Scorpio TX-01BLD and Chieftec Aluminum :

As you probably know, I"m quiet a Chieftec fan... They"re strong, have a nice design, practical and relatively cheap. For this test, we have 2 Chieftec cases, namely the Scorpio TX-01BLD and the Aluminum Midi Case. The main difference between these two cases is that the first one is made of heavy but strong steel, while the second is made of light aluminum. I guess I don"t have to mention that the second case is more practical when you go to LAN parties very often. Of course, you"ll pay for this advantage: the aluminum case is €70 more expensive then its steel brother. The insides of the cases are exactly the same. Actually, they are both identical cases except for the material used on the front panel.


On the right you see the aluminum case, on the left it"s steel companion


As you can see here: the right case is the aluminum one: it reflects the flashlight better

Cooling provisions: 2 fan holders in the back, 2 in front (1 in drive bay) and 1 side-fan. It"s this fan you won"t find on the black cases, which is a shame because it is really effective. In a matter of fact, I forgot to connect the cooler of my videocard, but my system never crashed because the side panel-fan kept my vidcard cool! More information and comments about the design of the Chieftec case can be found in our previous article. There are no differences between the midi and maxi cases except for the size of the case.


Here you can see the 3 purple fan holders, the 2 harddisk drivebays (1 with fan holder build-in) and a juicy green apple

Although I was happy to see the side fan, I am a little bit disappointed of its performance. If only the holes of the fan guard were a little bit larger, the air-flow would be much better. Of course this is only a minor flaw.


Picture of the side fan and finger guard. There"s a filter build-in to prevent dust getting into your computer

The test results:
Fans:
2 in the back and PSU fan pulling air OUT
2 in front and 1 in side panel pulling air IN

Temps:
Room: 22°C
Case: 23°C
CPU: 42°C

As you can see, there"s only 1°C difference between room and case temperature. This means the airflow is very good (what had you expected with 6 FANs installed :-) )

I can only be happy with these results, let"s move on to the Coolermaster!