While new products may have actually been a bit skint from the usual suspects at CES 2013, CoolerMaster has generally been reliable to provide new kit, and this year is no exception. Their engineers are nothing if not aggressively creative, but this year promised some particularly exciting hardware.

We missed the boat on reviewing the Storm Scout II enclosure, but a special "Ghost" edition is on the way and we'll be reviewing that along with their unique, boxy HAF xB case. I'm personally particularly interested in checking out the HAF xB, which is a more cube-shaped ATX case that actually stacks the motherboard and components into a separate compartment above the power supply and storage. I had a chance to see this case behind closed doors last year, and seeing it materialize on the market is exciting.

When I handled the radiator roundup, comprised of four new Corsair closed-loop coolers and two new NZXT closed-loop coolers, a couple of you mentioned CoolerMaster's impending Eisberg coolers. The good news is that the Eisberg is almost upon us, and the closed-loop cooler market is really starting to heat up. I'll resist making the obvious joke, but I'm keen to point out that the Eisberg line feature larger pumps and, especially important, copper radiator fins instead of the aluminum ones commonly found on existing products. The 240mm Eisberg in particular looked to be an absolute monster, and you can bet we'll be getting that in for review soon.

It's an amusing moment when a vendor catches you off guard with a product you think you already know about, but that's exactly what happened with CoolerMaster's new Cherry MX Green based keyboards. I thought the rep was talking about the lighting, but the switches themselves are actually a somewhat rarefied Green model different from the existing ones, and CoolerMaster has exclusive distribution rights in the States. So what's the MX Green like? My limited time with it suggested a switch that featured the same enjoyable typing feedback of the MX Blue, but was much more responsive for gaming. I've found myself pretty much swearing by the MX Reds for all-purpose use, but the MX Green may persuade me.

My media kit is languishing in the bowels of McCarran right now, but when I have access I'll update this post with images.

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  • althaz - Friday, January 11, 2013 - link

    I've got a Das Keyboard "Silent" Pro with Cherry-MX Brown switches which I love. It's WAY better than Red's for typing (as a developer I do this a lot) and for gaming it's also superior (I say this as somebody who mostly plays a lot of Starcraft, so take that for what it's worth).

    The Greens intrigue me however, I hope I'm able to try some out (my das has had some coke spilled on it, which has made the numpad quite gross to type on, so time for a new keyboard).

    I was thinking of a Filco (according to most people the greatest keyboard ever, though I'm yet to actually get to try one), but if greens nice enough, I may be swayed.
  • althaz - Friday, January 11, 2013 - link

    I wrote Filco, but I meant Topre...brain fade (it's almost home-time on Friday, so give me a break).
  • maximumGPU - Friday, January 11, 2013 - link

    Leopold with brown here, love them and prefer them to blues.
    But same as you i'm now very interested in those new greens, does sound like the best of both worlds.
  • jhoff80 - Friday, January 11, 2013 - link

    I don't know, once I got past the adjustment period on my Reds, I really like them for typing. The first week was hellish (and I was afraid I'd made a huge mistake) as I adjusted to the light activation force and frequently had stray letters show up, but now I love them for typing.
  • Kougar - Friday, January 11, 2013 - link

    Also using that same DAS keyboard for the MX Brown switches. But I would really, really love it if they combined the Cherry MX Brown with the Cherry MX Green, as I would want the silence as well as the stronger actuation force reminiscent of older 90's mech keyboards, which is what the Greens offer.

    It's still weird considering that the Cherry MX Green switch was designed solely as a spacebar switch too...
  • Mr Perfect - Friday, January 11, 2013 - link

    Greens are a clicky switch, usually used as a spacebar switch in blue boards. if you want a non-clicky switch with a higher activation force, you'd be interested in Cherry Clears.
  • Kougar - Saturday, January 12, 2013 - link

    Strange, so do they think more people would want the actual clicking than without? I would've thought making a Clear keyboard would've been a better seller.

    Thanks for the info! Are there any keyboards using them that you could recommend? I see Cherry MX makes a couple directly and I found one from Leopold...

    This is starting to get nuts though. Wish someone had a Topre keyboard in town that I could test out, maybe that's what I'm looking for.
  • Flunk - Friday, January 11, 2013 - link

    I'm also a software developer and the Cherry-MX Blues are really what you want for typing. I've had a Razer Blackwidow on my desk for the last year and my hands have thanked me profusely.

    Gaming... I'm not sure why anyone really buys a keyboard for gaming, I don't think my performance is any different on any keyboard over any other.
  • Tetracycloide - Friday, January 11, 2013 - link

    Same reasons people buy specific keys for typing.
  • Omega215D - Friday, January 11, 2013 - link

    The guys at Overclock.net really know their stuff and will help out anyone with questions about a particular type of keyboard or brand if they can.

    http://www.overclock.net/f/373/keyboards

    We've known about Greens for a while and some even have taunted us by telling us about their keyboards equipped with them. I probably would try them out in the near future as I have a nice CM Storm Trigger equipped with browns and trust the Cooler Master brand with peripherals.

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