X-bit labs

Foxconn System Cases Roundup

Category: Other

by Yury Vayukin

[ 03/28/2005 | 09:50 AM ]

Today we would like to offer you a roundup of seven system cases from Foxconn. We will be discussing their exterior looks, internal construction peculiarities, ease of the system assembly, and thermal parameters. Numerous pictures, technical details and extensive temperature measurements in our new article!

Table of contents:

• About the Manufacturer
  
• Testbed and Methods
  
• Foxconn TH-061
  
• Foxconn TS-05
  
• Foxconn TS-001
  
• Foxconn TLA-570A
  
• Foxconn TLA-473
  
• Foxconn 3GTH-202 (Chimera series)
  
• Foxconn TH-230
  
• Results Summary Table for 7 System Cases from Foxconn
  
• Conclusion
  

About the Manufacturer

Foxconn is the trade name of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd., which is among the major semiconductor companies on Taiwan. The company began to write its success story in 1974 as a manufacturer of plastic products. In 1981 Hon Hai Precision Industry started to make connectors for mainboards and other PC components and has thus established its worldwide reputation. The company’s current trade name was registered in 1991.

Today, Foxconn is a leader in mainboard, system case and connector markets. It has offices in the U.S., Japan, Scotland, England and Ireland and production facilities in China.

Testbed and Methods

The system cases covered in this review were tested according to the following rules: first I describe the exterior of the case and its internal design. Then I assemble a computer system of the following configuration in it:

• ASUS P4C800-E rev.2.0 mainboard (BIOS 1016);
• Intel Pentium 4 3.4GHz CPU;
• Intel Box cooler;
• 2x256MB OCZ OCZ433512ELDCPE-K;
• Sapphire ATI RADEON X800 PRO 256MB graphics card;
• Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB hard disk drive;
• 3.5” Sony MPF920-E floppy drive;
• LG GCR-8523B CD-ROM.

To avoid interrupting the airflows, all the cables in the case are neatly twisted into plaits and fastened to the sides, where possible. Having assembled the system, I write a report on all the positive and negative aspects of the internal design of the case and the quality of manufacture, accompanying the report with photos.

To ensure a stable ambient temperature, I place the assembled computer into the chamber of a Sanyo MIR-253 incubator that maintains a constant temperature of 25 degrees centigrade inside.

Our tests proper are carried out two modes: Idle (the OS is booted up, and the computer is idle) and Burn (the system is running a demo record in Far Cry, at 1024x768 resolution and with the maximum graphics quality settings, in a cycle). We have determined experimentally that the temperature of all system components stabilizes after 40 minutes of being in a particular test mode. So, after these 40 minutes have passed, I read the temperatures from the following diodes:

• Integrated thermal diode on the mainboard;
• CPU built-in thermal diode;
• HDD (through S.M.A.R.T.);
• GPU built-in thermal diode;
• Integrated thermal diode on the graphics card.

Having tested the case with its standard ventilation, I install additional fans and run the tests once again.

I use the following software:

• Microsoft Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2;
• Crytek Far Cry;
• Motherboard Monitor 5.3.6.0;
• RivaTuner 2.0 RC15.2.

I want to remind you that I test the system cases as they are, i.e. as they come to our test labs. The manufacturer can change their characteristics or exterior without a prior notice.