Fractal Design Core 3300 Review

Testing Methodology and Thermal Performance

For stress testing we use a mixture of Prime95 and FurMark to create the maximum heat output. Prime95′s ‘Small FFTs’ setting allows us to stress our CPU. FurMark’s ‘GPU Burn-in’ mode creates the maximum amount of load our GPU is ever likely to see.

Test System:

• Processor: 3.9GHz Intel Core i7-4770K
• Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Extreme4
• CPU cooler: Noctua NH-D15 and Corsair H100i
• Memory: Avexir 1600MHz RAM
• Graphics card: Sapphire Radeon Tri-X R9 290 4GB
• Power supply: Akasa Freedom Power 1000W
• Storage drives: Samsung 840 EVO SSD and Seagate Barracuda HDD
• OS: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit

Thermal Performance Test Procedures:

• The case’s default fan configuration is used to give an accurate interpretation of the out-of-the-box performance.
• The Fractal Design Core 3300‘s default fan configuration is: 1x 140mm front intake, 1x 140mm rear exhaust fans.
• The fans are operating at full speed.
• We allow the system to idle for 15 minutes and record the stable temperatures.
• We allow the system to operate under extreme stress for 15 minutes and record the stable temperatures.

Assess cooling.

The Fractal Design Core 3300 delivered some unexpected results. The layout suggests it would be a cooling monster that was relatively quiet but in fact the opposite was true. The Core 3300 cools fairly well but delivers similar figures to the Aerocool DS200 which is heavily insulated and very quiet.

To take another case we have recently reviewed, the Core 3300 cannot match the cooling offered by the Phanteks Enthoo Luxe.

Acoustic Performance Test Procedures:

• We placed our Digital Sound Level Meter one metre away from the case.
• The case fans are set to maximum speed.
• The CPU cooler’s fans are deactivated.
• The Fractal Design Core 3300‘s default fan configuration is: 1x 140mm front intake, 1x 140mm rear exhaust fans.

Assess noise

No doubt the reason for the decidedly average cooling is that the two 140mm case fans operate at a low speed and the result is that the heavily perforated Core 3300 is much quieter than we would have expected, despite the absence of any noise deadening material.

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