With it's Rocket the budget manufacturer Kolink dares to enter the field of premium enclosures and thus the first ITX enclosure with "sandwich" design can hold its own in my tests.
At the same time it is the (so far) smallest case I'am reviewing, so let's check out how this tiny case is doing!
And as always: English isnt my first language, so please bear with me
German Version of this Review > PCGameshardware.de
Picture Mirror > Imgur
Features / Specs
Size (W x H x D): 12,5cm x 23,5 x 32,8cm
Volume: 9,6 litre
Weight: 3,5kg
Material: Aluminium (anodized, brushed) / Steel
CPU-Cooler: up to 54mm
Graphicscard: 2 Slot up to 31,0cm
Storage: 2x 2,5" SSD / HDD
PSU: SFX up to130mm
Fans: 1x 80mm PWM (included)
> Datasheet / Manufacturer Page
The case was thankfully provided by Caseking.de !
Packaging / Delivery
The case comes in a color printed cardboard box with a carrying strap, which looks really high-quality and offers a completely different look than the normal grey boxes. Certainly not bad if you want to take the box to a LAN for transport, but less useful if the box lands in the attic after unpacking.
Included in the package is a manual, cable ties, screws and 8 rubber feet to protect the case from scratches when placed.
A PCIe x16 riser cable and an 80mm PWM fan are already mounted in the case.
Assembly
The side parts can be loosened and removed with 4 screws each. You don't have much space, so as usual you should prepare as much as possible outside the case. I recommend the following procedure:
The pull-out holder for the 2.5" drives can also be fitted if required, but this requires a little finesse cabling, there isnt much room left. In my case I was able to place the PCIe riser cable under the mainboard, which requires some pressure and bending. You might also get in the way of the fan at the top of the case by doing that, so be careful. Alternatively, the cable can also be run along the front of the mainboard. By dividing the Riser into individual strands, the CPU cooler should still get enough fresh air. As usual with PSU plug extensions, the orientation of the socket on the power supply unit should be checked before ordering your parts. But if it doesn't fit, the cable can also be bent quite well.
Thermal Testing
All data from stresstests and benchmarks were logged with Aida64 Extreme 6.00.5100 in intervals of 1 second. Each test ran for 30 minutes, then 30 minutes "cooling time".
The ambient temperature was also recorded every 30 minutes and is subtracted so that different ambient temperatures do not falsify the final result and allow direct comparison between the cases. All temperature data (dCPU & dGPU) are therefore delta values, thus the difference to the room temperature and not the direct component temperature. The maximum component temperature for every test is listed below each graph, but is for illustration purposes only and cannot be used to compare the cases directly!
Hardware:
Intel Core i5 6600K (Delid - 4,0Ghz @ 1,25V Locked
Noctua NH-L9i / fixed at 60% PWM - 1750RPM
Gigabyte Z270N-WIFI (BIOS F6d)
2x 8GB Kingston HyperX Fury (HX421C14FBK2/16)
KFA2 GeForce GTX 1050 Ti / fixed at 60% PWM - 1100RM
Samsung M.2 SATA SSD
Chieftec CSN-550C 550W SFX-PSU
The included fan ran at 50% RPM
3DMark FireStrike
Peak Temperature: 57°C CPU Package - 55°C GPU Diode
Ambient: 22,7°C
Aida64 6.00.5100
Peak Temperature: 67°C CPU Package - 27°C GPU Diode
Ambient: 22,3°C - 22,9°C
Unigene Heaven 4.0
Peak Temperature: 51°C CPU Package - 55°C GPU Diode
Ambient: 23,0°C - 22,7°C
Aida 64 + Unigene Heaven
Peak Temperature: 69°C CPU Package - 55°C GPU Diode
Ambient: 22,7°C -22,7°C
Prime95 294b8
Peak Temperature: 83°C CPU Package - 26°C GPU Diode
Ambient: 22,9°C - 23,1°C
Despite the small cooler, the CPU can be cooled very well thanks to the perforated side panels, the graphics card also delivers very good values. Sometimes there are annoying noises at a small distance from the fan to the "air holes", but with this case it didn't occur. The 80mm fan in the case tope also sucks the warm fans out of the case and prevents heat accumulation. Due to the power supply and a longer graphics card, the Rocket almost becomes a 2-chamber case.
Compatible Hardware
CPU-Cooler
> Noctua NH-L9a oder L9i / Alpenföhn Black Ridge / Cryorig C7G
Graphics Card
> pretty much any current graphics card will fit
Case Fans 80mm -
> BQ Silent Wings 2, 80mm / Noctua NF-A8 FLX
Conclusion
With the Rocket, Kolink has brought a premium ITX case onto the market, which can certainly live up to its price. The workmanship is excellent and fits perfectly, there are no sharp edges. Especially the possibility to use full-size graphics cards makes it interesting for this size. If the somewhat more difficult installation is no problem, you can build a cool and very compact system with the Rocket, which can be comfortably accommodated in most backpacks.
All in all the Kolink Rocket leaves a very good impression. So good that my personal VR system has moved from Node 202 (review here) to it!
At the same time it is the (so far) smallest case I'am reviewing, so let's check out how this tiny case is doing!
And as always: English isnt my first language, so please bear with me
German Version of this Review > PCGameshardware.de
Picture Mirror > Imgur
Features / Specs
Size (W x H x D): 12,5cm x 23,5 x 32,8cm
Volume: 9,6 litre
Weight: 3,5kg
Material: Aluminium (anodized, brushed) / Steel
CPU-Cooler: up to 54mm
Graphicscard: 2 Slot up to 31,0cm
Storage: 2x 2,5" SSD / HDD
PSU: SFX up to130mm
Fans: 1x 80mm PWM (included)
> Datasheet / Manufacturer Page
The case was thankfully provided by Caseking.de !
Packaging / Delivery
The case comes in a color printed cardboard box with a carrying strap, which looks really high-quality and offers a completely different look than the normal grey boxes. Certainly not bad if you want to take the box to a LAN for transport, but less useful if the box lands in the attic after unpacking.
Included in the package is a manual, cable ties, screws and 8 rubber feet to protect the case from scratches when placed.
A PCIe x16 riser cable and an 80mm PWM fan are already mounted in the case.
Assembly
The side parts can be loosened and removed with 4 screws each. You don't have much space, so as usual you should prepare as much as possible outside the case. I recommend the following procedure:
- Install CPU, RAM and M.2 SSD into the mainboard
- Mount the CPU cooler
- Remove PCI cover
- Slot in your graphics card
- Plug in PCIe Riser Cable, if you want to under the mainboard
- Lift mainboard into case and screw tight
- Install PSU in the case
- Connect Front USB/Panel/Audio, ATX / EPS / GPU Power
- Put back the sidepanel
The pull-out holder for the 2.5" drives can also be fitted if required, but this requires a little finesse cabling, there isnt much room left. In my case I was able to place the PCIe riser cable under the mainboard, which requires some pressure and bending. You might also get in the way of the fan at the top of the case by doing that, so be careful. Alternatively, the cable can also be run along the front of the mainboard. By dividing the Riser into individual strands, the CPU cooler should still get enough fresh air. As usual with PSU plug extensions, the orientation of the socket on the power supply unit should be checked before ordering your parts. But if it doesn't fit, the cable can also be bent quite well.
Thermal Testing
All data from stresstests and benchmarks were logged with Aida64 Extreme 6.00.5100 in intervals of 1 second. Each test ran for 30 minutes, then 30 minutes "cooling time".
The ambient temperature was also recorded every 30 minutes and is subtracted so that different ambient temperatures do not falsify the final result and allow direct comparison between the cases. All temperature data (dCPU & dGPU) are therefore delta values, thus the difference to the room temperature and not the direct component temperature. The maximum component temperature for every test is listed below each graph, but is for illustration purposes only and cannot be used to compare the cases directly!
Hardware:
Intel Core i5 6600K (Delid - 4,0Ghz @ 1,25V Locked
Noctua NH-L9i / fixed at 60% PWM - 1750RPM
Gigabyte Z270N-WIFI (BIOS F6d)
2x 8GB Kingston HyperX Fury (HX421C14FBK2/16)
KFA2 GeForce GTX 1050 Ti / fixed at 60% PWM - 1100RM
Samsung M.2 SATA SSD
Chieftec CSN-550C 550W SFX-PSU
The included fan ran at 50% RPM
3DMark FireStrike
- Custom Run - Version 1.1
- Only Combined Test
- Loop enabled
- Include Demo disabled
Peak Temperature: 57°C CPU Package - 55°C GPU Diode
Ambient: 22,7°C
Aida64 6.00.5100
- Stress CPU
- Stress FPU
- Stress Cache
Peak Temperature: 67°C CPU Package - 27°C GPU Diode
Ambient: 22,3°C - 22,9°C
Unigene Heaven 4.0
- Quality: Ultra
- Tesselation: Extreme
- Antialiasing: x8
- Resolution: 1600x900 Fullscreen
Peak Temperature: 51°C CPU Package - 55°C GPU Diode
Ambient: 23,0°C - 22,7°C
Aida 64 + Unigene Heaven
Peak Temperature: 69°C CPU Package - 55°C GPU Diode
Ambient: 22,7°C -22,7°C
Prime95 294b8
- Small FFTS
Peak Temperature: 83°C CPU Package - 26°C GPU Diode
Ambient: 22,9°C - 23,1°C
Despite the small cooler, the CPU can be cooled very well thanks to the perforated side panels, the graphics card also delivers very good values. Sometimes there are annoying noises at a small distance from the fan to the "air holes", but with this case it didn't occur. The 80mm fan in the case tope also sucks the warm fans out of the case and prevents heat accumulation. Due to the power supply and a longer graphics card, the Rocket almost becomes a 2-chamber case.
Compatible Hardware
CPU-Cooler
> Noctua NH-L9a oder L9i / Alpenföhn Black Ridge / Cryorig C7G
Graphics Card
> pretty much any current graphics card will fit
Case Fans 80mm -
> BQ Silent Wings 2, 80mm / Noctua NF-A8 FLX
Conclusion
With the Rocket, Kolink has brought a premium ITX case onto the market, which can certainly live up to its price. The workmanship is excellent and fits perfectly, there are no sharp edges. Especially the possibility to use full-size graphics cards makes it interesting for this size. If the somewhat more difficult installation is no problem, you can build a cool and very compact system with the Rocket, which can be comfortably accommodated in most backpacks.
All in all the Kolink Rocket leaves a very good impression. So good that my personal VR system has moved from Node 202 (review here) to it!
