My new case

{DvT}JonahHex · 05-23-2007, 02:40 AM

When discussing cooling for my video cards in the Video forum, I took the thread and forum somewhat off-topic by bringing up the computer case that I had ordered. I'm coming here to follow-up to try to be more on-topic.

So...my XClio Windtunnel arrived today and is up and functioning.

When I carried the box in (advertised shipping weight: 31lbs) it didn't seem that heavy -is it really steel? According to the kitchen magnet I plopped onto it after taking it out of the box, yes. While I still would have preferred aluminum over steel, I was pleasantly surprised that it isn't as heavy as I thought it was going to be. With everything installed, it is plenty heavy tho.

Dimensions: It is only about an inch taller than my old case. Good. I was worried about the power cables being able to reach from the PSU to the bottom vid card - no problem there. Front to back, it's about 4" longer. Also good. The 8800GTX cards were a cinch to install.

As I suspected, the side fans still don't blow directly onto the bottom vid card.

However, the vid cards are now idling at 3-4C lower than they were before. After playing UT2004 for about 2 continuous hours, their max temp was 4-5C lower than before. ...and I am comparing the temps in the old case when the CPU was running at default clocking (2.4GHz) with temps in the new case with the CPU O/C'd to 3.0GHz. The CPU temps at idle? 39-41C in the old case, 32-34C in the new one. I don't remember what the CPU temp was after we finished playing 2K4.

As I said in the other thread, the front panel fan and the rear panel fan (120mm each) are not included. I have not yet gone shopping so all this temp info is without them. I'll put them in tomorrow. So far, with the 2x250mm fans and without the 2x120mm fans, the case is noticably quieter than the old one (with 6x80mm fans). The vents in the various places around the case all have positive airflow out, none of which is noticably warm. Air removal from the case does not seem to be a problem. Not surprisingly, the warmest air coming out of the case is from the vid card exhausts.

The case is all toolless, except for the mobo screws. The inside of the case is roomy enough that the lack of a removable mobo tray is almost immaterial. Most of the reviews that I read about cases that used a screwless solution for expansion slot cards (cases other than this one) complained that it didn't work for 8800 cards and they had to use screws anyway. No problems in that regard here. My old case had a spring loaded latch on the side panel, grasp and pull, for securing the panel to the case - I really liked that. This one uses thumb screws - for both side panels - a plus over cases that only has them for one side panel and screws for the other but I still like the side panel latch...no screws at all. The toolless rails for the CD/DVD/HDD/floppy drives are quick and simple.

The one serious negative is the positioning of the internal HDD drive bay. For working in the box having the HDDs pull straight out the side rather than having the bay rotated 90 degrees so the HDDs go in and out over the mobo is great...but the bay restricts airflow from the front panel fan back to the mobo. For a super duper "keep it cool" case this a flaw and not a minor one. I was aware of this before I bought it so I cannot complain too loudly...but it is still a design flaw. A personnel flaw in the engineering dept at XClio is the idiot who put the power wire for the side panel fans over the left fan rather than the right fan.

Conclusion: I am a happy camper.

{OF}Blong · 05-23-2007, 03:46 AM

Nice rig. someday ill get to upgrade again but that wont probably happen till I get a house built for my family that will hold us all

.

{OF}DMW · 05-23-2007, 05:22 AM

LOOK AT THOSE FREAKING CARDS!!!!!!!!!

Nice rig Jonah. I luv it.

ChemicalWarrior · 05-23-2007, 07:26 AM

Cool (funny?)!

It would appear to be a serious bummer as far as routing cables go. Can't really tell but it doesn't seem like there is room behind the motherboard tray and no easy way (without modding) to go from back to front with cables.

Soul · 05-23-2007, 08:58 AM

Sweet rig!

{OF}Erad · 05-23-2007, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by {DvT}JonahHex

The one serious negative is the positioning of the internal HDD drive bay. For working in the box having the HDDs pull straight out the side rather than having the bay rotated 90 degrees so the HDDs go in and out over the mobo is great...but the bay restricts airflow from the front panel fan back to the mobo. For a super duper "keep it cool" case this a flaw and not a minor one.

Jonah, I work for HP in the Server and Storage division. All servers and storage units are designed for airflow over the hard drives and then onto the motherboard and other components. The reason for that is the hard drives need the most cooling. Why you ask? Well, current Hard Drives have spinning platters, on bearings. Bearings of the hard drives need to stay cool so they don't expand with heat, and for that reason, the drives always sit were they receive the coolest air, at the front, and then the air flows onto other components with a higher heat tolerance. Even current desktops and workstations are designed that way too. Once SSD (Solid State Drives) come down and price, increase in capacity, and drop in price, they might replace the current Hard Drives we are used to using today, and since they will have no moving parts, they can be placed in a different location, maybe...

Nice rig!

Wildflower · 05-23-2007, 11:26 AM

Wow I didn't understand a word of what he just said but It sounded pretty smart to me. Now can you explain why BOYS take so long to potty train and girls not as long??? Cause Im freeking loosing here man and Im trying to be positive about this training crap!

{DvT}JonahHex · 05-23-2007, 11:36 AM

Erad, thx for the info, I knew that but it isn't something that I am in the habit of thinking about. Only recently have I started seeing mention of HDD cooling.

The last time that I actually really had any concerns about HDD temps was back in the mid(?) 1980s. I had a huge (full height, 5 /14"; 300MB) EISA drive (I think that's what its interface was called - post MFM and pre IDE). It was a tempermental bastid. In the winter time, after it had been off overnight, it wouldn't boot the system until the puter had been on for about 20-30min. The best I could ever figure out was that the metal contracted due to the low overnight temps and the heads did not line up properly over the sectors on the platters. After the system "warmed up" for a while it worked fine all day long... until the next morning. This was back in the days when we still had to park the HDD heads.

Chem, other than looks, the cables really aren't an issue. the straight-on 2D pic does not show their z-axis positions well at all. The 4 power cables to the vid cards are stretched high above the mobo and, given their length, there is no possibility of routing them any other way. All of the other cables are on the "floor" of the case (mobo level). I suppose I could have routed the mobo power cable a little better so it is not kinked over (but not touching) the RAM. If there is a cabling issue, it is with the HDD cables. The holes in the HDD bay are a little too small snake the cable thru and there is no back route openings. Thus the HDD cables have to go over the top of the drive bay.

However, you are correct, there is no room to go under the mobo tray. I probably could have routed the cables a little better than I did, if I had been willing to spend more time with it. As I assembled it I did have cable routing in mind tho and attempted to keep them as much out of the way as possible w/o getting obsessive about it - I wanted to get it put together and try it out.

{DvT}JonahHex · 05-23-2007, 11:43 AM

DMW, yah, the vid cards are monsters. Here is a pic I took of one of them sitting next to my roommate's new puter

Obviously this is not a gaming rig.

{DvT}JonahHex · 05-23-2007, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wildflower

Wow I didn't understand a word of what he just said but It sounded pretty smart to me. Now can you explain why BOYS take so long to potty train and girls not as long??? Cause Im freeking loosing here man and Im trying to be positive about this training crap!

Because girls don't have to learn to aim.