Benchmarks
Building our X58 test platform into the Silencio 550 proved to be problem free, and we've opted to remove the detachable hard drive cage to allow for better airflow from the front 120mm intake to the rear 120mm exhaust.
To see how well it performs, we're comparing it with a mixed assortment of mid-tower solutions from Fractal Design, Corsair and Antec. Here's a breakdown of the six enclosures tested, and a summary of our benchmark process.
Comparison Chassis |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fractal Design Core 3000 | Cooler Master Silencio 550 | Corsair Graphite Series 600T | Corsair Special Edition White Graphite Series 600T | Antec Lanboy Air | Corsair Obsidian Series 650D | |
| Case type | Mid-tower | Mid-tower | Mid-tower | Mid-tower | Mid-tower | Mid-tower |
| Dimensions (W x H x D) | 200mm x 430mm x 480mm | 210mm x 416mm x 505mm | 265mm x 507mm x 592mm | 265mm x 507mm x 592mm | 222mm x 518mm x 490mm | 229mm x 521mm x 546mm |
| Weight | 7.1kg | 9.2kg | 12.7kg | 12.7kg | 9.2kg | 11.11kg |
| Available colours | Black | Black | Graphite Grey and Black | White and Black | Yellow/Black, Red/Black, Blue/Black | Black |
| Base material | Steel | Steel | Steel structure with molded plastic accents | Steel structure with molded plastic accents | Steel frame and mesh panels | Aluminium faceplate and steel structure |
| Motherboard support | mini-ITX, mATX, ATX | mATX, ATX | mATX, ATX | mATX, ATX | mini-ITX, mATX, ATX | mATX, ATX |
| 5.25in drive bays | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
| 3.5in / 2.5in drive bays | 6 x internal 3.5in/2.5in | 1 x hot-swap 3.5in 7 x internal 3.5in/2.5in |
6 x internal 3.5in/2.5in | 6 x internal 3.5in/2.5in | 6 x internal 3.5in 2 x internal 2.5in |
1 x hot-swap 3.5in/2.5in 6 x internal 3.5in/2.5in |
| I/O panel | USB 2.0 x4 Audio x1 Mic x1 |
USB 3.0 x1 USB 2.0 x1 SD Card x1 Audio x1 Mic x1 |
USB 3.0 x1 USB 2.0 x4 FireWire x1 Audio x1 Mic x1 |
USB 3.0 x1 USB 2.0 x4 FireWire x1 Audio x1 Mic x1 |
USB 3.0 x1 USB 2.0 x2 Audio x 1 Mic x 1 |
USB 3.0 x2 USB 2.0 x2 FireWire x1 Audio x1 Mic x1 |
| Expansion slots | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Supplied fans | 1 x 140mm (front) 1 x 140mm (top) 1 x 120mm (rear) |
1 x 120mm (front) 1 x 120mm (rear) |
1 x 200mm (front) 1 x 200mm (top) 1 x 120mm (rear) |
1 x 200mm (front) 1 x 200mm (top) 1 x 120mm (rear) |
2 x 120mm (front) 1 x 120mm (rear) 2 x 120mm (side) |
1 x 200mm (front) 1 x 200mm (top) 1 x 120mm (rear) |
| Power supply | ATX (not supplied) | ATX (not supplied) | ATX (not supplied) | ATX (not supplied) | ATX (not supplied) | ATX (not supplied) |
| Price | £55 | £65 | £120 | £120 | £125 | £130 |
System Configuration |
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|---|---|---|
| Motherboard | ASUS P6X58D | |
| CPU | Intel Core i7 980X Extreme Edition (with reference DBX-B cooler) | |
| Memory | 6GB (3 x 2GB) Corsair Dominator DDR3 | |
| Graphics card | AMD Radeon HD 6970 | |
| Power supply | Corsair HX1000W | |
| Storage | Intel SSD | |
To measure each chassis' CPU cooling performance, we set fan speed to low and record CPU temperature when the system is idle. We then apply a 15-minute load of the Prime95 stress test and record CPU temperature again. To demonstrate the chassis' optimum cooling capability, we also set all fans - including the CPU cooler - to high speed mode and re-run the Prime95 torture test for a further 15 minutes.
Similarly, GPU temperature is recorded in three states; idle, load with fans at standard speed and load with fans at high speed. In this test, GPU load is defined as a 15-minute stint of Furmark.
All three chassis are tested only with the standard manufacturer-supplied fans, and to take into account the fluctuating ambient temperature, our graphs depict the delta temperature - that's actual CPU/GPU temperature minus the ambient. Just so we're clear, room temperature at the start of testing was recorded for the six chassis as follows:
Fractal Design Core 3000 - 20.9ºC
Cooler Master Silencio 550 - 23.9ºC
Corsair Graphite Series 600T - 19.8ºC
Corsair Special Edition White Graphite Series 600T - 20.2ºC
Antec LanBoy Air - 18.1ºC
Corsair Obsidian Series 650D - 21.4ºC
Thermal performance
Cooler Master's Silencio 550 is the only chassis in our line up that favours lower noise levels over performance, and it shows. Keeping the extreme Core i7 980X processor cool under load proves to be a challenge - and with the chassis' fans configured to run in silent mode through our system BIOS, we reached a worst-case-scenario temperature of 83ºC (59.1ºC above ambient) after 15 minutes of Prime95.
This simulated load doesn't reflect real-world usage scenarios, but make no mistake - if you're wanting to overclock and push your CPU to its limits, the Silencio 550 simply isn't the chassis to do it with.
Our high-end Radeon HD 6970 became a bit hot under the collar, too. With the chassis' fans configured to run in silent mode, it took only five minutes of the ultra-intensive Furmark stress test for our GPU core to hit 95ºC (71.1ºC above ambient). At that point, we abandoned the run for the sake of our card's longevity.
The Silencio 550 struggles to deliver the required airflow, but turning its fans up to their 800RPM limit does help - at that point the GPU was able to maintain a steady temperature of 93ºC (69.1ºC above ambient) after 15 minutes of worst-case-scenario Furmark. Still, the numbers are higher than we'd be willing to accept, and users planning a similarly high-end build would be best advised to pick up a second 120mm front intake.
Noise
Cooler Master's Silencio 550 is far from being the best performer, but can it deliver on its promise of near-silent operation? To find out we're using a PCE-318 noise meter placed at the front of each chassis to take decibel readings with the system idling in two modes; low fan speed and high fan speed.
There's no doubt about it - the Silencio 550 does reduce noise levels, and it's comfortably the quietest solution in our line up. Our high-end X58 build is barely audible with the fans running at low speed, but the faint hum of the fans isn't entirely masked - it's suitably quiet, but not completely silent.