Normal ATX cases has sufficiant airflow as standart. Unfortunally some ITX case don't and the airflow is very restricted. To have stable and long lasting system is to have a good balance with components that can manage with the airflow restrictions by not having them running too hot everytime you open up a game. Sure they wont throttle but as stated they wont last and and im especially worried about the small PSU in circulating that heat and running at a 90% load at the same time.
You bet. Fortunately, since the case has such a small area (10 litres), it's quite simple to maintain constant fresh air in the system. Since the system is focused on gaming, and not compute, that means that we're really talking about nearly all of that 300W I got mine to pull from the wall.
Im fine with the readings of that i5 and GPU. That'll give me a pretty good picture of what the airflow is through out that system. I dont know where you got the idea that im expecting you to take apart the system to change the CPU. You stated that the CPU has been changed and my response would have been the same. Somehow I get the feeling youre trying to take this conversation elsewhere with some pretty bizzare accusations of me expecting you to do stuff and then elaborating way too much.
Nah. I mean exactly what I said, and nothing more. I'm not one to mince words too much, but it seems some people think otherwise often. I'm quite blunt, and that doesn't always go over well.
I'm aware of it, but no one's perfect.
But this is basic information every system builder wants to know. What are the thermal limits of product and what can I build in it. In this case it happens to favor the manufacturer to leave such information out. Remember that ASRock M8 that you reviewed a year ago? Other websites and reviewers called out the significant thermal and acoustic issues of that system but youre conclusion was:
"So, where are the benchmarks, you might ask? With as many CPU and VGA options on the market today, there's simply no point in posting any. Whether you want to use the Pentium G3258 or the high-end I7-4790K, the BIOS is ready to rock, and if you want to use the Z97 M8 as a workstation with a XEON CPU, you can do that too. Maybe you need a R9 290X, a GTX980, or a TITAN for gaming performance, or just the on-board GPU capabilities pretty much all LGA 1150 CPUs provide - this isn't a system set to a specific level performance; it's all up to you and the parts you choose to install."
I may have skipped a page or two but didnt see any mention of these significant thermal and acoustic issues. What you are basicly doing is throwing around high end hardware names like buzzwords to give the reader the wrong idea what hardware they can use with that system. Granted you did mention the "PSU can generate a fair amount of noise under high load" but thats because of the bad airflow and the PSU was designed to be an exhaust. Thats pretty desperate imo.
Actually, I mentioned that the PSU fan in that case was a problem, both in the review and the conclusion, IIRC. I used a VGA with a blower fan myself, and that system still sits today as it did when I tested it, in use by my youngest daughter. Still kicking it pretty decently, too. Like, that's what's different about me and most other reviewers... I'm not selling the stuff I get ASAP to make money. I actually use it, and for extended periods, so sometimes my thoughts about a product are different because I didn't just fire a rig up, test, and then dismantle and sell. I really do set up each motherboard and use it for a couple of weeks, at least, and this sometimes means that I review some products later, with different ideas. I do also show nearly all products to my friends locally, and ask them what they think. Their opinion matter a lot.
Ill be brief since I have 5 minutes to respond to this.
If you dont add basic thermal and acoustic information to the review, the regular users will find out the hardway what not to use with these ITX barebone enclosers. The evil corporate overlords might want that because thats money in their pockets but you as a review have a responsability to test and advice what components people should use to have a long lasting and stable system. I must admit I am a silent freak myself but system noise should be a factor because these systems most likely end up in the living room (or atleast a few). I am an enthusiast and my opinion might not be that important but with these small and very air restricted system the information is. Thats all I ask in future reviews.
If a company wants a specific conclusion, they can bite me. I really do talk to a lot of people who don't care aobut such things. I look at it this way, to give some perspective; Son'y original PS3s, both the 60 GB, and then the 80 GB were horrible for noise. I have one of each. There were many complaints online. Yet these units still sold in the millions. XBOX 360 was notorious for the RROD... yet they still sold. PS3's died and new ones were bought, but Microsoft literally ended up replacing nearly every launch unit. Today, nobody cares about either. I'm still using my 80 GB PS3. And the MSI GAMING MI2. It's a device for gaming, so the true end user this box was for should be using it for gaming. I 100% agree with everything you've said, no question, except as you've mentioned, you're into silence. You want you stuff to last. There area wide variety of users out there, and not al ldevices can cater to everyone. For noise, because I do not have a sound level meter handy, I can only report subjectively. A good sound meter costs thousands, and I have been formally trained to use one, but as a hobbyist, it isn't something I can afford. As to temperatures, I'll have some screenshots for you, but it won't be something I'm overly interested in focusing on, unless I find it a problem. I really feel that it's added data that is a waste of my time to highlight when not problematic. Most people don't read much more than the first and last pages of a review, so if there are problems with something, I do have to cover it somewhere in those two pages, in the least.
EDIT:
Load temps running wPrime 1024M looped for 10 loops are:
drum roll, please..... 65c.
ROFL.
(CPU is pulling about 50W, tested in other system)
If you want some gaming load temps, let me know. Please do keep in mind that's we are talking about when it comes to a Skylake CPU; 50W. It's not hard to cool 50W.
