ThermalTake The Tower 200 Snow Mini Chassis and ToughFan 12 Pro Twin Pack Review

Every computer case is different, they all have pros and cons to them. Computer cases can take up a lot of space or very little space depending on various circumstances. Today I will be reviewing The Tower 200 Snow Mini Chassis by ThermalTake, at an MSRP value of $129.99. I also will be reviewing The ToughFan 12 Pro Twin Pack by ThermalTake, at an MSRP value of $44.99.

 

P/N:  CL-F159-PL12BL-A

DIMENSION:  120 x 120 x 25 mm

FAN STARTED VOLTAGE: 12 V

STARTED VOLTAGE:  6 V

RATED CURRENT:  0.19 A

POWER INPUT:  2.28 W

FAN SPEED:  PWM 500~2000 R.P.M, With L.N.C PWM 500~1500 R.P.M

STATIC PRESSURE:  3.19 mm-H2O, With L.N.C 1.72 mm-H2O

AIRFLOW:  70.8 CFM, With L.N.C 49.13 CFM

NOISE:  22.6 dB-A, With L.N.C 18.3 dB-A

BEARING TYPE:  Hydraulic Bearing Gen.2

LIFE EXPECTATION:  40,000 hrs,25℃

CONNECTOR:  4 PIN PWM

CASE TYPE:  Mini Tower

DIMENSIONS:  537 x 300 x 280 mm  (21.14 x 11.8 x 11 inch)

WEIGHT:  7.7 kg / 16.98 lbs.

SIDE PANEL:  3mm Tempered Glass x 1

COLOR:  White

MATERIAL:  SPCC

COOLING SYSTEM: 

Top(exhaust):  140 x 140 x 25 mm CT140 fan (1500rpm, 30.5 dBA) x 1

Rear(exhaust):  140 x 140 x 25 mm CT140 fan (1500rpm, 30.5 dBA) x 1

DRIVE BAYS:  2 x 3.5”, 2 x 2.5” or 4 x 2.5”

EXPANSION SLOTS:  3

MOTHERBOARD:  6.7" x 6.7" (Mini ITX)

I/O PORT:  USB 3.2 (Gen 2) Type-C x 1, USB 3.0 x 2, HD Audio x 1

PSU:  Standard PS2 PSU (optional)

FAN SUPPORT

Top:  1 x 120mm, 1 x 140mm

Right Side:  2 x 120mm, 1 x 120mm, 2 x 140mm, 1 x 140mm

Rear: 2 x 120mm, 1 x 120mm, 2 x 140mm, 1 x 140mm

Power Cover: 1 x 120mm, 1 x 140mm

RADIATOR SUPPORT

Top: 1 x 120mm, 1 x 140mm

Right Side(AIO): 1 x 240mm, 1 x 120mm, 1 x 280mm, 1 x 140mm

CLEARANCE:  CPU cooler height limitation: 200mm

VGA length limitation: 280mm(With power cover), 380mm(Without power cover)

PSU length limitation: 220mm

 

We will talk about the Fans first. The fans came in a grey and black cardboard box with a high-definition picture on the front and the specifications on the back. The fans came in a cardboard box that houses the fans and another smaller cardboard box that has the screws and extinctions for assembly. The fans are made with a high-quality polymer that helps minimize vibrations at higher speeds.

The fans are a great addition to getting better cooling with great airflow. The Fans are set in the exhaust position and have their Anti-Vibrating mounting system with rubber corners. The fans were tested with a piece of paper towel to see the consistency and I was pleased with how the fans performed with the test.

The Case came in a grey cardboard box with high-quality images of the case as specifications. Held secure by custom-fitted Styrofoam wrapped in plastic. The case came with extra screws and zip ties to help with the final touches after the build. A motherboard speaker was even included, with some extra clips that help secure the various panels on the case. It also came with 2 panels that can be attached to the PSU mounting bracket if you are not planning on using a bigger GPU with your build.  Lastly there was the warranty and user manual booklets.

The Tower 200 Snow has the usual great white look that ThermalTake does with their products with a tempered glass front to be able to look at your components at a great angle. With the smaller size of the case, you are more limited to the size of your components but that won't hurt you in the GPU area because they have added space so that you could have a bigger GPU up to 380mm like an RTX 4090. With the size you can have up to a 280 AIO which will be plenty to be able to help keep your system cool while you are using it. The case comes with two CT 140 fans, one on the top of the case and the other on the back of the case, both configured in the exhaust direction.

One of my favorite features that is included in this case is that it has a GPU stabilizer to help keep your GPU in place even while you are moving the case around. On the right side of the case, there is a removable fan bracket that can hold up to a 280mm radiator or two 120mm or 140mm fans. Along with their other cases, The Tower 200 also has removable dust filters to help make the cleaning and maintenance of this case as easy as they can. The I/O on the case contains the power switch, a restart switch, a microphone port, a headphones port, two USB 3.0 ports, as well as a Type-C port. The panels on the case are secured by knobs that help assembly quick and easy while the important panels are on a push spring mechanism to help keep the panel knobs secure.

The hardware features of this case are that the Motherboard is rotated 90 degrees so the GPU is vertical. The case can fit up to 220mm PSU. For data storage, you can have up to two 2.5 or 3.5 HDDs on the back and two 2.5 HDDs on the right side.   It may not be big, but it still has a lot of functionality.

At the end of everything The Tower 200 Snow case is great-looking and very space-efficient. The small form factor does make it a little challenging when putting the build together.  But in the end it will be worth it if you are looking for a computer that won't take up that much space. The airflow is great and has a spectacular dust filter system to help keep your system from getting too much dust. At a price point of $129.99 and $44.99, we will be awarding the ThermalTake Tower 200 Snow and the ToughFan 12 Pro our Highly Recommended award.  For more info and complete specs, check out their website at www.thermaltake.com.

Kenwood Excelon Motorsport XM65R 6.5 Inch Coaxial Speaker Review

We should be able to enjoy our tunes in whatever vehicle we drive. But if it’s more of a ride then a drive, because it’s a Harley Davidson, Kenwood has you covered there as well. They have a new line of products for certain models of 2014 and up Harley Davidson motorcycles, which are part of Kenwood’s motorsport line. Up for review is their Kenwood Excelon Motorsport XM65R, MSRP is $199.

 

Features and specs:

IMPP Woofer Cones

1” (PEI) Dome Tweeters

Neodymium Magnet Material

Metal Mesh Grilles for Ultra® Included

Impedance: 2 Ohm

Mounting Depth: 2.”

Sensitivity: 92dB

Frequency Response: 40Hz-25kHz

RMS Power Handling: 150W

Peak Power Handling: 300W

2-Year Warranty

 

The Kenwood Excelon Motorsport XM65R came in a standard box with specs of the speaker. Opening the box revealed a very well protected speaker held in place by custom molded Styrofoam. Materials used in construction was mostly plastic. Quality of materials as well as fit and finish, was excellent. Also included was the owner’s manual.

 

I absolutely love the design of the Kenwood Excelon Motorsport XM65R. Loud typically means high power handling. High power handling means larger magnet. But larger magnet means deeper location space is needed. To combat against that, Kenwood went with Neodymium for the magnet. It’s a higher cost, but is a much smaller magnet size. To help shave some cost, they went with a plastic gasket. While it’s cheaper to make then steal or cast aluminum, there’s also no concern of potential rust in the future. And it also has improved acoustic properties as well, such as reduced resonance.

 

The design also helps with limited depth. The Neodymium magnet helps with this, but so does the speaker design. The rubber surround is surprisingly inverted. This allows for the same level of performance, but less space needed. Kenwood also took the need steps for the speaker to handle the elements, with water resistance materials. After all, being on a motorcycle, these could get rained on. This is a thoughtfully designed speaker that Kenwood executed in spades. Now let’s see how it sounds.

 

Styx: Renegade- vocals were silky smooth with very good texture of the timbre, and excellent harmonics!  Kick drum had good low-end extension.  Cymbals were crisp and clean.  Drums had good dynamics, depth, and played with authority.  Guitar was nice and raw.  It just wanted to play loud, and sounded great doing it!

Guns & Roses: Patience-  the whistling was smoother than Dove chocolate, with excellent harmonics.  Resolution of the acoustic guitar was better than expected, very crisp and clean, being able to hear the decay of the strings.  Vocals also had very good resolution of the timbre.  Soundstage was also not just wide but also deep.  And imaging was also good.

Rush: Tom Sawyer- drums were nice and dynamic with great depth.  Cymbals were crisp and clean with very good resolution of the contact of the stick on the metal cymbal.  Kick drum played deep with very good authority.  And the other drums: the high tom, medium tom, and floor tom, had very good dynamics and great pitch definition of the midbass.  Vocals were nice and raw with nice texture.

Kenwood did an excellent job in the design and execution of the Kenwood Excelon Motorsport XM65R 6.5” coaxial speaker. Designed for the Harley Davidson motorcycle, it can handle a lot of power, plays loud, and can handle the elements. So when you are out enjoying the outdoors on your Harley Davidson, and that certain song like Tom Sawyer some on and it has to be blasted….it also sounds great doing it! Based on its design, features, quality and performance, the Kenwood XM65R has earned our Highly Recommended award. For more info and complete specs, check out their website at www.kenwood.com.

Yeyian Pegasus 850 Watt Power Supply Review

While building your computer you need to think about the power that the system will need, then get the right power supply unit to meet those power needs. With the right connections that you will need and the right amount of power you can get the best PSU for your system. Today we will be reviewing the Pegasus 850W from Yeyian.  It’s MSRP is $149.99.

 

Features and specs:

Dimensions:  5.9 x 6.3 x 3.3in

Weight:   3.7 pounds

SATA:  3 Cables 3 Connectors 17in+5.9in+5.9in

PCIE 6+2:  2 Cables 2 Connectors 23.5in+5.9in

Power Cord:  4.92 Feet

MOLEX: 1 Cable 3 Connectors 17in+5.9in+5.9in

Output power:   850W

Output voltage: 12v1 + 12V2 + 5V+ 3.3V + -12V +5Vsb

Protection:          Aluminum Electrolytic Capacitors, 140mm Cooling Fan, EPS 12V Standard, Universal AC Input, Active PFC, MTBF 100,000 hrs, OPP, OVP, UVP, SCP, NLO, SIP, OCP, OTP

Efficiency:  90%, Meet ErP 2013 Energy Regulation and CE

Certifications:     80 Plus Gold, CE, FCC, NOM, RoHS

Wiring Type:  Black, Flat, 6 and 8 pin connectors support any GPU platform, PCI-E Ready

PCI-E:  5.0 Cable 1 Cable 1 Connector 12+4 Pin (12V) 23.5 inches

Form factor:  ATX 12V Ver 3.0

Input voltage:  100 Vac- 240 Vac

Power:  850W

Input current:  16A

Current type:  Alternate

Cable length / reach:  4.92 Feet

Input frequency :  50Hz - 60Hz

4+4:  2 Cables 1 Connector 27.5in

20+4:  1 Cable 23.5 Inches

 

The Yeyian Pegasus 850W Power supply came in a cardboard box that is neon green on the sides and gray on the top and bottom. It has a nice high-definition picture of the unit on the top and two pictures on the bottom, one of the front of the PSU and the other is the back. Inside of the box is the PSU with a custom fitted black Styrofoam ring to secure the PSU.  Next to the PSU is a cardboard box that holds the cables for the unit, they also have the screws to secure the unit after installing as well as some zip ties, and the final thing in the box is an installation booklet in both English and Spanish and a QR code for the user manual and warranty information.

 

Yeyian’s Pegasus 850W power supply is made from a sturdy metal chassis with honeycomb structure for the airflow, with some plastic for the connections.  Quality of the materials used, as well as the fit and finish, was very good. The Power supply is fully modular, coming with a 24-pin, four 8-pin, four 6-pin, as well as a 16-pin PCI-E 5.0 connector that newer GPUs use. The power supply is 80-plus gold certified and has a 5-year warranty.

One of the cool features of the PSU is that it is fully compatible with ATX 3.0. Meaning it can sustain up to 3x GPU power excursion and 2x power excursion. The PSU also has the full protection to make sure you and your system will remain safe while in use. I really like how they are making efforts to keep up with the continued new requirements that are always coming. Making this PSU compatible with 3.0 ATX as well as the newer PCI-E 5.0 connector for the GPUs.

The Yeyian Pegasus 850W power supply proved to be a great performer.  There are no fancy RGB’s, but what it was designed to do, it did well.  My VisionTek Radeon RX 6600XT graphics card didn’t suffer from any drop in power or frames.  The motherboard, DRAM, and SSD’s also received all of the solid current that they needed.  Bottom line, it did its job, performing well.

 

In conclusion the Pegasus 850W from Yeyian is a great PSU for a build that you would typically see. With it being 850W it is more than enough for most budget to middle systems. With the ATX 3.0 compatibility and the PCI-E 5.0 connector it is a great unit to get for future proofing your build. With all of this in mind I will give the Pegasus 850W our highly recommended award. For more info and complete specs, check out their website at www.yeyian.com.

Kenwood Excelon Motorsport KMR-XM500 Digital Media Receiver Review

Summer is here. And if you’re like me, it’s time to hit the outdoors. Whether that means hitting the trails in your side by side, the golf course in your golf cart, or the lake in your boat, you may want to bring your tunes with you. Kenwood has a knack for providing the products we need to enjoy our music in our various vehicles. Up for review today is their Kenwood Excelon KMR-XM500. MSRP is a very reasonable $500.

 

Features and specs:

3” Gauge-Style Mounting

2.7” LCD Display

AM/FM/Global Weather Band Tuner

Waterproof Rating of IP66

Wired Remote Ready (KCA-RC35MR, Sold Separately)

SiriusXM Ready®

Rear USB Port w/ 1.5A Charging

Variable Color Illumination

Bluetooth® Streaming

Rear View Camera Input

50 Watts x 4

3 Pre-Outs (5.0V)

The Kenwood Excelon KMR-XM500 came in a great looking color printed box with photos and specs of the receiver. Opening the box revealed a well-protected product, held in place by custom molded Styrofoam. Materials used in the construction was plastic and some metal. Quality of materials used, as well as fit and finish, is very good. This is Kenwood’s top motorsport receiver, and it shows. Also included was the mounting gasket, bracket, hardware, as well as wiring harness and owner’s manual.

 

It used to be that you needed a receiver for your home audio system due to all of the different components. Whether it be radio, tape deck, CD player, Cable TV, VCR, or Blu-ray player, you wanted to be able to listen to/watch them all thru your speaker system. Car audio used to just be radio and tape player, or radio and CD player. But it too evolved to a multitude of choices, such as radio, CD, Sirius XM, Bluetooth, Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, USB, SD card, etc. now you can take your tunes with you everywhere you go.

I love the design of the Kenwood Excelon KMR-XM500. Just as home audio has evolved, followed by car audio, so has audio for our recreation vehicles. Thanks to Kenwood and their Excelon KMR-XM500, it provides the same functionality as their car receivers. It has your antenna input for local radio, Sirius XM connecting USB connector, Aux input, front & rear and subwoofer audio outputs, and even a video input. All of the different sources for your music is at your fingertips.

The design of the Kenwood KMR-XM500 is also about getting the sound that you want. While it has the built-in amp to power your front and rear speakers, it can take it to the next level as well. Just as Kenwood’s car receivers have 6-line outputs for front, rear and subs to be connected to external amps, so has the Kenwood KMR-XM500. So if you want the same caliber of excellent audio system in your boat, side by side, golf card, or other recreational vehicle, as you have in your car or truck, the Kenwood KMR-XM500 gives you that same functionality as well.

The innovation doesn’t end there. Kenwood also gave us a great looking color display. So your input icons look great, as do your settings. And when using a connected back-up camera, the image of behind your vehicle looks even better. When using this on a boat, for example, it’s a much easier way to watch and keep an eye on the water skier on tow behind you!

 

Installation was rather simple. I love the options the Kenwood Excelon KMR-XM500 provides. The amp inside is actually 2-ohm rated for extra power. You also have all of the outputs you have become used to with Kenwood. There are outputs for external amps should you choose, as well as camera inputs. All of the expansion options you are used to, has been carried over. There’s a durable metal housing, with a nice foam gasket to go between the receiver and your vehicles dash to protect it from the elements, and a U-shaped metal bracket to hold it into place.

 

To put it to the test, I wanted to test it’s 2-ohm ability. Kenwood just sent us a pair of their new XM65R 6.5-inch coaxial speakers for their new Harley Motorcycle series to review, which are 2-ohm speakers. Perfect! It’s a match made in heaven. Pairing it to my smartphone thru Bluetooth was also a breeze. And there were also the internal settings to make audio adjustments, like with fixed and customizable EQ curves. Now let’s see how it sounds.

AC/DC – Back in Black: kickdrum had nice dynamics with good impact and authority. Guitar was nice and raw with nice harmonics. Vocals were also nice and raw. 

Disturbed – Sound of Silence: piano sounded very natural with great harmonics.  Vocals were silky smooth with very good resolution of the texture of the timbre.  The acoustic guitar was really crisp, hearing the contact on the strings.  Violins were also really smooth.  Tympani was nice and dynamic with good resolution of the mallet pounding the tympani.

Rush – Tom Sawyer:  Kick drum had really good impact.  It was nice and tight, with good low-end extension, and played with good authority.  Snare drum was nice and dynamic.  Cymbals were really crisp and clean with great resolution of the impact of the wood sticks on the metal cymbal.  Vocals were silky smooth with excellent harmonics of the texture of the timbre.  Guitar sounded nice and raw.  The drums were killer with better-than-expected pitch definition of the midbass, that was very dynamic and played with great authority.  Obviously noticeable was also the soundstage and imaging.  The soundstage revealed to be not only wide but also deep.  And imaging for the different instruments was spot on.

 

I was impressed with the Kenwood Excelon KMR-XM500.  With a round design, it will fit in the 3-inch gauge space of any recreational vehicle like a side by side, boat, or golf cart.  The metal design of the housing also appears to do double duty as a heat sink as well.  To test this, after rocking out with many of my favorite tracts and seeing what the KMR-XM500 can do, I wanted to check the temperature of the housing.  The Kenwood Excelon KMR-XM500 did very well powering the Kenwood XM65R 6.5-inch coaxial speakers.  After a long listening session, there was not a single hiccup.  And touching the metal housing revealed that they were only a tad warm. But that showed that it was doing double duty as a heat sink, and they were doing very well!  So handling a 2-ohm load is not a problem.

 

When it comes to taking your tunes with you on the go, Kenwood has yet again got you covered with a great product for your recreational vehicles.  And it has multiple options to get your tunes, either thru your phone, streaming service, etc. And it does so with high quality clean sound.  And the internal amps put out enough power to do a sufficient job of powering some speakers.  After all, the Kenwood XM65R 6.6-inch coaxial speakers did sound very good.  If you have a recreational vehicle, the Kenwood Excelon KMR-XM500 deserves some of your time to be checked out.  Based on its design, features, quality, and performance, the Kenwood Excelon KMR-XM500 has earned our Editor’s Choice Award.  For more info and complete specs, check out their website at www.kenwood.com.