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Expo Icrontic 2012 sponsors

Expo Icrontic 2012 sponsors

Expo Icrontic is a celebration of community, friendship, shared hobbies, and BLAH BLAH BLAH WHERE ARE THE PRIZES?

Expo Icrontic prize table

Some of the prizes from last year

We are blessed every year with some amazing sponsors, and one of the big things our sponsors do for us is provide tons of prizes and swag for us to give away to attendees of the Expo. This year is no different, and we’re excited to share the love.

Noctua LogoNOCTUA

Noctua is one of the premium names in PC cooling. Designed in Austria with pride, their fans and heatsinks are some of the best out there, backed by review after review and award after award. Our friends at Noctua are sending over some goodies for attendees: five NF-F12 fans and five tubes of NT-H1 thermal compound will be available as prizes to five lucky PC builders.

SLAPPASLAPPA logo

SLAPPA makes fantastic bags. Period. We’ve reviewed them, we believe in them, we’ve bought them. This year they will be sending a mix of SLAPPA products for us to give away: a SLAPPA Stovepipe backpack, two Kampus backpacks, three DS cases, and three PSP cases.

ECS LogoECS

ECS is another awesome Icrontic sponsor. Not only do they send Expo prizes every year, they also sponsored our recent Computex coverage. Besides being an awesome sponsor, they’ve been coming out with a string of very compelling performance motherboards that are redefining what the ECS name means for enthusiasts. This year, they’re sending along one of their Nonstop Technology motherboards, the Z77H2-A2X Golden Edition. They’re also sending along their GeForce GTS450 card, the NGTS450-1GPL-F. On top of that, they’re providing keychains, stickers, and even a gold plated USB stick.  Last but not least they’re providing one of their awesome (I have one. Trust me, it’s awesome) LAN backpacks.

THQ LogoTHQ

THQ wut? THQ has the distinction of being the home of several Icrontic alumni, including both of Icrontic’s former GPU reporters, Sledgehammer70 and UPSLynx. Sledge is now the community manager for the awesome Darksiders II and Bobby tallMiller is now the community manager for the massively anticipated Company of Heroes 2. At any rate, THQ sent along a ton of games for both PC and Xbox 360. So good!

ADATAADATA Logo

ADATA is a first-time sponsor for Expo Icrontic, and we’re super excited to have them on board. They’ll be sending Kobe and Rose from their hilariously cool official NBA USB keychain drives, which are 4gb USB 2 flash drives that are also waterproof. They’ll also be sending along an SH93 500gb drive, which is a rubberized external USB 2.0 drive that is waterproof up to 1 meter for 30 minutes, as well as shockproof (passed US Military MIL-STD-810F 516.5 drop test) and features a wrap-around USB cord. On top of that, we’re also getting a 64gb SX900 SSD, a SATA 6 SandForce-based drive, to give to one lucky winner!

ROCCAT logoROCCAT

ROCCAT is a relatively new player in the North American market, but they’ve been making a splash with PC gamers with a bold and innovative product lineup. Our recent reviews of the Kone+ mouse and Isku keyboard as well as the Kave 5.1 headset have left us wanting more from the European peripheral company. They’ve sent along three of their Kova + Max Performance gaming mice, five of their awesome Taito mousing surfaces, and five of their Sense high-performance gaming mousepads.

GENIUSGenius LOGO

Another first for Expo Icrontic, Genius is offering up two of their DeathTaker gaming mice, featuring nine buttons for RTS/MMO optimization, a 5700 dpi sensor, adjustable weights, and a fresh RGB backlight LED system. We’re also getting two of their Cavimanus 7.1 virtual surround sound gaming headsets with vibration. We’ve also got hats, really awesome embroidered polos, and wristbands for lucky winners.

Titan Books LogoTITAN BOOKS

Thanks to CB Droege and Titan Books for this next one: Titan has graciously agreed to send along five copies of their awesome book Aliens: Colonial Marine Technical Manual. This will be a must for any Aliens universe fan: An entire book of diagrams, technical schematics and plans, and a detailed look at the guns, vehicles and ships of the USCMC.

Thermaltake logoTHERMALTAKE

Our buddies at Thermaltake have done it again. They love the Icrontic community and have been long-time supporters of Expo Icrontic. How much do they love us? Check out what they’re sending along for prizes: First, we have the Water2.0 Performer, their new sealed watercooling system. We’re getting two of those. If water’s not your thing, they’re also sending along two Frio Extreme coolers.  Want a small desktop fan? They’re sending a ton of Mobile Fan 12 units. Looking for a new case? Their top-of-the-line Armor Revo “Snow Edition” might be of interest to you. If white’s not your color, there’s always the Chaser Mk I case as well. Whew, I think that’s everything.

VERIZON WIRELESSVerizon Wireless logo

One thing that we always need at our events is MORE BANDWIDTH. Finally, in 2012, we’re at a point where OTA internet is faster than wired (Verizon LTE saved Nick’s ass at CES, for example). In the past, we’ve struggled with up to 70 people all trying to connect to the internet at once, with their PCs, mobiles, and laptops. Those struggles are likely a thing of the past, as Verizon Wireless will be providing Jetpack 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot MiFi to bring multiple LTE connections to our event. On top of that, they’ll also have a data rep on hand to let attendees check out some of the newest devices and tablets and answer any questions.

OCZ SSD LogoOCZ TECHNOLOGY

Icrontic and OCZ, sittin’ in a tree. Well, sometimes it feels like that, because they’re so good to us. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that they make amazing products and our community members recommend and use them all over the place… well, at any rate, OCZ is once again being awesome and providing us with some phenomenal swag: An OCZ Agility3 60gb SSD, an OCZ ZS 750w PSU, and of course the coveted Behemoth mousepads… let’s not forget that there have almost been fistfights over OCZ Behemoth mouse pads. By some odd confluence of circumstances, they are extremely coveted prizes every year.There’s also going to be T-shirts, case badges, notepads, screwdriver kits, and posters.

FUTUREMARK

Futuremark Logo

Even though FGS got sold to Rovio, Futuremark is still around and about to release a slew of awesome new benchmarks. They’ve always been awesome to us during Expo season, and this year is no exception. We’ll be getting a bunch of Futuremark benchmark codes for full versions of their benchmarks to give away, as well as T-shirts and an EVGA GT 550 TI video card!

Seagate LogoSEAGATE

Hey everyone, this is good timing: June is Backup Awareness Month. When’s the last time you, (or your parents, or your Aunt, or your sister) backed up your important stuff, and even more importantly, when’s the last time you tested it? Seagate keeps making it easier and easier, especially with their hot-off-the-press Backup Plus line that backs up even your Facebook photos and videos as well as your Flickr stuff. Earlier this year we reviewed their awesome GoFlex Satellite drives, and the good news is: they were kind enough to offer up two of the 500gb units for prizes this year.

黑底銀字_橫式 logoRAIDMAX

Our friends at RAIDMAX are sending over a Seiran case, which we reviewed in November (and awarded our Stamp of Approval). Some of the best features include a gigantic side fan, a nice front fan, a removable dust cover on the bottom intake, a decent drive mounting system, and a truly remarkable front bay panel latch system. On top of that, they’re also sending along a 630w PSU from their Hybrid line: The Hybrid RX-630SS. This is a modular, black power supply with a big LED-lit fan (the light is switchable).

EA GAMESEA Logo

Every single year, without fail, EA Games Community Outreach smiles at us and says, “enjoy”, and sends us a handful of console games to give away, and they’re always a hot item at the prize table. I remember in 2009 how many people were fighting over getting a copy of Boom Blox.

This year we have four Xbox 360 titles: Family Game Night 4: The Game Show, which contains five classic family favorite franchises presented in new ways—CONNECT 4 Basketball, YATZHEE! Bowling, SCRABBLE Flash, BOP-IT Boptagon, and SORRY! Sliders. With Kinect support and local multiplayer, this game is hilarious fun for your family. SKATE 3 is the third in the award-winning franchise and features new team-based play as well as the ability to become a mogul of your own skating team. SSX modernizes the massively popular classic snowboarding franchise, Finally, Shift 2 Unleashed Limited Edition sets the bar for realistic racing on the Xbox 360, featuring vehicle and track degradation, exhilarating sense of speed, and tons of vehicle and track options.

AMD LogoAMD

Our friends at AMD come through once again for the Icrontic crew. This year, they’ll be sending along two GPUs—the first is a AMD Radeon HD 7850, and the second is the new 900MHz AMD Radeon HD 7750. You’ll be able to play games on high resolutions with multiple monitors, and your games will look fantastic.

Yelp logoYELP

Yelp is back! Every year they provide the awesome swag bags for all of our attendees, and often you’ll find cool Yelp swag. Since we do the Tastes of Detroit Food Tour, using the free Yelp app on your mobile (Android and iOS) to check in and review the restaurants you visit is a blast. You can also sign up for their newsletter, the Weekly Yelp; I’m not just saying that because they’re a sponsor, either: The Weekly Yelp newsletter comes only once a week, is not spammy, and introduces me to buzz about local restaurants. I find it very useful, and I’ve discovered more than one cool new place in my hometown because of it. Thanks, Yelp!

A sincere thanks to all of our awesome sponsors! We’ll add more as they come on board!

Comments

  1. fatcat
    fatcat
    LTE: Typical download speeds of 5–12 Mbps and upload speeds of 2–5 Mbps.
    wait, 70 of us are going to be on a 5/2 wifi connection? eeek!

    also, <3 OCZ
  2. Tushon
    Tushon I think it was meant as a supplement
  3. fatcat
    fatcat
    I think it was meant as a supplement
    heh, okay.

    Now if you got multiple WoW 50Mbps connections that would be pie... and cake

    imagine all the HD streams we could have going!
  4. primesuspect
    primesuspect There will be more than one LTE access point, and they will be used as a supplement. With Verizon's support we'll be able to have one or two dedicated networks for all mobile devices, which will alleviate the load quite a bit. Every year, there are more and more mobiles... remember, quite a few people connect their devices to the Wi-fi.
  5. mertesn
    mertesn We used around 7GB of LTE data in Vegas. That was fun.
  6. fatcat
    fatcat
    We used around 7GB of LTE data in Vegas. That was fun.
    lol, they didn't cap it at 2GB?

    I mean 70x7 times 6 days = Verizon on knees
  7. mertesn
    mertesn Nope. Unlimited, unrestricted LTE plan :)
  8. Ryder
    Ryder @Fatcat, Verizon 4G LTE in the D usually benchmarks at 25/6 or higher for me when I am there.
  9. fatcat
    fatcat
    @Fatcat, Verizon 4G LTE in the D usually benchmarks at 25/6 or higher for me when I am there.
    Slower or faster than the Vertex4?

    also, I was getting speeds from the link http://www.verizonwireless.com/verizon-wireless-4g-lte-mobile-hotspot-mifi-4510l.shtml
  10. primesuspect
    primesuspect I've seen 40/15 on LTE here.
  11. NiGHTS
    NiGHTS Same, evenings usually get around ~45/~16 LTE. It's quite an impressive technology.

    Very cool to see Verizon showing up. Those hotspots will be a big help.
  12. AlexDeGruven
    AlexDeGruven Rated speeds are what they expect people will be able to get once the network is complete and the vast majority of phones are on LTE rather than CDMA.

    Just like your cable local loop, if you happen to hit a tower with very few customers on it, then the backhaul will be less saturated, giving you much more available bandwidth.

    The LTE spec Verizon is using right now (with an upgrade in the future) supports up to 100/100Mbit.

    I've noticed that saturation in Ann Arbor has increased heavily. I got 25/5 typically when I first got this phone back in July, now averaging 5/2 typically.
  13. QCH
    QCH WOW... I'm already giddy with delight and it's still months away!
  14. primesuspect
    primesuspect Updated with Futuremark sponsorship!
  15. QCH
    QCH I want the battery benchmark!
  16. primesuspect
    primesuspect Bump! Prizes from OCZ and EA have been detailed. More coming soon!
  17. fatcat
    fatcat I'm waiting for the GTX 690 prize.

    GET ON THAT!
  18. AlexDeGruven
    AlexDeGruven Phsh. 7990X2 (I can dream that this exists, right?)
  19. primesuspect
    primesuspect Got a big box from OCZ today. Lisa wasn't screwing around. This time she sent FIFTEEN Behemoth mousepads. There should be no more fighting over them :D
  20. CB
    CB STILL NOT ENOUGH!
  21. GnomeQueen
    GnomeQueen
    STILL NOT ENOUGH!
    NEVER ENOUGH
  22. midga
    midga I've heard about the much-coveted mouse pads, and I think it'd be rather swell to get my hands on one, but I just picked up this and it's pretty awesome.
  23. primesuspect
    primesuspect Two new sponsors added today: ADATA and Genius!
  24. Zanthian
    Zanthian I still us my Behemoth everyday at work. Worth it!
  25. primesuspect
    primesuspect ADATA has updated the prizes they're sending. We now have another SSD to give away :)
  26. primesuspect
    primesuspect Update: RAIDMAX is sending along some prizes as well!
  27. GnomeQueen
    GnomeQueen
    ADATA has updated the prizes they're sending. We now have another SSD to give away :)
    Oohh, mama needs a new SSD!

  28. ardichoke
    ardichoke My behemoth mousepad from EPIC10 still adorns my desk at home.
  29. primesuspect
    primesuspect New sponsor added: AMD!
  30. fatcat
    fatcat Sapphire 7870 OC editions

    just a guess
  31. shwaip
    shwaip typo in the amd section. misspelled 'second'
  32. primesuspect
    primesuspect Added a ton of prizes from our buddies at Thermaltake. Thanks, Ramsom!
  33. GHoosdum
    GHoosdum Now we need prizes from NZXT, and then the prizes should fight then subsequently go out for beers together.
  34. MAGIC
    MAGIC
    Now we need prizes from NZXT, and then the prizes should fight then subsequently go out for beers together.
    Really, the only way to settle this is to arm two attendees with prizes from either company and have them fight to first blood.
  35. primesuspect
  36. primesuspect
    primesuspect Yelp is back. Back again. Swag bags from them! Thanks Yelp!
  37. MAGIC
    MAGIC
    Yelp is back. Back again. Swag bags from them! Thanks Yelp!
    All of the Jolly Ranchers.
  38. Zanthian
  39. Thrax
    Thrax notsureifsrs.jpg

    www.yelp.com
  40. primesuspect
    primesuspect Added: Titan Books!
  41. CB
    CB
    notsureifsrs.jpg

    www.yelp.com
    Two years ago we got chapstick thingys with the Yelp logo on them. They were apparently the best lip junk ever, if you're into that sort of thing.

  42. BobbyDigi
    BobbyDigi The Yelpstick was up there with the mouse pads that year.

    -Digi
  43. GnomeQueen
    GnomeQueen As a connoisseur of lip balm, I regret to state that the Yelpstick was actually not all that fantastic. Not a bad chapstick in a pinch, but leaving much to be desired.

    - Dr. GQ, CD
  44. midga
    midga
    As a connoisseur of lip balm, I regret to state that the Yelpstick was actually not all that fantastic. Not a bad chapstick in a pinch, but leaving much to be desired.

    - Dr. GQ, CD
    As this is quite relevant to my interests, what do you prefer? I really like Lypsyl, though I'd prefer if it weren't minty (love mint, not in chapstick), the Herbal Answer Blistex is decent, though not very long-lasting, and I've had pretty good luck with Burt's Bees pomegranate (it's great on my knuckles, too).
  45. UPSLynx
    UPSLynx I HATE lip stuffs. Can't stand the feeling. Get shivers just thinking about it.
  46. ardichoke
    ardichoke Yeah, I greatly prefer the Every Man Jack lip balm I currently have to the Yelp lip balm from 2 years ago. Real talk.
  47. midga
  48. GHoosdum
    GHoosdum My understanding is that Yelpstick production was canceled in order to save money. :(
  49. MAGIC
    MAGIC
    My understanding is that Yelpstick production was canceled in order to save money. :(
    Expo is canceled.
  50. Zanthian
    Zanthian Lol, Well i am sure we will survive some how.
  51. Linc
    Linc
    I HATE lip stuffs. Can't stand the feeling. Get shivers just thinking about it.
    Probably shouldn't have mentioned that. :ninja:
  52. fatcat
    fatcat serious lack of motherboards on this list
  53. primesuspect
    primesuspect Update: Noctua is sending along some goodies :)
  54. Tushon
    Tushon That has me quite excited.
  55. primesuspect
    primesuspect Added: ROCCAT prize list updated
  56. BobbyDigi
    BobbyDigi Moar Mouse pads! Hazzah!

    Srsly though, the Sense - Adrenalin Blue looks bad ass. What design are they Prime? Couple Glacier Blue and a couple Adrenalin Blue maybe?

    -Digi
  57. primesuspect
    primesuspect They're all Glacier Blue
  58. Cliff_Forster
    Cliff_Forster This makes me sad :*( Not the swag so much, just missing the general awesomeness. I must make a pact to get back to Detroit next fiscal year, I'll have four weeks vacation and I'm taking one back! Hear me Mrs. Forster, and family, and children, and co workers! I will be going to the D next year to play games, eat White Castle, drink beer, act a fool, and be a Radeon fanboy, and nobody can stop me!

    Have fun guys!
  59. primesuspect
    primesuspect Added Seagate. They're sending along two of the GoFlex Satellite drives to give away as prizes :)
  60. HumerusMeg
    HumerusMeg
    I HATE lip stuffs. Can't stand the feeling. Get shivers just thinking about it.
    WEIRDO <3
  61. Teramona
    Teramona @Myrmidon has the yelp stick in his car, and occasionally he'll apply it liberally to his mouth. I'm looking forward to the day his car catches fire and takes the yelp stick with it... or the day the yelp stick runs out. Whichever comes first.

    So, I'm with @UPSLynx on this one.
  62. Myrmidon
    Myrmidon I GOT TWO IN 2010. I only just threw one out.
  63. Tushon
    Tushon
    @Myrmidon has the yelp stick in his car, and occasionally he'll apply it liberally to his mouth. I'm looking forward to the day his car catches fire and takes the yelp stick with it... or the day the yelp stick runs out. Whichever comes first.

    So, I'm with @UPSLynx on this one.
  64. primesuspect
    primesuspect Updated with SLAPPA swag list!
  65. BobbyDigi
    BobbyDigi Those DS cases are sick. Do Want.

    -Digi
  66. UPSLynx
    UPSLynx BLLERRRGGGGHHH LIP STUFFS! ARGH!
  67. midga
  68. primesuspect
  69. primesuspect

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