A bit bigger (XL) midi-tower… Endorfy Arx 700 Air test

Exterior

The all-new Arx case range has just made its debut. The first model, the 700 Air, is also the largest case from Endorfy. This case is equipped with up to five 140mm fans, which in combination with the ventilated front panel create a great potential for really powerful or very efficient (i.e. at lower rpm per unit of airflow also super quiet) system cooling. This then naturally has a positive effect on the results.

Basic parameters

Exterior

In addition to the securely packed case, in a cardboard box you will also receive the necessary essential accessories. This means various screws, rubber washers for mounting storage devices, single-use zip ties and an illustrated manual.

At first glance, the case is already larger than the Regnum series. The new product looks very decent, without any eccentricities in appearance. The left side panel is largely made of tempered glass with a thickness of four millimetres. The black frames around the glass are a bit thicker but proportionate to the dimensions of the case. It is even the first (from Endorfy) not to use screws in the corners to hold the glass side panel. There are holes in the front of the design that it slides into. It is then simply secured at the back with two screws.

For me, the big plus is that double-threaded screws are used on both side panels. Even after you unscrew them, the side panels are still secured and so you don’t have to worry about additional screws.

The front panel consists of two parts. The front part is easily removable thanks to the magnets on its back side. It can thus be efficiently removed, cleaned and put back on. Since there is no fine nylon filter in the front, its main task is to replace it. Unfortunately, the holes are 1.5 millimeters in size, so effective protection against small dust is out of the question. In use, the front panel caught dirt and I had to clean it, but the smaller ones came through, which was already visible on the fans after three weeks of use.

   

The second part is the frame, which holds the dust filter in place and also separates it slightly from the fans themselves. The ones the manufacturer has fitted here are three of its latest, the Stratus 140 PWM. Their estimated lifetime by the manufacturer is 80,000 hours. Separately purchased fans also come with a five-year warranty. This indicates that Endorfy trusts the fans quality-wise. Unfortunately the case only comes with a three-year warranty, even including the fans. They are mounted on side frames that hold all the fans directly on top of each other. This makes it much easier to handle, even if you already have all the hardware inside. You remove the fan frames by loosening six screws. If you would like to replace the fans with a smaller format, the frames would have to be placed in a secondary position – closer together. The disadvantage I see is that you can’t combine 120 with 140mm fans because of this.

Of course, you can also fit a liquid radiator up to 280/360 mm. By rotating the frames, you get six millimetres of extra space inside, for example for a thicker radiator or a longer graphics card.

   

The top I/O panel is unconventionally positioned along the right side, which can reduce access to connectors in smaller spaces. The case’s connectivity doesn’t stand out from the crowd, but with three USB connectors it can cover most user needs. Especially when one of them is also type-C. For wired headphones you have two 3.5mm jacks, separate for headphones and microphone. The restart button is smaller and recessed a bit more into the structure. Because of this, it’s harder to press, but it’s a precaution against unwanted pressing. The power button is a lot nicer to press. It will even give you a tactile response. Between the two buttons are two status LEDs. One illuminates on power up and the other detects disc activity.

The case has been given a piece of solid sheet metal with perforations on the rest of the top to better dissipate waste heat. Thanks to the screw and latches, it holds to the structure as if welded. I personally like this method of perforation better than a regular magnet filter, which doesn’t even always have to line up with the rest of the top. An advantage over the ordinary bendable filter is also the possibility to fit the fans with anti-vibration mounts. For example, the Silent Wings 3 fans from Be Quiet! have a bulging header, which can displace the fragile magnet filter. One 140 mm Stratus 140 PWM oriented to exhaust air from the case is also mounted here on the ceiling. One more fan in this size format or three 120 mm fans will fit to it. Or you can use this area to mount a radiator for a liquid cooler in the 280/360 mm format.

In addition to the five screws of the side panels and top filter, there are four more from the power supply bracket on the back of the case. This reveals the position of the power supply as well as how it is mounted through the back of the case. Above it are seven covers for PCI Express expansion cards. All seven screws in this position are neatly enclosed by another cap. It is hinge mounted and combined with a magnet instead of a screw gives you a quick option to manipulate the screws.

Thanks to more width, another Stratus 140 PWM fan is mounted on top here. Of course, the possibility of fitting a smaller, 120 mm fan has not been forgotten either. The top part is complemented by a hole for the motherboard I/O panel as is standard.

   

Four feet with soft pads hold the case 22 mm above the ground. But you have to take into account that they do not have a non-slip surface. The dust filter extends from the back to the front feet, along the entire perforation. Unfortunately, even here a fine nylon filter is missing. The perforations on the filter are smaller compared to the front though. Size-wise, they are one millimeter.

The all-new Arx case range has just made its debut. The first model, the 700 Air, is also the largest case from Endorfy. This case is equipped with up to five 140mm fans, which in combination with the ventilated front panel create a great potential for really powerful or very efficient (i.e. at lower rpm per unit of airflow also super quiet) system cooling. This then naturally has a positive effect on the results.

Interior

With more volume inside, the case is ready for almost all components, motherboards are supported up to ATX format. Wider (E-ATX) motherboards are no longer compatible with the Endorfy Arx 700 Air. You won’t have to limit yourself when choosing a CPU tower cooler. You have up to 179 mm for it (towards the side panel). You don’t have to compromise on the graphics card either, which can be up to 410 mm long.

The only limitation of the case is the ability to fit two 360 mm liquid radiators at the same time. But even that is the case only if they are thicker than 30 mm. Up to this thickness, both 360 mm radiators can be mounted, on the front and top of the case.

All cable grommets located on the tray have rubber caps for a cleaner look. The width of the holes is 24 mm, which is also sufficient for threading wider cable bundles. As a result, the hole caps do not come loose and stay in place as they should. Next to the vertical grommets, there are also nine holes for attaching an expansion tank.

There are two wider grommets on the tunnel directly under the motherboard which is standard in cases. Their size makes it easier to plug cables into the headers just above them. For example, for the audio cable that goes up from the top I/O panel. Next to the holes there are two positions for 2.5″ storage on the tunnel. These simply slide in here thanks to the screws and washers from the accessories. The other half of the tunnel belongs to a position, albeit only one, for a 120 mm fan and a grommet for the graphics card power supply cable.

The cutout from the front panel to the tunnel is just over 70mm, so you don’t have to stress about choosing a liquid cooler radiator.

   

Under the ceiling, two 140 mm Stratus 140 PWM fans dominate. Both are oriented to exhaust warm air from the case. In order to keep the cables from hanging into the case space, they have cleverly placed a hook to hold them in place. I like this a lot, because many times I had to wrap the cables all over the place to keep them from falling out.

   

On the other side of the tray, you have six Velcro pull-tabs for cable management. You can use an additional 22 positions for single-use zip ties from the accessories. Altogether, that’s a lot of options for where you can route your cabling. There is 22 mm of space for it at the back of the case and up to 40 mm at the front. The grommets are located at the point where the tray bends to the opposite side. Right next to the routing of the main cable bundle, which should make working with them much easier.

The thickness of the metal sheets is 0.75 mm, which gives the case the necessary stability even for the largest and heaviest components. The sheets are strong and do not bend.

   

Directly behind the motherboard on the tray are two positions for 2.5″ storage. The mounting is the same as in the front, on the tunnel. You simply fit the necessary screws with washers on it and slide it into the holes.

   

The curved sheet metal section at the end of the case is effectively converted into two additional positions for 2.5″ storage. While it’s only held on by two screws, you shouldn’t have any difficulty with it. I like how they made a value-added space out of a standard unused space.

There is a hub on the tray for all five fans mounted in the case. Thanks to it, the motherboard does not need to contain so many 4-pin headers, just one. The hub only has five connectors though. That’s not enough for all eight positions you can install in the case.

The bottom of the tunnel is made up of beehive-shaped perforations, so that components can draw air from here as well. For example, a fan on the tunnel or a power supply located in it. In addition to the power supply, you can also place a single data storage device here. Only this position out of all seven is for a 3.5″ SSD/HDD in addition to the 2.5.

The entire tunnel is pass-through and this allows for easier handling of cables from the power supply. You have 340 mm of space for it and its cables.

   

Hardware installation was quick. There is plenty of room in the case to handle either components or cables, which I had done in five minutes. This is also thanks to the routing of the thickest cable bundle, which did not interfere with the grommets. The extra long cables could be hidden right in the tunnel, since there is no storage compartment. Also the connection of the cable for the CPU power supply went smoothly. The cabling did get bunched up in one place, but I closed the side panel without any problems.

   

The all-new Arx case range has just made its debut. The first model, the 700 Air, is also the largest case from Endorfy. This case is equipped with up to five 140mm fans, which in combination with the ventilated front panel create a great potential for really powerful or very efficient (i.e. at lower rpm per unit of airflow also super quiet) system cooling. This then naturally has a positive effect on the results.

Test methodology

A total of five Stratus 140 PWM fans take care of cooling the components in the case. Three are mounted at the front for intake and two at the rear for exhausting excess heat from the case. Ideally, this amount of fans should easily handle cooling even the more demanding, higher power hardware.

Testing is done in a home environment where I strive for the most accurate results possible. In the room during testing, the air temperature in front of the case is 23 degrees Celsius and the minimum noise level I can measure with the Voltcraft SL-100 noise meter is 32.4 dBA. The sensor of the noise meter is aligned to the center of the top of the case at a distance of 10 cm, for the best measurement of the speed difference of the fans, which I change using the motherboard. For easy comparison to other cases, they are always regulated to fixed noise levels.

Individual components are heated for 10 minutes in FurMark synthetic stress tests and with Prime95 (custom settings) at the same time. This time is long enough to allow all components to warm up sufficiently. There are then 15-minute cooling breaks between tests, during which the component temperatures (and the case air temperature as well) are brought back to default.

Noise mode levels:

• 36 dBA
• 38 dBA
• 39 dBA

The all-new Arx case range has just made its debut. The first model, the 700 Air, is also the largest case from Endorfy. This case is equipped with up to five 140mm fans, which in combination with the ventilated front panel create a great potential for really powerful or very efficient (i.e. at lower rpm per unit of airflow also super quiet) system cooling. This then naturally has a positive effect on the results.

CPU and GPU cooling tests

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The all-new Arx case range has just made its debut. The first model, the 700 Air, is also the largest case from Endorfy. This case is equipped with up to five 140mm fans, which in combination with the ventilated front panel create a great potential for really powerful or very efficient (i.e. at lower rpm per unit of airflow also super quiet) system cooling. This then naturally has a positive effect on the results.

Motherboard cooling tests

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The all-new Arx case range has just made its debut. The first model, the 700 Air, is also the largest case from Endorfy. This case is equipped with up to five 140mm fans, which in combination with the ventilated front panel create a great potential for really powerful or very efficient (i.e. at lower rpm per unit of airflow also super quiet) system cooling. This then naturally has a positive effect on the results.

SSD cooling tests

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Temperature under the ceiling

The all-new ARX case range has just made its debut. The first model, the 700 Air, is also the largest case from Endorfy. This case is equipped with up to five 140mm fans, which in combination with the ventilated front panel create a great potential for really powerful or very efficient (i.e. at lower rpm per unit of airflow also super quiet) system cooling. This then naturally has a positive effect on the results.

Conclusion

In tests, the case, with five 140 mm fans, performed well. It was even the only one to pull back the previously two-degree lead of the Torrent case in CPU temperatures (39 dBA) to just one degree. Even for the other components monitored, the case was able to maintain the top ranks.

The case has one single flaw and that is the general absence of a fine nylon filter. If it was placed at least below the power supply position, we would forgive it for the intake in the front. Despite this transgression, the rest of the design is well thought out. Thanks to this, you have the possibility to place up to seven, mostly 2.5″, storage devices here. Thought has also been given to mounting an expansion tank for your own water cooler, as well as many other small things. These definitely include the double-threaded screws on the top and side panels, as well as an under-ceiling cable holder for the fans. Even the 10 Gb USB Type-C connector hasn’t been forgotten.

The generous space inside gives you a free hand in selecting the hardware and then mounting it. The cable management here is done better than it is with the Regnum series of cases. The cables were easy to fasten into position. This was positively aided by the vertical grommets that were outside the main cable bundle. The Velcro pull-tabs, of which there are up to six, also score a point.

For the price of 109 EUR, Endorfy offers a larger, but well-equipped Arx 700 Air case. It comes from the factory with up to five 140 mm Stratus 140 PWM fans that can handle even the most demanding hardware. Apart from the absence of a fine nylon filter, the case has only positives, and that’s why it earns the “Smart buy!” award.

English translation and edit by Jozef Dudáš

• Contents
• Exterior
• Interior
• Test methodology
• CPU and GPU cooling tests
• Motherboard cooling tests
• SSD cooling tests and under-ceiling temperature
• Conclusion