PC Cooling Guide: Heating Up Ryzen 9 7950X in Cinebench

Today, we’ll focus on what happens inside a case when a CPU is under heavy load. We’ll run a Cinebench 2024 rendering on a Ryzen R9 7950X cooled by a Noctua NH-D15 G2 air cooler with AM5 offset mounting bars and see how it affects the temperatures and how all the values change with different settings of the system fans’ performance across their entire operating speed range. Read more “PC Cooling Guide: Heating Up Ryzen 9 7950X in Cinebench” »

PC Cooling Guide: Experimenting with Fractal Design Meshify 2

While building a PC, most people are satisfied when the computer works, performs as expected and remains reasonably quiet. Unless you’re one of those who care more about the journey than the destination, you probably haven’t spent much time tinkering with system cooling. That’s where we come in. We’ll test what makes sense to address and what doesn’t, and how it impacts computer’s performance and behavior. Read more “PC Cooling Guide: Experimenting with Fractal Design Meshify 2” »

Fractal Design Era 2: Holes in wood for more efficient cooling

The Era 2 case is an evolution of the original model (Era ITX), where Fractal Design also changed the approach to the ventilation holes. Be it in terms of the top panel or the side, larger perforations. How the Era 2 will make its mark and stack up against competing SFF cases remains to be seen. Despite the detailed analysis, this is still the first case to pass our new testing methodology. Read more “Fractal Design Era 2: Holes in wood for more efficient cooling” »

Endorfy comes out with really cheap PC case – Armis 100 Solid

PC cases with prices around 40 EUR are becoming a rarity. It is also the too low margins that discourage manufacturers from producing them. Endorfy (formerly SilentiumPC), however, stays true to its roots, which are associated precisely with more affordable products. The Armis 100 Solid is one such case, designed for simpler gaming or office builds. And look out, it also has a memory card reader and anti-theft features. Read more “Endorfy comes out with really cheap PC case – Armis 100 Solid” »

DeepCool CH170 Digital? SFF vertically: Mainly a small footprint

The big advantage of small PC cases can be that they take up minimal space on a desk. If this is to be combined with high performance, the orientation (of the case) must be vertical. As is the case with the DeepCool CH170 Digital. In addition, this new case is also equipped with a panel for monitoring the essential parameters of the components. For example, their temperature, but also the power consumption. Read more “DeepCool CH170 Digital? SFF vertically: Mainly a small footprint” »

Returning to PC case tests (comment on methodology)

Probably as early as next month, in September, we will release an analysis of the first case that will go through our new testing methodology. We already have a rough outline of it and we would like to present to you what we are going to do and how and why we are going to do it. This is also to give you a chance to comment on things you might think are missing that we could easily incorporate into the standard concept. Read more “Returning to PC case tests (comment on methodology)” »

A kind of… SFF tower. Fractal Design Mood in detail

The Fractal Design Mood case, unveiled at Computex 2024, is already in our testlab. And while we won’t look at the cooling results just yet, let’s take a look at the key design elements. Based on these, you’ll get an idea of the broad features of the case, which is designed for Mini-ITX motherboards. This then leads to a focus on maximizing space savings on a desk or elsewhere. Read more “A kind of… SFF tower. Fractal Design Mood in detail” »

New Aorus case (C400 Glass): 40 l for large components

Gigabyte has released a case named C400 Glass under its Aorus brand. It should be interesting for example because it also supports full-size graphics cards, motherboards and also CPU coolers despite its relatively small dimensions. And one of its advantages is supposed to be efficient system cooling with vertical airflow, although this is not usually the preferred option for case manufacturers. Read more “New Aorus case (C400 Glass): 40 l for large components” »

Fractal Design News: small cases, headsets, chairs

This year’s Computex may be over, but we still have some stuff from it that we want to publish. These include the Fractal Design product showcase. In terms of our focus, you could say that the FD booth was mainly about computer cases, but the expansion into new markets is also notable. Headsets with microphones or computer chairs will soon be available under the Fractal Design brand. Read more “Fractal Design News: small cases, headsets, chairs” »

MasterBox 600. New case (also) for boards with rear connectors

Cooler Master has released, in its own words, a versatile PC case. By this (versatile) it seems to refer, among other things, to the support of motherboards with unconventional placement of connectors on the back of the PCB. But within a certain universality, the MasterBox 600 is ready for practically all component formats. The size of the case corresponds to an average midi-tower. Read more “MasterBox 600. New case (also) for boards with rear connectors” »

DeepCool CH160 is a cheap ITX case for large components

Twenty liters of volume, yet still room for graphics cards such as the GeForce RTX 4090 or the tallest tower coolers. Plus a handle on the top. Few things better define a case for gaming events where you come with your own powerful PC. In this case, we’re talking about the DeepCool CH160. This is a new “SFF” case with a suggested price of just 60 EUR, where the emphasis is on efficient cooling rather than premium design. Read more “DeepCool CH160 is a cheap ITX case for large components” »

Caveat: RGB LEDs can damage graphics cards and other hardware

A curious “scandal” has now surfaced on the Internet: it seems that decorative RGB LEDs in your computer may not be a purely cosmetic feature that has no effect on the hardware. Users on social media have noticed that the illumination can leave an irreversible mark on your hardware, so to speak, such as on a graphics card that you have next to your RGB memory. Whether this can also have adverse effects on users is hard to say. Read more “Caveat: RGB LEDs can damage graphics cards and other hardware” »

DeepCool: Efficient cooling even in smaller cases (CH360)

DeepCool has released cases designed for motherboards up to mATX. This paves the way for more space-saving PC builds and, in the case of the CH360 series of cases, at a relatively low price. Starting at 80 EUR, the cheapest model seems like a fair offer considering that as many as three fans are included. And for a small premium, you can also have a display to monitor component temperatures. Read more “DeepCool: Efficient cooling even in smaller cases (CH360)” »

Fractal Design North XL case test: When bigger is better

We’ve already had one case featuring a wooden front panel. But it might not be “big enough” for someone’s needs, which the XL variant now addresses. Among other things, in this article you will also find tests with two different fan configurations. And also a comparison of cooling with the smaller North Mesh model. And not only with it, we already have a total of 25 other cases in the database for comparison. Read more “Fractal Design North XL case test: When bigger is better” »

DeepCool CH780: Wide viewing angles at the core

Aquarium or terrarium? In short, a proper glass (panoramic?) case with a good view of the components. It is not only the appearance that is supposed to be “attractive”, but also the abundant options for cooling, or rather installation of liquid coolers. And reconfiguring the system fans can also make sense with the DeepCool CH780. We chart the differences in the comparison tests as well. Read more “DeepCool CH780: Wide viewing angles at the core” »

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