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We take the issue of noise very seriously at KitGuru and this is why we have built a special home brew system as a reference point when we test noise levels of various components. Why do this? Well this means we can eliminate secondary noise pollution in the test room and concentrate on components we are testing. It also brings us slightly closer to industry standards, such as DIN 45635.
Today to test the chassis we have taken it into our acoustics room environment and have set our Digital Sound Level Noise Decibel Meter Style 2 one meter away from the case. The room rates as 21-23dBa before powering on the system (air conditioning unit in the far corner of the room causes this).
We have removed our Noctua fans from the side panels to measure a ‘out of the box' scenario. We tested with fan controls on high and low.
As this can be a little confusing for people, here are various dBa ratings in with real world situations to help describe the various levels.
KitGuru noise guide
10dBA – Normal Breathing/Rustling Leaves
20-25dBA – Whisper
30dBA – High Quality Computer fan
40dBA – A Bubbling Brook, or a Refridgerator
50dBA – Normal Conversation
60dBA – Laughter
70dBA – Vacuum Cleaner or Hairdryer
80dBA – City Traffic or a Garbage Disposal
90dBA – Motorcycle or Lawnmower
100dBA – MP3 player at maximum output
110dBA – Orchestra
120dBA – Front row rock concert/Jet Engine
130dBA – Threshold of Pain
140dBA – Military Jet takeoff/Gunshot (close range)
160dBA – Instant Perforation of eardrum
We have replaced the graphics card with a Sapphire HD5670 Ultimate edition.
At low the system is very quiet, barely registering against the CPU cooler. At high the fans speed up and the noise levels also increase to just over 40dBA. We would run this system with fans at low at all times, it didn't really make much difference to the temperatures at all.
Again, hard to fault with the price. Just never understood their weird naming conventions.
They are from the netherlands, as far as I know. which would explain the fantasy style nonsense they always factor into their designs.
Actual product seems pretty solid for the cost. about same price as thermaltake armor cases and I think this looks better
Great review, love the cooling tests on this site.
Overall design is good, why two esatas? not that im complaining, but that is really weird to see on a front panel.
I quite like it, but I agree with the side panel concerns. that looks a mess without it being populated.
It has a bit of a feeling of ‘coolermaster HAF’ about it. not sure if thats just me tho. I quite like it. the orange accenting looks cool.
Great timing for this, our local store has these on sale for £49.99 and I had no idea if it was crap or not. The box looks terrible and I thought it was a chinese knock off.
They really need to work on their box artwork. I shall pick this up tomorrow.
Nice too see them putting so much front panel connecivity in place. i hate it when a case comes without ports at front. I have about 4 devices I have connected most of the time. I never use esata tho. but it cant hurt.