- Jan 29, 2008
- 3,540
- 1,482
- 25,390
Thermal Performance:
I tested a 3400g and ran Heaven, Prime 95, and AVX heavy stress test for 30 minutes. APU never exceeded 60C with 50% fans. It could easily handle a 5800X3D, or 5950X with the proper cooling. It is more than possible to install water cooling. I seen people use DeepCool double thick radiators in a custom loop up top. I have two 140mm rads, and they will fit with fans (1 top and 1 bottom) So you could get a theoretical 280 equivalent cooling. But MB headers might get in the way on the bottom. It's a very close fit for me, even with right angle headers. There is enough room on right side window to mount a distro plate with a D5. (Glass is about 4" and 12" high)
I used a SFX power supply with adapter and this allows a freer flow of air with the bottom fan as there is greater clearance for the air to flow around the power supply.
Most of the back of the motherboard is exposed. You can point the fan right at it, and I recommend this for positive pressure configuration. Using IR you can see +7C where the VRMs are. Aiming the fan at the back of the board helped reduce the VRM temps on the backside. It also lowered my NVME SSD temperatures.
The noise:
The included fans are mediocre quality. Cranking this up will be quite audible. I hit 50dB+ A-Weighted. Chances are you will want to replace them. I used Artic P14 x 3 and I can barely hear it unless I get above 30% fans. The thermalright fans are louder than the arctic ones.
The good:
It looks good. It looks really good. Relatively small footprint that shows off your build. Tower cooler clearance is good. Thermalright Peerless Assassin SE fits in with zero issues. There's plenty of room at the top for even the thickest of display cables to turn. Captive screws are a nice touch.
The neutral:
USB-C up front is questionable choice. Few mITX motherboards have it. So the USB-C just looks pretty. Running the CPU 4/8 pin header is tricky. It will require a long cable. Luckily I had an extension cable for my Seasonic SFX power supply. Cable management out the back of the case though is questionable.
Cable management is okay around the PSU. But I have a little bit more room as I'm using SFX. The back can get a little tricky if you have a lot of fan/rgb cables like I do. But they do have cable tie points around the vented motherboard tray back.
The ugly:
The metal is very thin (Maybe 18/20 gauge by feel) It is subject to bending easily.
The paint scratches incredibly easy. I accidently scuffed my Phillips head across the back and a scratch was clearly evident. It could use a clearcoat.
Overall conclusion:
Normally I wouldn't be critical of Steve @ GN. But he was a little harsh on the preproduction unit. But I also partially blame TT for not making a NDA agreement and stating they were looking for feedback only and not a review. Overall it's a decent case for $100.
(Click picture for video)
PXL_20230203_174059114.TS~2
I tested a 3400g and ran Heaven, Prime 95, and AVX heavy stress test for 30 minutes. APU never exceeded 60C with 50% fans. It could easily handle a 5800X3D, or 5950X with the proper cooling. It is more than possible to install water cooling. I seen people use DeepCool double thick radiators in a custom loop up top. I have two 140mm rads, and they will fit with fans (1 top and 1 bottom) So you could get a theoretical 280 equivalent cooling. But MB headers might get in the way on the bottom. It's a very close fit for me, even with right angle headers. There is enough room on right side window to mount a distro plate with a D5. (Glass is about 4" and 12" high)
I used a SFX power supply with adapter and this allows a freer flow of air with the bottom fan as there is greater clearance for the air to flow around the power supply.
Most of the back of the motherboard is exposed. You can point the fan right at it, and I recommend this for positive pressure configuration. Using IR you can see +7C where the VRMs are. Aiming the fan at the back of the board helped reduce the VRM temps on the backside. It also lowered my NVME SSD temperatures.
The noise:
The included fans are mediocre quality. Cranking this up will be quite audible. I hit 50dB+ A-Weighted. Chances are you will want to replace them. I used Artic P14 x 3 and I can barely hear it unless I get above 30% fans. The thermalright fans are louder than the arctic ones.
The good:
It looks good. It looks really good. Relatively small footprint that shows off your build. Tower cooler clearance is good. Thermalright Peerless Assassin SE fits in with zero issues. There's plenty of room at the top for even the thickest of display cables to turn. Captive screws are a nice touch.
The neutral:
USB-C up front is questionable choice. Few mITX motherboards have it. So the USB-C just looks pretty. Running the CPU 4/8 pin header is tricky. It will require a long cable. Luckily I had an extension cable for my Seasonic SFX power supply. Cable management out the back of the case though is questionable.
Cable management is okay around the PSU. But I have a little bit more room as I'm using SFX. The back can get a little tricky if you have a lot of fan/rgb cables like I do. But they do have cable tie points around the vented motherboard tray back.
The ugly:
The metal is very thin (Maybe 18/20 gauge by feel) It is subject to bending easily.
The paint scratches incredibly easy. I accidently scuffed my Phillips head across the back and a scratch was clearly evident. It could use a clearcoat.
Overall conclusion:
Normally I wouldn't be critical of Steve @ GN. But he was a little harsh on the preproduction unit. But I also partially blame TT for not making a NDA agreement and stating they were looking for feedback only and not a review. Overall it's a decent case for $100.
(Click picture for video)
PXL_20230203_174059114.TS~2
Last edited:
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