Cubitek ATX ICE Case Review

1. Introduction2. Packaging and Bundle3. Cubitek ATX ICE: Exterior4. Cubitek ATX ICE: Interior5. Cubitek ATX ICE: Installation6. Testing Methodology and Performance7. Closing Thoughts8. View All Pages

In this review we are using an Intel Core i7-2700K based system to test the thermal and acoustic performance of the Cubitek ATX ICE.  We will be testing the CPU at reference speeds and then when overclocked to 4.7 GHz using a voltage of 1.35V.  The CPU is being cooled using the Phanteks PH-TC14CS cooler.

Test System

• Processor: Intel Core i7-2700K
• Motherboard: Biostar TZ77XE4
• Cooler: Phanteks PH-TC14CS
• Thermal Paste: Arctic Cooling MX-3
• Memory: 4 GB (2x 2 GB) Crucial Ballistix DDR3-1600
• Graphics Card: AMD Radeon HD 6670
• Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower XT 750W
• System Drive: Crucial M4 256 GB SSD
• Monitor: Viewsonic VX2260WM
• Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)

Software

• CPUID Hardware Monitor
• Prime 95 64-bit
• Furmark V1.9.2

To test the thermal performance of the Cubitek ATX ICE we loaded our test system for 10 minutes using Prime 95 and Furmark and recorded the maximum temperatures reached using CPUID Hardware Monitor.  We then restarted the system and left it for 15 minutes before recording idle temperatures.  Room temperatures were maintained at 20 degrees C for the duration of our tests.

We are a little disappointed with the thermal performance of the ATX ICE.  We tested the exact same system on our open test bench and the load temperatures were 5 degrees cooler at stock settings and 6 degrees cooler under load when overclocked.  It would also be very difficult to improve airflow in the chassis due to the lack of available fan vents.

To test the noise performance of the case we placed our digital dBA meter 1m from the front of the case and replaced the Radeon HD 6950 with a HD 5550 Silence.  We also momentarily detached our CPU cooler’s fans so we were only taking the noise into account from the case fans.

As you can see from the graph above, the acoustic results are less than impressive and this case is far from silent.  This may be forgivable if airflow as good but the temperature measurements tell a different story.

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