AZZA Silentium Case Review: Knowing the Limits

Noise and Thermal Testing, Stock

Given the way AZZA designed the Silentium, its performance under stock settings is really going to be what we're interested in. This is not an enthusiast-class case, and the bog standard ATX cooling system is clearly not intended to handle high-performance builds. Unlike many other cases designed for silent running, AZZA barely even makes allowances for performance.

What we're really going to want to see is just how the stock fans perform. There's no fan controller included and both fans use a standard molex connector. They're also both 120mm fans when the industry is beginning to graduate to 140mm, so they may not be able to move much air.

I've added another unfortunate wrinkle into the mix, though: I've added the test results from the Nanoxia Deep Silence 1 and the Fractal Design Define R4. The R4 is about $10 more than the Silentium and a much more flexible enclosure, while the DS1 is expected to arrive on US shores at around $119. If it does, and that's a big "if," it's going to seriously jeopardize the value propositions of a lot of the cases here, including the Silentium.

Ambient temperature during testing was ~22C.

Thermals at stock aren't particularly impressive, and the Silentium is really competing with the BitFenix Ghost at its price point. The Define R4 was never a stellar performer, but it's flexible if you're willing to play with it. It's also much better built than the Silentium.

CPU and GPU fan speeds prove the Silentium, Ghost, and R4 are pretty much neck and neck with each other while Nanoxia's enclosure provides better value across the board.

AZZA is able to put a little bit of distance between itself and the competition in our acoustic testing, though. They use thicker dampening material and more of it than the competing cases do, and it shows. That said, the DS1 is still quieter while offering better thermals and airflow.