Thermaltake V9 VJ40001W2Z Review

Testing:

To test the Thermaltake V9 I will be running a series of temperature tests to see how high the temperatures rise during an idle state and while the computer is under load. The temperatures that will be collected will be from the CPU, the video card, the hard drive, and the chipset of the motherboard. To simulate an idle state the computer will be left untouched for 30 minutes making sure nothing is active (except what loads with Windows) and then the temperature readings will be taken. Then to simulate a load state I will run Prime 95, HDTune, and 3DMark Vantage at the same time for one hour and then the temperatures will be taken. To gather the temperatures I will use Real Temp 2.7 for the CPU, Easy Tune 5 Pro for the chipset/System, HD Tune for the hard drive, and Catalyst Control Center 8.8 for the video card. Cooling for the cases will only be the stock cooling that came with the cases, no fans will be added and the CPU cooler will be the stock Intel cooler that came with the CPU. I will be comparing the Thermaltake V9 to the NZXT Tempest and the Apevia X-Master cases to get an idea of where it stands among other mainstream cases on the market. The same hardware was used in each case for accurate numbers and to alleviate the possibility of contamination of the scores by different hardware.

• Processor: Intel Q9450 Core 2 Quad 333x8
• Motherboard: Gigabyte X48-DQ6
• Memory: Mushkin XP2 8000 Redline 2 x 2GB 5-5-5-12
• Video Card: PowerColor Hd 4850 w/ Catalyst 8.8
  
• Power Supply: Mushkin 800watt Power Supply
• Hard Drive: 1 x Seagate 750GB 7200.11 SATA
• Opticals: LG 16x DVD +/- RW
• O/S: Windows Vista Ultimate Edition
• Ambient Temperature: 22 degrees Celsius

Comparison Cases:

• Case 1: NZXT Tempest
• Case 2: Apevia X-Master AL500

The temperatures were almost dead locked with the NZXT Tempest case, which is claimed by NZXT to be the "Air Flow King." When it came to the chipset scores just having a ventilation hole brought the temperature down one degree.