Nanoxia CoolForce 1

[testman78]

Introduction

A few manufacturers out there actually do read the reviews that are posted about their products rather than just look for what award can be pasted on the website, case and point with what happened with Nanoxia. Reviewing the CoolForce 2, we had made mention that we had not seen CoolForce 1 chassis since this series of cases were released to the market. For some reason or another, this chassis seems to have been released later, but does fill the void in the series that we thought we had somehow missed, or maybe they had just skipped that number in the series.While making your way from the CoolForce 2 chassis all the way through to the CoolForce 1 we saw from them last, we have seen the chassis evolve, a few things have always stayed a constant, and can be found in this latest midi-tower design as well. Nanoxia is known for the fact that their chassis designs are strong as an ox, they have always offered a nice blend in their feature set, they engineer these cases with the intent to be a silent as possible, hence the name, but also take the extra step to use sound absorbing materials and sound redirection to accomplish this time and time again.Nanoxia CoolForce 1 is a midi tower case and of course is designed to be as silent as possible.It features a well thought out ventilation system, noise dampeners and a very sleeper design.As you'll notice very little is actually regular about this chassis.Is it true what they say about German build quality?



Specifications.




Packaging & Contents

The CoolForce 1 ships in a large cardboard box.This time there arent any full-colour graphics.A nice angled image of the case is found on the front.Six windows cover features found in and around the Nanoxia CoolForce 1.



The rear goes into more detail about its layout.



Both sides give detailed information about its specs.



Once i cracked open the box, i was greeted with a healthy amount of spacing between the case and the sides of the box and a good amount of foam.



In that black box of hardware found in the HDD bays you get this as part of what is included.



The CoolForce 1 comes with a pretty standard set of accessories, including some cable ties, case screws,and motherboard standoffs.



Also Included in the bundle an 8-pin ATX extension and an extra PCI expansion slot.



A basic manual of high quality rounds out the contents within the Nanoxia CoolForce 1.




A Closer Look - Outside

CoolForce 1 is a steel case, fitting into the mid tower range and is also accompanied by plastic elements to fully fulfill the looks of the case.



The Nanoxia CoolForce 1 also features a clean and understated look.Particularly noteworthy are the black corners of the case, framing the power button.



The outside looks like a normal chassis until you look at some of the details a little more closely.



The right and left panels are solid.



Taking a look at the front of the case and it is very sleek and should fit in nicely with most surroundings, whether in the office or at home.Externally, two 5.25 inch bays are available.The I/O-panel has been separated from the rest of the front, which allows to easily remove the front panel. If you look straight at the front, you can see at the left side the USB ports (1 x USB 3.1, 2 x USB 3.0), and the LED on/off button ? allowing you to comfortably turn off the Rigid LED strips. Located in the right side are the HD-Audio connectors and the three-step fan control (5V, 7V, 12V). Power- and Reset-Button are located in the middle.



CoolForce 1 comes with several distinctive features that differ it from many of the chassis in this class and the first one is AirCover to either allow more airflow or keep the case's external looks more fluid and flat.



To remove the lid of the case, for example to install fans or radiators under the top of the case,you must first loosen the catch at the rear side of the cover.Pull it gently backward and upward away.



If you wish to close the Air-Cover again, let it slide obliquely from above into the appropriate mounting holes and lock it with the catch.



With the removal of the AirCover up to three 120/140 mm fans or an 360mm radiator can be installed at the top alone.



Moving on around to the back of the case and we have an included 120mm fan, 4 x holes for water cooling tubing, back panel motherboard cut out,7 x PCI expansion slots and a cut out for a bottom mounted power supply.



The bottom mounted PSU of course has an easily removable dust cover to help protect it.The long washable filter slides out the back for easy removal and cleaning, and keeps dust from entering the case off of the bottom intakes.



The bottom of the Nanoxia CoolForce 1 chassis has four large chrome plated feet with rubber inserts for vibration dampening. They lift the chassis substantially off the floor for exceptional air flow through the filtered intake port.



There is another intake area for one additional 120/140mm intake fan for additional cooling.




A Closer Look - Inside

The left and right side doors are held in place by two thumb screws, and are very thick and solid.They are standard slide on and slide off doors, and are not hinged making removal very easy.



Both panels are covered on the inside with a 1/8-inch thick, dense sound deadening material.



Opening up the CoolForce 1, the first thing you observe is the beautifully painted matte black interior. I have to note here: the paint job throughout the case both inside and out is a perfect match although there is some contrast.



The many cable routing areas with rubber grommets are going to make you look good at concealing cables for exceptional air flow and great aesthetics.



The CPU hole is large enough so you don’t need to remove the motherboard if you want to change your CPU cooler.



There are also openings for your 8-pin cable and motherboard connections. Furthermore, we find some really well placed pass-through areas across the top, and near the bottom mounted power supply cables.



The optical drives offer of course tool-free mounting.Loosen the lock on both sides by dragging the black slider backwards. Then slide the drive into the desired position. Lock the holder by pushing the slider back to its original position.



You’ll notice that all internal cables are black, which should help keep your build looking neat and tidy when viewed through the side panel window.All the wires from the top I/O panel are clearly identified and labeled for you, as well as up to three fan positions for your on board fan controller and motherboard connections.



The pre-installed 3-stage fan controller allows to control up to three case fans, which allows an individual compromise between low system temperatures and the lowest possible noise level can be achieved, even with a full fan assembly.



Moving to the back side of the MB tray we have ample room for cable management up to 18cm.



There are several Velcro loop mounting points on the lower part of the back plate.Used with the variety of zip ties in the accessory package, these mounting points should prove more than adequate to keep a clutter-free cable arrangement.



There is an extra SSD holder at the back of the chassis.They are not new but we are glad Nanoxia think to include these as features of their chassis.



Under the top cover, users can install 120, 240 or360 mm radiators without any problems.



Mounting rail on the bottom of the case can be used to significantly expand the disk capacity of the case with the separately available HDD cages.There is another intake area under this rail for one 120/140mm intake fan for additional cooling.



At the bottom, you'll find a pair of rubber pads for the PSU mount, and the option to mount the PSU normal or inverted.



One mount for an SSD can be found on the bottem of the case.



Particularly noteworthy are the enormously practical, fully decoupled three HDD "sleds".



These can be removed individually, to have the possibility to install a radiator behind the front or a very long graphic card.



To remove the front panel, simply hold the cutout at the bottom of the front panel and pull it towards you with a firm tug.With the chassis striped out, it’s easy to see watercooling potential. Also, it’s still rigid, most likely thanks to the bar across the front of the chassis, just keeping things in check.



A special highlight are the pre-installed Rigid LED bars behind the front panel, which light up in typical Nanoxia Green.



Two 140 mm fans from the CoolForce fan series are preinstalled.For the installation of radiators behind the front, there is sufficient space for slim radiators with fans, when the HDD-Sleds are used. By simply removing the sleds, ultra-thick radiators in push/pull configuration can be used. Depending on how you want to cool your rig or what additional hardware you want to add there are many options for you to choose from.Behind the front panel, there is enough space for 280 mm radiators or compact water cooling solutions.



We can see a removable dust filter in front of them.



A look at the rear case fan.




Installation and Finished looks

If you like green or are an Nvidia fan you are going to like this. There are not many green detailed motherboards on the market these days that you would put in this case, so black will probably be the choice.



Installing the motherboard within the CoolForce 1 is done with the supplied black screws.



Place the SSD on the front of the tray and fix it with the included 2.5 inch mounting screws.



In the next step,put the mounting tray with the attached SSD back inside the case and fix it with the thumbscrew.



You will still need to use traditional screws to secure the PSU.



There is plenty of space, so you could, for example, install a long unit(if you remove the HDD rail).



In the CoolForce 1 you have the possibility to install graphic cards with a length of up to 285 mm.



By removing the Easy-Mount HDD-Sleds, cards with 425 mm installation length can be fit inside the case.



You will need to use the supplied screws to secure the HDD on the HDD-Sleds.



The Easy-Mount HDD-Sleds, we rely on a rubberized decoupling to prevent that vibrations will be transfered to the case itself.



In addition to high-end graphic cards, users can install CPU coolers of up to 165 mm in height.The Thermalright Le Grand Macho CPU Cooler sits comfortably in the chassis, and doesn’t obstruct against the outer door.



Nanoxia logo is illuminated, giving the case that distinct and striking look.



Green LED are responsible for the light show and they also add to the overall value of the case, along with its appearance.




Test System & Methology


Processor: Intel i7 4770K @ 4.2GHz (1.1v)
CPU Cooling: Thermaltake NiC C4
Motherboard: MSI Z87-GD65 Gaming
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 Series 16GB 2400MHz
Video Card: NVIDIA Geforce GTX 770 Reference Model
PSU: Thermaltake Smart 750W
Hard Drive: OCZ Vector 120GB SSD
Optical Drive: DVD-ROM
OS: Windows 7 Pro 64-bit SP2



Software:

CPUID HW Monitor 1.23
CPUID CPU-Z 1.65
Prime95 v27.1
Furmark 1.11.0

I am testing the Nanoxia CoolForce 1 performance as follows:

Room temperature is kept at 22C throughout my tests.
The CPU Fan is set to 100% to eliminate inconsistencies as a result of PWM control.
Idle temperatures are obtained after booting the PC and idling on the desktop for 30 minutes.
CPU load temperatures are obtained after running Prime95′s Small FTTs test for 15 minutes.
GPU load temperatures are obtained after running Furmark's Burn-In Test for 15 minutes.


Temperature

These temperatures are pretty impressive considering the low-noise credentials of this case.




Noise level

The scores recorded in this test were very low indeed, proving just how quiet this case really is.




Final Thoughts

The CoolForce 1 as tested from Nanoxia today certainly left a good impression.Where to start.Nanoxia has equipped the chassis with sound-dampening materials wherever it makes sense, continues to include a three fan controller, and goes above the minimum in terms of included extras.It is a simple yet elegant looking exterior, and best of all, one thing you don't find outside of this chassis and is most annoying in many others designs-noise.The case offers a very elegant front design that on the one hand is very elegant and simple, but on the other hand is also – thanks to pre-installed LEDs – a real eye-catcher.From every angle in the way this chassis was designed, from using side vents on the front bezel to redirect sound and offset what the customer hears is a great start.Three fans are pre-installed in the CoolForce 1. You can mount up to nine fans in total.Front and bottom of the CoolForce 1 are equipped with easy to clean dust filters.While you may find offerings with an easier to use HDD cage assembly, it is few and far between that you get it inside of a chassis so solid, hefty, and dead silent from our perspective. Of course, on a technical level, there is some noise, but you really have to hunt and intentionally find it.There are modular hard drive sleds that can be easily removed and reconfigured for quite a few different scenarios. Depending on how you want to cool your rig or what additional hardware you want to add there are many options for you to choose from.There are grommets everywhere, ample tie points, the list does go on and on, but worth mentioning the most out of them is the fact that this chassis is as solid as a rock with or without the side panels and drive bays.With all the fan and radiator options that are on offer with the CoolForce 1 I am utterly confident you could build a PC that cools like a champ.



Overall this is not a challenging chassis to understand, and it has good water and air cooling potential, along with good storage options and a few nice touches to keep you interested.Seven PCI expansion slots are located in the rear – the installation of a multi-GPU system is therefore possible at any time.We liked the provided cable management, lighting and the amount of airflow this chassis could achieve. We also liked the green fans, though, not to everyone’s taste, and may put off some AMD fans!Understanding that true innovation in PC enclosures is hard to come by, the Germany outfit has picked its niche by focussing exclusively on chassis that prioritise quiet computing.Proving that quiet needn't mean less powerful, the CoolForce 1 is a mid-tower that comfortably accommodates high-end hardware and keeps noise levels down to a whisper.Considering its price point of around 85 euro, the chassis offers quite the big bang for your buck as you get virtually everything you could wish for.I feel the feature set, the aesthetics, and silence will put this chassis right to the top of many buyers "must have" lists.