Good afternoon, dear readers!

As I promised in the comments to the article “What you need to know about storage drives and data security - the 20 most important points,” today’s article will focus on computer cooling issues.

The relevance of the issue is very high. This is evidenced by the flow of letters I receive on this topic. And the point here is not only that a sunny and hot summer will come very soon...

The question is relevant in relation to both desktop computers and laptops, because absolutely any computer of absolutely any level needs cooling for normal operation. The only difference is that some devices generate more heat, while others generate less...

I offer you today’s article in the form of a collection of the most important questions and nuances, as was the case in the previous article about hard drives, so that you can immediately understand the most important and important things without spending a lot of time.

Yes, you cannot cover all aspects in one article, but I tried to collect everything that is especially important under one heading, so that the resulting material provides answers to the most critical questions.

So, let's begin!

Desktop computers

Let's start with the most important thing. Despite the fact that today more laptops are sold than desktop PCs, nevertheless, no one has given up on “desktop PCs” and is not going to give up in the future. In the end, it is simply impossible to replace a full-fledged desktop workstation with a laptop or something else.

As a consequence of its power, the issue of cooling desktop PCs is never removed from the agenda of ordinary users.

1. Main sources of heat.

These on a desktop PC are: processor, video card, motherboard elements (such as chipset, processor power...) and power supply. The heat release of the remaining elements is not as significant compared to the above.

Yes, a lot depends on the specific configuration and its power, but still, in proportional terms, little changes.

Mid-range processors can produce between 65 and 135 watts of heat; a regular gaming-grade video card can heat up to 80-90 degrees Celsius during operation, and this is absolutely normal for such productive solutions; The power supply can easily warm up to 50 degrees; The chipset on the motherboard can also heat up to 50-60 degrees, etc.

It is always worth remembering that the more powerful the components used, the more heat they generate.

The processor and video chip of the graphics card can be compared to the burners of an electric stove. In terms of heat release, the analogy is absolute. Everything is the same, only the chips can heat up much faster than the burner of a modern oven: in just seconds...

2. How important is this?

In fact, if, say, a graphics chip runs without cooling, then it can fail in a matter of seconds, or at most in a few minutes. The same goes for processors.

Another thing is that all modern chips are equipped with overheating protection. When a certain temperature threshold is exceeded, it simply turns off. But you shouldn’t tempt fate - here this rule is truer than ever, therefore, it’s better to avoid problems with cooling.

3. Everything is connected to the body...

We must not forget that all these “hot” components are located within the rather limited space of the system unit case:

Therefore: all these large amounts of heat should not “stagnate” and “warm up” the entire computer. This leads to a small important rule that must always be followed when organizing cooling:

“There should always be a “draft” inside the case.

Yes, the only way to correct the situation is when hot air is thrown outside the body.

4. Monitor temperatures.

Try to at least occasionally take an interest in the temperatures of computer components. This will help you identify and fix the problem in time.

The EVEREST program or SiSoftware Sandra Lite (free) can help you with this. These system utilities have corresponding modules that display the temperature of devices.

Acceptable "degrees":

CPU: an operating temperature of 40-55 degrees Celsius is considered normal.

Video card: it all depends on its power. Budget, inexpensive models may not warm up to 50 degrees, but for top-end solutions, such as the Radeon HD 4870X2 and 5970, 90 degrees under load can be considered the norm.

HDD: 30-45 degrees (full range).

Note: From my own experience, I can say that only the temperature of the above devices can be measured relatively accurately using software. And the state of all other components (chipset, memory, video card and motherboard environment) is quite often determined erroneously by measuring utilities.

For example, quite often you can find that some program shows the chipset temperature, say, at 120 degrees or the ambient temperature at 150 degrees. Naturally, these are not real values ​​at which the computer would not work properly for a long time.

However, if you organize proper cooling inside the case using further advice, then I can guarantee that you simply won’t have to measure anything other than the temperature of the processor, video card and disk, because under the right cooling conditions they will not overheat.

So it will be quite enough to glance at the temperatures of the main components given above from time to time to monitor the general situation...

5. Good body...

Yes, the heat output of computer components can vary greatly. If we are talking about low-power “office” level machines, then yes - the heat generation will be small.

As for medium-performance and “top-end” solutions, which make up the majority of modern home desktop PCs, here the system unit can very well play the role of a heater.

In modern conditions, having a housing with sufficient internal space for air circulation is a necessity. And it doesn’t matter what the performance of your computer is.

In any case, both office and gaming PCs need normal air circulation inside the case. Otherwise, even a simple office PC may begin to overheat due to the formation of so-called “air jams” inside the case.

Air locks inside the case are the “household” name for the phenomenon when air flows (caused by fans and coolers) circulate incorrectly. For example: when heated air is not discharged outside; or if there is no fresh air supply to the housing; or when any fans are installed incorrectly, say if, due to a design feature, the CPU cooler

6. A little about furniture...

A special issue in the topic of high-quality cooling concerns furniture - your desktop.

The design of the table can either greatly impede cooling, or, on the contrary, promote maximum ventilation.

It’s one thing when the system unit is simply standing next to the table - there are no complaints here, except perhaps that it is strictly not recommended to place the system unit next to a heating radiator and heaters, and it is not recommended to place any other objects close to the system unit.

If there is any furniture or objects nearby, make sure that there are gaps of at least 7-10 cm on all sides of the system unit.

However, in most cases, the system unit is located not next to the table, not on the table, but in the table:

As you can see, in this case the space around the system unit is strictly limited by the table and the space for air circulation and outlet is a minimum...

Since the main ventilation holes in the system unit are located at the back, in front and on the left wall, I recommend moving the system unit relative to the table box to the right so that as much space as possible remains on the left (see picture above).

To avoid “air locks”: when all the heated air rises up and stays there, it is not recommended to close the door of the box for the system unit of your table.

If all these points are observed, the cooling will be quite decent: hot air will accumulate at the top and leave the table under the influence of natural mixing (since there is a sufficient gap on the left).

In some cases, if your computer has very high-performance hardware, it is recommended to completely remove the left side of the system unit case - in this case, the cooling efficiency increases significantly.

For example, I did exactly the same thing myself, since my computer generates a lot of heat:

7. About the processor cooler.

This question is more relevant for high-end PCs. If we talk about low-power PCs, then there is no point in talking about coolers, because... Such a processor generates a little heat, and the standard one (that comes with the processor) is more than enough.

If you buy a processor and its name contains the word BOX, it means it comes fully packaged, which includes a cooler.

If you see an OEM mark in the price list, this means that upon purchase, you will not receive anything else except the processor itself.

Here we can give the following advice: if you are buying an inexpensive modern processor, then it is better to choose the BOX package. Ultimately, such a processor will not require a powerful cooler - the performance is low, and current technologies provide low power consumption, therefore, one cannot expect a lot of heat generation here.

And if you want to purchase some powerful model, say, for a home PC, then it is better to choose the OEM package - in any case, a standard cooler will not be enough for you.

Why is this happening?

Today, manufacturers, in my opinion, have become extremely negligent in their treatment of standard coolers - their dimensions and characteristics do not always correspond to the power of the processor. For example:

This cooler is included with dual-core and quad-core Intel Core 2 processors. Okay, for 2-core models it may be enough, but for 4-core models it’s clearly not enough...

In addition, if we touch on outdated models, then the situation is this: if you bought, say, a processor 3 years ago, then at that time the technologies did not provide such energy savings as they do now.

This is why, say, a quite inexpensive and low-power Pentium D from 4 years ago heats up even more than modern top-level Core i7s.

In this case, a good cooler is simply necessary. And I recommend installing a tower cooler on heat pipes:

Heat pipes- elements made of copper that penetrate aluminum (as in the photo above) or copper plates of the cooler and contribute to faster and more efficient heat removal from a hot processor. They provide much more efficient cooling compared to conventional coolers.

Heat pipe- the device is sealed, inside of which there is water that circulates through the tube naturally. This movement is aided by thousands of tiny “notches” on the inside of the tube, which allow the water to rise up.

Regardless of how powerful a processor you want to cool, I always recommend coolers with heat pipes only. Buying a regular cooler based on an aluminum or copper radiator is not justified.

It is the tower cooler on heat pipes that provides the greatest efficiency.

Another example of such a cooler:

8. Case fan - required.

The next thing that is necessary to organize proper cooling is the presence of a case fan.

Modern cases offer the ability to install at least two fans.

On the front panel: air can enter through the perforations (as in the photo), or from below - if the front panel is not perforated:

In this case, it turns out that the fan becomes directly opposite the hard drives and therefore performs two important functions: it supplies fresh air inside the case and cools the hard drives:

Having at least one case fan is a must for any computer! The fan “pumps” the air inside and prevents the formation of “air jams”.

Installing an exhaust fan on the rear side is not mandatory, but nevertheless, in some cases it helps to make the cooling system even better:

But do not forget that if you have a tower-type cooler installed, then in this case the cooler fan in most cases will be opposite the case fan socket on the rear wall (see photo below), with the only difference being that the cooler fan can located on the left or right side of the cooler

If (as in the photo) you do not have a case fan installed, then everything is fine. The cooler fan will either throw hot air into this hole or draw it from there (depending on the location of the fan on the cooler). In this case, it is better that it throws out already heated air there, rather than drawing it in.

In the photo, the location of the cooler is not optimal: hot air is thrown into the case, and not into the hole for mounting the case fan.

If you also want to install a case fan, make sure that the fan and cooler do not “conflict”, i.e. did not direct air at each other. Install the case fan so that it assists the CPU cooler.

Regardless of which panel you want to mount the fan on, I recommend ONLY using 140mm fans!

9. Cable layout.

A big problem for cooling is improperly routed cables. Being in a scattered state, they impede air circulation inside the case, sometimes to such an extent that even a powerful fan is not able to “pump” the entire volume of the case...

But when laying cables inside the case, do not overdo it! Do not bend excessively (to the point of bending) or create tension - this can damage the cables and lead to errors and malfunctions of the PC! Such cases are not rare...

Just try to organize the cables as compactly as possible. As much as possible:

10. Take care of particularly hot surfaces.

These are primarily video cards in a computer. Especially if we talk about such hot and powerful models as the Radeon HD 4870X2 and HD 5970.

Make sure that there are no cables lying on top of the video card:

It is very important! During operation, the video card can heat up to temperatures close to 100 degrees!

11. About thermal paste...

When installing a cooler, always use thermal paste. Under no circumstances should you place the cooler “dry”! Cooling efficiency will drop significantly...

You only need to apply thermal paste to the processor, in a very thin, translucent layer.

“The more thermal paste, the better the cooling” is the biggest myth among novice users!

Thermal paste is a connecting link; it connects the surface of the processor to the surface of the cooler, filling microscopic irregularities between these surfaces that may contain air. And air, as you know, greatly impedes heat removal.

And if thermal paste is applied in a thick layer, then it no longer turns into a heat conductor, but into an insulator - a thick “blanket” between the cooler and the processor.

You can apply it with anything: squeeze a small amount of paste into the center of the processor, and then spread it a little on the sides. Then proceed to install the cooler. The thermal paste will finally spread into an ideal layer only after you install the cooler.

Note: I show the cooler installation procedure in detail in a free course on self-assembly of a computer.

Many people argue about which toothpaste is better... From my own experience, I can say that the difference between different brands is minimal. Therefore, you should not pay attention to this.

For example, TITAN thermal paste is sold in these small tubes:

One such tube is designed for at least TWO uses.

If you follow all the above recommendations, your PC will essentially have no problems with cooling.

Laptops

12. Features of laptops.

All components inside the laptop are collected in an extremely small space of the mobile case. In addition to the processor, a laptop can be equipped with a powerful video card, hard drive...

These and other devices are separated from each other by a few centimeters, and at the same time there is no space for air circulation - there is simply no space inside the laptop.

This is why components almost always operate at elevated temperatures. Unfortunately, there is no way to fix this; However, you can protect the laptop from additional heating, thus extending its service life and saving it from critical overheating.

13. Workplace…

As I have mentioned more than once here on the blog - try, if possible, not to place the laptop on soft surfaces and laps, especially when you are working on resource-intensive tasks at the laptop (for example, photo or video processing). If this simple rule is not followed, overheating of the laptop components, including the battery, is guaranteed...

Try to place your laptop on a flat, hard desktop surface. At the same time, make sure that no objects lying side by side interfere with the air flow under and around the laptop:

In fact, this is the most important and most effective thing that can be done to avoid overheating.

14. Weather...

Do not work on your laptop in direct sunlight. They heat up its surface very quickly and very strongly (especially if the laptop is dark) and quickly warm up everything inside the case.

In this case, even damage to individual components due to overheating is possible.

And the last piece of advice that I would like to give in this article, for all users, regardless of whether you have a laptop or a desktop PC:

15. Clean dust regularly!

For desktop PCs: They accumulate dust very quickly. Try to open the system unit at least once every 6 months and clean all internal components from dust.

Dust prevents heat transfer from components and significantly impairs heat transfer. Dust can especially cause hard drives, video cards, and processors to overheat.

I would also like to mention the fans. Remember: a fan clogged with dust supplies air much less efficiently:

To clean the internal components, I usually use a brush and a slightly damp cloth. I categorically do not recommend using a vacuum cleaner! During the cleaning process, they may accidentally damage fragile components. This happens quite often.

Proceed with the cleaning procedure ONLY if the computer is turned off!

For laptops: Here the situation is somewhat more complicated...

The fact is that laptops have different cases: some provide immediate access to the cooling system so that you can clean the fan with a brush; and in some, to get to the fans you need to disassemble the laptop...

Here's the only advice I can give you: don't take apart your laptop unless you're sure you can put everything back together...

The FX100 is being produced in Korea (South Korea, of course) and is already on sale at a recommended price of $69. The cooler comes with a two-year warranty.

⇡ Design features

The Zalman FX100 really looks like a cube in its shape, and its dimensions of 156x156x157 mm say the same. Nickel-plated radiator plates and heat pipes, coupled with corrugated plastic inserts at the corners, make this device very attractive in appearance. However, see for yourself.

Just by its appearance you can guess that the FX100 is a fanless cooler, which the engineers of the Korean company see as a number of advantages.

The absence of a fan, in addition to eliminating noise as such, leads to a reduction in dust formation, does not entail the need for maintenance and reduces the cost of the cooler. We might disagree with that last statement, given the FX100's price.

The design of the Zalman FX100 is really quite interesting. Upon external inspection, four independent radiators of the same size are visible.

Each of them is composed of 19 nickel-plated aluminum plates 0.4 mm thick, soldered to tubes with an intercostal distance of 4 mm. Typical configuration for a cooling system designed to operate under natural convection conditions.

The top of the cooler is covered with a metal mesh, and two more radiators are visible from below.

They contain 21 plates of the same thickness and with the same intercostal distance. Despite the apparent bulkiness, the total area of ​​the radiator is only 5750 cm2, which is quite small by modern standards of air coolers.

Plastic corners and top mesh are easy to remove.

Thanks to this, you can get a more complete picture of the design of the radiator.

There are a total of ten heat pipes with a diameter of 6 mm, but only four of them are in contact with the base, and only the outer two of these four distribute the heat load directly across the aluminum plates of a pair of internal sections.

Two central heat pipes, which, as a rule, account for the bulk of the thermal load, create a kind of frame, and six more heat pipes are already soldered to them, on which the plates are placed. So there were 10 of them.

This design is highly questionable from the point of view of cooling efficiency, but we will not rush to conclusions until testing is carried out.

At the base, the heat pipes are laid in grooves and carefully soldered.

The contact surface is smooth and polished to a mirror finish.

The prints on the LGA2011 processor turned out to be full, although not the entire area of ​​the large heat spreader Intel Core i7-3970X Extreme Edition was closed.

Let us add that, if necessary, a fan of size 92x92x25 mm can be installed inside the Zalman FX100, which is secured with the brackets included in the kit.

Then we install steel guides on them.

Well, then all that remains is to apply thermal paste and evenly tighten the cooler with a pressure plate with two screws. However, this will require a long screwdriver, which, unfortunately, is not included in the kit. Otherwise, internal radiators will interfere with fixing the Zalman FX100.

The distance from the bottom plate of the cooler's radiator to the motherboard is more than 60 mm, which will allow it to successfully coexist with tall radiators on RAM modules.

No matter how hard we tried to press the Zalman FX100, after installation the cooler slightly shifted on the processor, that is, the pressure was not strong enough. In the case it looks interesting and even promising to some extent.

But, in our opinion, the Zalman FX100 becomes even more interesting without plastic “body kits” and a mesh top cover.

The 92mm fan doesn't even need to be fixed, as it fits tightly between the side radiators.

Features of the design and functioning of active and passive cooling systems for video cards and processors. Advantages and disadvantages of such systems, their effectiveness.

It is much easier to cool a processor or video card with an active system, since you can use a smaller radiator and greatly reduce the distance between its fins.

This allows you to place a larger number of fins, which means the heat dissipation area of ​​the cooler will increase.

The fan creates a directed air flow that blows across all the fins, which leads to their cooling. The downside of any active cooling is its noise, which depends on the design of the fan, its size and speed.

To create a powerful air flow, a smaller fan needs to spin faster, and it makes more noise.

Thus, a fan with a standard size of 120 mm is capable of ensuring efficient air flow with only 800-1000 rpm, which is a fairly quiet rotation.

To create the same efficiency, an 80 mm fan will need to reach 1600 rpm.

The passive cooling system does not have its own fan, so it does not make any noise at all, although it is much more difficult for it to cool a heated processor. Natural air convection in the case of the system unit itself may not be enough to effectively remove heat from the ribbed surface of the radiator.

Moreover, all passive cooling systems must be quite large in order to be able to expand the interfin space of the radiator for the purpose of optimal cooling.

Moreover, they should not suffer large losses in the dispersion area.

Due to the fact that there is no fan in such a strategically important processor sector of the motherboard, the chipset heatsink and the processor power circuit on the motherboard are additionally heated.

With such a cooling system, the processor heats up quickly and cools down more slowly. It is clear that with a passive cooling system the processor will heat up more than with an active cooling system of comparable design.

Moreover, if in winter the temperature of the CPU stays around the critical threshold value of 60ºC, and in the house it is slightly above 20ºC, then in the summer heat the heating can reach 70ºC or more, and this becomes harmful to the processor.

Due to overheating, Intel processors begin to disable TurboBoost technologies that increase the clock frequencies of processor cores, and if critical temperatures are reached, then hardware protection against overheating - Throttling - is activated, forcing the CPU to skip some clock cycles in order to cool down.

In general, the PC, at best, will become slower, and at worst, it can even fail if its components constantly overheat during operation, and much earlier than this it will begin to behave very unstable.

Therefore, there is a clear answer to the question “which cooling is better?” It's simply impossible. Each of the coolers solves its own problems.

If you have a low-power or economical processor located inside a standard system unit case, passive cooling is enough, and the processor will never overheat.

Conversely, a powerful PC that runs resource-intensive applications or has a cramped and poorly ventilated case requires active cooling.

[This is nothing more than an experiment; I do not claim to be a discoverer!]
Greetings to blog readers.
I have always been interested in non-standard solutions in computer systems. Water cooling, passive cooling, overclocking and other things not needed by the average user. My urge to “reveal all the hidden capabilities” of a computer began during the release of the first generation Intel core. My home computer had an i3 530. Later it was overclocked from 3 to 4 GHz on the bus. I still laugh when I remember phrases from various forums that this processor does not overclock. After successful overclocking, I realized that this is accessible to everyone, the main thing is to read enough of the necessary information. Computers have become an interesting construction set for me (for adults). I started assembling systems for my friends. I got one of them into overdrive. Sometimes I bought laptops, but I couldn’t stand it and seeing a system on sale on some kind of fx 8350 for an inexpensive price, I sold the laptop and bought a PC. This is how my fx 8350 at 4.7 GHz worked in mining.

I recently purchased DEEPCOOL DRACULA for a small amount. I took it for the future, I plan to put an r9 290x on the card. Well, while the cooler was collecting dust on the shelf, another thought came into my head. This cooler removes 250 watts of heat when the processor emits 50-120 watts (we don’t take into account the latest amd fx, I consider their 250 watt heat output nonsense). But what if you try this cooler on an already cold Intel stone. Thoughts were spinning in my head, my hands were itching. And I carried out these manipulations. At the end of the article I will outline the pros and cons.

TEST STAND

To be honest, the system was assembled from what was available.

Motherboard:GIGABYTE GA-Z68P-DS3
Processor:intel pentium g2020
RAM: Corsair Vengeance Low Profile(CML4GX3M1A1600C9)
Cooler 1: DEEPCOOL Theta 9
Cooler 2:DEEPCOOL DRACULA
Hard drive western digital 160 gb
Video: Intel graphics core.
Thermal paste: complete from DEEPCOOL DRACULA
Chieftec aps 850cb power supply
Operating system: windows 8.1

Test participant DEEPCOOL DRACULA


The sole is smooth as always.


Comparison of coolers in size (relative to each other)

Assembly

The assembly turned out to be quite fun. At first I wanted to cut out the fasteners from metal, but then I abandoned this idea and decided to cheat a little. :)
It was decided to put elastic bands and tie everything together with strong threads (there were no ties at hand, and the threads fit well)
This is what the implemented fastening scheme looks like.




It seems to be more or less in appearance, but it’s terrible on the other side: D




Regarding RAM. With such a radiator, even two low-profile strips are installed with problems. The second one can be installed, but it will be tilted and may get scratched during installation. So I didn't make my life any more difficult.

Installing a video card. I also thought about this problem. We use a riser. I did not use a video card in testing, but for readers I took a photo of a riser with this cooling.


Imprint of thermal paste. As you can see, the cooler is not designed for the CPU, so it does not fit over the entire surface of the heat distribution cover.


So, the assembly is coming to an end. This is what the installed cooler looks like.
It takes up an awful lot of space in this arrangement.




At the socket connector itself.


Cooling covers all slots. Well, okay, we have extension cords (risers). It should be admitted that this solution is not a standard, which is where such incidents arise.




Photo with a ruler.




And for comparison, a photo with a regular cooler

We connect the power supply, hard drive, and the fighter is ready for battle.


I didn't use a video card, but a graphics core. Therefore, I connect the hdmi cable directly to the motherboard.


Let's move on to testing.

TESTING

I used my favorite tool LinX 0.6.4 And real temp for temperature measurements.
As you know, LinX exists with and without AVX.

First test. Passive cooling. LinX without AVX
during the test


completion of the test


I'm running LinX AVX. The temperature has risen, but is still within good limits. You can use it 24/7 without any problems with this passive cooling.

Tests with DEEPCOOL Theta 9.
I turn off the fan. The temperature is ok. The slight heat generation of the processor makes itself felt.

I connect the cooler spinner.

DEEPCOOL Theta 9 with the turntable turned on. We go through LinX AVX.


Total temperature 45-47 degrees. And again the credit goes to the small heat dissipation package.

NOISE LEVEL

But don't forget about the noise. Unfortunately I don't have a sound meter. But I will try to give you an approximate picture using the program.
Noise level in the room 30db

Noise level during the test.


We can conclude that the system, as expected, does not make any sounds.

And lastly, the noise level with DEEPCOOL Theta 9.

CONCLUSION AND CONCLUSIONS

Minuses:
-no mount for CPU
-covers all PCI slots
-not rationally located in the body.
-the sole is not made for CPU
Pros:
+creation of an ABSOLUTELY silent system
+ copes with 250W of heat

It's worth saying that DEEPCOOL DRACULA copes well with 55W heat dissipation without fans. Temperatures under LinX AVX were 67-68 degrees. This is a decent result. Of course, a cooler for 200 rubles copes with such a heat dissipation package with a bang, showing a temperature of 45-47 degrees in the same test, but at the same time making a lot of noise. DEEPCOOL DRACULA is suitable for creating a passive cooling system. All you have to do is replace the hard drive with an ssd, remove the turntable from the power supply, and your system will no longer make sounds. The noise level will be zero.

How to properly organize cooling in a gaming computer

The use of even the most efficient coolers may be useless if the air ventilation system in the computer case is poorly thought out. Therefore, correct installation of fans and components is a mandatory requirement when assembling a system unit. Let's explore this issue using the example of one high-performance gaming PC

⇣ Contents

This article is a continuation of a series of introductory materials on assembling system units. If you remember, last year a step-by-step instruction was published, which described in detail all the main points for creating and testing a PC. However, as often happens, when assembling a system unit, nuances play an important role. In particular, proper installation of fans in the case will increase the efficiency of all cooling systems and also reduce the heating of the main components of the computer. It is this question that is discussed further in the article.

I warn you right away that the experiment was carried out on the basis of one standard assembly using an ATX motherboard and a Midi-Tower form factor case. The option presented in the article is considered the most common, although we all know very well that computers are different, and therefore systems with the same level of performance can be assembled in dozens (if not hundreds) of different ways. That is why the results presented are relevant exclusively for the configuration considered. Judge for yourself: computer cases, even within the same form factor, have different volumes and number of seats for installing fans, and video cards, even using the same GPU, are assembled on printed circuit boards of different lengths and are equipped with coolers with different numbers of heat pipes and fans. And yet, our small experiment will allow us to draw certain conclusions.

An important “part” of the system unit was the Core i7-8700K central processor. There is a detailed review of this six-core processor, so I won’t repeat it again. I will only note that cooling a flagship for the LGA1151-v2 platform is a difficult task even for the most efficient coolers and liquid cooling systems.

The system was equipped with 16 GB of DDR4-2666 RAM. The Windows 10 operating system was recorded on a Western Digital WDS100T1B0A solid state drive. You can find a review of this SSD.

MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Ti GAMING X TRIO

The MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Ti GAMING X TRIO video card, as the name suggests, is equipped with a TRI-FROZR cooler with three TORX 2.0 fans. According to the manufacturer, these impellers create 22% more powerful airflow while remaining virtually silent. Low volume, as stated on the official MSI website, is also ensured by the use of double-row bearings. I note that the radiator of the cooling system, and its fins are made in the form of waves. According to the manufacturer, this design increases the total dispersion area by 10%. The radiator also comes into contact with the elements of the power subsystem. MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Ti GAMING X TRIO memory chips are additionally cooled with a special plate.

The accelerator fans begin to rotate only at the moment when the chip temperature reaches 60 degrees Celsius. On an open bench, the maximum GPU temperature was only 67 degrees Celsius. At the same time, the cooling system fans spun up by a maximum of 47% - this is approximately 1250 rpm. The actual GPU frequency in default mode remained stable at 1962 MHz. As you can see, the MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Ti GAMING X TRIO has a decent factory overclock.

The adapter is equipped with a massive backplate, increasing the rigidity of the structure. The back of the graphics card has an L-shaped strip with built-in Mystic Light LED lighting. Using the application of the same name, the user can separately configure three glow zones. In addition, the fans are framed by two rows of symmetrical lights in the shape of dragon claws.

According to the technical specifications, the MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Ti GAMING X TRIO has three operating modes: Silent Mode - 1480 (1582) MHz core and 11016 MHz memory; Gaming Mode - 1544 (1657) core and 11016 MHz memory; OC Mode - 1569 (1683) MHz for the core and 11124 MHz for the memory. By default, the video card has gaming mode activated.

You can get acquainted with the performance level of the reference GeForce GTX 1080 Ti. The MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Lightning Z was also released on our website. This graphics adapter is also equipped with a TRI-FROZR cooling system.

The assembly is based on the MSI Z370 GAMING M5 motherboard of the ATX form factor. This is a slightly modified version of the MSI Z270 GAMING M5 board, which was released on our website last spring. The device is perfect for overclockable Coffee Lake K-processors, since the digitally controlled power converter Digitall Power consists of five double phases implemented in a 4+1 scheme. Four channels are directly responsible for the operation of the CPU, another one is for the integrated graphics.

All power circuit components comply with the Military Class 6 standard - this includes both titanium core chokes and Dark CAP capacitors with at least a ten-year service life, as well as energy-efficient Dark Choke coils. And the DIMM slots for installing RAM and PEG ports for installing video cards are clad in a metallized Steel Armor case, and also have additional solder points on the back of the board. Additional track insulation is used for the RAM, and each memory channel is located in its own PCB layer, which, according to the manufacturer, allows for a cleaner signal and increases the stability of overclocking DDR4 modules.

One useful thing to note is the presence of two M.2 format connectors, which support the installation of PCI Express and SATA 6 Gb/s drives. The top port can accommodate SSDs up to 110 mm long, and the bottom port up to 80 mm. The second port is additionally equipped with a metal M.2 Shield heatsink, which is in contact with the drive using a thermal pad.

The wired connection in the MSI Z370 GAMING M5 is handled by the Killer E2500 gigabit controller, and the sound is provided by the Realtek 1220 chip. The Audio Boost 4 audio path features Chemi-Con capacitors, a paired headphone amplifier with a resistance of up to 600 Ohms, a front dedicated audio output and gold-plated audio connectors. All components of the sound zone are isolated from the rest of the board elements by a non-conductive strip with backlight.

The Mystic Light motherboard backlight supports 16.8 million colors and operates in 17 modes. You can connect an RGB strip to the motherboard; the corresponding 4-pin connector is soldered at the bottom of the board. By the way, the device comes with an 800 mm extension cord with a splitter for connecting an additional LED strip.

The board is equipped with six 4-pin fan connectors. The total quantity is selected optimally, as is the location. The PUMP_FAN port, soldered next to the DIMM, supports the connection of impellers or a pump with a current of up to 2 A. The location is again very good, since it is easy to connect a pump to this connector from both a maintenance-free life-support system and a custom system assembled by hand. The system deftly controls even “Carlson” cars with a 3-pin connector. The frequency is adjustable both in terms of revolutions per minute and voltage. It is possible to completely stop the fans.

Finally, I’ll note two more very useful features of the MSI Z370 GAMING M5. The first is the presence of a POST signal indicator. The second is the EZ Debug LED block located next to the PUMP_FAN connector. It clearly demonstrates at what stage the system is loaded: at the initialization stage of the processor, RAM, video card or storage device.

The choice of Thermaltake Core X31 was not accidental. Here is a Tower case that meets all modern trends. The power supply is installed from below and is insulated with a metal curtain. There is a basket for installing three drives of form factors 2.5’’ and 3.5’’, however, HDD and SSD can be mounted on the barrier wall. There is a basket for two 5.25-inch devices. Without them, nine 120mm or 140mm fans can be installed in the case. As you can see, Thermaltake Core X31 allows you to completely customize the system. For example, on the basis of this case it is quite possible to assemble a PC with two 360 mm radiators.

The device turned out to be very spacious. There is plenty of space behind the chassis for cable management. Even with careless assembly, the side cover will close easily. The space for hardware allows the use of processor coolers up to 180 mm in height, video cards up to 420 mm in length and power supplies up to 220 mm in length.

The bottom and front panel are equipped with dust filters. The top cover is equipped with a mesh mat, which also limits dust from getting inside and makes it easier to install case fans and water cooling systems.