Cubitek ATX-ICE Case Review

Testing:

Testing the Cubitek ATX Ice required pushing my hardware to heat things up! Testing involved recording temperatures for the CPU, GPU, chipset, hard drives, and overall system during idle and load phases. Recently OCC has upgraded to the ForceGT 240GB SSD from Corsair and has removed the HDD temps from case reviews. HDTune is no longer a part of the Case benchmarking process.

Load was simulated by running Prime95’s small FFTs, and 3Dmark Vantage for one hour. The maximum temperatures were recorded using HW Monitor. It is important to note that each case is tested from its factory setup, including location of fans, unless otherwise noted.

Testing Setup:

• Processor: Core i7 2600K @ 4.4 GHz 100 x 44
• CPU Cooling: Noctua NH-U12P SE 1366
• Motherboard: GIGABYTE Z68AP-D3
• Memory: Mushkin 991996 Redline PC3-17000 9-11-10-28 8 GB
• Video Card: XFX HD 7970
• PSU: Antec TruePower New TP-750
• Hard Drive: Corsair ForceGT 240GB
• Optical Drive: N/A
• OS: Windows 7 Pro 64-Bit SP1

Comparison Cases:

• Corsair 600T
• Corsair 650D
• Thermaltake Overseer RX-I
• COUGAR Evolution
• COUGAR Solution
• Thermaltake Commander MS-I
• Bitfenix Raider
• Corsair 300R
• Corsair 550D
• Enermax Fulmo GT
• Cooler Master HAF XM

Results:

The Cubitek ATX Ice falls around average for pretty much everything when looking at idle temperatures. This case is nothing special but nothing terrible. Moving on to the important stuff, load temperatures, we can see that although the case is all-aluminum and should help dissipate heat quite well, it only excels in one thing: CPU temperatures. The chipset and GPU load temperatures are nothing to write home about with the ATX Ice falling to the trailing edge of this pack of cases. The CPU temperatures are some of the best I've seen in a while, trailing only the HAF XM, Corsair 300R, and Tt Overseer RX-I.