Displaying items by tag: Cooler Master

There was a time when the only type of keyboard you could buy was one with mechanical switches. This was pretty much it for the old AT days of computing. This style of keyboard later extended into the first ATX boards which featured PS/2 connectors (and later USB). This style of keyboard was later replaced by the smaller digital input (also known as capacitive and which was actually designed in the 1970s). These were nothing more than a sponge pad that would press a contact into two trace contacts on a PCB. As these were cheaper to make and boasted the same reliability as the older mechanical switches (which mean one switch per key) it soon became the standard and the older mechanical switch went away… That is until the gaming community resurrected it. Now we have a new generation of keyboards based on the old one-switch-per-key style of manufacturing. We have taken three of these for a stroll around the lab and now have a fourth to tell you about. This is the CM Storm Trigger Mechanical Gaming Keyboard. Let’s see if it can stand up to the rest of the pack.

Cooler Master is celebrating 20 years of life (we got to celebrate with them at CES 2012), but it has only been in the last five or so that we have really watched them take off. With the launch of the HAF line and their push into the enthusiast level of hardware (and the CM Storm line) Cooler Master has simply bloomed. Over the years we have tested many products from Cooler Master and still have more to go through. Today we are finally able to show you their newest edition to the HAF line up; the HAF XM. The HAF XM is a mid-tower case that has plenty of room for your three-way SLI or Crossfire plus all of the hard drives you could want. You get all of this for around $130 so let’s take a look and see if the HAF XM is worth the price of admission.

As you might have noticed we are getting back into our coverage of not only the core components to computers, but also the peripherals that make the computing experience what it is. One of the most used (and often overlooked) components is the mouse. We have covered a few of these handy little items in the past; some good, some bad. One of our favorite manufacturers has been Cooler Master and their CM Storm line. When we first heard about this line we were a little skeptical; we have seen where other manufacturers have branched off and ended up with not much more than gaudy versions of what they already sell. However, with Cooler Master and the CM Storm line we have seen quite a bit more. Ever since we first tested out the Sentinel Advance we knew that Cooler Master was not playing around here and as you have been able to see with their recent releases of the QuickFire Rapid and Pro mechanical gaming keyboard the CM Storm line is here to stay. So with that in mind we are going to take a look at the highly anticipated Sequel to the mouse that started it all off for CM Storm, the Sentinel Advance II along with the CM Storm Speed-RX L Mousing Surface.

As the PC Gaming scene ramps up (now that nVidia has finally released Kepler) we are starting to see some very nice accessories to take advantage of the flexibility and power that you get when you build a PC for the purpose of gaming. We have shown you more than a few items that are meant to improve your gaming experience including headsets, monitors, audio cards and now even mechanical keyboards. Only a few days ago we showed you Cooler Master’s new CM Storm QuickFire Rapid mechanical gaming keyboard and already have its big brother in the lab. So let’s take a look at the QuickFire Pro and see if this Cherry MX sporting partially backlit gaming keyboard has what it takes to earn the cool $100 that it will cost you.

Although keyboards are normally not exciting there are a few that will certainly grab your attention especially if you are into gaming. During CES Cooler Master showed off their lineup of gaming keyboards under the CM Storm brand one in particular caught our eye, the CM Storm QuickFire Rapid. This is a small gaming keyboard with replaceable keys that we just had to try out. Cooler Master has finally sent one to us and we have been using it on our gaming system for a few days and are now ready to tell you if it is worth the $80 or not.

In the second half of our visit to the Cooler Master suite we looked over their new line of mobile products. Previous to CES 2012 Cooler Master had their Choiix (pronounced Choice) land then their own named brand of mobile cooling and power products. Starting this year the Choiix line is going away and they will focus on just the Cooler Master name.

CES-2012 Las Vegas, Nevada; Cooler Master is celebrating their 20th anniversary along with some nice new products. We had the chance to take a look at these… and to get a glimpse of a few future products, but we cannot talk about those just yet. Still we can talk about more than a few nice new and updated products that will be aimed at the gamers and even the mainstream market.

Cooler Master LGA2011 Bracket Free Upgrade Program


Chino, California – November 4th, 2011 – Cooler Master, an industry leading chassis, thermal solution, peripheral, and accessory manufacturer today extends its support for its customers. As was previously announced, Cooler Master is providing a free bracket to support LGA2011 on the Hyper 212 EVO. This will now be extended to one of Cooler Master’s best-selling CPU Coolers. Loyal owners of the award-winning Hyper 212 Plus need not worry as this offer covers the Hyper 212 Plus as well.

Support will continue to grow for other Cooler Master CPU Coolers. To be notified when new CPU Coolers brackets are available through this program or CM Store, please sign up for the Cooler Master Newsletter.



To Obtain a Bracket Upgrade:

A free LGA2011 bracket will be provided to those that purchased a Hyper 212 EVO/Plus before the inclusion of this bracket in the product packaging.

• Visit our parts request page here
• Be ready to provide one of the following options*:
  • Heatsink serial number and an invoice for a LGA2011 motherboard or processor
  • Heatsink serial number and a picture of your new LGA2011 motherboard or processor

Click here for more details.

About Cooler Master
Cooler Master was founded in 1992 to provide the world’s best thermal solutions. Since its establishment, the company continues to invest in product development to provide leading-edge innovations. Cooler Master’s line-up includes heat sinks, fans, chassis, power supplies and computing accessories. Headquartered in Taiwan with branch offices located across Europe, America and APAC, Cooler Master offers unsurpassed service to our customers. For more information on Cooler Master, please visit www.coolermaster.com.

In today’s market a company cannot maintain a single vertical portfolio and survive. We have seen this more times that we can count. You just cannot do it. If all you make is motherboards, you are eventually going to get left behind. If all you make is power supplies… well you get the point I am making. So it is not surprising to see companies begin to branch out and manufacture different products. Sometimes these products do not even seem to be related, but if they are good they can increase sales and also bring in new customers for the core business. Cooler Master did this not that long ago. The branched off their PC Enclosure business and created a new “gamers” line of cases dubbed CM Storm. Almost right after this line launched they began making peripherals for gamers as well. These products have included Mice, Head Sets, and Keyboards. So far we have spent some quality time with three of their mice and the Sirus headset. Today we are looking at another gaming mouse called the Xornet. This product shares a similar style with their Spawn mouse but not the same level of hardware. Let’s take a look and see if the new Xornet is a worthy addition to the CM Storm line.