PC-8F is a new Lian Li PC framework, performed in the Mid-Tower form factor. Like many other Lian Li cases, the novelty is almost entirely made of aluminum, however it stands out against parallel solutions due to its reasonable price.



PC-8F is 500 mm long, 210 mm wide and 476 mm high, and weighs 4.5 kg. It can house an ATX, microATX or Mini-ITX mother board, seven PCI-E expansion cards, an ATX-compatible power supply, a couple of 3.5-inch and three 2.5-inch HDD drives. Graphics adapters should not be longer than 410 mm, and the maximum CPU cooling system allowed is 170 mm.


The front part of the chassis offers enough room for the 360/280 mm liquid cooling system heatsink with fans of the corresponding standard size. On top of that two more fans can be installed (on the top and on the rear panels). Connectivity options include one Type-C USB 3.1, two USB 3.0 ports, and a pair of 3.5 mm audio jacks.


The Lian Li PC-8F PC Case will hit the shelves soon. It will be available …

Gigabyte has released the first motherboard form factor microATX, equipped with two ports Thunderbolt — GA-Z77MX-D3H TH. Taking into account the availability of the precursor (Z77MX-D3H), it’s interesting to compare the design and price of these models. First, about the cost of the product. The novelty is estimated at € 150, and its «little sister» — at € 108,50. If to subtract 10 euros from each of two amounts, there will be the minimum for which the cards will be available soon.



Gigabyte GA-Z77MX-D3H TH


What causes the difference in more than 40 euros? In general, the presence of two ports Intel Thunderbolt 10 Gb / s, which are implemented by the controller Intel DSL3510L. A high-speed connection can simultaneously serve several drives and a monitor. Minor changes were made to the design of the CPU power supply subsystem, which, nevertheless, remained a 6-channel. One of the long PCI Express slots was replaced by the second PCI-E 2.0 x1.


By and large, …

The efforts of Gigabyte engineers culminated in the release of the Radeon HD 7970 Super Overclock, also known as GV-R797SO-3GD. This is a monstrous construction with height of 64 mm (3.5 expansion slots) and a cooling system WindForce 5X. As well as preparing to be released GeForce GTX 680 SOC, the new adapter uses a five high-speed (> 4000 rev / min) fan size of 40 mm, copper evaporation chamber, and five copper heat pipes.



WindForce 5X – is one of the most expensive VGA-coolers, except for models with water blocks and liquid cooling system. It will allow to overclock Gigabyte GV-R797SO-3GD up to frequencies of 1155/7620 MHz. However, neither the temperature nor the noise performance of video card can be considered satisfactory: 85 degrees under load and 91 ° C for overclocking with increased voltage, and 8000 rpm in a heavy-duty (1185 MHz, 1.375 V) explains the situation.


Printed circuit board Radeon HD 7970 SOC is reinforced with five polymer capacitors NEC / …