: The oil flows back to the sealed bearing to create constant lubrication against friction and increases the lifespan of the fan.
  
• Anti-Sway System: a magnetic ring prevents the bearing shaft from tilting, stabilizing the fan to prevent fan blade obstruction under various orientations.

CPUs Used for Testing

Modern CPUs, whether Intel or AMD, are difficult to cool in intensive workloads. In the past reaching 95C+ on a desktop CPU might have been a cause for concern – but with today’s top-end CPUs, this is considered normal operation. Similar behavior has been present in laptops for years due to cooling limitations in tight spaces. 

Since last fall, Tom’s Hardware has brought you cooling reviews using one of the most power-hungry desktop CPUs on the market – Intel’s flagship i9-13900K. To give you an idea of what it takes to cool Intel’s behemoth, we’ve tested it with a variety of coolers from basic low-end air coolers like the Amazon Basics CPU cooler to high-end 420mm AIOs such as Corsair’s iCUE H170i Elite.

While it’s nice to see how Intel’s flagship responds to different levels of cooling, those results don’t always correlate with lower-tier CPUs. Today’s review features two CPUs more commonly purchased by end users – AMD’s Ryzen 7 7700X and Intel’s i7-13700K.

LGA1700 Socket Bending

Note that there are many factors other than the CPU cooler that can influence your cooling performance, including the case you use and the fans installed in it. A system's motherboard can also influence this, especially if it suffers from bending, which results in poor cooler contact with the CPU. 

To prevent bending from impacting our cooling results, we’ve installed Thermalright’s LGA 1700 contact frame into our testing rig. If your motherboard is affected by bending, your thermal results will be worse than those shown below. Not all motherboards are affected equally by this issue. I tested Raptor Lake CPUs in two motherboards. And while one of them showed significant thermal improvements after installing Thermalright’s LGA1700 contact frame, the other motherboard showed no difference in temperatures whatsoever! Check out our review of the contact frame for more information.

Testing Methodology

All testing is performed at 23 degrees Celsius ambient room temperature. Multiple thermal tests are run on each CPU to test the cooler in a variety of conditions, and acoustic measurements are taken with each result. These tests include:

1. Noise-normalized testing at low noise levels

2. “Out of the box”/Default Configuration Thermal & Acoustics Testing

      a.) This means no power limits on Intel’s i7-13700K, and AMD’s default power limits on AMD’s Ryzen 7 7700X. 

       b.) Because CPUs hit Tjmax in this scenario, the best way to compare cooling strength is by recording the total CPU package power consumption.

3. Thermal & Acoustics testing in Power Limited Scenarios

      a.) With Ryzen 7 7700X, I’ve tested with limits of 95W and 75W enforced. 

      b.) On Intel’s i7-13700K, I’ve tested with limits of 175W and 125W enforced.

The thermal results included are for 10-minute testing runs. To be sure that was sufficiently long to tax the cooler, we tested both Thermalright’s Assassin X 120 R SE and DeepCool’s LT720 with a 30-minute Cinebench test with Intel’s i9-13900K for both 10 minutes and 30 minutes. The results didn’t change much at all with the longer test: The average clock speeds maintained dropped by 29 MHz on DeepCool’s LT720 and 31 MHz on Thermalright’s Assassin X 120 R SE. That’s an incredibly small 0.6% difference in clock speeds maintained, a margin of error difference that tells us that the 10-minute tests are indeed long enough to properly test the coolers. 

Thermal results with noise normalized to 38.2 dBA

Finding the right balance between fan noise levels and cooling performance is important. While running fans at full speed can improve cooling capacity to some extent, the benefits are limited and many users prefer a quiet system.  

In this test where the fans are normalized for quiet operation, Cooler Master’s MA824 exhibited the best performance we’ve seen yet, surpassing the competing Noctua NH-D15S by four watts. This isn’t a massive victory, but it is a victory nonetheless and very impressive for an air cooler.

No Power Limits Thermal Results

If you don’t have power limits enforced on Intel’s i7-13700K, it will hit TJMax (peak CPU temperature) and thermally throttle with even the strongest of air coolers. In this test, we measure the total amount of watts the cooler is able to dissipate from the CPU.

Cooler Master’s MA824 Stealth matched the cooling performance of Noctua’s NH-D15S precisely, with an average of 233W cooled during testing. What’s especially impressive is that it maintains this level of cooling performance while running quieter than Noctua’s NH-D15S, at only 41.9 dBA.

175W Cinebench Results

Most coolers on the market are able to keep Intel’s i7-13700K under its peak temperature if the power consumption is limited, so for this test we’ll be looking at the CPU’s actual temperature.

With this slightly restricted workload, CoolerMaster’s MA824 Stealth technically falls behind the Noctua NH-D15S – running a single degree hotter. This performance is achieved with a slightly lower noise level though – 40.9 vs 41.4 dBA – so I’d consider this to be a draw between the NH-D15S and the MA824.

125W Cinebench Results

The lowest power limit I test with Raptor Lake CPUs is 125W. This is a high enough limit to allow the CPU to maintain its base clock speeds even in the most intensive tests, and most coolers should be able of keeping the CPU below Tjmax here – even low-end coolers.

It’s no surprise that the MA824 delivers chart-topping results in this TDP-restricted scenario. In this test, it matches the cooling performance and noise levels of Noctua’s NH-D15S precisely, with noise levels of 38.2 dBA and a CPU temperature of 44 degrees over ambient.

AMD Ryzen 7 7700X Thermal Results

It’s great to see how coolers perform with hotter CPUs like Intel’s i7-13700K, but that performance doesn’t always directly translate to how other CPUs will operate with the same coolers. With today’s review, I’ve expanded my testing to include AMD’s Ryzen 7 7700X to show how coolers might respond with CPUs that are less thermally demanding.

Thermal Results with noise normalized to 36.4 dBA

With noise levels set to 36.4 dBA, Cooler Master’s MA824 Stealth does very well when paired with Ryzen 7 7700X – cooling 121W on average during testing. This is technically a single watt behind Noctua’s NH-D15S, but we would consider this with the margin of error.

Maximum Cooling Capacity with maximum fan speeds

Our next test is to test the cooler’s maximum cooling capacity by allowing its fans to run at full speed. The Cooler Master wasn’t able to match the NH-D15S in this test, falling behind by 3W. This is a minor defeat, which won’t make any perceptible impact in actual computing performance, but it is a loss nonetheless.

While it does run a few watts behind the competition in total cooling capacity, the MA824 Stealth also runs quieter at only 41.9 dBA vs the 43.4 dBA of Noctua’s NH-D15S. Overall, I would consider this a small win for Cooler Master’s MA824.

Thermals and Acoustics with a 95W Power Limit

Not every task will force the CPU to use its full potential or maximum power draw, so it’s good to test coolers at a variety of power limits. With an average CPU temperature of 53C over ambient, Cooler Master’s MA824 Stealth does well here.

While technically falling behind the competing Noctua and Montech coolers by a single degree in this scenario, the Stealth runs much quieter than these coolers do, at only 38.2 dBA. That’s a win in my book.

Thermals and Acoustics with a 75W Power Limit

With power draw reduced to 75W on AMD’s Ryzen 7 7700X, this thermal load shouldn’t be difficult for most coolers to handle. This is roughly the amount of power the Ryzen 7 7700X CPU will use during gaming, and it’s also the maximum power consumption of AMD’s non-X Ryzen 7 CPU.

At this lower level of power consumption, cooling difficulty isn’t hard at all and even the most basic coolers should have no problems here. Cooler Master’s excellent performance here is of no surprise, but its supremely quiet noise levels of only 35.4 dBA were unexpected.

Truthfully, the noise levels of the MA824 might be quieter than 35.4 dBA, because my sound meter is incapable of measuring below that level. This is a very good result, the quietest I’ve recorded yet.

Conclusion

Cooler Master aimed to create an air cooling champion with the MasterAir MA824 Stealth, and the company certainly achieved its goals. The MA824 Stealth provides supreme cooling performance while running quieter than its direct competitor, Noctua’s NH-D15S. If you can afford its $99 price, you won’t have any regrets if choosing Cooler Master’s MA824 Stealth. It’s a great pairing for any modern Intel or AMD processor.

Cooler Master has unveiled a new high-performance dual-tower CPU cooler known as the MasterAir MA824 Stealth. This new cooler is the company's most powerful air cooler to date, with more heat pipes, a new copper heat pipe technology, and a better-optimized fan configuration compared to its other dual-tower designs. 

A notable highlight of the MA824 Stealth is the inclusion of two different-sized fans to accommodate RAM clearance. The middle fan is a beefy 135mm design, while the front fan is more modest 120mm. The middle fan is designed to push and pull as much air as possible over the MA824's massive fin stack, while the outer fan is designed to clear the height of most RAM modules with compatibility of up to 45mm.

Both fans are designed to be silent, with a maximum noise level of up to 24.6db at 1550RPM for the 135mm middle fan and 22.6db at 1950RPM for the 120mm front fan. Thanks to the large jump in RPM speeds on the 120mm fan, both fans have nearly identical airflow rates with a rating of around 63 CFM.

The MA824 Stealth comes with eight copper heat pipes in total and features a new type of copper heat pipe technology that Cooler Master is calling "superconductive composite heat pipes." These enhanced heat pipes use a dual-variable heat pipe thickness with a groove and powder wick structure that improves thermal dissipation by up to 30% over other coolers, according to Cooler Master.

The cooler is also equipped with a larger nickel-plated copper baseplate that will help support larger Intel and AMD CPU designs going forward. Cooler Master did not state how large the baseplate was, but it looks like it might be able to support AMD's very large Ryzen Threadripper CPUs with enough surface area to cover all of the separate dies contained in the chip. 

The MA824 Stealth is just one of several new MasterAir designs featuring Cooler Master's new superconductive composite heat pipe technology. Other upcoming products include the MasterAir 412 Stratos, MasterAir 612 Stratos, and MasterAir TD4 and TD5. Cooler Master has yet to reveal pricing or availability for any of these products, including the MA824 Stealth.

Cooler Master is rolling out a ton of different products at Computex 2023, not the least of which are its new CPU coolers. At the company's suite, it showed off two new 360mm AIOs, along with a concept design for an open-loop cooling system, a market it hasn't touched before.

The Cooler Master MasterLiquid 360 Ion (shown above) features a 2.1-inch LCD screen on the pump that can display system information such as your CPU temperature or decorative images and animations. It has three Mobius 120P ARGB fans and a dual-chamber pump. When we saw it at the Cooler Master suite, it was part of an impressively colorful open-air build (shown in the pic above). We particularly like the hexagonal shape of the pump cover and that there are RGB lights around the screen.

The MasterLiquid 360 Atmos doesn't have a screen, but it does have a customizable pump cover where you can replace the top with your own 3D-printed top. The default pump cover is made with recycled plastics, a first for Cooler Master. The pump itself has The three 120mm fans are SickleFlow Edge ARGB fans, which promise quiet cooling and vibrant colors. 

Cooler Master's MasterLoop is a concept series of products that would be, if produced, a complete lineup of open loop cooling components. At the suite, we saw a number of fittings, a radiator, a pump, tubes and water blocks for both CPUs and graphics cards. We particularly liked the bright color scheme on the water blocks. All of the pieces match Cooler Master's aesthetic, with matte chrome fittings and the logo on a silver background on the water blocks.

Cooler Master also used the open-loop cooling system in two sample PC builds. Both had two different sets of pumps and water blocks inside of it, along with attractive purple and blue coolants. 

We don't know yet whether Cooler Master will be actually be coming out with the MasterLoop line, but if it does, the company will  undoubtedly encourage more builders to use open loop cooling. 

There's also no word yet on pricing or availability for the MasterLiquid 360 Atmos and MasterLiquid 360 Ion.

Your power supply is one of the hottest components in your PC, literally speaking. So it only makes sense that even the best power supplies have powerful fans that make some noise under load. Here at Computex 2023, Cooler Master is attempting to solve that problem with its new X Silent Series of PSUs, which promise total quiet, even when the fan is running.

We had a chance to look at two X Silent power supplies at Cooler Master's Computex suite, which Cooler Master claims are the first fanless options to go up to 750 watts. For those who don't quite need absolute silence, there will also be a model with an RGB fan, but it's tuned to only spin at slow speeds, so it's likely any other fans from your CPU or GPU cooler will be much louder than the PSU.

Cooler Master says that it cools these PSUs using a vapor chamber and a "single-piece heat dissipation structure." The company also posits that having better thermal management will allow these components to last longer.

X Silent Series PSUs are all ATX 3.0 and PCIe 5.0 compliant, coming with 12VHPWR cables. There's no word yet on pricing or availability, but the company says it believes higher-wattage fanless models should be achievable soon. We're OK with the Cooler Master team taking their time with that and making sure to get it right.

At least as impressive as the silent models are Cooler Master's compact V SFX Platinum lineup for SFF systems, which now go up to a stunning 1300W. Keep in mind, these aren't longer SFX-L PSUs, but look to be standard SFX models, which typically come in at 100mm x 125mm x 63.5mm. That's a lot of power in a package that's roughly 4x5x2.5 inches. So, if you can find a compact case with room for an RTX 4090 and a crazy overclocked CPU, Cooler Master has you covered.

If you have an older Cooler Master PSU and you want a high-quality 12VHPWR cable for it, the company will be selling upgraded right-angle cables that it claims are an improvement on Nvidia's design.  

There will be two versions of the cable. One will be able to plug into both the 16-pin header on Cooler Master's newer, ATX 3.0 power supplies and another will connect to three, 8-pin connectors on older power supplies 

No word yet on what the cables will cost, but we like to see companies working to improve what has so far been a problematic power connector and adapters.

If you want a very compact PC case that's more classy than blingy, Cooler Master's new NCore 100 Max could be the chassis you've been waiting for. Unveiled at the company's Computex 2023 demo suite, the NCore 100 Max is a mere 6.1 to 6.7 inches (155 to 172mm) thick with a height of just 18.9 inches (481mm) and a width of 8.3 inches (212mm) and yet it can fit an RTX 4090 CPU that's up to 14 inches (357mm) long. 

We got a look at the NCore 100 Max and were blown away by the ITX chassis' tiny dimensions and attractive bronze or deep green aluminum shell. There's no wide window here and no RGB lighting at all, but you can see inside the case a bit, thanks to the large pattern of bents that adorn the anodized aluminum panels (one for each side).

The NCore Max 100 comes with a PSU on board in the form of an 850W SFX Gold unit and it has its own custom cooling solution for CPUs built-in with a nice thick radiator and a 2,400 rpm Silencio fan. Cooler Master claims that it has tested the cooler with a 13900K using 250 watts and saw no thermal throttling.

You can fit a GPU that requires either 3 or 4 slots. However, if you use the fourth slot, you do gain about 0.6 inches of thickness. 

The tool-less design looks easy to build with, especially since the radiator and PSU come preinstalled. However, you won't have much room for customization and there's room for only a single, 2.5-inch SSD.

There's no word yet on pricing or availability for the NCore 100 Max. However, it looks like when it goes to market, it has the potential to compete with the best PC cases in the compact segment.

If you're a big fan of the Street Fighter franchise, Cooler Master has everything you need to make pretty-much your entire desk and even the inside of your PC look like the Street Fighter 6. At its Computex 2023 suite, the company showed off a PC chassis, keyboards, mice, a headset, chairs, power supplies and AIO coolers that have either the colors or an image of popular characters, including Luke, Blanka, Ryu and Chun Li.

We had a chance to peruse the smorgasbord of tech and found it colorful and appealing . . . if you're really into the franchise. And you'd need to be really into the franchise to care whether your power supply looks more like Blanka or Luke. If you're not, most of these products have been on the market already in non-Street Fighter-themed versions.

The Cooler Master Street Fighter 6 gear includes: 

• Caliber X2 SF6 Limited Edition Chair: Has soft memory foam that contours around your body, a reclining back rest and a "4D" armrest that can swing left, right and forward. Available in Luke (orange, blue and white), Ryu (black, red and white ) or Chun Li (blue, light blue and white) versions.
  
  
• CH331 Street Fighter Edition Headset: This USB headset features virtual 7.1 surround sound and RGB.
  
  
• CK570 Street Fighter Edition Keyboard: A gasket-enabled, full size mechanical keyboard with a wheel and RGB backlighting. We saw this displayed in both orange / blue (Luke) and light blue / yellow (perhaps Chun Li) colorways.
  
  
• Hyper 212 Halo SF6 Air Cooler: A CPU air cooler with dual LED MF120 fans and RGB. Available in Luke and Ryu versions.
  
  
• MasterLiquid 360L Core SF6 AIO: This 360mm AIO has a copper base, a new pump and CryoFuze thermal paste in the box. Available in Luke and Chun Li editions.
  
  
• MM310 Mouse Street Fighter Edition Mouse: A wired mouse that weighs just 50g, goes up to 12,000 DPI and has RGB.
  
  
• MP511 Street Fighter Edition Mouse Pad: Large mouse pad to go under your gear.
  
  
• MWE Gold V2 SF6 Power Supply: This ATX 3.0 power supply operates at 1,050W and is fully modular with a fan that has a zero-RPM default. It's available in Blanka (green) or Luke (blue) colors so, if you use a case that doesn't have a shroud which hides your PSU and you've been wanting a green or blue power supply, this could be for you.
  
  
• TD500 Mesh V2 Street Fighter Edition:  Adorned with an image of a character on the side and their colors, case can accommodate up to an E-ATX motherboard with room for up to 410mm for a graphics card and up to 360mm radiators on top or front. We saw it in both Luke and Ryu editions.

Cooler Master hasn't yet announced pricing or availability for any of these Street Fighter components. 

From the Elgato Stream Deck line to the Loupedeck Live, macro / control decks for streaming, creative work and productivity are a big deal. Now, Cooler Master is getting into the market with its MasterHUB, which offers a unique twist. You put it together yourself, snapping your choice of modules onto a magnetic / pogo-pin backplate. 

We had a chance to check out the MasterHUB at Cooler Master's Computex 2023 demo suite and were impressed with both the build quality of the components themselves and how easily they snap on and off of the magnetic base. The 6 x 4-inch Flexbase base plate connects to your PC via Thunderbolt (USB-C) so it has plenty of bandwidth, though it's unclear if it would work on a non-Thunderbolt port.

The modules include:

• Touch Display: 8-inch, 1280 x 800 screen that can be a secondary monitor or house various touch controls. 
• Scrolling Wheel: Has two scrolling wheels that look and feel like the volume controls you'd find on a media keyboard.
• Dial Module: has three small dials with backlights.
• Dial Encoder module: Has a 1.3-inch dial with an IPS display on it you can use for displaying custom images. Offers fine-grain control for precise movements.
• 15-Key Display module: Includes 15 customizable keys with displays on each (we didn't see this in person).
• Slider module: This has five sliders you'd use for something like adjusting volume levels.
• Two smaller display modules: We also saw a stout wide display module and one that took up about half the base.

The Flexbase appears to have connectors for up to six small, square modules. Wider or taller modules could take up two, four or all six slots. 

A Cooler Master rep said that the company plans to sell MasterHUB both in a series of sets for particular use cases and as individual modules. The company showed off two particular sets: a Video Editor kit, which has the dial module, volume sliders, video encoder and a wide touch screen, and the Photo Editor kit, which has a taller touch screen, the scrolling wheel module, the video dial and the dial module.

The MasterHUB uses Cooler Master software on your PC to help you configure it and make the most of it. You'll be able to not only set custom macros for creative applications such as Photoshop and Premiere, but also control and view the status of your CPU, GPU, RGB lights coolers. Cooler Master touts the Scrolling Wheel module specifically as good for controlling your fans, pumps and lighting. 

There's no word yet on when the MasterHUB is coming to market and what it will cost. However, it looks like when it does, it will be giving Stream Deck and Loupedeck a serious run for their money.

We witnessed Cooler Master’s unveiling of the love it or loathe it Sneaker X PC system at CES earlier this year. Finally, the firm has announced the release of this unique premium PC design. It will be arriving in July, priced from $5,999. Meanwhile, Cooling X, a much more traditional PC tower design featuring a fully integrated liquid cooling system, will be released in June, with pricing from $6,999.

"I am thrilled the Cooling X and Sneaker X, two groundbreaking desktop PCs that showcase our commitment to pushing the boundaries of innovation and design are becoming widely available," said Jimmy Sha, CEO of Cooler Master. Sha went on to waffle about the diverse needs of the market and individuality.

Sneaker X is headlined as a stylish PC offering a fusion of luxury and performance. It is certainly styled, but whether it is stylish is open to debate. Also, the physical size (the footprint) of this PC means it isn’t going to be easy to conceal on or under a desk if you get tired of its presence. It’s literal footprint is 25.6 x 12.0 x 25.6 inches (650 x 306 x 651 mm). You can get a feel for how big this Sneaker X design is from our CES 2023 photos, where people are present (above).

Though physically quite bulky, the Sneaker X uses some of the most compact standard PC components, such as: a mini ITX motherboard platform, a SFX power supply, and has room for just one 2.5-inch drive, but its potent components require a cooling system with a 360mm radiator. Moreover, Cooler Master has made sure there is a decent amount of room for GPU upgrades (support up to 304 x 137 x 61mm GPUs).

Cooler Master will be producing Sneaker X systems in three colorways. At CES 2023 we saw the red version, but there will also be blue and pink versions.

Despite now having a release date and price for the Sneaker X, cold CPU and GPU specifications aren’t provided, yet (and the same is true for the Cooler X). There will have to be some potent components in these machines to justify the asking prices, both well over $5,000.

At CES 2023 we were concerned that the Cooling X will feature components from AMD that have become ‘last-gen’ with their Zen 3 and RDNA 2 architectures. The AMD Ryzen 9 5950X and AMD Radeon 6800XT are difficult to characterize as underpowered, but for the asking price Cooler Master has had to upgrade these previously mentioned components. The latest press release says that the system has been upgraded to the Zen 4 AMD Ryzen 9 7950X CPU and Ada Lovelace Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080. Other key specs of the Cooling X we were told about were that it features up to 64GB of DDR5-5600 RAM, up to 4TB of PCIe Gen4 NVMe M.2 storage, and a Cooler Master V850 SFX Gold PSU.

Fittingly, the Cooler Master Cooling X’s raison d'être is the liquid cooling system, which is designed to tame both the CPU and GPU. The coolant runs through both the ridged side panels. This case / cooler integration will have helped Cooler Master engineers make the Cooling X quite a compact PC, at 14.63 x 10.47 x 5.88 inches (266 x 149.4 x 371.6 mm, 14.8 liters). However, if you are thinking about lugging it around, it is rather dense and weighs in at 38.1 pounds.

While it is good that Cooler Master has gotten around to arranging a release date for the above two pre-built PCs, those with a taste for the bold and outlandish might be keeping their powder dry for the Shark X. This leaping fierce piscine tribute was probably the most impressive of Cooler Master’s CES 2023 PC lineup, and we are still waiting for it.