Benchmarking
When benchmarking the Sea Hawk, 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. During the 30 minutes of operation, we ran applications like Windows Media Player to simulate day-to-day work.
| Enermax Sea Hawk | |||||||||
| System On-Time | CPU | Heatsink | HDD | DDR | Northbridge | Southbridge | Power Supply | System Ambient | |
| 10 | 36.9 | 22.9 | 30.1 | 30.1 | 34.2 | 28.2 | 24.6 | 26.2 | |
| 30 | 46.3 | 29.9 | 31.8 | 30.9 | 35.1 | 29.5 | 27.1 | 27.6 | |
| 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 | |
After putting the Sea Hawk through our temperature benchmarks, we were not surprised to see it perform slightly lower than the Chenbro Xpider II that we reviewed, and definitely not as well as the 5-fan Thermaltake Damier V6000A. Still, temperatures were in the safe zone for the Athlon 64 3200 at about 51 degrees lower than its maximum recommended operating 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 Sea Hawk about 12" from the sealed case with the power supply, VGA, and CPU fans turned off to reproduce the noise of the case alone. Since the test bed power supply, VGA, and CPU heatsink fan were turned off, we were able to compare the Sea Hawk to the results of previous cases that we have tested.
| Case | dBA |
| Enermax Sea Hawk | 45 |
| Chenbro Xpider II | 45 |
| Thermaltake Damier V6000A | 53 |
| Super Flower X-Mask | 51 |
| Lian Li PC-V1000 | 46 |
As we suspected, the 80mm fan included with the Sea Hawk was extremely quiet, which, combined with one of our own fans, performed as well as Chenbro's Xpider II and Lian Li's PC-V1000.
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Zepper - Monday, August 16, 2004 - link
the 1018x series is totally different from this series - in a whole other league of quality. Way overpriced for .7 SGCC (recycled tin can metal - not quality steel) case. I can't imagine why there wasn't more mention of the flimsiness of the metal except re. the drive bay ears.. I wouldn't buy it on a bet. Equal quality can be had from a lot of 3rd and 4th string case makers for half the price and including a PSU.
.bh.
Mday - Sunday, August 15, 2004 - link
You know, I have been wondering why certain non-core reviews by anandtech refer to the name on the box as the actual manufacturer of the item.We all know Enermax didnt design this case. And the same can be said of that case Zirconium has (which I have also).
Zirconium - Sunday, August 15, 2004 - link
I got the Enermax CS-10181 case. It is a very nice case - plain looking, but extremely functional. I can't comment on this one because I don't actually own it, but I'd look favorable on this one since it probably shares some features with my case.val - Saturday, August 14, 2004 - link
window (shape of flower) on side... for sure :-)Val
val - Saturday, August 14, 2004 - link
I Have older Enermax case, with window on front, Enermax power supply and one case fan, I am satisfied with those products for over 2 years now. With power supply in range bellow 100USD is no other option, but also overall Enermax quality is highly bigger than price difference.Val
TrogdorJW - Saturday, August 14, 2004 - link
*MUCH* nicer looking case, IMO. Unfortunately, it just doesn't sound like it's really worth the cost. $65 for a case without PSU? If you're spending $65 without getting a PSU (and here at least we could get a relatively decent PSU, since Enermax is one of the better PSU manufacturers), I would think there are better options. By the time you factor in a decent PSU, you're looking at about $120.And the front lights are still a bit too bling-bling for my taste. But hey - to each his own. I still haven't heard of any nice cases (i.e. not gaudy) with 120mm fans other than the Antec models. Which is why I keep getting Antecs. Is there no other decent option? :p
sprockkets - Saturday, August 14, 2004 - link
This case is used in a lot of different designs, yet is the same on the inside. I've built two, one that was aluminum and one that was steel. One had a front 120mm or 80mm fan holder, both had a fan on the side, and one had the 2 fan holders in the back while one used a fan duct system. Good points to mention is the fact that the HDD are right in front of a fan for good cooling, plus there is room for four. Those pin out headers are annoying, but if they weren't that way then it wouldn't work for all the different pinout styles.Although the InWin cases are sturdier, the ventilation on most of these, with the expansion capabilities and still being good on style make these a good choice for ATX cases, especially for the cost.
Thoreau - Saturday, August 14, 2004 - link
w00t!! Finally, a case that doesn't totally suck the life out of installed components! =)