Lian Li Launches ASUS ROG-Inspired PC-O11WGX Case: Two Chambers, E-ATX, USB-C

Lian Li has introduced its new chassis for advanced desktops, the PC-O11WGX. The company’s latest case has two chambers for more efficient cooling, is compatible with motherboards in the E-ATX form-factor, can fit in nine storage devices in drive form-factor, three 360-mm radiators and has a USB 3.1 Type-C header on its front panel. Stylistically, the case comes with a front panel featuring ASUS ROG stylings, which means incorporating Mayan patterns. Being aimed at modders and overclockers, the Lian Li PC-O11WGX is everything but affordable.

The Lian Li PC-O11 WGX chassis follows the latest trends in PC building and is designed to be suitable for highly-modded systems while also being very efficient in terms of cooling and compatibility. On the outside, the case has two panels made of tempered glass, exposing the key components of the computer. Inside, like many other contemporary PC cases, the PC-O11WGX uses a two-chamber design: one of the compartments housing the motherboard, graphics card, memory, and cooling, another accommodating the power supply, cables, along with nine HDDs and/or SSDs.

The new case from Lian Li can fit in a motherboard in ATX, E-ATX, Mini-ITX and Micro-ATX form-factors with up to eight add-in cards. Moreover, for those who like to see/expose their graphics cards, Lian Li supplies a special riser cable to install the graphics card vertically. The maximum length of the graphics card is 430 mm, so, not only single-GPU, but dual-GPU boards are supported with plenty of space left. Meanwhile, the maximum height of the CPU cooling system is 150 mm, so not all mega-coolers can fit in (e.g., Thermalright’s Archon IB-E X2 cannot).

Speaking of cooling, Lian Li built the PC-O11 WGX primarily with liquid cooling in mind: the chassis has space for three 360-mm radiators for closed-loop or custom liquid coolers, enabling its owner to build a gaming system with a HEDT CPU, a couple of graphics cards, and then cool each of those components using its own LCS (or build one LCS with three radiators if necessary). To provide enough power for everything, the case can accommodate a PSU that is up to 430 mm long.

Since we are talking about a high-end chassis, the PSU and HDD/SSD mounts are equipped with rubber vibration dampers, whereas the top and bottom panels are equipped with mesh dust filters (unclear whether they are removable though).

Lian Li says that ASUS has certified the case, guaranteeing that all the ROG-family components will fit in and will work flawlessly. This is not the first ROG-certified chassis from Lian Li – and arguably it’s more of a co-branding exercise than any kind of stringent technical qualification – but the additional styling and verification from ASUS engineers never hurts.

The Lian Li PC-O11WGX computer chassis will be available in North America in mid-May for $319. The price of the case is rather high, but since we are dealing with a top-of-the-range product aimed at modders and performance enthusiasts, it is not surprising.

Gallery: Lian Li PC-O11WGX

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Deepcool Launches Captain EX RGB CPU Coolers with LED Lighting

Deepcool has announced its new lineup of CPU coolers featuring customizable RGB LED lighting. The new Captain EX RGB cooling systems offer the same cooling performance as the already available Captain EX products, but offer a new look that can be controlled by appropriate software shipped with motherboards from different manufacturers.

The Deepcool Captain 120EX RGB and the Deepcool Captain 240EX RGB devices resemble the company’s Captain 120EX/240EX cooling systems with 120- and 240-mm radiators (respectively) as well as one or two 120 mm fans. The products are compatible with all modern processors from AMD (including AM4) and Intel (including LGA2011-v3 and LGA1151). As for performance, both parts are rated for CPUs with TDP of up to 150 W.

The main differences between the Captain EX and the Captain EX RGB coolers are RGB LEDs integrated into waterblocks of the latter as well as a bundled LED strip for the case. The lighting of the Deepcool Captain EX RGB coolers can be controlled using the included wired controller, or the RGB LED-controlling software (such as the ASUS Aura) supplied with appropriate motherboards.

The addition of the Captain EX RGB coolers into the Deepcool lineup emphasizes the importance of customizable LED lighting for high-end PC hardware for enthusiasts. Nowadays a lot of people demand to have an option to build a computer that looks exactly how they want and customizable RGB lighting is an easy and relatively inexpensive way to do it. In speaking to companies like Corsair, despite the negativity surrounding RGB lighting, it tends to make up a significant portion of sales, especially on high-end products, when both plain versions and RGB versions is available.

The Captain 120EX RGB and the Captain 240EX RGB from Deepcool will be available starting next month for $99.99 and $129.99, respectively.

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NZXT Releases Kraken G12 Liquid Cooler GPU Mounting Kit

NZXT has announced its Kraken G12 mounting kit, which is designed to allow video cards to mount a closed-loop liquid cooler. In junctionwith a cooler, the adapter can significantly decrease GPU temperatures and improve cooling of VRMs; it is compatible with various coolers and cards.

Closed-loop liquid cooling systems (LCSes) for CPUs have gained popularity among enthusiasts in the recent years due to high efficiency amid relatively small dimensions. But while high-performance GPUs have higher TDPs (and therefore greater heat generation) than advanced CPUs, few LCSes can be attached to graphics cards out of the box. Some companies (e.g., Corsair) offer special adapters (brackets) to make their liquid coolers compatible with popular graphics boards, but NZXT is the one of a few vendors to offer mounting kits that are designed to be compatible not only with the company’s own LCS, but with other popular liquid coolers as well.

The NZXT Kraken G12 is a relatively simple device that consists of bracket compatible with various waterblocks from NZXT, Corsair, Thermaltake, Antec, and Zalman as well as multiple reference and non-reference graphics cards based on AMD or NVIDIA GPUs (see the table). The Kraken G12 is equipped with a 92-mm fan with up to 1500 RPM speed that can cool down the various video card components that aren’t covered by the LCS, such as DRAM chips and VRM components (inductors, MOSFETs, capacitors, etc.). All of which is important, especially as the latter get very hot under high load.

In fact, the Kraken G12 is not the first product of the kind from NZXT. Several years ago it released its Kraken G10 bracket for then-contemporary coolers and video cards. The Kraken G12 just expands the list of compatible components, uses a new fan with a lower rotating speed and adds a white option. From a technical point of view, making the Kraken G12 compatible with LCSes from five different suppliers is not a problem as compliant closed-loop liquid coolers are designed for standard CPU sockets and are made by Asetek, so, their constructions are similar.

The NZXT Kraken G12 will be available towards the end of the month for $29 in the USA.

Gallery: NZXT Kraken G12

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