Assembly - System

Unlike most systems, if you are using the ZF240, you should start with it during assembly. It utilizes one of the black mounting plates, which allows you to place it in the perfect position. I chose to follow the manual and installed it in the spot illustrated in the manual. The thick thermal pad is used to connect the PSU in a rudimentary way with the case's side panel. I doubt there is any noticeable heat transfer due to this.


Hard drives will fit well next to the power supply. You should have their connectors facing upward. You may stick them anywhere you want as long as there is enough space, which is due to the universal mounting plates.


With everything in place, it becomes apparent where most of the parts will be situated. Streacom designed the chassis so that the partition with the motherboard is free to be used for a graphics card and cooling, while all the drives and the PSU are placed behind it.


As you can see, I moved the ZF240 a bit into the middle to allow access to the power button and LED PCB in case it was needed. Even so, the 2.5" SSD easily fits well right next to it.


Before placing the side panels back on the Streacom DB4, you have to place the thermal pad on the larger aluminum block. The manual suggests a single mounting plate for squeezing it against the outer wall, but I went ahead and used two just to have an even amount of pressure across the entire block.

Finished Looks

Once the panels are back in place and the cover is back on, the Streacom DB4 makes a great impression. On the downside, I somehow managed to scratch up the top panel, even though I have a clean working surface, so you had better watch where you put it during assembly. All the connectors are fairly accessible, but you will have to tip or lift it up. The white power LED glows straight down softly, which is a great and indirect way of letting you know that the system is up and running.

Running the System

Naturally, as with any unique cooling solution, you may wonder what the temperatures are like. Unlike previous passive preview systems from Streacom, this one relies on a thermal pad to transfer heat from the outer aluminum block to the case's wall. Overall, temperatures seem to be around 10°C higher in idle with the Core i3 when compared to a basic active cooler. This trend continues to a greater extent when putting some load on the system. At no time did the CPU hit the thermal limits, though, which is the key to this entire system. Those who want additional cooling should get the LH6 Heatpipe-Kit.