After reading some articles about the computer case Cooler Master Silencio 550 I finished with doubts about its thermal performance and if it was ok to my use (I do not intend to make use of “overclocking”).
One of the best articles that I found was the following one from CCReviews: CCReviews
However habitually in the reviews there are 2 missing important values to be able to compare the performances of a computer case:
- The temperature rise inside the case (from ambient temperature)
- The computer power consumption
I explain:
The computer electric circuits "waste" power inside the box that will heat the computer case. From the air inlet openings and correspondent fan we have air going inside the case at ambient temperature. This inlet air will be heated inside the computer case. For the same cooling (fans/airflow) more power dissipated inside the case gives higher temperature rise (in relation to the ambient temperature).
The computer consumption is an useful information to compare with other computer configurations . We can estimate the power dissipated inside the computer case from the power consumption. As today the efficiency of the power supply is quit high (>95%), the power dissipation is only a little bit less than the computer consumption.
The dissipated power inside the box is a function of the computer configuration (motherboard, CPU, graphic card, etc..) and its use (games, internet, office, etc.).
For example, for the same dissipated power, if inside the case we reach a temperature of 50ºC with an ambient temperature of 20ºC it will approximately reach 60ºC with an ambient temperature of 30ºC and 40ºC with an ambient temperature of 10ºC. This is why the temperature rise information and the power consumption is important to know.
The temperature of the CPU is function of the temperature inside the computer case, the type of the CPU fan and the CPU use.
My thermal performance test
I used the following configuration to made a thermal performance test with my computer case Cooler Master Silencio 550:
- Used material: See my preview post
- Computer case fans: Original fans (2 fans 800 rpm)
- CPU fan: Original fan supplied with the CPU.
- Computer case without the "removable drive bay" (see below)
- Use: Running DiRT 3 game
To improve the air flow I removed the “removable drive bay”. The "removable drive bay" is located in front of air inlet fan that doesn't help with the air flow inside the computer case. For my use the remaining expansion capacity of computer case is more than enough.
To measure the ambient temperature I used an external equipment (my multimeter). My multimeter uses a thermocouple sensor to do temperature measurements (with a good precision). This temperature sensor was placed close to the CPU (see photo below)
To measure the power consumption I used an energy meter.
I got the following results:
Average consumed power: 193W (212W max)
Computer case temperature rise (from ambient temperature): 17ºC
CPU case temperature rise (from ambient temperature): 29ºC
The CPU is specified for a maximum case temperature of 72.6ºC (see ark.intel)
In this conditions I can play DiRT 3 (or a similar game) with an ambient temperature around 43ºC ..!
Note: This analysis is concerning only the CPU temperature.
Conclusion
The thermal performances of the box are not fantastic but considering the low level of noise, the construction quality and the price, the result is very good. It allows a comfortable use of the computer* without a risk of CPU overheating.
* With the used configuration (see my previous post) and without overclocking
Complementary information
The box has one edge used to separate the cabling areas. I arranged the cables without passing over it.
To connect the USB 3.0 front panel connector without using one of motherboard external USB connectors I used a USB 20 pin to 2-port USB 3.0 adapter (see below)
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