Project A

Thermal Testing of Compucase 6A & 6C Series, GMC Korean Casings and HEC PSU.

Compucase 6C29/S3	Compucase 6C28	Compucase 6A21/19/R1	GMC Nobless SE/Trinity

Test System Configurations:

1. Processor: AMD Athlon 64 2800+ (1.83G, Integrated DDR Memory Controller, Socket-754)
2. Memory: Kingston PC3200 DDR-400 512MB (2 x 256MB)
3. Motherboard: Abit K8V Pro K8T800 Pro/VT8237 Chipsets (Bios date: 12/11/04)
4. Hard Disk: Maxtor DiamondMaxPlus 7200rpm 2MB 40GB
5. Graphics Card: Asus ATI Radeon 9600XT 128MB AGP8x
6. Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Pro SP1
7. Casing and PSU: Various Compucase and GMC models tested, refer to table to below

Table 1. Summary of Test Results - Temperature at Stock and Overclocked Speed.

Note:
1. Air-cooled for both stock and overclocked speed.
2. Temperature captured after running for a minimum of 2 hours (both Idle and Full Load conditions).
3. Full Load (100% CPU Usage) was simulated by running SETI@HOME Text Command v3.08.
4. Both Idle and Full Load data were collected using Abit EQ Utility (refer to screen shots above).
5. Processor Cool 'n' Quiet is set to OFF while running all tests.

Summary:
1. Compucase casings able to maintain the System temperature at 27-28ºC; regardless of different loading. However, there is a noticeable difference in System temperature of ~3ºC between Compucase casings and GMC Korean casings. This is mainly contributed by the site air guide (CAG 1.1), which can be found on the site panel of 6C29/S3, 6C28 and 6A21/19/R1. In summary, all casings are able to hold off the System temperature below 30ºC due to the superb thermal efficiency of AMD Athlon 64 processors. Comparing Athlon 64 and the good-old Athlon XP, integrated heat spreader is attached on Athlon 64 to improve heat dissipation.

2. Compucase casings able to maintain the CPU temperature at a stable 55-57ºC under system full load at both stock and overclocked speed. Again, there is a difference in CPU temperature on GMC Korean casings while running full load. This is still acceptable as it is only 5-6ºC above the Compucase performance.

3. Compucase casings are performing slightly better than GMC Korean casings due to the addition of site air guide. Overall, all casings are still meeting the thermal requirement specifications.

Table 2. Temperature Differences between Idle and Full Load for both scenario.

 

Casing Model	PSU Model	Casing Features	Temperature at Stock Speed (1.83G)		Temperature at Overclocked Speed (2.01G)
			Idle vs. Full Load (ºC)		Idle vs. Full Load (ºC)
			System	CPU	System	CPU
Compucase 6C29/S3	HEC Orion 300T(EC) 300W	1 x 90mm Fan (Rear), Site Air Duct.	0	+ 12	0	+ 12
Compucase 6C28	HEC 300AR 300W	2 x 90mm Fans (Front & Rear), Site Air Duct.	0	+ 12	0	+ 13
Compucase 6AR1/19/21	HEC 300ER 300W	2 x 120mm Fans (Front & Rear), Site Air Duct.	0	+ 11	+ 1	+ 12
GMC Nobless SE/Trinity	HEC 300ER 300W	4 x 80mm Fans ( 2 Front & 2 Rear), No Air Duct.	0	+ 12	0	+ 13

Summary:
1. An average of 12ºC difference was found on CPU temperature when the CPU is running 100% load. No increase in System temperature was observed when running 100% CPU load with SETI@HOME.
 

Table 3. Temperature Differences between Stock and Overclocked Speed.

 

Casing Model	PSU Model	Casing Features	Temperature at Stock Speed vs. Overclocked Speed (1.83G vs. 2.01G)
			Idle (ºC)		Full Load (ºC)
			System	CPU	System	CPU
Compucase 6C29/S3	HEC Orion 300T(EC) 300W	1 x 90mm Fan (Rear), Site Air Duct.	+ 1	+ 2	+ 1	+ 2
Compucase 6C28	HEC 300AR 300W	2 x 90mm Fans (Front & Rear), Site Air Duct.	- 1	- 2	0	- 1
Compucase 6AR1/19/21	HEC 300ER 300W	2 x 120mm Fans (Front & Rear), Site Air Duct.	0	- 1	0	0
GMC Nobless SE/Trinity	HEC 300ER 300W	4 x 80mm Fans ( 2 Front & 2 Rear), No Air Duct.	0	0	0	+ 1

Summary:
1. Minimum System and CPU temperature change (~0-2ºC) were noticed on the overall system performance when overclocked from stock speed of 1.83G to 2.01G.