Xaser III Aluminum: ThermalTake drops Chenming
by Kristopher Kubicki on February 20, 2003 6:39 PM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Benchmark
We have a few heat and sound intensive tests lined up for the ThermalTake Xaser III. The Heatsink reading is actually the temperature inside the heatsink. CPU temperature is recorded as a separate measurement. All temperature is recorded in degrees Celsius. The heat tests were each performed inside the closed case with the external temperature of 23.0 degrees Celsius, during a full system load. The fan speeds on the rheobus were all placed on high. Our test bed consists of:
|
|
The thermal readings for the different components during operation were as followed:
Xaser III
| CPU |
Video |
Heatsink |
Mobo 1 |
Mobo 2 |
HD |
|
| After 10 minutes |
52.2 |
34.8 |
36.4 |
25.1 |
24.1 |
29.1 |
| After 30 minutes |
52.7 |
36.9 |
37.7 |
25.6 |
24.7 |
30.4 |
Kingwin KT-436-WM
| CPU |
Video |
Heatsink |
Mobo 1 |
Mobo 2 |
HD |
|
| After 10 minutes |
54.0 |
32.5 |
38.0 |
25.0 |
28.5 |
27.2 |
| After 30 minutes |
54.5 |
33.3 |
38.9 |
26.1 |
29.0 |
28.6 |
Xaser II
| CPU |
Video |
Heatsink |
Mobo 1 |
Mobo 2 |
HD |
|
| After 10 minutes |
55.0 |
37.2 |
37.2 |
25.3 |
30.2 |
37.0 |
| After 30 minutes |
56.0 |
37.7 |
42.4 |
27.4 |
32.1 |
40.3 |
Sound is recorded in decibels from 12” away from the closed case to most accurately replicate a production system.
| dBA |
|
| ThermalTake Xaser III Aluminum Fan High |
56 |
| ThermalTake Xaser III Aluminum Fan Low |
53 |
| Cooler Master ATC-201A Aluminum |
53 |
| Kingwin KT-436-BK-WM Aluminum |
50 |
| ThermalTake Xaser II Aluminum Fan Low |
54 |
Our cooling tests determined that there was in fact a significant improvement over both CPU and ambient case temperature. Unfortunately, both the hard drive and video card temperatures proved higher than that of the reigning champion Kingwin 463-WM. Clearly, the side mounted exhaust fans decreased temperature where the Kingwin could not, the lower rear corners of the case, and the heatsink / CPU positions. Even though the intake fans are rated at 37CFM, we believe they are not pulling their full potential since the front panel is not configured as openly as the Kingwin 463.
Sound tests put the Xaser III right about where we expected. The Xaser II, which had 2 less fans, actually produced slightly more noise. The Kingwin 463 produced a quieter sound, and uses two less fans. However, keep in mind that the Kingwin could not cool the CPU or ambient temperature as well as the Xaser III.
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Aikouka - Thursday, March 11, 2004 - link
Trust me, it's not impossible to break the side door off this model. I bought it the day it came out from newegg and received no instructions. The model comes with the side panel locked, and I thought it was stuck, since I wasn't used to such a fancy case. Well, I broke the lock off and it was *not* hard. The plastic thingy literally breaks off and the weird metal piece just falls down. Definitely needs a better locking mechanism and some instructions shipped with it.