Microcool Banchetto 101 Review

Testing:

The open design of the Banchetto 101 is very different in comparison to a more conventional design. This makes a direct comparison a little difficult, but I still want to see if this case performs better or worse than other more standard offerings. To test the cooling performance I will let the system idle for up to 30 minutes and check the temperatures with HWMonitor and then do the same after 30 minutes of demanding use. This will give us an accurate reading of both idle and load temperatures. The Banchetto 101 does come with space to install case fans, but because it does not include any actual fans I will be testing the system with the only fan being the one on my CPU cooler.

Testing System:

• CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955
• Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-890GPA-UD3H
• Memory: Mushkin Blackline 996782 PC3 12800 2x2GB
• GPU: Nvidia GTX260 Core 216
• Power Supply: Zalman 750 Watt modular power supply
• Hard Drive: Seagate 750GB 7200.11
• OS: Windows Vista Ultimate
• Case: Microcool Banchetto 101

Comparison Cases:

• CM 690 II Advanced
• NZXT Tempest EVO

Testing the Banchetto 101 without air moving over the system resulted in higher temperatures than the other cases. Once the case fans were installed with the air blowing over CPU area, there was a decent drop in temperatures throughout the system, resulting in it being more in line with the other cases.