Inside 380T there are two cooling fans pre-installed. A 140mm fan sits at the front as an intake and there is a 120mm rear exhaust towards the back of the chassis. In the past this arrangement has proven to be successful, so we are optimistic of the result.

To discover the thermal performance of 380T we will record idle temperatures after 20 minutes from a cold boot. I will then stress the system and temperatures will again be monitored after 30 minutes have elapsed.

For the purpose of accurate analysis the idle and load temperatures for CPU and motherboard will be recorded and the range between idle and load will be calculated to determine how efficient cooling is.

All fans will be connected to the fan controller and set to ‘high’.

NOTE: Ambient temperature is 20C

System Components

Noise

Having a fan controller is a handy tool in managing the noise levels from 380T. At low, the fans are barely audible, medium is very similar to low and then high setting results in evident noise – but this isn’t disruptive by any means.