1. Introduction2. Fractal Design Define 7 Compact: Exterior3. Fractal Design Define 7 Compact: Interior4. System Installation5. Testing Methodology: Thermals/Acoustics6. Performance and Comparisons7. Closing Thoughts8. View All Pages

Acoustic Testing

Our case testing involves comparing the acoustic performance of the case in several configurations with an all-in-one liquid CPU cooler installed.

These tests will include measuring sound levels with our sound meter from approximately 300mm from the front of the case, at idle and under 100% CPU and GPU load.

Sound levels will be measured in dBA after 10 minutes at idle in Windows. Load noise levels will be measured by running AIDA64 stressing CPU, FPU, cache and GPU for 15 minutes.

CPU and case fan profiles will be set to their standard operating profile in the Asus ROG Strix X570-E Gaming motherboard BIOS and GPU fans set to their default fan curve. The CPU cooler used in acoustic testing will be a Fractal Design Celsius+ S28 280mm AIO. System fans are the two factory pre-installed units, a 120mm Dynamic X2 at the rear and a 140mm Dynamic X2 in the roof, both acting as exhausts.

The ambient noise level (noise floor) in our test room is measured at 33.1 dBA.

Thermal Performance Testing

As with every case we review, thermal performance is important, therefore, we shall measure this by running another series of tests to record CPU and GPU temperatures both at idle and under load.

To fully stress test the system, we will run AIDA64 for 15 minutes stressing CPU, FPU, Cache and GPU with the case in various configurations. With this data, we can compare how each scenario affects thermal performance.

We will compare the system’s thermal capabilities with a liquid-cooled solution for the CPU, using a Fractal Design Celsius+ S28 280mm AIO.

During thermal testing, only stock case fans will be used unless otherwise specified. All fans and pumps (where applicable) will be set to their standard fan curve profile as controlled by the motherboard.

All temperature measurements are presented as Deltas – the ambient temperature has been deducted from the CPU/GPU temperature giving us a Delta.

The following configurations will be used to test the effect they have on thermal and acoustic performance:

• Default configuration;
• Tempered glass side panel removed;
• Front panel removed;
• Top high airflow panel installed.

Test System

• Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
• Motherboard: Asus ROG Strix X570-E Gaming
• CPU Cooler: Fractal Design Celsius+ S28 280mm AIO
• Memory: 32 GB (4 x 8 GB) G.Skill Trident Z RGB 3200MHz
• Graphics: Gigabyte RTX 2070 Super Gaming OC 8GB
• Power Supply: Fractal Design ION+ 860P
• Storage Drive: 500 GB Corsair MP600 M.2 SSD
• OS: Windows 10 version 1909

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