[Blog] FFF&FM Rev2.0 – water cooling built for benching!10 Comments By miahallencloseAuthor: miahallenName: Jeremiah Allen Email: miahallen.ironmods@gmail.com Site:http://www.ironmods.com About: Well, I was playing with computers ever since my Dad got a Commodore 64 when I was 6 years old (1986), when I was 10 (1990) he bought a custom build 486DX33, and I was in love. Mostly back then I was just a kid playing games, but my fascination with computers had a start. Because I had no money of my own, I was stuck playing with my Dad's computers, and really couldn't "play" too much. So in 1998, the year I graduated, I spent some of my college savings to by a "computer for school", haha. It had two Voodoo2 12MB 3D accelerators in it, so you can imagine how much school work was done on it ;-) It had an AMD K6-233 that I had a really mild OC on, but my custom computer builder friend Aaron had done all the work. So I can't really take the credit there. My fascination with graphics just kept growing and growing over the years, and I was constantly in a struggle to keep my games looking as sharp and smooth as possible. OCing played a big role.
My whole world was rocked in 2004 when I was deployed to Iraq as a US Army soldier. The whole year I was there I had a cheap IBM Thinkpad R40 with a 2GHz Celeron, 1GB DDR-333 RAM, a 60GB 4200RPM HDD, and ATI Radeon Mobility graphics (same technology as a 7000 series with only 16MB of memory). It started out rough as I was really into Command and Conquer Generals at the time, and the machine would only play the C&C slide show LOL. So, I downloaded PowerStrip, and OC'ed the GPU by 40%...amazingly, the game was playable!
Things changed dramatically in 2007 when I met a guy named Matt while I was stationed in Japan. He introduced me to www.ocforums.com, and the "Benchmarking Team" there. I had not had much interest in benchmarking previously, I always though of myself as more practical. But, I thought I'd play along and I joined the team. My first introduction to an actual competition was was is "The Raptor Pit", "Forum Warz 2008" in the spring of 2008. I was running a Q6600 and an 8800GTX. With air cooling I was able to bench my Q6600 at over 4GHz, and tore up the competition in my class. Overall OCF won the Forum War in 2007, Winter and Summer of 2008, and 2009...that means five in a row. I was not part of the first one in 2007, but the four since then, I have participated in. After winning the 2008 Winter and Summer Warz, Tom's Hardware Guide announced they were looking for nominations for individuals to compete in their first ever international overclocking competition, called "Overdrive". I was nominated, and chosen to compete in the North American semi-finals in Los Angeles in November 2008. I was placed on "Team IRONMODS" as they only had two guys, yet three man teams were allowed. We won the semi-finals in LA, and our prize was a trip to Paris the following month, to compete with the best in the world.
The following month, Ton, Jake, and myself flew to Paris as "Team USA" to face off against the best from Taiwan, France, Germany, and Italy. It was a very intense competition, but after two heated days of battle (16 hours of benching), we emerged the victors. Amidst our celebration, Ton and Jake officially invited me to join "Team IRONMODS" on a permanent basis, and I graciously accepted. Ton, aka "TiTON", is a world renown case moder, and is also very well known for some of the AMD overclocking he has done. Jake, aka "CPT.Planet", is a genius overclocker, and a really fun guy. The team has a great synergy when working together, we really have complementary styles.
After winning the world championship in December 2008 things were a bit quite for a couple months, then in the spring of 2009 I received an invitation to the 2nd annual Gigabyte Open Overclocking Championship "GOOC". I would compete in the North American semi-final in LA, where the winner would win a ticket to the world championship in Taipei Taiwan during CES in June 2009. The competition was tough with 14 of the best from North America gathering for a 1 on 1 competition of OCing. But once again, I completed the competition well, and rose above the others. I won 1st place and the trip to the world finals in Taipei.
My luck ran dry in Taipei where I started off with a bad motherboard, and went through 5 more during the course of the competition due to various reasons. Despite the poor finish in Taipei, I have high hopes to redeem myself next year.See Authors Posts (24) on May 28, 2011
The original recipe
A couple years ago, I put together a simple water cooling system that I dubbed FFF&FM.
Form
Follows
Function
and
Fully
Modular
And the name really tells you everything you need to know. It was not a pretty system, nor did it need to be….but it did work very well for cooling my HW while pretesting for more serious benching session with liquid nitrogen. Here is a link to the original forum post where I detailed the build.
FFF&FM Rev1.0 parts
The original syste...
[Review] Cooler Master Storm Enforcer2 Comments By The DukecloseAuthor: The DukeName: Drew Briggs Email: drew@techreaction.net Site:http://www.techreaction.net About: Just keeping it real for the average joe overclocker and computer user.See Authors Posts (169) on May 12, 2011
Continuing with its tradition of revolutionary designs, Cooler Master Storm has released its new Enforcer chassis. The new chassis contains internal USB 3.0 connections, SSD drive support, and a removable/rotatable HDD cage to support easy installation of the largest video cards. Cooler Master Storm has tried to come up with a design that not only meets the expectations of its customer base and enthusiasts, but also tries to do so within a price range that all will appreciate. We will be thor...
[Review] NZXT Phantom – Full Tower Chassis5 Comments By The DukecloseAuthor: The DukeName: Drew Briggs Email: drew@techreaction.net Site:http://www.techreaction.net About: Just keeping it real for the average joe overclocker and computer user.See Authors Posts (169) on February 20, 2011
The NZXT Phantom Full Tower Chassis, designed with sleek & pristine contours, radiates personality and quality. As with all NZXT products, they strive to set themselves apart from the rest by offering unique and original designs. The Phantom delivers high performance cooling advantages with seven fan cooling options, dual radiator support, quad water cooling cutouts, and five 20W per channel fan controls built-in. It has an innovative 5.25” screw-less drive system with five bays and vast...
Silverstone @ CES: TJ11 Is Here!5 Comments By The DukecloseAuthor: The DukeName: Drew Briggs Email: drew@techreaction.net Site:http://www.techreaction.net About: Just keeping it real for the average joe overclocker and computer user.See Authors Posts (169) on January 8, 2011
Continuing on with our seemingly never ending journey this week, Alex and I made our way to the Silverstone suite. Impressed with what we found could very well be an understatement. Silverstone had great looking chassis on display for our viewing. The FT03 was the first chassis we stumbled upon in the Silverstone suite and it was an eye catcher. The Raven and TJ11 were also both extremely great looking as well and I will cover those two more in depth later on in the article.
#gallery-1 {
...
[Review] In-Win Dragon Rider2 Comments By The DukecloseAuthor: The DukeName: Drew Briggs Email: drew@techreaction.net Site:http://www.techreaction.net About: Just keeping it real for the average joe overclocker and computer user.See Authors Posts (169) on December 28, 2010
The Dragon Rider is a chassis that is designed to cool even the most demanding of components. Enveloped totally in black, the dark design is punctuated by yellow fan blades to create a subtle, but distinct appearance. The unique side panel shield design creates the necessary space for tidy cable routing and multiple fan mounting points for up to eleven 120mm fans, which make it possibly the ultimate chassis for cooling customization. Pre-fitted with a large 220mm side fan for effective graphics ...
[Review] Cooler Master Centurion 5 II1 Comment By The DukecloseAuthor: The DukeName: Drew Briggs Email: drew@techreaction.net Site:http://www.techreaction.net About: Just keeping it real for the average joe overclocker and computer user.See Authors Posts (169) on December 2, 2010
The all new Centurion 5 II (MSRP $59.99) has been vastly improved from the inside. This mid-tower chassis is designed with increased drive bay capacity, more airflow thanks to the enhanced ventilation and fan options, and easy-to-install features. The removable I/O module for flexible installation is a great feature, especially for those people wanting to add their own I/O module or take out the I/O module completely to free up room for something else. Let’s check out the new Centurion 5 ...
[Review] Silverstone FP55 – Drive Bay Converter1 Comment By The DukecloseAuthor: The DukeName: Drew Briggs Email: drew@techreaction.net Site:http://www.techreaction.net About: Just keeping it real for the average joe overclocker and computer user.See Authors Posts (169) on November 4, 2010
Looking for a new addition to your case to help consolidate space and clean up your hard drive area? The FP55 could possibly be your solution. With the capability of holding 3 hard drives, two 2.5″ and one 3.5″ hard drive, this could be a great addition to any HTPC. The stylish, high quality brushed aluminum will look good in almost any case. Let’s move on and see how easy the installation is, as well as what type of setups the FP55 will allow.
Packaging:
Specifications:...
[Review] Cooler Master Elite 3702 Comments By The DukecloseAuthor: The DukeName: Drew Briggs Email: drew@techreaction.net Site:http://www.techreaction.net About: Just keeping it real for the average joe overclocker and computer user.See Authors Posts (169) on October 12, 2010
Cooler Master’s Elite 370 case is on our test table for review today. The Elite 370 is a budget mid-tower which claims to have been made with quality products and features. It is designed to move a lot of air and keep your components nice and cool. The 370 also features a classic black Cooler Master design with clean, attractive lines. The drive bay is a smoked acrylic which gives a reflective look from far off, but a see-through look up close. How well does the 370 live up to the claims...
[Review] Cooler Master HAF 9123 Comments By The DukecloseAuthor: The DukeName: Drew Briggs Email: drew@techreaction.net Site:http://www.techreaction.net About: Just keeping it real for the average joe overclocker and computer user.See Authors Posts (169) on September 6, 2010
Cooler Master has been so kind as to send us their latest version of the HAF line of chassis. This mid-tower HAF 912 is aimed at enthusiasts on a budget (MSRP $59.99), yet it still has most of the aesthetics and qualities of the more expensive HAF that have come before it. The 912 helps keep the legacy of the HAF line of chassis going strong, bringing with it the ease of installation, excellent airflow, and compatibility with water cooling. We will be taking a detailed look at all of these fe...
[Review] Zalman Z7 Plus1 Comment By The DukecloseAuthor: The DukeName: Drew Briggs Email: drew@techreaction.net Site:http://www.techreaction.net About: Just keeping it real for the average joe overclocker and computer user.See Authors Posts (169) on August 27, 2010
Zalman sent us their Z7 Plus case today to put through the paces. This ATX mid-tower chassis has some interesting features that we noticed right away, for example, the side mounted fan controller that can control up to two fans. Another feature is the top mounted IO ports that can be covered up when not in use. In addition, their Zalman LED logo is also a nice touch, and from first appearances the Z7 Plus is doing a good job so far. Now let’s get on with the testing so that we can find o...
[Blog] Review – XCLIO Windtunnel Case3 Comments By TheDramaLlamacloseAuthor: TheDramaLlamaName: Alvin Yan Email: ayan6@gatech.edu Site: About:See Authors Posts (2) on July 16, 2010
I recently did a gaming build, and wanted to do a review on a few of my new parts. Some of them are generic, but one stood out to me – the XCLIO Windtunnel, a full tower ATX case with two enormous 250mm fans and enough airflow to keep your feet chilled.
No, that last part wasn’t a joke. I can no longer game barefoot. :’(
[Image courtesy of Newegg. Find the Windtunnel here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811103011]
Behold the massive glory that is the X...
[Review] Cooler Master Elite 4303 Comments By The DukecloseAuthor: The DukeName: Drew Briggs Email: drew@techreaction.net Site:http://www.techreaction.net About: Just keeping it real for the average joe overclocker and computer user.See Authors Posts (169) on June 2, 2010
Our good buddies at Cooler Master surprised us once again. What was waiting for us at the front door? The brand new Cooler Master Elite 430 mid-tower case (MSRP $59.99), that’s what! It is always a great way to start off the day when you have packages waiting for you at the front door. We unpacked it like it was Christmas all over again, and got to work examining this new edition to the Cooler Master Elite chassis line-up. Now it’s time for you to see exactly what we found with the ...
[Blog] In-Win’s Maelstrom Full Tower Case – Quick Look0 Comments By KrabcloseAuthor: KrabName: Larry Ngo Email: graveflame@gmail.com Site: About:See Authors Posts (9) on May 31, 2010
A few months ago, In-Win decided to hold a promotion where they gave away hundreds of free products; from power supplies to cases, they were extremely generous. I had luckily acquired an In-Win Maelstrom from the frenzy. They were also so kind as to pay the very expensive oversea shipping fees! Yay! Anyways, this will post will briefly talk about some key points of the Maelstrom, so let’s start off with some pictures.
The Maelstrom was shipped in a very large and durable cardboard box. Th...
BitFenix Launches First Video Log – Previews Colossus Gaming Chassis!0 Comments By EnJoYcloseAuthor: EnJoYName: Alex Joy Email: alex@techreaction.net Site:http://www.techreaction.net About:See Authors Posts (53) on May 18, 2010
BitFenix, a new company that first made it’s presence known several months ago, is getting closer and closer to releasing some of it’s very first, top secret products! The company has released a video log that gives some more information on who they are, what their goals are as a company, and most importantly…previews their upcoming gaming chassis, the Colossus!
“Today, we have a very special video for you. In the first of many BitFenix Video Logs, David Jarlestedt, Bi...
The original recipe
A couple years ago, I put together a simple water cooling system that I dubbed FFF&FM.
Form
Follows
Function
and
Fully
Modular
And the name really tells you everything you need to know. It was not a pretty system, nor did it need to be….but it did work very well for cooling my HW while pretesting for more serious benching session with liquid nitrogen. Here is a link to the original forum post where I detailed the build.
FFF&FM Rev1.0 parts
The original syste... 
Continuing with its tradition of revolutionary designs, Cooler Master Storm has released its new Enforcer chassis. The new chassis contains internal USB 3.0 connections, SSD drive support, and a removable/rotatable HDD cage to support easy installation of the largest video cards. Cooler Master Storm has tried to come up with a design that not only meets the expectations of its customer base and enthusiasts, but also tries to do so within a price range that all will appreciate. We will be thor... 
The NZXT Phantom Full Tower Chassis, designed with sleek & pristine contours, radiates personality and quality. As with all NZXT products, they strive to set themselves apart from the rest by offering unique and original designs. The Phantom delivers high performance cooling advantages with seven fan cooling options, dual radiator support, quad water cooling cutouts, and five 20W per channel fan controls built-in. It has an innovative 5.25” screw-less drive system with five bays and vast... 
The Dragon Rider is a chassis that is designed to cool even the most demanding of components. Enveloped totally in black, the dark design is punctuated by yellow fan blades to create a subtle, but distinct appearance. The unique side panel shield design creates the necessary space for tidy cable routing and multiple fan mounting points for up to eleven 120mm fans, which make it possibly the ultimate chassis for cooling customization. Pre-fitted with a large 220mm side fan for effective graphics ... 
The all new Centurion 5 II (MSRP $59.99) has been vastly improved from the inside. This mid-tower chassis is designed with increased drive bay capacity, more airflow thanks to the enhanced ventilation and fan options, and easy-to-install features. The removable I/O module for flexible installation is a great feature, especially for those people wanting to add their own I/O module or take out the I/O module completely to free up room for something else. Let’s check out the new Centurion 5 ... 
Looking for a new addition to your case to help consolidate space and clean up your hard drive area? The FP55 could possibly be your solution. With the capability of holding 3 hard drives, two 2.5″ and one 3.5″ hard drive, this could be a great addition to any HTPC. The stylish, high quality brushed aluminum will look good in almost any case. Let’s move on and see how easy the installation is, as well as what type of setups the FP55 will allow.
Packaging:
Specifications:... 
Cooler Master’s Elite 370 case is on our test table for review today. The Elite 370 is a budget mid-tower which claims to have been made with quality products and features. It is designed to move a lot of air and keep your components nice and cool. The 370 also features a classic black Cooler Master design with clean, attractive lines. The drive bay is a smoked acrylic which gives a reflective look from far off, but a see-through look up close. How well does the 370 live up to the claims... 
Cooler Master has been so kind as to send us their latest version of the HAF line of chassis. This mid-tower HAF 912 is aimed at enthusiasts on a budget (MSRP $59.99), yet it still has most of the aesthetics and qualities of the more expensive HAF that have come before it. The 912 helps keep the legacy of the HAF line of chassis going strong, bringing with it the ease of installation, excellent airflow, and compatibility with water cooling. We will be taking a detailed look at all of these fe... 
Zalman sent us their Z7 Plus case today to put through the paces. This ATX mid-tower chassis has some interesting features that we noticed right away, for example, the side mounted fan controller that can control up to two fans. Another feature is the top mounted IO ports that can be covered up when not in use. In addition, their Zalman LED logo is also a nice touch, and from first appearances the Z7 Plus is doing a good job so far. Now let’s get on with the testing so that we can find o... 
I recently did a gaming build, and wanted to do a review on a few of my new parts. Some of them are generic, but one stood out to me – the XCLIO Windtunnel, a full tower ATX case with two enormous 250mm fans and enough airflow to keep your feet chilled.
No, that last part wasn’t a joke. I can no longer game barefoot. :’(
[Image courtesy of Newegg. Find the Windtunnel here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811103011]
Behold the massive glory that is the X... 
Our good buddies at Cooler Master surprised us once again. What was waiting for us at the front door? The brand new Cooler Master Elite 430 mid-tower case (MSRP $59.99), that’s what! It is always a great way to start off the day when you have packages waiting for you at the front door. We unpacked it like it was Christmas all over again, and got to work examining this new edition to the Cooler Master Elite chassis line-up. Now it’s time for you to see exactly what we found with the ... 
A few months ago, In-Win decided to hold a promotion where they gave away hundreds of free products; from power supplies to cases, they were extremely generous. I had luckily acquired an In-Win Maelstrom from the frenzy. They were also so kind as to pay the very expensive oversea shipping fees! Yay! Anyways, this will post will briefly talk about some key points of the Maelstrom, so let’s start off with some pictures.
The Maelstrom was shipped in a very large and durable cardboard box. Th... 
BitFenix, a new company that first made it’s presence known several months ago, is getting closer and closer to releasing some of it’s very first, top secret products! The company has released a video log that gives some more information on who they are, what their goals are as a company, and most importantly…previews their upcoming gaming chassis, the Colossus!
“Today, we have a very special video for you. In the first of many BitFenix Video Logs, David Jarlestedt, Bi... 
News Headlines
Categories
Tags
Links
Archives
