The high-end Intel Z390 chipset is entering the next phase of its life cycle. So, just as everyone begins to feel bored with old motherboard designs from last year, ASRock has decided to give gamers and enthusiasts a welcome surprise by introducing the Z390 Phantom Gaming 7 and Z390 Phantom Gaming X, to join the just launched Z390 Steel Legend. ASRock is bringing new life to the Z390 motherboard market with this complete mainstream to high-end product lineup.

Aesthetics are one of the many big improvements in the new Z390 Phantom Gaming 7 and Z390 Phantom Gaming X. Not only is there the cool RGB lighting already built into the motherboard, plus RGB LED headers, but the beautifully designed pre-installed I/O shield reserves more space for fitting tolerances and allows IO shield positional adjustment while installing, thus fitting the chassis perfectly. Unlike most so-called pre-mounted I/O shields that are only decorated with fancy color schemes, ASRock's design can truly improve the whole PC building experience.

Klevv today announced the launch of the CRAS C700 RGB NVMe M.2 SSD, which dials RGB goodness up to at least 12. The new SSD makes use of the PCIe 3.0 4x interface through the NVMe 1.3 protocol, enabling up to read 1500MB/s read and 1300MB/s write speeds. Klevv have made this SSD available in 120 GB, 240 GB and 480 GB capacities. There's SLC caching on-board, which means performance will certainly be slower in more data-heavy operations, in the event that the SLC cache overflows. The RGB goodness is distributed through 8 individually-addressable LEDs behind a gem-like diffuser, which provides an even glow that's programmable through most motherboard RGB control software.

Klevv also announced that the CRAS C700 RGB NVMe M.2 SSD makes use of 10-layer PCB for "better data integrity", as well as a 27% reduction in operating temperatures for the SD due to KLEVV's heatsink design. An unannounced feature for the RGB power in these SSDs is the ability to illuminate even Game of Thrones' Season 8, Episode 3 from inside your PC case.

ASUS today unveiled the Dual GeForce GTX 1660 Ti EVO series graphics card, which comes in three variants, a base model, a moderately overclocked A6G model, and the fastest O6G overclocked variant. All three stick to a common board design, which involves a 24.2 cm-long and 13 cm-tall PCB, and a 3-slot thick custom-design cooler. This cooler features a DirectCU II heatsink ventilated by a pair of 80 mm Axial Tech fans. These fans feature barrier rings that run along the periphery of the impeller to prevent lateral airflow, guiding all of it axially (downwards onto the heatsink). The cooler features idle fan-stop.

The cooling solution uses a pair of nickel-plated copper heat pipes that make direct contact with the "TU116" ASIC, conveying heat to the edges of the aluminium fin-stack. The shroud features a tiny RGB LED diffuser. A metal back-plate is included. The card draws power from a single 8-pin PCIe power connector. Display outputs include two HDMI 2.0b, and one each of DisplayPort 1.4 and dual-link DVI-D. The base variant comes with NVIDIA-reference clock speeds of 1500 MHz core and 1770 MHz GPU Boost. The A6G variant has a negligibly increased GPU Boost frequency of 1785 MHz. The O6G variant leads this pack at 1845 MHz. The memory remains untouched at 12 Gbps on all three variants. The company didn't reveal pricing.

Thermaltake have announced the Level 20 RGB Battlestation Gaming Desk, the ultimate gaming desk for gamers (certainly not) on a budget. The Level 20 includes an RGB lighting strip on the edges of the desk, for when you are feeling that particularly kaleidoscopic fondness, and want to cut on turning on your ceiling's lighting. The desk is electrically adjustable (a feature I've always found slightly underwhelming in the premium/usefulness department), with memory for a total of four different height adjustments - particularly useful if you had Tyrion pass by your house in the intervening time.

The RGB is software controllable (Alexa and Razer Chroma are supported), and the entire surface is adequate for (computer) mice to roll through. Its height can be adjusted between 70 - 110 cm, and the top is a 165 cm x 75 cm affair, which should be more than enough space for everything you're cramming on top of your desk right now. And if you want this piece of kit in your life, rest assured that it only costs $1,199. It's a matter of value, on your mind, as a customer. Just beware the shipping doesn't end up more expensive than the Battlestation itself: this thing weighs 75 Kg inside the packaging.

ENERMAX, a leading designer and manufacturer of high-performance PC hardware products, introduces T.B.RGB AD., the advanced version of T.B.RGB fan series. Since the launch in December 2017, the T.B. RGB fans have got much recognition and admiration for its unique illumination and silent cooling performance among the RGB enthusiasts. In addition to the incredible lighting effects and quiet operation, this new advanced version supports addressable RGB (aka ARGB) lighting sync with motherboards from major brands, including ASUS, ASRock, Gigabyte, and MSI. T.B.RGB AD. fan will be available in 3-Fan Pack only.

With the unique halo arc-shaped frame structure of the predecessor, T.B.RGB AD. creates the gorgeous 4-ring ARGB lighting effects to glitter the system. Featuring patented ENERMAX LED LIGHTING technology, the ENERMAX's ARGB fan provides consistent and uniform luminance. Moreover, the brilliant ARGB fan supports lighting synchronization with motherboards that have 4-pin addressable RGB header (The header pin assignment is +5V/D/-/G).

ASUS today launched its cost-effective Republic of Gamers (ROG) Strix LC series all-in-one closed-loop liquid CPU coolers. This cooler is available in two variants, the ROG Strix LC 120 and ROG Strix LC 240, based on radiator sizes of 120 mm x 120 mm and 240 mm x 120 mm, respectively. The ROG Strix LC is headed by a cylindrical pump-block with an illuminated ROG logo on top, and four spirally-projecting diffusers along the sides. The RGB LEDs illuminating the block take in addressable RGB input. The primary material is copper, the company didn't reveal the pump bearing type.

Interestingly, unlike most cost-effective CLCs, this cooler offers 4-pin PWM control for the pump, letting you adjust coolant pressure. Both variants ship with 36 cm-long fiber sleeved coolant tubes. You get one or two ASUS ROG Radiator fans depending on the variant. Each of these takes in 4-pin PWM input, spins between 800 to 2,500 RPM, pushing up to 80.95 CFM of air, with a noise output of up to 37.6 dBA. Among the CPU socket types supported are AM4, LGA115x, and LGA2066. The company didn't reveal pricing, but it is expected to cost significantly less than the ROG Ryujin/Ryuo.

EK Water Blocks, the Slovenia based water cooling gear manufacturer, is introducing its new generation of high-performance water blocks specially designed for Gigabyte Aorus GeForce RTX series graphics cards, based on Turing graphics processor.

The EK-Vector Aorus RTX high-performance water blocks are specially designed for Gigabyte Aorus version of NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti and RTX 2080 graphics cards. The water blocks use the signature EK single slot slim look, and it covers the entire PCB length. This sophisticated cooling solution will transform your powerful Aorus graphics card into a minimalistic, elegant piece of hardware with accented RGB LED lighting. The block also features a unique aesthetic cover over the block Terminal which is designed to showcase the graphics card model via LEDs, visible from the side.

Corsair updated its entry-level case lineup with the new Carbide 175R RGB (model: CC-9011171-WW). Positioned between its popular 100R and 275R cases and priced at USD $60, the 175R brings many of the features found on a higher priced segment to this one, such as RGB LED embellishments, a faux brushed-metal facade, and a fully enclosed bottom compartment. The front features an RGB LED illuminated company logo with intakes positioned along the top and bottom edges. One of the case's three 120 mm front intakes has a factory-fitted 120 mm fan with RGB LED illumination. Two 140/120 mm top exhausts, and a rear 120 mm exhaust make for the rest of the ventilation.

The left side panel is tempered glass with a dark tint. Inside, the Corsair Carbide 175R RGB features a conventional horizontally partitioned layout with a complete enclosure of the bottom compartment. Storage areas include two 3.5-inch/2.5-inch bays, and two 2.5-inch mounts behind the motherboard tray. Front-panel connectivity includes two USB 3.0 ports (standard header) and a HDA audio combi-jack. Corsair includes dust filters for the top vents and PSU intake. The front panel logo and included fan support 3-pin addressable-RGB input letting you plug them directly to your motherboard for software control.

Bitspower, a leading supplier of water-cooling equipment for performance computers, has announced the release of their latest Intel CPU block, the Bitspower Touchaqua CPU Block Summit MS OLED for Intel Platform. This product combines the best of both performance and aesthetics to give you an ideal cooling solution for LGA 115x and LGA 2066 socket CPUs. In addition to a CNC-machined block top made of hardwearing acrylic and base made of high-quality copper, the block features a digital thermal sensor and a bright OLED display so you can monitor your water-cooling loop temperature in real time, as well as dazzling DRGB lighting.

The block incorporates a single piece of wiring that runs power to both the DRGB lighting, as well as the temperature gauge - ensuring that you can keep the design of your build as clean as possible. Furthermore, the water block's RGB LED Strip has been certified by ASUS AURA Sync, GIGABYTE RGB Fusion, MSI Mystic Light Sync, ASRock Polychrome and Razer Chroma-so it's highly compatible with a range of setups. Bitspower Touchaqua range offers the same quality as Bitspower's regular product lines, but features a range of unique functions and designs.

Here are two of the first high-resolution pictures of the Ryzen 7 2700X 50th Anniversary Edition commemorative processor by AMD. It turns out we were right in guessing that it has special markings on the IHS (integrated heatspreader). Turns out, you get a facsimile of AMD CEO Lisa Su's signature, in addition to the AMD-50 logo above the main Ryzen logo. The box itself sees black replace gray as the primary color, and gold replacing auburn/orange in most places except the main Ryzen logo on the front face. A Wraith Prism RGB cooling solution is included, just like normal 2700X PIB packages. Early listings of the processor pinned its price around USD $340, a premium over the $295 price the Ryzen 7 2700X is typically going for.

Razer , the leading global lifestyle brand for gamers, today announced updates to both the Advanced and Base models of the Razer Blade 15 laptop series, now equipped with 9th Generation Intel Core i7 6 Core processors. The Razer Blade 15 Advanced models will now be available with a 240Hz Full HD or 4K OLED touch display option while the Razer Blade 15 Base model gets a boost to 144Hz Full HD and GeForce RTX graphics.

"The Razer Blade 15 is the perfect companion for hardcore gamers and power users," says Razer Co-founder and CEO Min-Liang Tan. "Now we're packing even more performance in the same slim form factor to satisfy the needs of even the most demanding gamers, esports athletes and content creators."

AMD is celebrating its 50th Anniversary with a new commemorative special edition package of the Ryzen 7 2700X eight-core desktop processor. This package carries the PIB SKU number "YD270XBGAFA50." American online retailer ShopBLT had it listed for USD $340.95 before pulling the listing down and marking it "out of stock." The listing doesn't come with any pictures or details about the SKU, except mentioning that a Wraith Prism RGB CPU cooler is included (as it normally is for the 2700X PIB package).

Given that AMD hasn't changed the model number, we expect these processors to have the same specifications as regular Ryzen 7 2700X, but with some special packaging material, and perhaps some special laser engraving on the processor's IHS. AMD has used tin boxes in the past for its first FX-series processors, so the possibility of something similar cannot be ruled out. Since pricing of this SKU isn't significantly higher, we don't expect it to be of a higher bin (better overclockers) than regular 2700X chips. Based on the 12 nm "Pinnacle Ridge" silicon, the 2700X is an 8-core/16-thread processor derived from the "Zen+" architecture, with 3.70 GHz clock-speed, 4.30 GHz maximum Precision Boost, XFR, L2 cache of 512 KB per core, and 16 MB of shared L3 cache.

GIGABYTE rolled out the Aorus ATC800 air CPU cooler. Its design involves a conventional aluminium fin-stack tower-type heatsink that's ventilated by two pre-installed custom-design fans in push-pull arrangement. A plastic shroud covers the top of the fin-stack, and frames the two fans. The top-plate is studded with an RGB LED diffuser. The two fans come with RGB LED lighting, too. All three lighting elements take input from a single 3-pin addressable RGB source.

Six 6 mm-thick nickel-plated copper heat pipes make direct contact with the CPU at the base, conveying heat through the aluminium fin-stack. Each of the two 120 mm double ball-bearing fans take in 4-pin PWM input, spin between 600 to 2,000 RPM, push 14.05 to 51.7 CFM of air-flow, with a noise output ranging between 18 to 31 dBA. Measuring 139 mm x 107 mm x 163 mm, the cooler weighs 1.01 kg. It offers 37.4 mm of clearance to the memory module installed closest to the CPU socket. The cooler is rated for thermal loads of 200 W. Among its sockets supported are AM4, LGA2066, and LGA115x. The company didn't reveal pricing.

DeepCool today introduced the Gamer Storm Castle 240 RGB V2 all-in-one closed-loop liquid CPU cooler with an innovation that minimizes the risk of coolant leakages caused due to environmental air-pressure fluctuations. Called DeepCool Anti-leak Tech Inside, the innovation is an elastic pressure-relief bag inside the radiator's reservoir, which has an opening on one end to the air outside. When there is a pressure differential between the air outside and the coolant inside, the elastic bag either contracts or expands, adjusting the reservoir's volume to normalize pressure. DeepCool also extended the design-goal of leakage prevention to the coolant tube design, by using IIR (isobutyline-isopropylene rubber), a material used in slick aircraft tyres that has high elasticity to cope with touchdown. The inner tube is reinforced by fiber-weave sleeving.

This aside, the Castle 240 RGB V2 looks and performs like the original. Its design includes a somewhat tall, cylindrical pump-block with an RGB LED diffuser up top, plumbed to a 240 mm x 120 mm radiator with two included RGB LED fans. The pump's rated noise is 17.8 dBA at its fixed speed of 2,500 RPM. Each of the included fans spins between 500 to 1,800 RPM, pushing up to 69.34 CFM of air, with a noise output under 30 dBA. DeepCool includes retention modules for AMD sockets TR4 and AM4; and Intel sockets LGA2066 and LGA115x. The company didn't reveal pricing.

EK Water Blocks, the premium computer liquid cooling gear manufacturer, is introducing its new generation of extended compatibility high-performance water blocks specially designed for reference design based NVIDIA GeForce RTX graphics cards. The EK-Vector RE high-performance water blocks are an evolution of the original EK-Vector water block where the cooling engine is tweaked for even more performance with an optimized flow pattern.

The RE water blocks use the signature EK single slot slim look and cover the entire PCB length. This sophisticated cooling solution will transform your powerful NVIDIA graphics card into a minimalistic, elegant piece of hardware with accented RGB LED lighting in RGB variants. The block also features a unique aesthetic cover over the block Terminal which is designed to showcase the graphics card model via LEDs, visible from the side.

So you've spent anywhere between $170 to $600 on a G.Skill Trident Z Royal memory kit at a time when memory prices are on the decline, what do you do next? G.Skill thinks some users find their modules too pretty to be installed inside a computer, and has come up with a completely useless jewel case to let them admire G.Skill's creation. We initially dismissed FC-UM4A-TRK as an April Fool's joke, but turns out it's a real commercial product purchasable separately. Commonly sold as the "G.Skill Trident Z Royal Display Box" in cursive font, this jewel case clad with faux leather much like the faux diamonds on the memory modules' RGB LED diffusers, is somewhat functional.

You open its top lid to find four DDR4 memory slots. You seat your Trident-Z Royal memory modules, pull out the USB cable from the bottom drawer, and plug the jewel case to your PC. This lights up the memory modules, cycling through their lighting presets. If you were expecting the USB connection to do anything beyond powering the case, such as mounting the memory modules as a RAMdisk volume, we have bad news for you. On the plus side, you get a microfiber cloth to wipe the pristine mirror finish of your memory modules, and a 1-year warranty, just in case.

Building on the enormous success of the ASRock Steel Legend motherboard series, ASRock is pleased to expand the range with the new Z390 Steel Legend. Based on the proven Steel Legend design philosophy, the Z390 provides the most in demand features, taking advantage of a wide array of materials, components and technologies to ensure stable and reliable performance.

Cooling and usability were the focal points in the Z390 Steel Legend design process. The Z390's shaped PCB design is not only attractive but also provides easier access to SATA ports. The board's large and impressive XXL Aluminum Alloy Heatsinks enhance stability and overclocking potential. Dual full coverage M.2 SSD heatsinks dissipate heat efficiently to ensure your high speed drives always work at their best.

Raidmax today unveiled the Atilla, a mid-tower case with its most interesting bit up front - a faux brushed-aluminium panel accented by two vertical RGB LED strips with a patterned diffuser. The left side panel is tempered glass. The entire case is raised from the front at a tilt of roughly 5 degrees, possibly to make it look bigger than it is. Inside, it features a conventional horizontally partitioned layout with the top compartment holding the motherboard tray, and the bottom one with drive bays and a PSU bay.

The motherboard tray of the Raidmax Atilla serves up room for add-on cards up to 35.5 cm in length, and CPU coolers up to 17 cm in height. Storage includes two 2.5-inch mounts, and two 3.5-inch drive bays that can each hold 2.5-inch drives. Ventilation includes three 120 mm front intakes, two 120 mm top exhausts, and a 120 mm rear exhaust. An in-build addressable RGB controller lets you control not just the two front lighting strips, but four additional 3-pin ARGB devices. Front panel connectivity includes three USB 3.0 ports, HDA jacks, and a button to cycle through the RGB lighting's presets. The case measures 383 mm x 205 mm x 484 mm (WxDxH), although some of its height is due to the incline. The company didn't reveal pricing.

FSP, one of the leading manufacturers of power supplies in the world is pleased to announce its second liquid-cooled power supply, the Hydro PTM+ 850W. With the success of the Hydro PTM+ 1200W, the Hydro PTM+ 850W gives enthusiast gamers the ability to unleash the complete performance of their PC while remaining both a cool and silent PSU. During normal desktop use, watching movies, and light gaming, the Hydro PTM+ 850W remains completely silent as it can be passively cooled until 425W.

Using the integrated Bitspower liquid cooling systems allows the Hydro PTM+ 850W to deliver up to 1000W in power when the system demands it. In all other circumstances, the intelligent fan will keep performance great, and noise low. Its unique cooling solution and advanced design (using DC-DC modules) allow for an industry-leading 92% efficiency. The liquid cooling connectors use G1/4" / 12mm connectors for hard- and soft tubing, making it the best choice for case modders that look to fully integrated their PSU into their dream machine. Finally, changeable side-stickers and integrated RGB lighting allow users to customize the Hydro PTM+ 850W to their hearts' content.

The EK Vector Trio RTX water blocks are specially designed for multiple MSI Trio GeForce RTX Turing based graphics cards. The water block itself uses the signature EK single slot slim look, and it covers the entire PCB length. This sophisticated cooling solution will transform your powerful ROG graphics card into a minimalistic, elegant piece of hardware with accented RGB LED lighting. The block also features a unique aesthetic cover over the block Terminal which is designed to showcase the graphics card model via LEDs, visible from the side.

The water block comes in two different models tailor-made for either MSI Gaming Trio 2080 and MSI Gaming Trio 2080 Ti cards including the Gaming X variants which are factory overclocked. Each of them directly cools the GPU, VRAM and the VRM (voltage regulation module) as cooling liquid is channeled directly over these critical areas. This allows the graphics card to remain stable at high overclocks, intensive workloads and also enables it to run at its maximum Boost Clock. Ultimately, you can enjoy gaming at the highest possible performance of your graphics card, stutter-free in a low noise environment.

ZSA Technology Labs, Inc. is the company behind the Ergodox EZ keyboard that we had taken a look at in great detail, and appreciated a lot. It was a retail take on the open source Ergodox keyboard concept which, until then, was available as a kit or pre-assembled by artisans in low numbers, and was not a mass-market product. One could argue the Ergodox EZ is still not a mainstream keyboard, but it certainly made things much more accessible via options to choose from for a pre-assembled keyboard, as well as a powerful, GUI-based configurator for those wanting easier firmware access and control.

In that same vein, the parent company has now introduced the Planck EZ which, as the name suggests, is based on the 47-key Planck keyboard design. Designed in conjunction with Jack Humbert, the creator of the Planck, the Planck EZ aims to be a simple, complete, portable, mechanical keyboard built with layers and ergonomics in mind. The Planck EZ goes a bit further with adding in not only multiple switch options, but also backlighting and a buzzer that can also be controlled to play 8-bit tunes from the keyboard- definitely a first in my books! The Planck EZ is up for pre-order now beginning at $180, with an estimated shipping date in June 2019.

EK Water Blocks, the leading premium liquid cooling manufacturer, is releasing a new Quantum Line series EK-Velocity sTR4 water block lineup specifically designed for HEDT AMD Ryzen Threadripper processors. The cooling engine is utilizing a 3rd generation design with the cold plate covering the IHS of the AMD Ryzen Threadripper processor while the fin structure is covering the entire multi-die CPU layout. This brings further improvements to the cooling performance and heat transfer compared to previous generations.

The release of higher core count HEDT processors opened new opportunities and challenges for cooling solutions. The primary goal in designing the new EK-Velocity sTR4 water block was to completely redesign the cooling engine to achieve even better performance than the previous generations. A dense micro-fin structure counts 91 wide grooves to enable superb heat transfer.

GIGABYTE today rolled out the Aorus RGB AIC NVMe SSD series. Built in the full-height single-slot AIC form-factor with PCI-Express 3.0 x4 host interface, the card combines a Phison PS5012-E12 NVMe 1.3 controller with Toshiba BiCS3 TLC NAND flash, and comes in capacities of 512 GB and 1 TB, which are equipped with 512 MB and 1 GB of DRAM cache, respectively. The 1 TB variant offers sequential transfer speeds of up to 3,480 MB/s reads, with up to 3,080 MB/s writes; up to 610,000 IOPS 4K random reads, and up to 530,000 IOPS 4K random writes. The 512 GB variant, on the other hand, gives you up to 3,480 MB/s sequential reads, up to 2,100 MB/s sequential writes; up to 360,000 IOPS 4K random reads, and up to 510,000 IOPS random writes.

GIGABYTE deployed a passive cooling system, consisting of a thermal pad that makes contact with the controller, NAND flash chips, and DRAM chips on one side, and on the other side the card's top aluminium shroud that doubles up as a heatspreader. There's an equally thick aluminium back-plate which holds the card's acrylic RGB LED diffuser that runs along the top edge. You use GIGABYTE RGB Fusion software to control the lighting on this card. Both cards are backed by 5-year warranties, provided the card stays below their rated endurance of 800 TBW for the 512 GB model, and 1600 TBW for the 1 TB model. The company didn't reveal pricing.

Corsair issued a product recall notice to customers and retailers to return their Hydro Series H100i RGB Platinum SE all-in-one liquid closed-loop liquid CPU coolers, because the coolers aren't all that "closed loop." Corsair reports that coolers belonging to a particular manufacturing lot show signs of faulty seals of the tubing, which causes the coolant to leak between the tubes and sleeves. "We discovered that less than 1% of Hydro Series H100i RGB PLATINUM SE coolers sold to date are leaking small amounts of coolant into the hose sleeving. These leaks are easy to spot, as the sleeving is white, and coolant is bright green," the notice reads. To spot if your cooler is one from the bad lot, pay attention to its 12-digit serial number. Digits 5 thru 8 denote the manufacturing lot, and if it happens to read "1852," it belongs to the bad lot. Corsair invites customers with these faulty coolers to claim free replacements, including shipping.

Spire today introduced the LCG-HSR line of all-in-one closed-loop liquid CPU coolers, with two models, the CG-AE-LCG-H24SR-P featuring a 240 mm x 120 mm radiator, and the CG-AE-LCG-H12SR-P "Solo," with a 120 mm x 120 mm radiator. These coolers are characterized by a cubical pump-block, Nylon-sleeved coolant tubes, and one or two included CG-AE-H30K3AR-6PM fans. These fans feature RGB LED diffusers along the inner and outer walls of the frame, with 16 diodes taking input from a standard 4-pin RGB connector. Unlike the fan's standalone package, Spire isn't including RGB LED controllers with these coolers.

The included fans take in 4-pin PWM input, spin between 300 to 2,000 RPM with minimum airflow of 30 CFM, and noise-level ranging between 12 to 35 dBA, each. Both coolers support most common CPU socket types, including AM4, AM3(+), LGA2066, LGA2011(v3), LGA1366, and LGA115x. Spire is listing the CG-AE-LCG-H24SR-P at USD $80 and CG-AE-LCG-H12SR-P at USD $70, in 200-unit bulk quantities. Retail prices will be higher than these.