Hardware

Finding the right keyboard to fit your gaming style is no simple task, but we'll assert that when you find the right one, you'll know it – it immediately clicks. Heh. In a gamer's search for the perfect peripheral, you'll discover that there are really two different categories of devices readily available on the market:

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If you've ever just wanted to grab something inside your display and rip it out of its virtual existence, you may be Intel's newest fan: at CES 2013, Intel was demonstrating the development of what they've dubbed Perceptual Technology (in coordination with Creative). Perceptual Technology input asks you to think about PC interactions differently and more naturally, although the new interactions feel abstract to experienced desktop users. No longer are you limited to the keyboard and mouse – with PT, users are given the tools to manipulate any compatible application with hand gestures, facial expressions, and eye-tracking.

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While at this booth we were quite literally able to throw a companion cube from Portal 2 with the flick of a wrist, and I must admit that it was somewhat satisfying. Here’s a rough demo video we shot – the audio is unimportant (just background noise from the convention), but it should give a relative idea of how the thing works.

My first gaming PC build actually used an old Antec case – long discontinued at this point – but since then, I’ve closely followed their progression in the market. The company has produced some of the undisputed leaders in sales and innovation, specifically in the form of the Antec 900, which was almost single-handedly responsible for guiding case design methodologies toward our modern featureset. The 1100 has been ranked one of the highest cases on performance benchmarks for thermals, reigning in the top few for most of its shelf-life. Not all of their products are hard-hitters, as with any company, but we do have solid evidence that Antec at least is capable of predicting future demand for upcoming features in gaming cases.

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NZXT announced at this year’s CES three new additions to its HALE90 power supply series: the HALE90 V2 850W, 1000W, and 1200W PSUs. This is NZXT’s first fully-modular power supply series.

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Zalman's nickel-plated copper air coolers have been one of the most attractive units on the market for some time now – sleek, gray/black, and still copper. It works well in gaming and enthusiast systems, to be sure. The 9900 Max and 9900 DF are great examples that compete with other equally-sharp designs, like the Tuniq Tower 120 or CM T812.

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Although we’ve previously posted about Rosewill’s new Armor Evolution series case and the THRONE and mechanical Helios keyboard, but as of tonight we’ve finally gotten some hands-on time with the company’s new gaming equipment. We were joined by Buu Ly, Product Marketing at Rosewill, and Chinny Chuang, owner of awesome name and Marketing Manager at Rosewill, to get an extensive hands-on with the new gaming offerings.

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With nearly all the major case manufacturers under belt at this point—specifically Corsair, NZXT, and Rosewill, Cooler Master, Zalman, and Lian Li (all four are pending publication)—it only made sense that we check in with SilverStone, who’ve maintained a reputation for quality since the company’s inception.

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NZXT Phantom 630 Gaming Case Hands-On CES 2013

By Published January 09, 2013 at 10:55 am

From the very same company that brought us their Phantom 820, Respire and Kraken coolers, and numerous mid-range cases, we now have the Phantom 630 coming out. At CES 2013, we were able to catch up with NZXT’s PSU Product Manager (Joey Cheng), Asst. Case Product Manager (Rob Teller), and our PR contact (Tuan Mai), who filled us in on all of their upcoming releases for the show. A few GTX 680s later, we had seen just about everything in the upcoming Phantom 630 case – here’s what we know so far.

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Corsair’s newest-announced line of products, wirelessly accessible portable storage, will take shape in the form of the Voyager Air, their first USB3.0 portable storage drive that also doubles as a NAS. As we did with the 900D, we had the chance to get some hands-on preview time with the Corsair Voyager Air – below is what we thought.

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During the madness of the pre-show CES 2013 events, we were able to get a preview of all of Corsair’s upcoming products – Wireless NAS/Storage devices, new Dominator overclocking memory, gaming peripherals, and the behemoth Corsair 900D enthusiast case. Several of you have asked us for more info on the case, and I’m happy to say that we can oblige: Our hands-on preview of Corsair’s 900D at CES 2013 left us impressed, if a bit overwhelmed, and excited for the enthusiast hardware market.

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Let’s start with some specs.

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