Cubitek HPTX ICE Review: How Far Aluminum Can Go
by Dustin Sklavos on May 11, 2012 1:20 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Full-Tower
- Cubitek
- HPTX
Noise and Thermal Testing, Stock
The big difference between Cubitek's HPTX ICE and the other cases we've tested since revising the testbed (besides the pricetag) is the building material. Aluminum should in theory allow the HPTX ICE to dissipate heat more efficiently than plastic and steel cases.
Ambient temperature during testing was unfortunately higher than I would've liked, averaging at nearly 26C. California's weather (especially in the bay area) is erratic to say the least, and it's been heating up here even at night. The problem there is that I can't really run the air conditioning or open the windows to cool off the apartment during testing either, since I also have to test acoustics. So keep in mind that while the temperature results listed should still be comparable, the non-adjusted results (fan speeds and acoustics) are going to be at a very slight handicap.
Thermals are generally good, but note the Antec Eleven Hundred's substantial lead in thermal performance at our stock settings. The Eleven Hundred won't go all the way up to HPTX or E-ATX, but it can still handle XL-ATX boards and smaller, offers nearly as much expandability, and is both smaller and lighter despite being made primarily of steel and plastic. You could also buy three of them for the cost of the HPTX ICE.
While idle fan speeds are basically comparable, differences in the load fan speeds are big enough to overcome the handicap of a higher ambient temperature. Antec's case is able to keep the CPU and graphics card cooler while leaving much more thermal headroom on the hardware.
Cubitek rates its fans for relatively low noise, but since there's no fan controller included, all but the 120mm exhaust fan are forced to run at stock speed and...pardon the pun...they blow right past the peak noise level Cubitek specifies for the loudest fan (the front, at 24.45dBA). Antec's case doesn't have a fan control either (in fact none of the cases tested do), but the stock fans are much quieter. Cubitek's fans actually largely drown out the fans on the CPU and the graphics card, which is not a good starting point.
Unfortunately, it gets worse in a way that our graph can't describe: the rattle I had misgivings about is prominent, enough that it was difficult to get a stable noise level reading of the HPTX ICE. It's not just prominent, but actually audible in the other room during testing. The HPTX ICE isn't merely noisy; the noise itself doesn't have a consistent character to it, so it doesn't blend in like regular white noise.
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colonelclaw - Friday, May 11, 2012 - link
Referring to you photograph of the front of the case http://www.anandtech.com/Gallery/Album/1949#2If I had just spent $359 on anything in the world of computing, and it was put together as poorly as this I would be absolutely horrified. Not one single panel is flush with another and the shut lines are all over the place.
I'm probably overreacting, but to me this looks like a photo of a $50 piece of junk
cjs150 - Friday, May 11, 2012 - link
At least based on your assembly picture:1. Looks like there is room for a thin 240 radiator at the top
2. Drop the drive cages, based on your review is not a loss!, and put a 200x200 radiator up front there is still plenty of space at bottom to resite the hard drives
But at $359 I would not bother, silverstone does it far better
Dustin Sklavos - Friday, May 11, 2012 - link
You can't install a 240mm radiator in the top. The way the two 140mm fan grills are spaced, I think you'd wind up having to modify the case a little to get it into place.cjs150 - Monday, May 14, 2012 - link
A little modification is fine but truthfully I am struggling to think of any reason to buy this case.maybe the smaller versions are better
Flunk - Friday, May 11, 2012 - link
Lian-Li doesn't need steel reinforcement so it is possible to make a good all aluminum case. This just isn't it, and the price is almost 3x what an equivalent Lian-Li would cost.etamin - Friday, May 11, 2012 - link
This is a big assumption to make, but the price and quality of this case makes it seem like the company went way over budget on development and manufacturing costs and is struggling to stay afloat by hoping for inexperienced builders to jump on high price tags.I've seen Cubiteks on SundialMicro for at least a year and the lack of build quality is visible in the stock images. The cases are literally Lian Li and Silverstone knock offs at higher prices. Believe me, I mean no disrespect to the engineers and designers, but this is just the general effect these products give. Cubitek is a pretty new company (started 2010?) and I think it started off too ambitious without a realistic plan.
stren - Friday, May 11, 2012 - link
At this price you're almost into the territory of CaseLabs where you'll get some very well designed cases with some unique features and support for real enthusiast builds. When will anandtech look at them?HexiumVII - Friday, May 11, 2012 - link
Why are all the new cases putting the PS on bottom. You now need 30 inches just to reach the 12v four pin on the top of motherboards.SmCaudata - Saturday, May 12, 2012 - link
So, out of curiosity I searched for the miniITX version and came across this.http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1922/1/
Normally wouldn't link to an outside site, but it was just a fun idea. The small version is actually a decent looking case.
Stas - Tuesday, May 15, 2012 - link
No, thanks. I'll take the Silverstone.