Thermaltake V9 BlacX Review

Testing:

To test the Thermaltake V9 BlacX, temperatures will be recorded for the CPU, GPU, chipset, hard drives, and the overall system temperature during load and idle phases. Load will be simulated by Prime95 small FFTs and HD Tune for one hour, with maximum temperatures recorded by RealTemp. The GPU load will be the maximum value recorded by Catalyst Control Center after five loops of 3DMark06’s Canyon Flight test. For the idle temperature readings, I allowed each setup to remain idle of for one hour. Each case is tested as is from the factory, including the fan configuration. As stated earlier, the fan configuration for the V9 BlacX is 1x120mm front intake,1x120mm rear exhaust, and 1x230mm top exhaust.

Testing Setup:

• Processor: Intel i7 920
• Motherboard: MSI Eclipse SLI
• Memory: Mushkin Ridgeback 12800 6-8-6-24
• Video Card: XFX HD5870
• Power Supply: Mushkin Joule 1000W Power Supply
• Hard Drive: Seagate 1TB SATA
• Optical Drive: Lite-On DVD-RW
• OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
• Ambient Temperature: 25 °C
• CPU Heatsink: Stock Intel
• Case: Sentey Burton

Comparison Cases:

• Sentey Burton
• Antec Lanboy Air
• Azza Hurrican 2000
• Cooler Master HAF 912
• Antec DF-85
• Thermaltake Armor A60
• Thermaltake Armor A90

Unfortunately, the temperatures didn't do great but they weren't terrible either. The fans operate at a very low speed, so the airflow suffers. Naturally, when airflow suffers, component temperatures rise. Every temperature fell pretty much in the middle or a couple of notches higher. This isn't far from my expectations, but I will admit I was hoping I would be proved wrong. I'll share the rest of my thoughts on the next page in the conclusion.