Rosewill Thor v2: The God of Cooling and Silence?
by Dustin Sklavos on August 24, 2011 2:15 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Full-Tower
- Rosewill
Testing Methodology
For testing 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.
| Full ATX Test Configuration | |
| CPU |
Intel Core i7-875K (95W TDP, tested at stock speed and overclocked to 3.8GHz @ 1.38V) |
| Motherboard | ASUS P7P55D-E Pro |
| Graphics Card | Zotac NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 (244W TDP) |
| Memory | 2x2GB Crucial Ballistix Smart Tracer DDR3-1600 |
| Drives |
Kingston SSDNow V+ 100 64GB SSD Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA 6Gbps Samsung 5.25" BD-ROM/DVDRW Drive |
| CPU Cooler | Zalman CNPS9900 MAX with Cooler Master ThermalFusion 400 |
| Power Supply | SilverStone Strider Gold 750W 80 Plus Gold |
A refresher on how we test:
Acoustic testing is standardized on a foot from the front of the case, using the Extech SL10 with an ambient noise floor of ~32dB. For reference, that's what my silent apartment measures with nothing running, testing acoustics in the dead of night (usually between 1am and 3am). A lot of us sit about a foot away from our computers, so this should be a fairly accurate representation of the kind of noise the case generates, and it's close enough to get noise levels that should register above ambient.
Thermal testing is run with the computer having idled at the desktop for fifteen minutes, and again with the computer running both Furmark (where applicable) and Prime95 (less one thread when a GPU is being used) for fifteen minutes. I've found that leaving one thread open in Prime95 allows the processor to heat up enough while making sure Furmark isn't CPU-limited. We're using the thermal diodes included with the hardware to keep everything standardized, and ambient testing temperature is always between 71F and 74F. Processor temperatures reported are the average of the CPU cores.
For more details on how we arrived at this testbed, you can check out our introductory passage in the review for the IN-WIN BUC.
Last but not least, we'd also like to thank the vendors who made our testbed possible:
Thank You!
We have some thanks in order before we press on:
- Thank you to Crucial for providing us with the Ballistix Smart Tracer memory we used to add memory thermals to our testing.
- Thank you to Zalman for providing us with the CNPS9900 MAX heatsink and fan unit we used.
- Thank you to Kingston for providing us with the SSDNow V+ 100 SSD.
- Thank you to CyberPower for providing us with the Western Digital Caviar Black hard drive, Intel Core i7-875K processor, ASUS P7P55D-E Pro motherboard, and Samsung BD-ROM/DVD+/-RW drive.
- And thank you to SilverStone for providing us with the power supply.
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flong777 - Thursday, August 25, 2011 - link
This review lists temperatures for the 650D which are not anywhere near what I am experiencing in my build. I own the 650D and following are my temps:1. CPU , Less than 40C under load
2. GPU, Less than 60C under load
3. Mobo - less than 40C under load
4. HDD - less than 35C under load
5. RAM - less than 40C under load
6. Ambient temperature is 82F
Note that these are MAX temps under load. My build is as follows:
2600K CPU
XFX 6950 GPU
Noctua NH-D14 CPU cooler
Corsair 650D case
AsRock Extreme 4 Gen 3 motherboard
Gskill DDR3 1600 2 x 4GB
For the life of me, I cannot imagine how Anandtech's temps are so high for the 650D. My builds is a full 20C- 40C cooler than the Anandtech build in the same case.
Also, THIS IS IMPORTANT, if you remove the top HDD cage the front 200 mm fan blows directly on the motherboard, GPU and CPU unimpeded. This makes a huge difference in cooling and most people don't need more than three HDDS/SSDs. I am guessing that if Anandtech took out the top HDD cage in their build that temps would drop at least 3C - 5C over all components.
Also, the case is very quiet on low fan and reasonably quiet on high fan. On low fan the case is almost inaudible (I hear the Noctua coolers fans as much as the case's fans). According to reviews, the case cools almost as well on low fan as on high fan.
randinspace - Monday, August 29, 2011 - link
I was tempted to say something snarky because you're really comparing apples and oranges (mid-range AMD GPU vs. upper tier NVIDIA GPU) and didn't give your full parameters (ie, whether you used the same testing procedures and measuring programs/equipment that Dustin did) and it's been a lousy day, but to be honest you've (put together an envious build) really exposed the essential flaw of case reviews in general and AT's in particular, at least when it comes to temps and noise: Sandy Bridge chips are just that much better in the categories you'd measure when reviewing an enthusiast case than anything else on the market that you'd stick into a case like this (no one is going to buy a chassis like this and stick one of AMD's Bobcat chips into it, right?), and even though those are what's selling and in demand it's absent from the testbed.Of course it could be worse, AT could be doing reviews with a Phenom II X6 for truly misleading results compared to the way it's almost impossible to find an article on here that doesn't praise SB's virtues (particularly their buying guides). Then again people were probably more likely to build a brand new rig (as opposed to cobbling together parts left over from other people's upgrades to SB) with that in it this year than the i7-875k.
The other factor that contributes to the high thermals in their reviews is the near reference model NVIDIA GPU, but I'm sure there are plenty of enthusiasts who savor the extra FPS in Crysis 2 (patched) compared to a 6970 so even though you can get lower profile versions of the 580 than that particular Zotac model I'm not going to quibble about it (though again the AT buying guides usually say something about the price to performance ratio being in favor of AMD cards). Hell if anything people who do buy cards like that are probably the ones who really need to worry about whether or not the case they buy can keep the card running below spec.
So that said, I can appreciate the "worst case scenario" that these reviews usually represent, but I just can't help but wonder how much differently they might have played out with components more representative of what people who follow sites like this and actually research their components to get the best fit for their needs (like the OP must have, and frankly I'd also rather save $250-300 and get a free game [Deus Ex ATM, Shogun 2 earlier in the year] by going with a 6950 than having the extra performance of a 580) would actually order.
hoyanf - Thursday, August 25, 2011 - link
I have yet to see a review of cases that supports E-ATX or XL-ATX to have these kind of boards installed instead of using common ATX or M-ATX boards.I don't see the reason why not to use a bigger board on a case that supports it. For those using dual cpu boards would for sure like to see the capability of the case reviewed.
ggathagan - Thursday, August 25, 2011 - link
Everything that Dustin discussed regarding case features is equally applicable, regardless of the size of the motherboard.If they were to use one of the larger motherboards, the only change to the review would be something like:
"When we used an E-ATX motherboard, fitment was a bit tighter."
You can look at the pictures in the gallery on page 3 and visualize how a board that is 90mm wider would fit. That would be true of any site that includes build pictures in their articles.
Since XL-ATX is not an industry standard, I wouldn't expect anyone to use it in reviews, but the same process applies.
Unfortunately, sites that are slanted more towards workstation/server systems, like 2cpu.com, are few and far between. They don't seem to review anything but finished systems.
Hrel - Thursday, August 25, 2011 - link
Rosewill is still Rosewill. I like the idea, and seems like it's layed out well. I want to go smaller with my next build though, not bigger. I want a quality case, Mid-Tower or smaller that is primally solid black. HEAVY focus on silent running. Built in handle would be really nice. As light as you can make it, Thermaltake used to have one that was "feather" light; I liked that one. USB 3.0 all the way around, no 2.0. No side vents or fans or lights or anything. Just front intake and rear exhaust, as large as you can make them. (for silence) Probably just gonna do one front fan, might not even need a rear fan with the PSU acting as an exhaust.I like the idea of a top vent you can open and close. Open for better cooling close for more silence. Tooless everything. If I can get all this for about 100 bucks from newegg I'd be pretty happy.
etamin - Friday, August 26, 2011 - link
Newegg is having a promo for the Thor v2 right now. It's only 129.99 with free shipping.killerclick - Saturday, August 27, 2011 - link
Why not mention that Rosewill is owned by Newegg? It's not a secretLeyawiin - Saturday, August 27, 2011 - link
I like this comparison reviews to alert me to brands/models I didn't even know about. IN WIN BUC is mid tower, only slightly less good in most categories and better in a few. $65 at Newegg.randinspace - Monday, August 29, 2011 - link
Now that you mention it the only thing missing from this review is Dustin's ubiquitous mention of how the BUC is a better proposition, so he must have really liked this case after all... Or maybe I just failed to read closely enough?Shadowmaster625 - Saturday, August 27, 2011 - link
The guys on the forums will have a conniption.