Thermaltake Armor A30 Case Review

Testing:

To test the Thermaltake Armor A30 mATX case I will be taking some temperature readings on the APU and hard drives. These temps will then be compared against two other mATX cases to see how it holds up, and if the design makes the difference it needs. To simulate loads I will be running Prime95, small FFTs for the APU, and HD tune for the hard drive for one hour. I will be using AMD Overdrive for the APU and HD Tune for the hard drive, to monitor temperatures. All of the cases will be using their stock default fan setup that comes in the package. No additional fans will be added, keeping the tests fair. All of the components will also be run using their stock voltages, speeds, and latencies to keep anything from interfering with the scores.

Testing Setup:

• Processor: AMD Dual Core E350 APU
• Motherboard: Gigabyte Fusion E350
• Memory: 2x 2GB DDR3 2000MHz G.SKILL Flare @ 1066MHz
• Video Card: Integrated AMD Radeon HD 6130 Graphics Processor
• Power Supply: Ultra X2 750W Modular PSU
• Hard Drive: 1 x Seagate 750GB SATA
• Optical Drive: LG DVD+/-RW
• Case: Thermaltake Armor A30
• OS: Windows 7 Pro 64 bit

Comparison:

• Comparison Case #1: In Win Dragon Slayer mATX Case
• Comparison Case #2: Cooler Master Elite 341 mATX Case

Overall it was a close race, but the Thermaltake Armor A30 with the combined large fan and largely mesh design pulled off the lower temperatures by a hair.