A Trio of Thermaltake Towers
by Joshua Buss on August 16, 2006 2:30 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Benchmark Comparisons
To get as meaningful a comparison as possible between the three cases we installed the same set of hardware into each one: our standard ATX test bed. Each system used the default fan configuration the case came with, which meant two 120mm fans running at 12V in each case. The ambient air temperature during all tests was kept at a steady 23.5 degrees Celsius.
With similar overall designs and the same number and placement of fans in each case, we didn't expect to see much difference in cooling performance between the three units. However, taking a look at the component temperatures chart below showed us that we needed to look a little closer at what each case was doing thermally.
No doubt the reason the Eureka was getting such low CPU and GPU temperatures was its large ventilated area on the side panel directly above these components. This decision is interesting for a case designed more for sever use though, considering it sacrifices airflow over the hard drives, which shows up as considerably higher temperatures for our system hard drive and MOSFETs.
Between the Eclipse and the Aguila, things are much closer. Without ventilation on the sides they pull the majority of the air through the front, resulting in much lower hard drive temperatures - especially under load. Both cases keep generally good temperatures across the board, but the Aguila's ability to stifle drastic heat changes from idle to load certainly deserves merit.
The temperature benchmarking results are interesting at the most, but the noise level testing was downright shocking for the three cases.
Even with only two large fans, the Eureka case came in registering a full 42 dB-A on our sound meter. This surprised us, because subjectively, we really felt the Eclipse was just as noisy. It seemed that the rear fan in both cases could benefit form a fan controller reducing its voltage to 10 or 9 volts - at the stock 12 V setting there was a very noticeable hum from the Eclipse and the sound of moving air from the Eureka.
Coming out of this arena the Aguila was a clear champion. With competitive temperatures and a very pleasant lack of annoying whines, the Aguila's fans were definitely tuned and placed the best for good performance without annoying sound levels.
To get as meaningful a comparison as possible between the three cases we installed the same set of hardware into each one: our standard ATX test bed. Each system used the default fan configuration the case came with, which meant two 120mm fans running at 12V in each case. The ambient air temperature during all tests was kept at a steady 23.5 degrees Celsius.
| ATX Test Bed | |
| DFI LanParty UT 915P-T12 Pentium 4 530 Prescott 3.0ghz OCZ 512MB DDR2 x 2 Zalman CNPS 9500 Heatsink Seagate 120gb SATA Hard Drive Chaintech GeForce 6600GT Zalman VF-700 Cu GPU Cooler MSI DVD-CD/R/RW Combo drive Zalman ZM460-APS PSU |
 |
With similar overall designs and the same number and placement of fans in each case, we didn't expect to see much difference in cooling performance between the three units. However, taking a look at the component temperatures chart below showed us that we needed to look a little closer at what each case was doing thermally.
No doubt the reason the Eureka was getting such low CPU and GPU temperatures was its large ventilated area on the side panel directly above these components. This decision is interesting for a case designed more for sever use though, considering it sacrifices airflow over the hard drives, which shows up as considerably higher temperatures for our system hard drive and MOSFETs.
Between the Eclipse and the Aguila, things are much closer. Without ventilation on the sides they pull the majority of the air through the front, resulting in much lower hard drive temperatures - especially under load. Both cases keep generally good temperatures across the board, but the Aguila's ability to stifle drastic heat changes from idle to load certainly deserves merit.
The temperature benchmarking results are interesting at the most, but the noise level testing was downright shocking for the three cases.
Even with only two large fans, the Eureka case came in registering a full 42 dB-A on our sound meter. This surprised us, because subjectively, we really felt the Eclipse was just as noisy. It seemed that the rear fan in both cases could benefit form a fan controller reducing its voltage to 10 or 9 volts - at the stock 12 V setting there was a very noticeable hum from the Eclipse and the sound of moving air from the Eureka.
Coming out of this arena the Aguila was a clear champion. With competitive temperatures and a very pleasant lack of annoying whines, the Aguila's fans were definitely tuned and placed the best for good performance without annoying sound levels.
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oopyseohs - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - link
I am curious as to what meter you used to measure sound below 40dB, or 30dB for that matter. I am looking for such a device myself.crydee - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - link
Any idea if when we can see some reviews for the huge Kandalf LCS and the one with the 24 cm fan on the side? That is what I'm looking forward to. The TT website is useless with dates or anything of the like though.akugami - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - link
I'm not a big fan of case doors and with the case door off the Aquila still looks good. However, no integrated optical drive bezels kills it for me. I like a clean uniform look and the aesthetics of a case is killed when you install a black/silver/beige optical drive in it that doesn't match the rest of the case.The other two cases are not my cup of tea.
JoshuaBuss - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - link
Just a suggestion.. have you thought about a black aguila with black optical drives? I think that would look really sharp.. door or notShapeGSX - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - link
I have a Thermaltake Tsunami, which is indentical inside to the Eclipse.http://www.turbocarz.com/shapegsx/tsunami/">Pictures here
I have been very impressed with the case. Since I was building a home theater PC with large hard drive space requirements, I wanted a case that would cool 5 drives adequately. Because of the large 120mm fan in front of the drives, this case has performed the task admirably.
http://www.turbocarz.com/shapegsx/tsunami/target6....">Here is a picture of 4 hard drives installed in the case. I now have 5 drives installed in the case (1.1TB) and the drives still never get hot.
I really wanted a case without a door on front, but it is really hard to find everything you want in a case. And for me, the hard drive cooling was paramount.
My next case will also be a Thermaltake.
Lonyo - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - link
I managed 5 hard drives in a Coolermaster Praetorian with 2x80mm front fans right in front of 4 of the HDD's, and no door.There are many things which do not really appeal, such as the lack of a sliding motherboard tray, the doors, the side/front ports etc.
Nothing which makes it have any appeal over other cases really, I think I would be more likely to get Coolermaster again.
araczynski - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - link
i like aquila, unfortunately i'm tired of the closing/swinging door designs (on the front), as well as buttons being on the front of the case, rather then on top.i'm getting a centurion 532, simple design, great price, build it and forget it. i want to stare at the screens (games) not the tower, how much enjoyment does one get from staring at spinning fans? and even after a while i would think that too much lighting in the peripheral vision would get annoying to what you're trying to focus at, perhaps even unhealthy for the eyes?
but to each their own.
Araemo - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - link
Just a question about the motherboard in use...Why does it have a PCI-express slot near the right edge? What model is that?
Murst - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - link
I never really got into the TT cases. They just seem too colorful for me. The last 2 cases I've had were a lian-li and the wavemaster, and they're both simple-enough looking while still remaining sharp.But I guess that's just personal preference.
Looks aside, the only things that really matter are noise level, how easy it is to install components, and the available space (like, some cases don't even have enough space for some heatsinks) - imo anyways. From what I've seen, TT cases never really met all of the above conditions in a single design, but maybe I've missed something.
JoshuaBuss - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - link
That's what I'm really try to emphasize here.. the Aguila is really startin to get everything right. The Armor definitely had some issues.. namely the green clips.. but the Aguila really doesn't have much wrong with it... (at all)