Xigmatek Octans Review

Performance Analysis

The cooling results were pretty much as expected - poor on the CPU and excellent on the GPU. Placing the graphics card right next to an external vent is a cheap way of providing great cooling, although you obviously need to make sure there's plenty of clearance. The GPU delta T of 45°C is on par with other cases that offer this particular feature, such as Parvum Systems' X1.0, SilverStone's Raven RVZ01 and Corsair's Obsidian 250D - the trick will be to make sure your GPU lines up with one of the vents to ensure you maximise the cooling on offer.


The CPU delta T was never going to be great with just a single 80mm fan drawing air through the case and a delta T of 58°C compares poorly to the Elite 130, which shaved a further 9°C off the result. Antec's ISK600 was also a little cooler, as was Corsair's Carbide Series Air 240, while the Corsair Obsidian 250D and Lian Li PC-Q28 were both noticeably better.

Admitedly these results were obtained using our humble low profile CPU cooler and the Octans does have room for much larger models, but it's clearly lacking in CPU cooling out-of-the-box. Thankfully the included 80mm fan was practically silent and inaudible above the rest of the noise the system made.

Conclusion

It's clear that to deal with overclocked CPUs, you'll need to maximise the cooler you use up to the 140mm height limit, or mount a 120mm fan in the rear drive mounting plate, probably as an intake to assist low profile CPU coolers. Alternatively of course, you can use an all-in-one liquid cooler but you'll be limited to half-height models and a single fan, plus thick-tubed models such as Corsair's new range may not be able to bend round tightly enough. Something like an H75 would be fine though.

So there are ways to improve the CPU cooling, and even a larger CPU cooler would likely help while still allowing you to use the 3.5in mount. Thankfully GPU cooling is excellent but you'll need to carefully consider your cooling options, especially if you're gunning for a powerful rig. The Octans is also a case that's not particularly efficient when it comes to the use of space - something that's usually important for the mini-ITX form factor.

That's said, Xigmatek is clearly aiming at people that don't want your average mini black box but something a little more exciting-looking. The evidence for this comes from its own line-up of cases, with its Eris case looking like it's basically an Octans, but without all the plastic. As such, the latter is worth looking at too, if you like the internal layout of the Octans but need a case that's as small as possible, plus the Eris includes an external 5.25in bay as well.