Completed The MI-6 Microtower Case: Performance in 6.7L
- Thread starter firewolfy
- Start date
I'm waiting to hear back on some minor case tweaks for fit, and the smoother brushed anodized surface. As soon as I hear back I can kick off receiving payments and convert everyone's preorders to real orders. I'll write up the details of this process as soon as I hear back from my vendor.
Thermal testing is underway and I'm creating some good case pics. I have started to update the webpage with real pics instead of renders on the main page gallery.
I should have some thermal charts posted here tomorrow. And a teaser -- Im testing the Noctua 92x65mm cooler and the Big Shuriken 120x58.
Thermal testing is underway and I'm creating some good case pics. I have started to update the webpage with real pics instead of renders on the main page gallery.
I should have some thermal charts posted here tomorrow. And a teaser -- Im testing the Noctua 92x65mm cooler and the Big Shuriken 120x58.
I completed a first round of thermal testing. The testing was generally a worst-case loading with Prime95 and Furmark. Here are the results and specific build and test settings:
Take a look and also let me know of settings you would like to see tested and I'll see if I can run a test series for you.
The values are from testing with an ambient of 25.5C. Subtract 4°C to the values to normalize to 21.5°C for comparison to other cases.
Fire
Edit - Added description to graphic and commonized colors.
Edited again -- Added test method and data collection information. Added normalizing info.
Take a look and also let me know of settings you would like to see tested and I'll see if I can run a test series for you.
The values are from testing with an ambient of 25.5C. Subtract 4°C to the values to normalize to 21.5°C for comparison to other cases.
Fire
Edit - Added description to graphic and commonized colors.
Edited again -- Added test method and data collection information. Added normalizing info.
Last edited:
Thanks for the test. In short Shuriken 2 performs slightly better than NH-L9x65. However, perhaps the most important result is that HDD temperature differs greatly with VS without case fan.
May I know:
- What's the case fan configuration, pull or push? Did you test both?
- How / on which position do you mount the HDD? Does certain HDD position give different (better) temperature?
May I know:
- What's the case fan configuration, pull or push? Did you test both?
- How / on which position do you mount the HDD? Does certain HDD position give different (better) temperature?
The case fan is pulling into case from the bottom.
The HDD is in the mounting bracket about 1/2 way up the front wall. Good question about HDD location. I can test other positions and map that out.
Thanks.
Also, it's interesting to know the temp difference for intake VS exhaust case fan as well.
Keep up the good work!
Thanks for the updated pictures on the website, looking good having the real thing. Looks like cable management went pretty well, I don't see any massive clumps of cables anywhere.
The heatsink comparison is similar to others I have seen between those 2. Slightly better temps with the Scythe but also slightly louder. It is interesting to see that the bottom intake fan really only affected the hdd temps, but enough of a difference to use one.
I would like to see temps during gaming, try a variety of games (the highest system requirement ones you have) and compare temps, I know personally that will be the most demanding thing I will do with my computer.
The heatsink comparison is similar to others I have seen between those 2. Slightly better temps with the Scythe but also slightly louder. It is interesting to see that the bottom intake fan really only affected the hdd temps, but enough of a difference to use one.
I would like to see temps during gaming, try a variety of games (the highest system requirement ones you have) and compare temps, I know personally that will be the most demanding thing I will do with my computer.
I second this. If you can test demanding games like The Witcher 3, GTA, or Destiny 2 that would be awesome. Even if you just get stuff like overwatch or LoL, that would be nice to see.
I got some more testing done today. I focused on 2 areas: Prime 95 test settings and different build configurations.
- If you are like me, you get a get tired of the various Prime 95 test settings used (large FFT, small FFT, Blended, 8K), so I did some testing to see if they really affect CPU temperature. I only used version 26.6, and didn't bother with later versions as I have heard they are more extreme, and v26.5 is generally overkill anyway compared to typical applications.
- I also did some testing with the case fan direction and different places to mount HDDs.
I'll check and see what I can get running.
Last edited:
Thanks @firewolfy!
2 things I obverve here:
1) It confirms my guess that outflow case fan helps in reducing GPU (and slightly CPU) temp, as it removes the hot air within the case. Unfortunately HDD temp increases a bit - a trade off here.
2) Comparing CPU+GPU test VS CPU-only test, it seems that GPU load really affects HDD temp. Is it because:
- The CPU+GPU test involves some drive access for reading/writing? OR
- Because the GPU exhausts hot air to the front parts of the case, which in turns heat the HDD?
(Sorry, I'm not really familiar with Furmark here)
2 things I obverve here:
1) It confirms my guess that outflow case fan helps in reducing GPU (and slightly CPU) temp, as it removes the hot air within the case. Unfortunately HDD temp increases a bit - a trade off here.
2) Comparing CPU+GPU test VS CPU-only test, it seems that GPU load really affects HDD temp. Is it because:
- The CPU+GPU test involves some drive access for reading/writing? OR
- Because the GPU exhausts hot air to the front parts of the case, which in turns heat the HDD?
(Sorry, I'm not really familiar with Furmark here)
The Dan A4-SFX has the same issue with a video card that does not exhaust all air. Essentially, your 80C+ GPU is dumping hot air onto your HD.
True, but Dan A4-SFX HDDs are located at the bottom-front, right under the GPU (and another one behind the front panel), while MI-6 HDDs are on the motherboard side, separated by the metal panel.
Because of this layout, I assume MI-6 should have slightly better HDD temp.
.. Unless hot air from GPU also heat up the metal panel where the HDDs are attached.
Ill
I'll confirm this... the A4-SFX CASE front left corner gets hot enough to be painful to touch. So I imagine the metal will heat up.
I'll confirm this... the A4-SFX CASE front left corner gets hot enough to be painful to touch. So I imagine the metal will heat up.
Yes placing HDD mounts on the CPU side, hidden from the GPU, is to keep the GPU heat away from the HDDs.
The MI-6 case gets hot in front of the GPU as well, as both cases have similar geometry and airflow in that area.
I edited post #445 which has the first temperature test graphs, to include info on how the data was analyzed to give a max temperature value. I am using this method for all testing, but let me know if you have a better idea. Thx.
-- I added this info because I recently saw temperature reporting on other threads that used a much different method (average-over-run sort of thing), so I wanted to make my methods clear.
-- I added this info because I recently saw temperature reporting on other threads that used a much different method (average-over-run sort of thing), so I wanted to make my methods clear.
I would love to see a long game run of say BF1 of an hour or two of continuous play. That's a real heat challenge with a powerful GPU
