Testing Methodology

For testing Micro-ATX and full ATX cases, we use the following standardized testbed in stock and overclocked configurations to get a feel for how well the case handles heat and noise.

ATX Test Configuration
CPU Intel Core i7-2700K
(95W TDP, tested at stock speed and overclocked to 4.3GHz @ 1.38V)
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-Z68MX-UD2H-B3
Graphics Card ASUS GeForce GTX 560 Ti DCII TOP
(tested at stock speed and overclocked to 1GHz/overvolted to 1.13V)
Memory 2x2GB Crucial Ballistix Smart Tracer DDR3-1600
Drives Kingston SSDNow V+ 100 64GB SSD
Samsung 5.25" BD-ROM/DVDRW Drive
CPU Cooler Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo with Cooler Master ThermalFusion 400
Power Supply SilverStone Strider Plus 750W 80 Plus Silver

Each case is tested in a stock configuration and an overclocked configuration that generates substantially more heat (and thus may produce more noise). The system is powered on and left idle for fifteen minutes, the thermal and acoustic results recorded, and then stressed by running seven threads in Prime95 (in-place large FFTs) on the CPU and OC Scanner (maximum load) on the GPU. At the end of fiteen minutes, thermal and acoustic results are recorded. This is done for the stock settings and for the overclock, and if the enclosure has a fan controller, these tests are repeated for each setting. Ambient temperature is also measured after the fifteen idle minutes but before the stress test and used to calculate the final reported results.

Thank You!

Before moving on, we'd like to thank the following vendors for providing us with the hardware used in our testbed.

Assembling the Antec GX700 Noise and Thermal Testing, Stock
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  • Belard - Tuesday, January 29, 2013 - link

    I've seen better.... worked with better. This thing is ugly and cheap.
  • fluffyhead - Monday, February 25, 2013 - link

    You have a problem with the top slot: "and the fact that the top one is basically blocked by the internal cables for the I/O cluster means the front of the case gets broken up needlessly"
    Why not mount the optical drive in the bottom slot? Esthetic issue solved. The other thought here is that there are many 5.25 kits for SD cards and such that would actually fit in that slot because they do not have a full case to interfere. That's what I'm going to do. This isn't the prettiest case, but it is incredible value for the dollar.
  • Mike89 - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link

    I wish you would have shown and talked about using this case with a 240mm radiator hooked up at the top. Would have been really good info for someone who is looking for a case that would accommodate a 240 mm radiator like Corsair's.

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