FSP CMT520

[Darksaber]

The FSP CMT520 should not be mistaken for an evolutionary step up from the CMT510. It does not only come with a completely different internal feel, but also a different external look. The changes result in great dual radiator support, better RGB fan compatibility with motherboards, and better storage capabilities.

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[GlacierNine]

Things people want from case reviews:

Noise Testing
Temperature Testing

Things this review does not have:

Noise Levels
Temperature comparisons
Any detailed discussion about the cases cooling ability at all...
Any detailed discussion about the cases noise dampening at all...

I don't care about half a review page devoted to packaging. Almost all cases ship in the same basic manner anyway - Two big bits of formed styrofoam in a box, with maybe an extra box inside the case for accessories. In terms of tempered glass or acrylic, it should really be a point of note when a company DOESN'T include protective plastic. This doesn't need covering in every review - people know what to expect, tell them when a case deviates from that!

Reproducing the spec list is fine, showing the included items is fine.

The "Closer Look - Outside" page is woeful. Not a single mention of the potential airflow restriction presented by the flat TG panel - despite the fact your competition has been discussing that as *THE ISSUE* of 2018 and 2017 case design - ever since the absolute shower of criticism the H500P recieved for it's poor cooling. No discussion of the airflow design relative to other cases at all. Literally not a single word on the subject that wasn't either apparent from the specs page or could have been included within it.

The page on the internals is the same - Amusingly, Darskaber chooses not to actually cover one of the case features here - we don't discover until the next page that this case has a quite desirable feature in terms of the PSU mounting bracket (A feature that, for example, the KL07 and Dark Base 900, do not have and that other reviewers have often complained about not having on other cases) and in fact, one thing that IS here, makes earlier reviews look even worse - Darksaber chooses to point out that the mounting locations for fans are offset to help with radiator clearance over motherboards. I would be willing to bet that come the next case he reviews that does not have this feature, he will absolutely not mention that the non-offset mounting locations could present an issue for clearance with radiators, and will simply regurgitate "There are mounting locations for up to 360mm radiators in the top". (Darksaber - By all means, prove me wrong on this one)

The conclusion? Once again, absolutely not a single word devoted to cooling or noise dampening.

I don't need a case review to tell me that when the manufacturer puts 3 120mm fan mounts in the ceiling, I can fit 3 120mm fans or a 360mm radiator in the ceiling. I need a case review to tell me when, for example, maybe fans fit, but a radiator would be obstructed by something. (Say for example the rearmost fan mount is directly over the rear case fan, which would make it impossible to put watercooling fittings at that end. That would be useful information!).

I don't need a case review to tell me that I can put 3 120mm fans in the front - The spec sheet already told me that on the first page! I need to know if their airflow is going to be choked off by a terrible, restrictive front panel.

You don't need to go full GamersNexus on it, with a temperature controlled room and multiple rounds of testing, etc, but for gods sakes man, a simple chart of CPU and GPU Deltas over ambient is something anyone should be able to do with minimal equipment, Furmark, and Prime95.

Ultimately, the question is, what are the different things that cases can do well, or badly? Cooling, Noise Dampening, Aesthetics, Build Quality, and features.

Of those, Aesthetics and Features are somewhat subjective - Some people want cases with low price and low featurecount, but where those features are done well. Other people want to be able to do crazy things like put thick rads top and bottom with a pump, reservoir and independent watercooling loops, plus dual system compatibility and vertical GPU mounting (Hello Phanteks Evolv X). One size does not fit all here, but in those situations the review should ask the question "Who is this case for and would they buy it over some other option they could buy instead? If not, why not?"

Build Quality is a given part of any review, sometimes DS touches on it, other times it's not mentioned. Cooling and Noise Dampening can be objectively measured. The fact no case review on TPU bothers to convincingly or consistently address any of these 3 fundamental parts of case design is mindblowing.

 

[Assimilator]

<snip>

Harsh, but fair.

 

[GlacierNine]

Harsh, but fair.

I'm just really tired of how completely phoned in these case reviews are. There has been absolutely no real development in test methodology for over a decade as far as I can tell, and Darksaber honestly seems to not WANT to discuss the merits or demerits of any case, instead simply regurgitating information easily found elsewhere or in photographs, then making a couple of token, entirely visual, observations that most savvy users could pull out of the picture gallery without assistance.

The worst mark of any case review on TPU is a 6, and that was over a decade ago. Darksaber gave the Bitfenix Enso resounding praise and a 9.5 score, despite the fact that Gamers Nexus reviewed the same case MONTHS beforehand (November 15th 2017 versus March 19th 2018) and clearly showed that the case was one of the worst thermal performers on the market, being even hotter in *stock* format, than the Cooler Master H500P - a case that by March 2018 when the review had been published, had already been revised by Cooler Master due to poor feedback surrounding it's restricted front intake. Even Play3r.net, who did an almost equally worthless review with no thermal data, said "I initially had reservations about the amount of air intake the front panel could provide, but in operation, our test system didn’t show any signs of overheating. More detailed testing would be needed to ascertain the actual effectiveness here, but for the average user, I don’t believe there would be an issue." - This sure as hell ain't test data, but at least Play3r seem to be able to actually *consider* potential thermal issues, even if they're too lazy to even check their CPU temps after installation - Darksaber's review didn't mention thermals at any point.

Tom's hardware also at the very least mentioned "The front of the case lacks vents of any sort. All incoming air is drawn into the chassis via a cutout in the bottom inner edge of the fascia." - They also tested the case (although only provided numbers for 3 competing cases rather than contextualising those numbers versus an actual, performance oriented case), and concluded in their con's section "Mediocre thermal performance" and mentioned noise also throughout their review.

Guru3D also reviewed the Enso and, while they also failed to provide any thermal data, they made reasonable criticisms of the build quality and design throughout their review, they tested for noise levels, and they also concluded "The airflow is ok enough for a mainstream build, the air intake at the front bottom and exhaust at the back and top will take care of that. We do recommend you to actively use the top side vent (and never use the closed lid), this is trivial for your cooling needs. So yeah granted, airflow is a bit borderline though and could have been a lot better."

Compare that to the TPU review and... well. I'll give DS some credit - The word "airflow" does appear in the article. Once. When he's talking about the intake for the damned PSU, not the rest of the system in any way.

Basically what I'm getting at is that the majority of case reviews out there in the space are complete garbage, but the ones on TPU somehow manage to be the worst of the bunch in terms of completely ignoring the two primary performance concerns relevant to any case design.

 

[Ifixit]

I'm just really tired of how completely phoned in these case reviews are. There has been absolutely no real development in test methodology for over a decade as far as I can tell, and Darksaber honestly seems to not WANT to discuss the merits or demerits of any case, instead simply regurgitating information easily found elsewhere or in photographs, then making a couple of token, entirely visual, observations that most savvy users could pull out of the picture gallery without assistance.

The worst mark of any case review on TPU is a 6, and that was over a decade ago. Darksaber gave the Bitfenix Enso resounding praise and a 9.5 score, despite the fact that Gamers Nexus reviewed the same case MONTHS beforehand (November 15th 2017 versus March 19th 2018) and clearly showed that the case was one of the worst thermal performers on the market, being even hotter in *stock* format, than the Cooler Master H500P - a case that by March 2018 when the review had been published, had already been revised by Cooler Master due to poor feedback surrounding it's restricted front intake. Even Play3r.net, who did an almost equally worthless review with no thermal data, said "I initially had reservations about the amount of air intake the front panel could provide, but in operation, our test system didn’t show any signs of overheating. More detailed testing would be needed to ascertain the actual effectiveness here, but for the average user, I don’t believe there would be an issue." - This sure as hell ain't test data, but at least Play3r seem to be able to actually *consider* potential thermal issues, even if they're too lazy to even check their CPU temps after installation - Darksaber's review didn't mention thermals at any point.

Tom's hardware also at the very least mentioned "The front of the case lacks vents of any sort. All incoming air is drawn into the chassis via a cutout in the bottom inner edge of the fascia." - They also tested the case (although only provided numbers for 3 competing cases rather than contextualising those numbers versus an actual, performance oriented case), and concluded in their con's section "Mediocre thermal performance" and mentioned noise also throughout their review.

Guru3D also reviewed the Enso and, while they also failed to provide any thermal data, they made reasonable criticisms of the build quality and design throughout their review, they tested for noise levels, and they also concluded "The airflow is ok enough for a mainstream build, the air intake at the front bottom and exhaust at the back and top will take care of that. We do recommend you to actively use the top side vent (and never use the closed lid), this is trivial for your cooling needs. So yeah granted, airflow is a bit borderline though and could have been a lot better."

Compare that to the TPU review and... well. I'll give DS some credit - The word "airflow" does appear in the article. Once. When he's talking about the intake for the damned PSU, not the rest of the system in any way.

Basically what I'm getting at is that the majority of case reviews out there in the space are complete garbage, but the ones on TPU somehow manage to be the worst of the bunch in terms of completely ignoring the two primary performance concerns relevant to any case design.

I agree,

I would also note the irony of installing a fractal design PSU into the case, like a great slap in the face to the supplier who sent him a sample to be reviewed. I happen to own an FSP Hydro G 750 W gold PSU that i picked up after reading articles on the web, looked into the company and was surprised just how big and influential FSP is.

On that note you did this manufacturer a big disrespect in this review, FSP are better than aesthetics which you focus on, and, i'll add everything GlacierNine said after reading his comment i agree with as well. Shoddy review and not a single thing you twitter on about i would use to base a purchase decision on.

PS i don't usually comment, i own an FSP PSu and saw a review of the FSP case here on TPU, I read it out of spontaneous interest but i was not impressed, luckily GN saved me the trouble of pointing out how your article misses the points consumers want to hear.

 

[Caring1]

Strangely enough I read case reviews just for the aesthetics because cases are subjective.
I have never bought a case because a review was positive or someone else thought it was the bees knees.
I buy what appeals to me, and suits my needs. As for the details, I use my brain to figure out if it will be suitable or not, it's not hard, there's no need to make up a couple of accounts to bitch and moan because you don't like the manner in which it is written.

 

[GlacierNine]

Strangely enough I read case reviews just for the aesthetics because cases are subjective.
I have never bought a case because a review was positive or someone else thought it was the bees knees.
I buy what appeals to me, and suits my needs. As for the details, I use my brain to figure out if it will be suitable or not, it's not hard, there's no need to make up a couple of accounts to bitch and moan because you don't like the manner in which it is written.

I wasn't aware it was possible to "use your brain" to objectively measure component temperatures or noise levels just by looking at a case.

You certainly must teach the rest of us this valuable skill. Clearly Gamers Nexus have been doing their case reviews wrong for years by actually measuring these things!

 

[Ifixit]

Strangely enough I read case reviews just for the aesthetics because cases are subjective.
I have never bought a case because a review was positive or someone else thought it was the bees knees.
I buy what appeals to me, and suits my needs. As for the details, I use my brain to figure out if it will be suitable or not, it's not hard, there's no need to make up a couple of accounts to bitch and moan because you don't like the manner in which it is written.

On reflection i was a tad harsh, spur of the moment, i remember reading his review at the time and was not impressed then saw that GN had said what i wanted to say. I commented as i didn't want the author to think it was one guys point of view and to therefore hopefully take it seriously. I also meant it constructively and not in a troll like manner, but that' hard to do on the internet these days.

I think the point we wish to make is, could we have more depth on functionality, than aesthetics, and i'd admit i could have said it better.

 

[GlacierNine]

Personally I'd just like there to be any focus on functionality at all, beyond what the manual essentially already tells me. If a case advertises a feature, then the review shouldn't just regurgitate that claim - it should actually look at the product and determine to what degree the claim is accurate. That's the entire purpose of a review.

 

[Assimilator]

Strangely enough I read case reviews just for the aesthetics because cases are subjective.
I have never bought a case because a review was positive or someone else thought it was the bees knees.
I buy what appeals to me, and suits my needs. As for the details, I use my brain to figure out if it will be suitable or not, it's not hard, there's no need to make up a couple of accounts to bitch and moan because you don't like the manner in which it is written.

Are you really going to claim that you don't care about noise and temperature levels?

 

[GlacierNine]

Are you really going to claim that you don't care about noise and temperature levels?

Check his profile - he has a Mastercase 5. Of course he doesn't.

 

[Hockster]

I've often wondered why all the other hardware reviews are so detailed and in depth yet the case reviews are nothing more than advertisements.

 

[Caring1]

Are you really going to claim that you don't care about noise and temperature levels?

I do care, but that is not the main property of case design, usually external factors affect those criteria more, such as fan choice and coolers used.

 

[GlacierNine]

I do care, but that is not the main property of case design, usually external factors affect those criteria more, such as fan choice and coolers used.

https://www.gamersnexus.net/images/media/2018/cases/h500m/cm-h500m-cpu-torture_all.png

https://www.gamersnexus.net/images/media/2018/cases/h500m/cm-h500m-gpu-torture_all.png

A 31.6 Celsius difference in CPU temps under load, and 19.6 degrees between GPU temps under load, between the best and worst cases Gamers Nexus have tested.