![]() Noise-damped cases can also assist in mitigating high-frequency noises like coil whine, using thick foam paneling like in the Silent Base 601 to break-up short wavelength sound waves. That market is primarily for the ultra-silent – when a lower noise floor is needed than can be achieved in an airflow case – or in instances where the user doesn’t want to play with fan profiles. We recently ran a piece talking about how airflow-focused cases can surpass silenced cases in thermals at normalized noise levels, but we noted that there’s still an important market for quiet cases. The award for Best Noise Levels is next, narrowing in on a single brand for the top ranking results in our noise charts: be quiet!. Best Noise Levels: be quiet! Dark Base Pro 900 Rev 2, SB 601īest Noise Levels: be quiet! Dark Base Pro 900 Rev 2 (Amazon)Ĭheaper best noise levels: be quiet! Silent Base 601 (Newegg) The SL600M lacks the balance of the H500P Mesh, and so we give the coveted Overall Best OOTB Thermals award to the H500P Mesh, with a runner-up award to the O11 Air with its filter removed. You’ll want to make sure you don’t use a card that fully fills the GPU compartment and might want to favor a CLC. Note that the SL600M suffers in CPU thermals with large video cards, as they can seal the CPU compartment completely off from intake. The SilverStone RL06 is the next competitor, with the Lian Li Dynamic and Dark Base Pro 900 Rev. The closest competition comes from other Cooler Master cases, primarily the old HAF X with its 200mm side intake. GPU: Although the H500P Mesh doesn’t hold the crown for best unmodified GPU thermals, another Cooler Master case does: That’s the Cooler Master SL600M stock, landing at 45 degrees over ambient for GPU thermals. Honorable mention to the Lian Li O11 Air in this category, which is priced at around $150 with a set of fans. The H500P Mesh is well-deserving of this award and, at roughly $150, the price lands it below the more expensive H500M that came out later in the year. That, unfortunately, doesn’t count as “out-of-the-box thermals,” and so must be disqualified from this category. Beyond that, the Lian Li O11 Air gets an honorable mention: It can do better than the H500P Mesh, but only when the dust filter is removed. The only case that beats this one when unmodified is the RV02, but that case is 9 years old and no longer available. In our CPU torture chart, the H500P Mesh chart-tops for stock, unmodified thermals, with a thermal result of 45.4 degrees Celsius over ambient. ![]() ![]() The H500P Mesh managed some of the absolute best unmodified CPU thermals on our benchmark charts for 2018. We praised the H500P Mesh when it came out, as it posted similar results to our own mesh mod of the original H500P. Outside of build quality, most critically, Cooler Master also re-launched its H500P in an H500P Mesh variant, which both reinforced the structure of the case and opened up its ventilation. The rebuilt cases have completely resolved issues of build quality, ensuring we couldn’t knock another case for falling apart on camera again. One company manages to lay claim to both, and after 2017’s Disappointment Build, it’s almost surprising who that company is:Ĭooler Master has completely reinvented itself this year, taking seriously our criticism of its original H500P closed-panel case and revamping the lineup with an airflow focus in 2018. The first award, Best Out of the Box Thermals, gets split into categories of CPU and GPU torture thermals. Although manufacturers have to earn their award, you can buy one for yourself on in large and medium sizes.īest Out of the Box Thermals: H500P (CPU) & SL600M (GPU)īest CPU Thermals: Cooler Master H500P Mesh (Amazon)īest GPU Thermals: Cooler Master SL600M (Newegg) The GN Award Crystal is only given out for prestige, featuring a detailed 3D laser-engraved GN tear-down logo with fine detail, like VRM components, fans, and electrical circuitry in the design. Leading into Black Friday and Cyber Monday, let's walk through the best and worst PC cases of 2018.Įvery manufacturer featured in this content will receive one of our Large GN Awards for the Best Of categories – no award for the worst categories, sadly. Links will be provided for anyone shopping this season. We hit every price category in this round-up and cover cases that are both subjective and objectively good. Using our database of over 160 test results for cases, we crawled through our reviews for the year to pull cases that had the best out of the box thermals, the best noise levels, best quality at a budget, best design, best all-around, the most overhyped case, and the most disappointing cases. It’s time for the annual GN Awards series, starting off with the best – and worst – cases of 2018.
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