New Components, New Approach
Enclosure reviews will start to look a little different soon.
After 20 or so enclosure reviews over the past year and a half and some pretty inconsistent test hardware along the way, I decided to adopt a standardized test bench for all reviews going forward. Makes sense, right? Turns out choosing the best components for a cases and cooling test system was a lot more difficult than I expected going in, as special consideration had to be made for everything from form-factor to noise and heat levels.
Along with the new components I will also be changing the approach to future reviews by expanding the scope of CPU cooler testing. After some debate as to the type of CPU cooler to employ I decided that a better test of an enclosure would be to use both closed-loop liquid and air cooling for every review, and provide thermal and noise results for each. For CPU cooler reviews themselves I'll be adding a "real-world" load result to the charts to offer a more realistic scenario, running a standard desktop application (in this case a video encoder) in addition to the torture-test result using Prime95.
But what about this new build? It isn't completely done but here's a quick look at the components I ended up with so far along with the rationale for each selection.
CPU – Intel Core i5-6600K ($249, Amazon.com)
The introduction of Intel’s 6th generation Skylake processors provided the excuse opportunity for an upgrade after using an AMD FX-6300 system for the last couple of enclosure reviews, and after toying with the idea of the new i7-6700K, and immediately realizing this was likely overkill and (more importantly) completely unavailable for purchase at the time, I went with the more "reasonable" option with the i5. There has long been a debate as to the need for hyper-threading for gaming (though this may be changing with the introduction of DX12) but in any case this is still a very powerful processor and when stressed should produce a challenging enough thermal load to adequately test both CPU coolers and enclosures going forward.
GPU – XFX Double Dissipation Radeon R9 290X ($347, Amazon.com)
This was by far the most difficult selection. I don’t think of my own use when choosing a card for a test system like this, as it must meet a set of criteria to be a good fit for enclosure benchmarks. If I choose a card that runs very cool and with minimal noise, GPU benchmarks will be far less significant as the card won’t adequately challenge the design and thermal characteristics of the enclosure. There are certainly options that run at greater temperatures and higher noise (a reference R9 290X for example), but I didn’t want a blower-style cooler with the GPU. Why? More and more GPUs are released with some sort of large multi-fan design rather than a blower, and for enclosure testing I want to know how the case handles the extra warm air.
Noise was an important consideration, as levels from an enclosure of course vary based on the installed components. With noise measurements a GPU cooler that has very low output at idle (or zero, as some recent cooler designs permit) will allow system idle levels to fall more on case fans and airflow than a GPU that might drown them out. (This would also allow a better benchmark of CPU cooler noise – particularly with self-contained liquid coolers and audible pump noise.) And while I wanted very quiet performance at idle, at load there must be sufficient noise to measure the performance of the enclosure in this regard, though of course nothing will truly tax a design quite like a loud blower. I hope I've found a good balance here.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t have it all. It could certainly be argued that a reference 290X or the like would have made a better choice since it is very quiet at idle and presents temperature and noise extremes when pushed. It’s partly a personal preference, but the market has certainly shifted from a preponderance of blower-style designs and I wanted a GPU that better represented a typical build.
Motherboards
- ASUS ROG Maximus VIII Gene ($228.99, Amazon.com)
- EVGA Z170 Stinger ($199.99, Amazon.com)
Having chosen the new i5-6600K I needed a Z170 motherboard (this was the only LGA 1151 chipset available at the time), and my (primary) motherboard choice was never in question. I have been a fan of the ASUS Republic of Gamers motherboards (and the smaller mATX variant in particular) for the last few Intel generations. Since I often look at smaller enclosures that don’t support a full ATX motherboard, having a micro-ATX option makes sense as I can drop it into cases small and large. Thus I chose the ASUS Maximus VIII Gene, a micro-ATX Z170 motherboard that offers more features than most full-sized boards, and looks really nice doing it.
The need for a mini-ITX board prompted me to invest in a compatible option for the smallest PC enclosures as well, and for this I chose the EVGA Stinger board, one of the first mini-ITX options to appear for the new Z170 chipset. Is a $200 motherboard overkill for the occasional mini-ITX enclosure review? I think this smaller form-factor will be getting more attention going forward and there are an ever-increasing number of very solid enclosures for this form-factor.
Rounding Out the Build
- Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB 2400 MHz DDR4 Memory ($58.95, Amazon.com)
- SilverStone Strider ST1000-P 1000W Power Supply ($164.99, Amazon.com)
Moving to Z170 necessitated the purchase of some DDR4 memory, and for this I went with the best deal at the time, a pair of 4GB Crucial Ballistix Sport 2400 MHz modules for a little under $60. Power is supplied by my existing SilverStone ST1000-P PSU, a solid 1000W unit with fully modular cables for a clean-looking build.
Storage will be handled by a combination of SSD for the OS and a traditional spinning hard drive. In previous reviews I have used just one drive – generally an SSD – and having both a 2.5-inch SSD and 3.5-inch hard drive in each enclosure tested will be a closer configuration to what I imagine most builders are using today.
Where's the CPU Cooler?
Cooling is a very big deal, and I certainly didn’t want to skimp here. It’s so important in fact that it prompted the single biggest change to the way I will approach thermal testing. I wanted consistency for all enclosure reviews going forward and that would mean selecting one CPU cooler to use with every build – or in this case one air and one closed-loop liquid cooler as I plan on testing both with each enclosure.
I'm still deliberating, though I'll list some of the finalists here. Since I want to be able to use the same air cooler in any enclosure I narrowed down the choices to something with a lower profile. This means that excellent low-cost options like the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo are out, given the larger tower heatsink design. Finding an air option that isn't ultra-quiet is another consideration, as it wouldn’t be very compelling to consistently show the same idle and load CPU noise results.
Here are a few CPU coolers I'm considering:
- Corsair H105 Liquid CPU Cooler ($101.19, Amazon.com)
- Corsair H75 Liquid CPU Cooler ($74.99, Amazon.com)
- Noctua NH-L9x65 CPU Cooler ($59.99, Amazon.com)
- Phanteks PH-TC12LS CPU cooler ($41.99, Amazon.com)
My first choice for a 240 mm liquid cooler is the venerable Corsair H105, a powerful option that uses PWM fans, which would permit the fan speeds to better scale with the air cooler tested, as the coolers would be relying on the same motherboard fan speed profile. A Corsair H75 could be the fallback option if the enclosure doesn’t support the larger radiator as it is the 120 mm companion to the H105. Air cooling won't be an easy choice, and while I generally prefer Noctua there so many really good options out there from Cooler Master and others that are more popular, and less expensive, that it's almost overwhelming.
One final note; a big part of the new enclosure testing methodology is a commitment to comparative data, which of course means re-testing enclosures with the new components. Recently reviewed enclosures such as the Fractal Design Define S, Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV ATX, SilverStone Raven RV05, and others will be re-tested to help create more useful graphs and better reviews going forward. Now it’s time to give these new components a temporary home and run some benchmarks, one enclosure at a time!
Maybe more useful for ITX
Maybe more useful for ITX enclosures than mATX and larger, but have you considered the Cryorig C7?
http://www.cryorig.com/news.php?id=49&page=1
http://www.cryorig.com/c7.php
Great recommendation, I was
Great recommendation, I was just looking at this one on their site after we posted news of the larger H7 the other day. It's on my short list right now.
I wouldn’t get the corsair
I wouldn’t get the corsair cooler if I was you.Maybe the Nepton 240m or the predator all in the one liquid cooler.
I’ve tested the 240m and it’s
I’ve tested the 240m and it’s the loudest AIO cooler I’ve encountered, especially the pump, so I wouldn’t choose one for noise testing. I’ll keep looking but the advantage for me with the H105 is the standard PWM fans compared to other Corsair designs with built-in fan controllers, but there are a lot of options out there.
I agree about the Nepton. I
I agree about the Nepton. I got 2 of them, and both pumps were loud. The quietest out of the 3 (Corsair, Cooler Master and NZXT) was NZXT. Corsair’s pump is quiet but their fans are horrible.
This sounds great, but if it
This sounds great, but if it wouldn’t add too much to the workload it’d be really nice to see temperature/throttling results with dual graphics cards too. There’s not much information on that around, especially when the cards are placed right next to each other on a mATX board.
I suppose you might have to use blowers, though I agree that in a single-card system an open-air cooler would give more interesting results.
On the other hand, maybe I’m the only person interested in putting two cards in a mATX case…
You’re not alone, and I think
You’re not alone, and I think it’s valid to explore dual-GPU mATX setups. I agree that blowers would make more sense with little room between the cards, but as long as the coolers are strictly dual-slot width I would still try it with aftermarket designs for testing purposes. Going forward single vs. dual-GPU thermals are a great idea, and the one thing I would probably add first. Your point about throttling is interesting, would make the results even deeper.
That’s very good to hear,
That’s very good to hear, thanks!
Nice article. Imho you’ll
Nice article. Imho you’ll need more sensors and probes for a test bench. It would help if the hardware itself already have features that aids you. I know Asus mobos, especially TUF series, have temperature probes. Corsair and some PSU can monitor power-in and idle/ load efficiency. There are no audio/ noise sensors, of course, you’ll need to be creative with this for each chasis. Consider also an infrared camera/ gun for difficult spots like VRMs.
I want to hear your opinion on this: would you measure noise level with a closed panel(s) or not? I think it should be closed because you don’t use your PC daily with an open panel (also, you’re not controlling the airflow). What do you think? And because sound is relative to placement, where do you put your mic?
Good luck with your build, Sebastian.
I always measure noise levels
I always measure noise levels with the side panels on, to simulate noise levels in the most likely scenario. For measurement I’ve been placing the sound pressure meter 18 inches from the front of the enclosure. For temps I’ve relied on RealTemp for CPU and GPUZ to record GPU temps during benchmark runs.
Adding thermal imaging or spot-checking temps as you suggested with an infrared gun for example would be a nice thing to incorporate for certain types of reviews, perhaps not for enclosures but certainly for CPU coolers.
About the coolers – I have a
About the coolers – I have a H60 on the i5-6600K, and it’s already total overkill. The CPU stays well below 40 C most of the time, and only maxes out at about 55 C if you use some synthetic workload (like intel burn test). The fan pretty much doesn’t spin up at all, and the radiator barely gets warm.
You might want to consider a more power hungry CPU, just to stress cases and coolers more.