Clash of the Titans - TT Tai Chi vs. CM Stacker 830
by Joshua Buss on February 23, 2006 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Benchmark Comparisons
To get as meaningful a comparison as possible between the two cases, we installed the same set of hardware into each one; our new standard ATX test bed. Each system used the default fan configuration that was in the case. Note that our Stacker 830 came with four fans total, but now the product is being released with only the front, rear, and side fan – the top one would have to be added to achieve similar results.
These cases both tout themselves as being the best of the best in terms of thermal capabilities. So, how do they perform? Here's a culmination of the results of averaging the temperatures read over a period of half an hour of various components both at idle and load in our ATX test bed.
As for speculation of performance when these cases are loaded up with additional fans, one could safely expect the temperatures in both cases to scale similarly when adding side fans. The difference here to consider is that the Stacker can hold four 120mm fans, while the Tai Chi can only fit two. Even without a fan in the side at all, the Tai Chi nearly ties the 830 in the motherboard temperature arena, suggesting that it really is doing a better job at passively dissipating heat. This is a testament to the radiator-style design of the side panels, reassuring us that it isn't just a gimmick.
With the finding that the Tai Chi cools just as well as the Stacker 830 with half as many fans, one has to wonder if that means that the Thermaltake fans are making substantially more noise. To see if that's the case, we used our sound pressure level (SPL) meter and rated the system's noise subjectively on a scale from 1 to 10.
To get as meaningful a comparison as possible between the two cases, we installed the same set of hardware into each one; our new standard ATX test bed. Each system used the default fan configuration that was in the case. Note that our Stacker 830 came with four fans total, but now the product is being released with only the front, rear, and side fan – the top one would have to be added to achieve similar results.
| ATX Test Bed | |
| DFI LanParty UT 915P-T12 Pentium 4 530 Prescott 3.0ghz OCZ 512MB DDR2 x 2 Thermaltake Golden Orb II Seagate 120gb SATA Hard Drive Chaintech GeForce 6600GT MSI DVD-CD/R/RW Combo drive MadDog MD-600SCPS PSU |
 |
These cases both tout themselves as being the best of the best in terms of thermal capabilities. So, how do they perform? Here's a culmination of the results of averaging the temperatures read over a period of half an hour of various components both at idle and load in our ATX test bed.
As for speculation of performance when these cases are loaded up with additional fans, one could safely expect the temperatures in both cases to scale similarly when adding side fans. The difference here to consider is that the Stacker can hold four 120mm fans, while the Tai Chi can only fit two. Even without a fan in the side at all, the Tai Chi nearly ties the 830 in the motherboard temperature arena, suggesting that it really is doing a better job at passively dissipating heat. This is a testament to the radiator-style design of the side panels, reassuring us that it isn't just a gimmick.
With the finding that the Tai Chi cools just as well as the Stacker 830 with half as many fans, one has to wonder if that means that the Thermaltake fans are making substantially more noise. To see if that's the case, we used our sound pressure level (SPL) meter and rated the system's noise subjectively on a scale from 1 to 10.
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JoshuaBuss - Sunday, February 26, 2006 - link
The stacker 830 would probably be a perfect case for someone like you.. it has the potential for an incredible amount of air flow right at the hard drives and video cardstjr508 - Friday, February 24, 2006 - link
This article states the front bay pannes on the CM case are held in loosely. I find that strange being my $50 CM case (awsome case) actually uses screws to hold these in place, making them the most secure that I have ever seen. I wonder why CM felt it important to secure these tightly on their $50 cases but not on their $250 case?chynn - Thursday, March 2, 2006 - link
Wrong! What Anandtech did not do with the RC-830 was to lock the 4to3 drive bays down with the provided screws. The snap locks are there only to position the drive bays, and anything else, that fit into the 5.25in slots.Only the Lian-Li V1000 and V1200 cases, in my experience, have a fool-proof and moron-tolerant hard drive locking mechanism.
JoshuaBuss - Monday, May 15, 2006 - link
I was referring to the pop-out panels that cover unused 5 1/4" drive bays. They're very loose, and there's no screws for holding them in place.BikeDude - Friday, February 24, 2006 - link
I have been using the Armor case for almost a year, and the green plastic clips still gives me nightmares.If you get impatient, they'll simply detach and you'll have to nudge them back in again. In practice, I've wasted a lot of time nursing cards underneath the clips, reattaching the clips and finally pray it all fits in the end.
Even a simple old-school phillipshead screw would've saved me _a lot_ of time!
It is disheartening to see that TT not only makes mistakes, but insist on repeating them. :(
Also, the four holes for watercooling, on my Armor case atleast, are positioned too close. Atleast when attaching the Zalman Reserator-1 system. With the reserator you can choose to have a junction there so that you can more easily detach the cooler and move the case... Won't work if you have two Reserators...
Tamale - Friday, February 24, 2006 - link
Interesting point about the reserators.. what's the junction exactly?As for the green clips, I tend to agree.. it's a shame they didn't come up with a solution as elegant as the thumbscrews used to hold the 5 1/4" drives.. but for the majority of cards they do work very nicely.
theoak - Friday, February 24, 2006 - link
The reviewer calls this a tie.If keeping your components cool is the objective, I feel that the 830 wins by a landslide.
If you look neer the end of the review at the heat comparison chart, the 830 wins or ties all but two (HDD and System Exhaust).
The reviews gives the system exhaust win to the Tai Chi. I have to disagree. The fact that the components are cooler, implies to me that the system exhaust would therefore have to be hotter, because it is cooling the components better.
If you take the sum of the exhaust results you get:
Tai Chi 54.2/60.4
830 53.4/59.6
The combined values I feel demonstrate that the air temperature in the 830 is cooler and hence offers better airflow.
(I do not work for either of these companies nor do I own either of the boxes. My computer is a P3 650 :( )
Tamale - Friday, February 24, 2006 - link
You're absolutely right.. the 830 did a slightly better job of cooling than the Tai Chi did in our comparison.. BUT.. it was using FOUR 120mm fans to accomplish this as oppossed to the Tai Chi's two. The fans aren't rated that different in terms of CFM, so adding even a single fan to the side of the Tai Chi would undoubtedly bring its temperatures even closer to the stacker's.chynn - Thursday, March 2, 2006 - link
Anandtech got a "non-stock" RC-830 case. The "stock" RC-830 case I received contained two fans, not four.Besides, stock case fans are usually less than adequate. I would replace them with 120mm Scythe SFF21F fans because the Scythe have: high MTBF (150,000hrs), more volume (63+CFM), and lower noise (fluid bearing 28DBa). If that's too much noise, use a D or E model; less noise but less air too.
And no, I don't work for Scythe ... I'm opinionated is all ... :)
theoak - Friday, February 24, 2006 - link
Ahhh,I was unaware and/or missed that the 830 had more fans. That would tip the scales a little.
For what its worth ... I agree that it is a tie then :)