Temperature Comparison

Noise Comparison

NOTE: This reading is not the actual result, but was taken to illustrate the method used for this case when idle with the fan running.

Noise levels are recorded with a calibrated REED Instruments R8050 Sound Level Meter, Type 2. It is placed at chassis height on a Manfrotto Tripod. Unless otherwise mentioned, measurements are taken from a 45° angle towards the case, at a distance of 10 cm to the closest edge of the chassis.

As you can see in the noise charts below, the MonsterLabo The First is quieter than anything we have tested in comparison. Remember that the setup we usually employ within the confines of an ITX system is a compact be quiet! Shadow Rock LP and a much smaller EVGA GeForce GTX 1650. To even get a tangible idle reading from the fan we had to place the sound level meter directly on top of the chassis. In essence, it is barely louder than the room, and I had to step away and film it in my absence as even my stomach growling resulted in an uptick in the reading. At full load, after several hours of 100% CPU and GPU load, both the Noctua and the fan within the 650 W SFX-L PSU were hard at work, but the system ran just fine.

All cores within the CPU were running at the standard 4.3 GHz all-core turbo at all times, while the GPU started out boosting to a full 1680 MHz, but then dialed back to 1470 MHz—the core clock of the GTX 2060 Super OC with temperatures reaching 89 ° C in Furmark, which represents the worst-case scenario in terms of load and heat generation.