Benchmarking
When benchmarking the Xpider II, we test the temperatures of key components including the actual CPU temperature, the actual temperature inside the heatsink, the temperatures of the DDR, Northbridge, Southbridge, HDD, PSU, and the ambient temperature inside the case, all during normal operation. For a system to operate efficiently, the components need to stay at a specified temperature to avoid system crashes, or worse, hardware damage. A well designed case should have an air flow system that is effective in keeping the hottest running components at a constant and stable temperature for optimal performance. During our testing, the PSU and CPU heatsink fans remain on to measure temperatures during normal system operations.AOpen AK86-L |
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We took temperature readings of the components at 10 and 30 minutes of system operation time. When we first tested the Thermaltake Damier V6000A, we found the numbers to be much higher than we expected. We retested and found our results to be much closer to the actual expected numbers. Take a look at how the Chenbro Xpider II compares to the first case tested with our new test bed, the Thermaltake Damier V6000A.
| Chenbro Xpider II | |||||||||
| System On-Time | CPU | Heatsink | HDD | DDR | Northbridge | Southbridge | Power Supply | System Ambient | |
| 10 | 36 | 22.4 | 29.6 | 29.3 | 33.6 | 27.5 | 24.1 | 25.7 | |
| 30 | 45.2 | 29.5 | 31.1 | 30.4 | 34.2 | 28.6 | 26.8 | 26.4 | |
| Thermaltake Damier V6000A | |||||||||
| System On-Time | CPU | Heatsink | HDD | DDR | Northbridge | Southbridge | Power Supply | System Ambient | |
| 10 | 35.2 | 21.6 | 29.1 | 29.1 | 33.5 | 27.1 | 23.8 | 23.2 | |
| 30 | 43.6 | 28.4 | 30.2 | 30.1 | 33.9 | 28.4 | 26.4 | 25.8 | |
Since we retested the Damier, we could compare the temperatures of its benchmarks to those of the Xpider II. From the results, it is obvious that five 80mm fans are better than a 92mm paired with a single 120mm fan. CPU temperature readings were about 1 degree higher on the Xpider at 10 minutes of running time, and close to 2 degrees higher after 30 minutes. The other components followed with only a slight difference in temperature.
Though cooling is a major factor in choosing a good case, noise levels also affect the overall quality of the product. We tested the noise level of the Xpider II about 12" from the sealed case with the power supply and CPU fans turned off to reproduce the noise of the case alone. Since the test bed power supply and CPU heatsink fan were turned off, we were able to compare the Xpider II to the results of previous cases that we have tested.
| Case | dBA |
| Chenbro Xpider II | 45 |
| Thermaltake Damier V6000A | 53 |
| Super Flower X-Mask | 51 |
| Lian Li PC-V1000 | 46 |
| Opus Technologies MT-200 | 56 |
Though the V6000A had five fans, it was much quieter than the VM3000A, which had only four fans. Thermaltake decided to use variable speed fans as well as various models of fans, all having different output ratings with the V6000A instead of using all equally powerful fans throughout the chassis. This variance in output produced less noise, since only certain fans were required to operate at higher speeds than the others.
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Staples - Tuesday, August 10, 2004 - link
Very ugly design. It certainly will not be my next case.kmmatney - Tuesday, August 10, 2004 - link
Can't say that I've ever found a removable motherboard tray very useful. Just gives more parts to rattle and weakens the structure. You certainly don't need it to swap out components.shuttleboi - Tuesday, August 10, 2004 - link
Do Anandtech reviewers have a problem with aesthetics or something? Why do they keep reviewing these really butt-ugly cases? How about something (e.g. from Lian-Li or Coolermaster) that isn't completely repulsive?Budman - Tuesday, August 10, 2004 - link
" We test it with all the same PSU so that the noise comparisons are all the same.Kristopher "
that may be good for mobo/cpu tests but you're reviewing a CASE,you just cant pick & chose the parts you like.
The case should be reviewed as is just like anybody who's going to go buy it,not everybody's going to have a spare psu handy.
And just like the other guy said it's a freaking Fortron 350 watter great psu.
very bad ideal to swap out the psu,when you buy it will it come with that other psu? NO . so if you're going to review do it as it will come from the store.
Sonic587 - Tuesday, August 10, 2004 - link
"Installation of all components took no more than 15 minutes and since the Chenbro threw in a 350W power supply, a few minutes were shaved off that total installation time. We did swap out that power supply with our own test bed unit, the OCZ 520W PowerStream, for our benchmarks."Excuse me if I missed something, and ignore this if I did, but they just "threw in" a 350W power supply? That's a Fortron FSP350-60PN. A very high quality PSU that could handle almost any system out there today. I think there should be some credit to Chenbro for choosing a quality component that is so often ignored.
That said, I agree it is 110% fugly.
BUBKA - Tuesday, August 10, 2004 - link
I heard it was optimized to play spiderman 2 and benches 3% fasterKristopherKubicki - Tuesday, August 10, 2004 - link
We test it with all the same PSU so that the noise comparisons are all the same.Kristopher
Degrador - Tuesday, August 10, 2004 - link
Yep, I'm with #1. Fugly.Monkeydonutstick - Tuesday, August 10, 2004 - link
Super StupidBudman - Tuesday, August 10, 2004 - link
Why in the hell would you go to all the trouble of reviewing a case but then swap out the PSU???You should have tested it with the PSU it came with.