Phanteks announced the launch of the Phanteks PH-F120S fan series today. The PH-F120S series ( 120mm x 25mm x 25mm ) can be used as a case fan and it is compatible with the award winning PH-TC14PE CPU Cooler. The PH-F120S comes in two colours, White frame/White blades and White frame/Black blades.

The PH-F120S fan series are designed using the unique Maelström concept technology that has already been used in the PH-F140TS fan series. Equipped with Anti-Vibration Compensators the PH-F120S offers optimum airflow while keeping the noise level down to a minimum.

be quiet!, market leader for PC power supplies in Germany for six straight years, is introducing their innovative new fan series SilentWings 2. With advanced new features such as exchangeable mounting possibilities, be quiet! takes a simple product like the fan to the next level. And with its improved bearing technology, the new SilentWings 2 is going to follow in the steps of and even exceed its hugely successful predecessor in terms of silence.

"It's difficult to improve excellent things"

When be quiet! introduced the original SilentWings PC case fan series almost three years ago, it flew to the top of the 'recommended list' for serious users intent on achieving the ideal balance between silence, cooling performance and fan life. Its performance was so superior that several print and online magazines quickly named it their reference case fan. Of course, it's difficult to improve excellent things, so the pressure was really on the R&D team when it started to work on SilentWings 2. In the end, though, the pressure and hard work paid off, for they have achieved the goal of producing a clearly superior product.

Zaward introduced a new 50 mm fan for PC, server, and electronics applications. Measuring 50 x 50 x 10 mm, the fan spins at speeds of up to 5,000 RPM ± 10%. It uses a 9-blade impeller that pushes 8.9 CFM of air, with a noise level of 29.2 dBA. It uses a common ball-bearing design that gives it an MTBF of 50,000 hours. It is available in 3-wire, 3-pin connection, that draws 1.2W of power using 12V DC / 0.1A. It will be available through OEM and retail channels soon.

Enlarging its portfolio of premium quality quiet fans, Noctua today announced PWM versions of its renowned NF-P12, NF-B9 and NF-R8 fans. Having received more than hundred awards and recommendations from the international press, the classic NF-P12, NF-B9 and NF-R8 fans helped to found Noctua's reputation as a top-tier manufacturer of premium grade quiet cooling components. The new PWM versions build on the proven designs and feature Noctua's novel NE-FD1 IC for fully automatic control and ultra-low power consumption.

"Our customers have been asking us for PWM versions of our fans for a long time, but the available PWM fan driver ICs simply weren't up to our quality standards", explains Mag. Roland Mossig, Noctua CEO. "With our NE-FD1, we've now got our custom-designed IC that allows us to build PWM fans that consume less power and remain quieter at low speeds."

With the release of the venerable Spectre Silent Fan Series in August 2010, enthusiast hardware designer BitFenix proved its engineering prowess in the case cooling space. Today, BitFenix ups the ante with the Spectre Pro Performance Fan Series. By combining innovative features and a fresh new design aesthetic, the Spectre Pro Performance Fan Series represents the new gold standard in case cooling fans.

"After we released the Spectre Series last year, users looking primarily for a silent build were floored at just how good silent fans can be," says BitFenix Product Manager David Jarlestedt. "Now with the many unique features and design elements that we've implemented into Spectre Pro, I believe that the performance crowd is going to be even more impressed."

Today, we brought you the depressing news that Activision are unlikely to bring the Call of Duty social network called Elite, to the PC platform, despite all their loyal PC gamers, who have bought every iteration of the game going and in particular helped them achieve their blockbuster sales of $400M last week. This delight came courtesy of this tweet:

@thejuggz We are working towards a universal Elite experience but we cannot guarantee if or when a version will be available for the PC.

Well, what do you know, but it looks like Elite is coming to the PC platform after all. Yes, you heard that right. In a tweet a while later, Activision claim to have "misspoken", like this:

We misspoke. Our goal has always been to provide a free PC offering for ELITE. Stay tuned for an update as timing is still being determined.

So PC gamers will at least get the free version. Fantastic. Still second class, but better than nothing. Probably best to keep a close eye on those tweets and a sceptical outlook on this one until it happens. You couldn't make this stuff up.

Noctua today introduced the new NF-F12 120mm Focused Flow fan. Teaming up eleven stator guide vanes with a specially conceived seven blade impeller, the NF-F12's Focused Flow system creates outstanding static pressure and focuses the airflow for superior performance on heatsinks and radiators. At the same time, a wide range of advanced aerodynamic design measures, second generation SSO-Bearings and Noctua's new, custom designed PWM IC for fully automatic control guarantee astounding quietness of operation.

"Our award-winning NF-P12 has become a standard choice for pressure demanding applications such as CPU coolers and radiators, but we've been striving to achieve even better performance in this domain, and this is how the NF-F12 was born", explains Mag. Roland Mossig, Noctua CEO. "Due to the stator guide vanes focussing the airflow, it can push the air through dense fin stacks more effectively. This type of design has mostly been used for noisy high speed fans so far, so our engineers have put a lot of thought into keeping the noise in check."

The Product range of Prolimatech consists of award winning offerings. The Megahalems, Genesis, MK-13 or PK-1 - all managed to set the bar in terms of cooling performance in various magazines and reviews. The entry into the fan market with the Blue Vortex and Red Vortex was just as successful. Prolimatech is now presenting their latest addition to this segment with the unique Aluminum Vortex Silver Wings, which features Aluminum fan blades and red LEDs.

The main focus of the fan development is to ensure the most efficient cooling of their own CPU coolers. With the Vortex series, the Armageddon, Megahalems and all the other units really shine and manage to deliver the best cooling performance, but are also viable for all other coolers and computer cases in the market.

Mirror's Edge received good reviews when it was released and has been quite popular with gamers who unsurprisingly, want a sequel. This is especially important in the case of Mirror's Edge, as this game is single player only, so it's not something a gamer can come back to time after time. However, a sequel has never really been on the cards for Electronic Arts, since it didn't sell as well as they had thought it should have and rejected a prototype ME2. Now, developer DICE have been busy with other projects such as upcoming blockbuster Battlefield 3, but good news could be on the horizon, since Electronic Arts are adamant that Mirror's Edge is an important brand for their portfolio. SPOnG recently interviewed Patrick Liu from DICE and asked him if he thought that the games market would be receptive to Mirror's Edge 2. He answered:

Yeah, definitely. I think it's something that people are ready to get into again. We see that there's a huge fan following, it's almost like a cult! And we know what strengths we had, and what weaknesses we had in that game. If we were to release a new game, we'd know what to improve and how to reach a broader audience. So I definitely think there's a market there.

Good news then for Mirror's Edge cult members, err, fans, keep holding your breath!

GlacialTech Inc., a diverse provider of cooling, power supply and PC enclosure solutions for consumer and industrial applications and a world-class provider of cost effective cooling components and chassis launches the latest Igloo H46 & H58 Series CPU coolers with Intel LGA1155/1156 and AMD FM1 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 sockets. The unique design provides good cooling effect to the components around the CPU.

As is usual, GlacialTech comes out with a product that provides highest quality materials and workmanship. The design is clear and functional. The manufacturer decided to waive all creative elements that may have negative influence on the cooling performance. Users can choose out of two different models. The attached PWM fan is certainly equipped with the durable and silent bearing. Price performance, noise performance and weight performance are GlacialTech's three principle design philosophies.

Titan launched the TTC-SC07TZ(RB), a graphics card fan attachment. This isn't really a graphics card cooler as such, but supplements your graphics card cooler by blowing air on to it. The attachment is modular, consists of three parts, and takes up an expansion slot. The three parts include a fan controller attached to the expansion bracket, and two 95 mm fans.

The fan frames can be rearranged along a Z-axis of each other, so one fan blows air along the plane of the motherboard, while the other perpendicular to it. The fans spin at speeds between 1000 to 1800 RPM, with 15 ~ 27.8 dBA sound output. The frames are designed such that the bundled 95 mm fans can be replaced with your own 60 mm, 80 mm, or 92 mm fans. Pricing is not known.

Cooler Master, an industry leading chassis, thermal solution, peripheral, and accessory manufacturer, signals the rebirth of two household names in computing, the Hyper 212 EVO and Hyper TX3 EVO CPU Coolers. They come packed with an improved tower fin design, heat pipe layout, upgraded fans, and fan brackets. All of which provides an even more extreme value for end-users of all types.

Xigmatek released its latest XAF series case fans, including the XAF-F1451 (black) and XAF-F1452 (white). The two are 140 mm (140 x 140 x 25 mm) in size, but are designed to fit the in the mount holes of both 140 mm and 120 mm cases (provided there's room around the fan frame). There are several selling points, starting with the wavy blade design that is claimed by Xigmatek to increase air-flow by 25% and reduce noise by 10% (compared to typical 140 mm fans spinning at its speed). The fan supports PWM control, and spins at speeds between 800 and 1300 RPM, with noise levels under 18 dBA. The motor uses copper bushing axis bearing, and is rated to have an MTBF of 150,000 hours. European retailer Caseking.de has them up for sale at €14.90.

NZXT, a company built on realizing the dreams of gamers worldwide, is proud to announce Sentry Mix. This high performance 6 fan controller features an intuitive slide design and a power output of 50W that will satisfy the cooling needs of enthusiasts. Sentry Mix also provides aesthetic enhancements with a matte-black finish and interchangeable numerical LED lights to color code your fan control.

"Sentry Mix takes its inspiration from the legendary sound mixers that command the acoustics of rock concerts" said Johnny Hou, Founder and Chief Designer at NZXT. "Mix puts the power right at your finger tips with optimal control and customization with a simple, quick slide."

PC cooling and power-supply specialist Cougar started selling Vortex series of performance PC fans in the UK. Cougar's new fans include the high-end Vortex PWM, followed by Vortex HDB, and Vortex (standard). Vortex PWM and Vortex HDB feature hydro-dynamic bearing, the Vortex HDB lacks PWM-based speed control. The standard Vortex fans feature hyper-spin bearing. Vortex PWM is currently only available in 120 mm size, while the Vortex HDB and standard Vortex are available in 120 mm and 140 mm sizes.

All five fans feature speeds in the higher-end of the spectrum of typical fan speeds. The Vortex PWM 120 mm features a PWM-controlled speed range of 800~1500 RPM, Vortex HDB models spin at 1200 RPM, and so does Vortex standard 120 mm. It's just the Vortex standard 140 mm that spins a little lower, at 1000 RPM. But no gripe there. Going by Cougar's ratings, any of these five fans will give you airflow in excess of 100 m³/h, and stay under 20 dBA in noise output. All five models look the same, with their rounded-rectangular frames with rubber padding, and orange-colored impellers, keeping up with Cougar's signature colour scheme.A specifications table follows.

Zaward is readying a wave of new PC fans branded under its Golf Fan G3 series. The most prominent feature of these is the dimpled surface of the fan blades, which improve airflow, which then offsets lower fan-speed, resulting in lower noise-to-airflow. Zaward claims 15% improvement of that ratio compared to fans with regular blades (generic fan design). Zaward is preparing to release no less than 12 models, that include 80 mm, 120 mm, and 140 mm sizes. There are models with speed range (likely PWM control), and those with fixed rated speeds (should be controllable by voltage). All fans will pack rubber bolts that absorb the fan's vibration, and works to reduce overall system noise. The fans are up for inquiry for pre-order on the company website, at undisclosed prices.

Lamptron unveiled its latest internal case fan controller, the FC9. With this, Lamptron broke away from the rotary-knob styled speed control to a slider styled one. The FC9 lets you control up to four channels, each delivering up to 50W of power. The unit draws power from a standard 4-pin Molex connector. It measures 148.5 x 42.5 x 75 mm. It comes in two brushed aluminum bezel color options of black and silver. The LEDs colors are user-changeable between white, blue, green, cyan, red, purple, and yellow. Lamptron recommends users to have at least a 600W PSU to use this as intended. Pricing and market availability information was not given out.

Japanese cooling expert Scythe is announcing two new Kaze Q Series fan controller. Modern PC Chassis are getting equipped with more fans and allow mounting of additional fans in various sizes, but not every fan is adjusted to low fan speed to assure silent operation. This is where users usually wish to get their hands on to adjust each fan individually to optimum operation volume and speeds. Scythe Kaze Q8 and Kaze Q12 are aiming for exactly these purposes where the core function of controlling fans is the main focus.

Kaze Q8 is designed more compact for restricted space limitations inside a PC Case and can be therefore mounted into a common 3.5" bay. Despite the compact size up to 8 fans can be connected and controlled individually. For PC Cases with an vacant 5.25" Bay, Kaze Q12 is the perfect choice with its total of 12 fan channels for maximum utilization. Fan speed is adjusted for both models using voltage regulations for each channel separately with a control range between 5 and 12 volts. As soon as voltage is flowing over one of the channels, the corresponding channel's LED is visualizing this by illuminating in blue color. It's furthermore possible to completely turn of each fan channel if required.

Noctua displayed its new innovation in fan design, called Focused Flow. One of the first fans that use this design come in 120 mm size. Its design goal is to channel (or "focus") air flow towards the center of the fan, making it ideal for use with heatsinks and radiators. The biggest design change here is the stator guide vanes, that are a set of structures permanently fixed between the frame and the center. There are a number of innovations that improve air flow and reduce noise. Notable features are micro-structures on the inner-walls of the frame that dampens the whipping noise made by rotating fan-blades, and integrated vibration dampening material at the edges. The new Focused Flow 120 fan will be used by Noctua on all its upcoming CPU coolers.

HIS rolled out a new custom-design Radeon HD 6790 graphics card, the HIS HD 6790 Fan. "Fan" editions are known to bring with them airy fan-heatsinks that rely a fair bit on the fan's airflow and the way it's channeled, rather than adding weight to the heatsink. Apart from being custom-design, the card features reference clock speeds of 840 MHz core and 1050 MHz (4200 MHz effective) memory, and is loaded with 1 GB of GDDR5 memory across a 256-bit wide memory interface. Based on the 40 nm Barts GPU, the HD 6790 has 800 stream processors enabled, along with its full memory bus width. Display outputs on this card include two DVI, and one each of HDMI 1.4a and DisplayPort 1.2 (full-size). Expect standard pricing of US $160.

NZXT released colorful new additions to its FS Silent Fan Series, the FS-200 LED. Available in red, green, and blue, these LED-lit variants of the famous round-framed 200 mm fan bear the same exact specifications as the original. The fans come with switches (compatible with NZXT Phantom LED switch) that can toggle the LEDs on/off, so you can still have a colorful fan if you find its lighting too gaudy for your case.

The new fans use continue to use black frames like the original, the edges of the four arms of the round frame hold the color LEDs, the impellers are colorful and transparent. With a speed range of 500 to 900 RPM, these 200 mm spinners can push up to 89.5 CFM of air while being as quiet as 20.16 dBA. It uses rifled bearing, with a rated lifespan of 40,000 hours. Its cord is sleeved, and draws power from a 3-pin fan header. Attachments for 2-pin header and Molex connector come bundled. Slated for release in late May and backed by 2 year warranty, the NZXT FS-200 LED are priced around US $18.

Enermax today released its TB.Silence line of fans. The fans were first unveiled at this year's CeBIT event, earlier this month. T.B.Silence fans use a special wavy blade profile Enermax calls "Batwing", that improves air-flow to rotational speed ratio. The fan motor supports 4-pin PWM-based speed control, but is fully compatible with older 3-pin voltage-based control. In some "manual control" models, to the power cable, rotary speed control knobs are attached, which can be kept outside the case. The fans feature twister-type bearings that set the MTBF high up to 100,000 hours. The T.B.Silence series comes in four models, and in two sizes: 80 mm and 120 mm:

• UCTB8A (80mm / manual control) ; 800 - 2500 RPM (speed) ; 10 dBA (minimum sound output) ; €6.99
• UCTB12A (120mm / manual control) ; 800 - 1500 RPM ; 10 dBA ; €10.99
• UCTB8P (80mm / PWM) ; 500 - 2200 RPM ; 8 dBA | €8.99
• UCTB12P (120mm / PWM) ; 500 - 1500 RPM ; 8 dBA ; €12.99

Zalman rolled out the ZM-F4, a 135 mm case fan that features a 120 mm compatible frame that lets it fit into most 120 mm case fan mounts and CPU heatsinks. Capable of 900 to 1,300 RPM rotational speeds, the ZM-F4 has rated noise levels of 18 to 26 dBA. The advanced sleeve bearing is said to ensure a life-span of 50,000 hours. The fan uses standard 3-pin power input, a bundled resistor cable keeps the fan down to its minimum speed ensuring low noise output. Zalman also opted for rubber pins instead of metal screws to bundle with its fan. Pricing and availability is not known.

Enthusiast PC cooling expert Koolance introduced its latest product, a 120 mm high-flow fan for cases, air-coolers, and radiators, but we're inclined to think it's designed to let users make the most out of smaller 2-fan radiators. The FAN-12038HBK-184 from Koolance measures 120 x 120 x 38 mm, it draws power from a 3-pin fan header and includes speed monitoring. With a top-speed of 4,000 RPM, the fan can push 184 CFM of air with a rated maximum noise output of 59 dBA. Since it spins at tremendously high speeds and uses a high amperage motor (2.0A), Koolance cautions its users to use a grill along with it, as its blades pose a safety hazard. At $11.99, the Koolance FAN-12038HBK-184 is relatively affordable compared to similar fans from Sanyo-Denki/San-Ace, Delta, PanaFlo, or Yate Loon.

Cooler Master shipped its Turbine Master 120 mm series fans. As the name suggests, the fan has many blades (16 in number), shaped to look like an aircraft turbine. This design allows the fan to achieve high air flow at lower rotation speeds. The Turbine Master 120 is available in three variants based on rotation speed: Mach 0.8, that spins at 800 rpm, Mach 1.2 with 1200 rpm speed, and Mach 1.8 with 1800 rpm speed. Of these, only the 1200 rpm variant is out now, with the other two slated for a little later.

The Turbine Master 120 Mach 1.2 with its 1200 rpm rotational speed pushes 56.5 CFM of air with a rated noise output of 21.1 dBA. The fan uses a round frame with holes for 120 mm spacing, with both rubber and metal screws bundled. The motor uses a barometric ball bearing with a high lifespan. It uses standard 3-pin fan input, but a Molex to 3-pin cable is bundled. The impeller is detachable to help clean better. The Cooler Master Turbine Master 120 Mach 1.2 fan is priced at US $16.