Installation and Testing
My testing PC uses the following components:
- Intel Pentium D 3.4GHz
- Intel D975XBX2 Motherboard
- 2GB Kingston RAM
- 1TB Hitachi HDE721010SLA330 HDD
- 256MB nVidia GeForce 7300GT
- Corsair HX750 Power supply
- Cooler Master Hyper TX3 Evo CPU Cooler
Now, I know what you’re all thinking: Why would I use such a dated test PC? The reason I use this PC is because the Pentium D processor runs very hot, so it is a good way of testing just how well the case can keep things cool.
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The X10’s cable management features worked wonders, and I was able to keep the majority of the cables hidden behind the drive bays. The only cable I couldn’t hide was the Audio header, and that was due to the layout of the motherboard. Keen eyed viewers may notice that I opted not to use the tool-less mounting. Yes, I did try it out, and it was better than on some cases, but still too loose for my liking.
The cables behind the drive bays aren’t quite so tidy, but I don’t consider this to be a problem. You don’t see them when you open the case for routine maintenance, and they’re not interfering with the airflow.
The red glow at the bottom of the case is a nice touch. It’s bright enough to be noticeable, but not so bright that it’s disturbing.
Test Results
To test how well ventilated the case is, I will be using the previously mentioned test PC, and measuring the temperature using Speedfan. I will test it both idling and under load using IntelBurnTest. The results will be compared to those of both having no case (sitting on the test bench) and those of a cheap, generic no name case. The stock case fans will be used, and the temperature controlling on the CPU fan will be enabled. The CPU will be at its stock speed, because Pentium D CPUs don’t need to be overclocked to run hot.
The test results show that the LUXO X10 does a good job of keeping a hot processor reasonably cool under load. The CPU reached 66°C Under load. The room temperature was 31°C at the time of testing, so that makes for a difference of 35°C. By way of comparison, this is 1°C cooler than sitting the PC on the test bench, and 8°C cooler than our cheap generic case. I did notice that the two top fans were quite audible. They weren’t disturbing, but they were noticeable when the PC was idling. With the CPU under load, however, the CPU fan drowned them out.
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