Test bench style cases (and cases with a testbench mode/option)

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RanceJustice

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Hello all. In a quagmire of home renovations facilitating a complete move (I'm living in the thankfully finished basement for the foreseeable future), problems with parts for a rebuild waiting for return and other stuff going on, it looks like I'm going to need to attempt my rebuild before I can seat it in its intended CaseLabs home. Anyone have insight on modern test bench/open style cases cases (or those that have a test bench style mode among one to be more enclosed) to make a suggestion? I know I need something capable of an EATX mobo (in the AM5 X670E EATX) and at least capable of mounting a 360mm radiator/AIO for CPU cooling etc. Ideally if I can set up and test the whole thing for stability and performance/OC, get everything ready before I have to disturb the current hardware holding strong in its old home that would be helpful

Anyone familiar and can suggest modern full featured testbench cases?
 
RanceJustice said:
Hello all. In a quagmire of home renovations facilitating a complete move (I'm living in the thankfully finished basement for the foreseeable future), problems with parts for a rebuild waiting for return and other stuff going on, it looks like I'm going to need to attempt my rebuild before I can seat it in its intended CaseLabs home. Anyone have insight on modern test bench/open style cases cases (or those that have a test bench style mode among one to be more enclosed) to make a suggestion? I know I need something capable of an EATX mobo (in the AM5 X670E EATX) and at least capable of mounting a 360mm radiator/AIO for CPU cooling etc. Ideally if I can set up and test the whole thing for stability and performance/OC, get everything ready before I have to disturb the current hardware holding strong in its old home that would be helpful

Anyone familiar and can suggest modern full featured testbench cases?
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Yeah, I'm transferring my main air cooled test bench to a multiple radiator capable test bench.

Cooler Master MasterFrame 700.

Not cheap, but very versatile. Lay it down in test bench mode, stand it up as a display or wall mount it using the vesa 100 mount holes. You can pull the wings off and mount a rad at the top to save space.

I'm switching over from a Streacom BC1, which is a great test bench for air cooled systems.

20240516_144608.jpg



Streacom BC1 same MB.
20230415_144559.jpg
 
pendragon1 said:
anything fancier than the one below are stupidly priced. you could always just set it up on the mobo box, if you dont have kids/animals to worry about...
https://www.amazon.com/Chassis-Computer-Frame-Bench-Gaming/dp/B0C3VMNNR7
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Though the price is right, these are sort of "removable motherboard tray" style "benches" and they don't seem to have any I/O (thankfully its not strictly necessary given the mobo I have. Asus ROG boards tend to be pretty good about having both measurement for multimeters and various buttons for power and stuff right on the board), and I was a little concerned about the placement for an AIO relative to an AM5 mounting - looks like the mount for the PSU is directly above the CPU socket area. Would something like this be more suitable for a slight price increase, or am I missing something? https://www.amazon.com/HAIHUANG-Mot.../147-6729538-0428237?pd_rd_i=B0B66TYV1V&psc=1 . The EATX version is close to $70 or so and has a little more to it, or maybe I'm missing something? Thanks!

wareyore said:
Yeah, I'm transferring my main air cooled test bench to a multiple radiator capable test bench.

Cooler Master MasterFrame 700.

Not cheap, but very versatile. Lay it down in test bench mode, stand it up as a display or wall mount it using the vesa 100 mount holes. You can pull the wings off and mount a rad at the top to save space.

I'm switching over from a Streacom BC1, which is a great test bench for air cooled systems.

View attachment 654141


Streacom BC1 same MB.
View attachment 654142
Click to expand...
Thanks for your input! The MasterFrame 700 seems like a great potential option despite the cost. I do rather wish it had more handles and such for placement and may have preferred aluminum to steel for the sake of weight at that price, but the glass may give a little bit of protecton and the multiple layouts are neat. Honestly, I'd be afraid to just mount the thing on the wall, but I like the test bench option and other positions as well as the included I/O. Thanks, let us know how it works for ya!

Anyone else have suggestions? Is there anything else test-bench like and/or similar to the MasterFrame 700 ?
 
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RanceJustice said:
Though the price is right, these are sort of "removable motherboard tray" style "benches" and they don't seem to have any I/O (thankfully its not strictly necessary given the mobo I have. Asus ROG boards tend to be pretty good about having both measurement for multimeters and various buttons for power and stuff right on the board), and I was a little concerned about the placement for an AIO relative to an AM5 mounting - looks like the mount for the PSU is directly above the CPU socket area. Would something like this be more suitable for a slight price increase, or am I missing something? https://www.amazon.com/HAIHUANG-Mot.../147-6729538-0428237?pd_rd_i=B0B66TYV1V&psc=1 . The EATX version is close to $70 or so and has a little more to it, or maybe I'm missing something? Thanks!
Click to expand...
is this not as temporary as i was assuming from your op?
what io would you need besides whats on the mobo?! this is a "test bench" after all... the aio would mount just like it shows in the pics, where the fans are.
your call, they do the same thing, except one is vertical.

oooor like i said, just put the mobo on the box and test it that way, if thats all youre actually doing... why waste the money if you have a case to put it in!?
 
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pendragon1 said:
is this not as temporary as i was assuming from your op?
what io would you need besides whats on the mobo?! this is a "test bench" after all... the aio would mount just like it shows in the pics, where the fans are.
your call, they do the same thing, except one is vertical.

oooor like i said, just put the mobo on the box and test it that way, if thats all youre actually doing... why waste the money if you have a case to put it in!?
Click to expand...
Its temporary, but to be realistic its probably going to be about a month or so with everything going on and assuming no major blockers (like any other components of the new system needing a RMA or otherwise replacement). I'll have to build the new system, update and test it completely, tweak/test for OC and performance, and then be sure that everything pertinent from the old system is properly backed up etc...so I'll be using them both back and forth for a time. As far as IO, nothing is purely necessary but its convenient to have a power button that's not on the board itself and a few other features , but not a major issue. It looks as though the fan placement I thought may be a little far , but maybe that's just perspective of the pic. They also seem to be suggesting that the fans are held on by provided (?) M5-10mm screws, but I'm unsure if the mounting would work for a rad with attached fans. If so and its going to work/fit, then there may not be any reason to pick up the other "rack" designs, but I wanted to check as those seemed to picture AIOs and allowed to mount them just above the board.

As far as just putting it on the box, if I was only working on it for a day or two I'd just do that, but given its likely to be significantly longer (not to mention the potential of any delay) I wanted to have something a bit more substantial. Not to mention I'm going to likely reuse it to test the core of my home server/NAS build before it gets put into whatever final case will end up holding it.
 
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Don't waste your time and money with a 'test bench' case. The only people who can claim a legitimate use-case are youtubers for presentation or frequent component swaps for reviews. AFAIK no one in the PC building industry does anything other than mobo box test builds and I literally built hundreds of PCs back when I was working in the industry.

I ran my current build for around a month on the mobo box. I didn't even mount the cooler (an old CM Hyper 212 with a single 120mm fan), just slapped it on the CPU with some thermal compound. I even transported this from my basement to my office like this without any issues.

20231113_140843.jpg
20231116_102424.jpg
 
Deimos said:
Don't waste your time and money with a 'test bench' case. The only people who can claim a legitimate use-case are youtubers for presentation or frequent component swaps for reviews. AFAIK no one in the PC building industry does anything other than mobo box test builds and I literally built hundreds of PCs back when I was working in the industry.

I ran my current build for around a month on the mobo box. I didn't even mount the cooler (an old CM Hyper 212 with a single 120mm fan), just slapped it on the CPU with some thermal compound. I even transported this from my basement to my office like this without any issues.

View attachment 655863View attachment 655864
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A mobo box build without even mounting a cooler, for a month, and you carried it around? You're a braver man than I! I'd have no problem doing it for a day or two (I see a fellow user of the anti-static bag-as-mat dynamic), but given a house with pets (including the fur, static, and pets themselves) I'd be concerned about doing so for longer.

Nobu said:
I just build it all in it's final resting place. YOLO!
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Most of the time everything works out as intended, but this time circumstances have compounded that I can't do the final build in its intended home at the moment.
 
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