Rosewill Ranger: All About Compromising
by Dustin Sklavos on December 14, 2011 12:10 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- mid-tower
- Rosewill
Noise and Thermal Testing, Overclocked
The Rosewill Ranger produced excellent thermal results in our stock testing, and hopefully that strong performance will continue when we dramatically increase the amount of heat our testbed generates. At the same time, I can't help but worry about what that will do to acoustics in the process.
Once again, the Ranger's thermals are absolutely fantastic. I can complain for days about the difficulty in assembling and working with the Ranger, but the temperatures go a long way towards ameliorating those problems. If you're the type to "build it and forget it", the thermals are certainly noteworthy.
Unfortunately, you do pay for the performance in noise. When the testbed is overclocked the Ranger is among the louder cases we've tested at both idle and load. It isn't a massive variance, but it's definitely a noticeable one. The largely open case design results in a loud, hollow fan noise. Rosewill is essentially trading ventilation and cooling for noise, which is a reasonable approach for a budget case.
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Onus - Thursday, December 15, 2011 - link
As far as metrics go, I agree with you; consistent testbeds are required to make comparisons based on objective metrics valid. All the comments about build difficulty are fairly subjective though, and I believe could have been "adjusted" to take into account the sort of build for which this case would be appropriate. Just as every other part in a computer should be chosen based on the intended uses of the completed system, so should the case be selected based on the components it will house. Despite good thermals, I would not choose this case for a high-end build, but it looks very good for something more modest.Please think of my initial remarks more of a reading between the lines than a criticism of the article; it provided very useful information, but I thought it would benefit from a little more context.
Blaze-Senpai - Wednesday, December 14, 2011 - link
I'd be tempted to just pop ope, the 5.25 inch bays and place a wire mesh in place of it and see how cool the thing really runs.I'm surprised no one has attempted a GPU with power connectors mounted near the bottom edge of the card though, most of the cards are either top or top edge mounted.
DanNeely - Wednesday, December 14, 2011 - link
Looking at the gallery pics I think it uses the same bay covers as my Rosewill X3. They're a relatively coarse metal weave with a foam pad as backing for noise/dust abatement. Pull the foam out and you'll have a fairly free airflow path.