Testing Report of GIGABYTE GZ-P* case series

8/12/2019 Testing Report of GIGABYTE GZ-P* case series

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Research and Development Department Ramiz Afandiyev 20.09.10

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ALTECH INTERNAL RESEARCH

TESTING REPORT OF GIGABYTE GZ-P CASES

RAMIZ AFANDIYEV

Research and Development Engineer


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TESTING PRODUCTS

GIGABYTE GZ-P CASES SERIES

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:

GIGABYTE GZ-PA CASE

Cooling system1 x 80 or 90mm rear fan

1 x 120mm front optional fan

1 x 120mm side optional fan

Dimensions

176 (W) x 410 (D) x 400 (H)mm

Drive Bays

- 5 x 3.5" (Internal)

- 1 x 3.5" (External)

- 3 x 5.25"

I/O

1 x Audio set2 x USB 1.0

Power Supply

PS2 ATX (upper mount)

Features:

ABS + 0,5mm SECC housing

Gray interior

GIGABYTE GZ-PB CASE

Cooling system

1 x 80 or 90mm rear fan



Dimensions

180 (W) x 412 (D) x 405 (H)mm

Drive Bays



- 3 x 5.25"

I/O

1 x Audio set

2 x USB 1.0Power Supply


Features:


Gray interior


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GIGABYTE GZ-PC CASE

Cooling system




Dimensions

176 (W) x 400 (D) x 415 (H)mmDrive Bays



- 4 x 5.25"

I/O

1 x Audio set

2 x USB 1.0

Power Supply


Features:

ABS + 0,5mm SECC housingBlack interior

GIGABYTE GZ-PD CASE

Cooling system




Dimensions

176 (W) x 400 (D) x 410 (H)mm

Drive Bays- 5 x 3.5" (Internal)


- 4 x 5.25"

I/O

1 x Audio set

2 x USB 1.0

Power Supply


Features:


Black interior

Comments:As mentioned above, all cases look almost identical according to specifications. Design of the

front panel and black/gray interiors are slightly different for tested cases.

Fundamentally, a computer case should provide adequate cooling, protection to the components inside, ease

of access and ease of upgradeability. I will assemble high-end systems to check all specific details of every

case.


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DESIGN & APPERANCE OVERVIEW

EXTERNAL / INTERNAL DESIGN

GIGABYTE GZ-PC & GZ-PD GIGABYTE GZ-P cases are typical

ATX mini-tower enclosures with

black exterior and black/gray

interior. Glossy black front panel

includes power button, 3 - 4 x

5.25 drive bays and 1 x 3.5

floppy or card reader bay. Black

interiors of GIGABYTE GZ-PC and

GZ-PD are look much better than

gray painted interiors of GZ-PA

and GZ-PB.

GIGABYTE GZ-PA & GZ-PB

Interior finish of all 4 cases is accurate. Usually budget cases tend to have sharper corners inside that can

cut fingers, but in these cases, areas where hands are likely go are folded over and not sharp.

EXTERNAL DESIGN SIDE PANELS

The outside panels of the chassis are all painted

black, and while the case does require a tool to

yield internal access it is easy to get the side

panels off. Two sets of ventilation holes on the left

side panel provide extra ventilation for CPU and

VGA card. You can install additional 120mm fan

for GPU chilling (and I recommend doing that). I

didnt like material of housing because steel wasis pretty thin in this case and can be easily bent.

EXTERNAL DESIGN FRONT I/O

2 x USB 2.0 and 2 x audio jacks. Nowadays this is

almost minimal quantity of I/O connectors which

you can find on budget cases.

INTERNAL DESIGN VGA INSTALLATION

AMD HD5770 was the largest VGA card which

was able to fit to these cases. I think that price

and temperature level for this VGA is acceptable

to use in GIGABYTE GZ-P series.


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INTERNAL DESIGN VENTILATION HOLES

I would like to note that despite of budget level of

this products, all cases still have additional

ventilations holes on rear side and bottom. Although

in my opinion manufacturer can perforate bottom toprovide better airflow for VGA card. There is plenty

of space even for 120mm fan.

INTERNAL DESIGN REAR FAN

I was supprised by strange decision of

manufacturer to add only 80mm rear fan in

GIGABYTE GZ-P packaging. In my opinion 90mm

(or even 120mm) would be better in all aspects

Later you can see that acoustic properties of80mm fan are not ideal for home or low-noise

systems.

INTERNAL DESIGN 3.5 DRIVE BAYS

All cases have the same drive bays configuration and

you can see small room for cables behind the stand.

One 120mm fan in front of stand can cool all

installed drives and also can help to maintainconstant airflow.

INTERNAL DESIGN TOOL LESS BRACKETS

Unfortunately there is no tool less equipment for these cases.

INTERNAL DESIGN ADVANCED CABLING SYSTEM

There is no advanced cabling management with these cases as well as no M/B back plate window.

INTERNAL DESIGN PSU INSTALLATION

Long PSU supported with top mounting. No other advantages.PACKAGING

All cases came in the same packaging and the same accessories. Bundling is rather pooreven for this level

of product. I found only small pack with different screws.


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TEMPERATURE TESTS

CPU: Intel Core i7 860@ Default speed (Socket 1156)

Cooler: Zalman CNPS10X Flex

M/B Gigabyte P55A-UD7

RAM: Corsair 4GB DDR3 @ 1333MHz

VGA: ATI HD 5770 1Gb DDR5

HDD: Intel SSD 160Gb

PSU: High Power - 1200W

FANS: 80mm rear (built-in) + 2 x 120mm front / side

OS: Windows 7 64bits

GPU test: Furmark 1.8.2 (Single GPU)

CPU test: LinX 0.6.4 (8 threads)

First I tested open stand with above mentioned components to check idle / load temperatures. I run Furmark

1.8.2 + LinX 0.6.4 to stress test both CPU and GPU. The same test I had done after I assembled components toall new Gigabyte GZ-P cases. Also Ive installed 2 x additional 120mm fans to provide better airflowin all 4

cases.

Comments:Actually temperatures of internal components are quite high; however I would like to note

these cases were definitely manufactured for business or educational purposes. Gamers and overclockers

would prefer cases with advanced cabling management and better airflow design. In my opinion al

GIGABYTE GZ-P cases performs well even with above mentioned high-end components. But dont forget

to add optional 120mm fans to extend their chilling abilities. It is obvious that common users are neverstressing systems with heavy load tests. Nevertheless I cant recommend using any powerful VGA cards

(HD5770+) with all examined cases.

Now, I would like to emulate standard scenario of PC usage, so I used this system during 40 minutes with

office applications and light games. Also Ive run PCMark Vantage which is emulating normal load for

testing computer.

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0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

CPU burn temperature

GPU burn temperature

Temperature C0 (lesser is better) Furmark 1.8.2 + LinX 0.6.4

GZ-PD

GZ-PC

GZ-PB

GZ-PA

Open Stand


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Comments: Temperatures of internal components duringthe light load were acceptable. Keep in mind

usually only medium or low-end components would be installed in these cases and temperature level

inside them would be rather low.

NOISE TESTING

Unfortunately we dont have special facilities to test all acoustic aspects, but Ive used mini sound Leve

Meters to approximately check how noisy tested cases are.

DIGITECH QM-1589specifications:

Level Range:

Low: 30-100dB, High: 60-130dB +/- 1.5dB

Frequency Range: 31.5 to 8,000HzIt is obvious high frequency noises are usually annoying human ears. I will check standard 1m range.

Comments: 2 additional 120mm fans and 80mm fan are producing a lot of noise. This noise level can beacceptable in business environment. However I have to note that for home use this case must contain

only low-end components to avoid high temperatures and high noise level in system. I also recommend

changing 80mm rear fan to silent 90mm fan with low speed.

Small difference of noise level between Min and Max speed of all fans directly points to poor acoustic

isolation of GZ-P series and thin steel housing.

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0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

CPU light load

GPU light load

Temperature C0 (lesser is better) Standard PC usage scenario

GZ-PD

GZ-PC

GZ-PB

GZ-PAOpen Stand

4152.8

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CPU heavy load

Noise level (dBA) 1m distance

PC-Z Max fans

PC-Z Min fans

Empty case


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CONCLUSION

Let's face the truth; while we all like to look at large and shiny aluminum cases with fascinating lights,

most of customers still rely on the usual budget cases to hold their systems together. Shopping on a

budget is not only something for students, but businesses and education faculties also know how to get

something cost effective. Gigabyte GZ-P cases are designed for such budget purposes. Unless you wont

use medium or low-end components, the internal temperatures would be high and CPU or GPU wouldthrottle to reduce the heat. Anyway we have to consider economical roles of these cases as they areacceptable for basic and cheap systems.

SECTION SCORE EXPLANATION SCORE

Quality of Design Good (+1 score for black interior of GZ-PC and GZ-PD) 6 / 10

Front I/O Panel Minimalistic (2xUSB2.0, 2xAudio) 5 / 10

VGA Installation AMD HD5770 supported 6 / 10

PSU Installation Long PSU supported (top mount) 6 / 10

Packaging Poor packaging 5 / 10

Ventilation Good ventilation for business or home PC 6 / 10Noise Level Usual 5 / 10

Price vs. Performance Cheap price 7 / 10

Testing Report of GIGABYTE GZ-P* case series

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