Since the Core 500 leaves us some more headroom for storage we opted to add a second HyperX Solid State drive and a 2TB storage Western Digital HDD. The regular HD 7970 has been replaced by an ASUS nVIDIA GTX 970 Turbo card. Thanks to Nils from Seasonic for providing us the Snow Silent 750W PSU sample.
In the picture set we installed the Noctua NH-L9x65 low profile cooler, though for the temperature tests we reinstalled the Intel boxed cooler to keep the data of the previous cases aligned.
- Intel i7-4770K@4000Mhz cooled by Intel boxed cooler
- ASUS Z97 Maximus VII Impact motherboard
- 8GB of CORSAIR Dominator Platinum memory
- ASUS nVIDIA GTX 970 Turbo
- 2 x HyperX 120GB SSD
- 1 x Western Digital 2TB HDD
- Seasonic 750W Snow Silent PSU
Getting all the hardware inside these small form factor sized cases needs some initial planning how to route e.g. the I/O cables. Now we were up for a challenge as the modular Seasonic PSU measures 170mm in length. While Fractal Design advises a maximum of 160mm for modular power supplies, as mentioned before the I/O and PSU extension cables are way too long ( same for the Node 202). Case modders won't have an issue with these, though it would be nice if they were shortened straight out of the factory. Space is already limited, so no need for these.
One of the better features on this Core 500 is the possibility to install some serious storage, up to 3 x 3.25" HDD, and 2 x 2.5 SSD/HDD devices. The two HyperX SSD's are secured each by two tiny screws. Holes to route the screwdriver have been carefully pre-drilled, thus installing your favorite storage devices is an easy task. To hook them up to SATA and power cables is another thing. We were able to hook up the three to one SATA cable of the Seasonic Snow Silent 750PSU.
You can clearly see below that the power supply cable is easily 2-3cms too long, secondly it also is a tight fit to hook it up to the power supply. A tip is to better plug it in first and secure the power supply afterwards to the appropriate support. Our Snow Silent PSU, measuring 170mm in length versus the 160mm advised by Fractal Design, still blends in nicely. Okay it is a tight fit with the sampled hardware. nevertheless it is advisable to pick your power supply carefully. As shown in the pictures 170mm is stretching it as there was close to no clearance with the back of the graphics card.
Cooling wise this case has potential too, though fitting an 240 AIO radiator will become again a matter of properly routing it's tubing as space is limited. To be honest easiest option is to install a low profile cooler as the Noctua NH-L9x65 or even better a high performance single tower cooler for maximum cooling potential. (supported up to 170mm in height).
Let us take a look at the processor temperatures: In comparison with the other Fractal/Corsair cases in the lineup the idle temperatures are pretty decent. However once the CPU got stressed it easily generated up to 5°C more than the other mITX compatible enclosures. It has to be mentioned that the Corsair/ARC Mini case here have at least dual fans installed out of the box. The Fractal Core 500 has to rely completely on the vents and cut-outs foreseen. The Silent R3 series 140 rear fan is tasked to expel the heat; that it beats the Node 202 is pretty obvious, though the other cases in the lineup benefit heavily from the airflow generated by the front fan(s).
Noise wise the single Silent R3 series fan is as it names implies enjoyable, even when running full blast. The air it shifts is nothing spectacular but a decent balance between noise and performance.
Time to wrap it up...
Follow us on Twitter
Follow us on Facebook
