Thermaltake Level 10 Review

Testing:

In order to figure out just how the Thermaltake Level 10 stacks up in cooling efficiency, we must test it in "as delivered" condition. To do this, I will run a series of programs to stress-test the components installed in the chassis, while using temperature monitoring programs to measure the maximum temperatures reached by each component. To load the CPU and memory controller, I will use Prime 95 25.11 with a run time of 1 hour, and will average the highest temperatures recorded in Real Temp version 3.0. To stress-test the video card, I will loop 3DMark06 and use MSI Afterburner as my tool to monitor the temperatures delivered. For the board components, I will use the utility supplied with the board - MSI's Overclocking utility - to measure the system and IOH temperatures, taking the highest values for each. To load the hard drive, I will run a disk defrag and monitor the temperatures with HD Tune 4.01.

Testing Setup:

• Processor: Intel i7 920 (Stock & 3.33GHz)
• Motherboard: MSI X58 Platinum
• Memory: Mushkin 996805 Redline PC312800 6-8-6-24 1600Mhz
• Video Card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 260
• Power Supply: Mushkin 800w Modular Power Supply
• Hard Drive: Seagate 1TB SATA
• Optical Drive: Lite-on DVD-RW
• Case: Thermaltake Level 10
• OS: Windows Vista Ultimate 64bit
• Ambient Temperature: 24° Celsius

Comparison Cases:

• Case: CoolerMaster CSX Stacker 830 Red Flame Edition
• Case: Thermaltake Armor Plus
• Case: Silverstone Fortress FT01
• Case: Cooler Master ATCS 840

The Level 10 did much better than I had anticipated in all four categories. The low CFM fans in the main compartment with the additional venting kept the temperatures competitive across the board, though CPU temperature did peak a little higher in this chassis. The additional airflow gained though having a power supply right above the CPU cooler, no doubt hurts this chassis in that department.