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As I have previously mentioned, the Streacom DB4 is available as a standalone chassis, though Quiet PC also sell fully-built systems that use the DB4 case.
For this review, we will first assess the cooling performance of the DB4, monitoring temperatures under extreme load in particular. Especially interesting will be to see if (or when) the CPU throttles at all.
Next, we will analyse the system performance to see what level of performance you can expect to see from the hardware in a fanless case.
Today I was sent the DB4 with the following components already installed for me:
- Motherboard: ASUS Z170i-PRO-GAMING LGA1151 Mini-ITX Motherboard
- CPU: Intel 6th Gen Core i7 6700 3.4GHz 65W HD 530 8MB Quad Core CPU
- RAM: CORSAIR Vengeance LPX 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 2400MHz C14 Memory Kit
- Storage: Samsung PM961 256GB Polaris NVMe M.2 Solid State Drive
- PSU: Streacom ST-ZF240 ZeroFlex 240W Passive PSU for Streacom Chassis
- OS: Windows 10 Home
Comparison systems
Today I will be comparing the DB4 pre-built PC with the following systems:
- Intel Core i7-6700HQ
- Nvidia GTX 960M
- 16GB Dual-Channel 1600MHz DDR3 RAM
- 128GB SSD + 1TB HDD
- Intel Bay Trail-M Celeron N2808 SoC
- Intel HD Graphics
- 4GB DDR3L RAM
- 64GB eMMc storage
- Intel Braswell N3050 SoC
- Intel HD Graphics
- 2GB DDR3L RAM
- 32GB eMMC storage
- Intel Core i3 i3-5010U
- Intel HD Graphics 5500
- 8GB Kingston SODIMM DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)
- 240GB Kingston V300 SSD
- Intel Core™ m5-6Y57
- Intel HD Graphics 515
- 8GB LPDDR3 1866MHz Memory
- 256GB Solid State Drive M2 2280 PCIe
- Intel Core i5-6500
- Asus Turbo GTX 960
- 8GB Corsair Vengeance LPX 2400MHz DDR4 RAM
- 500GB Samsung 850 EVO SSD
- Intel Core i7-6820HK
- Nvidia GTX 980 (desktop)
- 32GB DDR4 2400MHz RAM
- 2x 256GB Samsung SM951 PCIe SSDs in RAID0
- AMD FX-8320
- AMD RX-480
- 16GB DDR3 2133MHz RAM
- 240GB Adata Premier SP550
PCSpecialist Defiance III 17.3
- Intel i7-6700HQ
- Nvidia GTX 1060
- 16GB HyperX DDR4 2133MHz RAM
- 512GB SanDisk X400 M.2 SATA SSD
- Intel i7-6700HQ
- Nvidia GTX 950
- 16GB Crucial DDR4 2133MHz RAM
- 512GB Samsung Pro M.2 SSD
- Intel i7-7500U
- Intel HD Graphics 620
- 16GB G.Skill DDR4 2133MHz RAM
- 256GB Toshiba OCZ RD400 M.2 SSD
And lastly my personal desktop with a Core i3-4160, 8GB 1866MHz DDR3 and a GTX 960.
Test software
- SiSoft Sandra
- Cinebench R15
- CrystalDiskMark
- Prime 95 (version 26.6)
- CPUID HWMonitor
- AIDA64 Engineer
It is like an post-Steve apple product, looks nice but is impractical in many ways.
Impractical in what way? How many other cases offers 100% fanfree installation? And i bét they used the thermal pad instead of regular grease and a 91 TDP cpu when the case cpu cooler have a 65 TPD recomend. This can take care of a i7 no problem and FANFREE with the additional cpu mount, no other case can that.
What this have to do with the case bring practical? I am taking about where the ports are located. It is impractical to use on a workflow like that.
True but how often do you need to change? A USB hub and it’s fixed otherwise its pretty compact, stylish looking and you don’t have to worry about the cables inside since there are no airflow to take in consideration.
sure but it could be so much prettier if they where at least 2 usb incorporated in the design (I for example always need to plug and unplug external storage or my phone, but 2 are enough) and save you the extra step of a hub (which will also be more ugly cables on your desk.
This is why I say is like an apple product, where they remove practical ports just for the sake of minimalism.
But Steve Jobs had it right back then “Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” and design lately tend to forget that form follow function.