Content and news by William Kelley

It has been a little while since Corsair last released a CPU cooler, so they’re hoping to successfully win everyone over with their all-in-one H50. Based on Asetek solutions, Corsair spent many months tweaking the H50 before they considered it complete, so let’s find out if their hard work paid off in the end.

We’ve taken a look at an almost countless number of computer cases over the years, but the X-Fighter is unlike many of them in various ways. The most noticeable feature is its design, which is very sci-fi inspired. Past that, there’s been a lot of thought gone into the chassis’ cooling-ability, and that proves to be one of its nicest features.

With gamers so content with current keyboards, companies such as Logitech are trying to introduce the most feature-robust and unique models to the market, and they’ve pulled it off with their G19. Featuring a bright top-mounted LCD and a slew of gamer-specific options, the only potential roadblock is the high price.

Do you find most mid-towers a little too large, but find small form-factor chassis’ to have the opposite issue? The latest entry to NZXT’s “Classic Series”, the Panzerbox, may have you covered. This sturdy aluminum chassis is neither too large nor too small, yet it still offers ample internal room for effective cooling. It doesn’t look too bad, either!

When building a PC on a budget, one of the most difficult components to pick out is the chassis. For many, $100 is the sweet-spot, as it usually gives a solid design and great aesthetics. With the help of the Beta, though, NZXT helps prove that even $50 chassis’ can handle the task at hand just fine, and after our look, we’re impressed.

When Cooler Master released their HAF 932 full-tower last fall, it was well-received for its overall design, build quality, impressive cooling-ability and, to some, aesthetics. With the success of that case, CM has followed-up with a mid-tower version that follows many similar design cues, but happens to look even better, and costs less.

Cooler Master impressed us greatly with their first “Storm” chassis, the Sniper, and we’re happy to report that their follow-up, the mid-tower Scout, is yet another winner. Like the Sniper, the Scout has features directly targeted towards LAN gamers, has great cooling abilities, runs quiet, and is set to be priced at an affordable $120 USD.

Cooler Master is well-known for their creation of high-quality products, but things are taken to the next level with their new CM Storm brand. Their first product here is the mid-tower Sniper, and what a chassis this is! In addition to offering features specific to LAN gamers, the overall design, cooling ability and aesthetics make it well worth checking out.

Have a huge chassis? Need a huge CPU cooler? Well, Cooler Master has just what you need, in the form of the TEC-based V10. This thing is massive – its almost three CPU coolers in one – but it cools better than any other air cooler we’ve used in the past, and it even matches our previous (and much more expensive) water-cooling setup.

Whether you are looking to add some eye-candy to your machine, or want full control over your cooling system, adding in a robust fan controller isn’t a bad idea. One of the best we’ve seen to date is NZXT’s Sentry LX, which we happen to be taking a look at here. It’s well-priced, looks good and works well… three things we like to see with any product.

NZXT has impressed us time and time again with their unique chassis designs and attention to detail, so when we saw that they were offering a $100 full-tower with a fully customizable cooling system, we had to check it out. With a clean design and lots of available space, did NZXT create a a must-have for the value-conscious consumer?

Thermaltake has quite an offering on their hands with the Spedo Advance full-tower, and it might be one of the most robust chassis’ we’ve had on our bench to date. Noticeable R&D went into this one, with cool features such as a wireless door fan, an “advanced” thermal chamber, pure black aesthetics and top-notch cable management.

If you want to get rid of that air CPU cooler, but find water-cooling too complicated and expensive, CoolIT might have just what you’re looking for. Their Domino A.L.C. is designed to offer greater cooling-abilities over air, while retaining reasonable noise-levels. Best of all, it’s inexpensive, at $80, and won’t hold back your impressive overclocks.

PC silence means more now than ever before. While we love to have powerful machines, we also want peace and quiet, and understandably so. NZXT recently released their Whisper full-tower that’s poised to deliver the best of both worlds. Can this huge chassis deliver the silence we’re looking for, along with the functionality?

Finding an affordable chassis that’s both large and feature-packed can be a little difficult, but Cooler Master’s latest HAF 932 delivers on all accounts, and the goods don’t stop there. This steel full-tower features huge interior space, great ease-of-installation, many bundled fans, hardcore design… all on top of having a price tag that’s easy to stomach.

SilverStone has become well-known over the years for producing top-quality products, and the FT01 further reinstates that fact. Although the chassis is a bit pricier than others, it’s well-deserved. Obvious R&D went into this one, and not only does it offer superb airflow and the lack of a single sharp edge, it’s also one of the quietest chassis’ we’ve used in a while.

The first name that comes to mind when pondering a new chassis isn’t likely to be Zalman, but with the few enthusiast models they’ve released so far, it’s easy to see they mean business. We’re taking their brand-new GS1000 for a spin to see if its features and size make up for the $199 price tag.

If you are a regular player of racing games on the Playstation 3, then you owe it to yourself to consider an upgrade to that inefficient gamepad! Logitech’s Driving Force GT was designed for Gran Turismo 5, but works well with most other racers out there, and after we put many hours of driving into it, we can happily walk away impressed.

Planning a new build and don’t know which chassis to choose? Does the idea of having a feature-packed mid-tower intrigue you? Well, the P190 is just that, with its intuitive design and two pre-installed power supplies, offering you a total of 1,200W of overkill pleasure. Is the case a true winner? Not exactly, but it’s still worth a look.

What better way is there to find out which CPU coolers excel than to throw them at our ultra-hot Intel QX6850? We took 22 different models and did just that. Some surprised us, some didn’t. What we were left with were five different models that deserved our Editor’s Choice award.