Ikonik Ra X10 Liquid

 

Are you tired of just a plain old case? How about getting this bad boy with twin quad 80mm rads, and plenty of room for expansion, you can be sure you wont run out of room for the most amazing liquid cooling system.

 

Introduction

While many of us will not be able to afford a decked out case with liquid cooling built in, some just cant help but haveing the best. This case is certainly unrivaled in one area, rad space. While the Thermaltake Sword M has a built in rad, the X10 Liquid has twin rads, with four 80mm fans on each. This is right inbetween a triple and quad 120mm radiator. As anyone with a triple rad knows, it blows off a lot of heat. These rads should be the same, and may even have an advantage. According to Ikonik these rads are of hihger quality, similar to what is used on car radiators.

Will all of this bundled together prove to be a good combo, or will it fail misterably? For those of us who can afford a case like this, or those who love to marvel at the best, read on!

About Ikonik

Our establishment
Ikonik Technology was founded by a team of IT-experts – who were operating for a well-known brand in the industry. Following the same business model of international business, we position ourselves in the same level of high standards in everything that we do.

Our core-business
Ikonik Technology is focusing on designing, branding, manufacturing and distribution of all computer peripherals. Not only will we create and supply these components to the power users – but we also provide the service and aftercare, in order to safeguard users’ equipments.
In this highly competitive and aggressive environment, Ikonik Technology strives to deliver that extra bit more. We are constantly improving the standard of quality, surpassing users’ requirements and deliver products with performance, fun, good looks and easy to use.

Our award-winning expertise
With years of experience in R&D, sales & marketing, product and production management – we know how the market looks like. We have an award-winning team that won various international awards, such as:

• Tom’s Hardware Innovation Award for Ra X10 LIQUID (global)
• TweakTown Best Features Must Have for Zaria A20 (global)
• Product of the Year for Zaria A20 (Denmark)
• IF Design award for cooler (Germany);
• Tweaktown Award for innovative design of power supply (Australia);
• 3D Gameman Award for chassis (US);
• Overclocker Award for cooler (US);
• PC DIY award for chassis (Taiwan);
• Tech Power Up for cooler (Global);
• Guru3D Award for power supply (Netherlands);
• OC Workbench Award for power supply (Singapore);
• 59 Hardware Award for cooler (France);
• GamesAxis Award for cooler (Malaysia);
• Digiworld Award for cooler (Czech Republic);
• PC Impact Award for chassis (UK);
• Game Reactor Award for cooler (Norway);
• Hardware-Test Award for chassis (Denmark);
• ComMart Award for cooler (Taiwan);

With such a list of award-winning product – Ikonik Technology has the confidence that our R&D-team is an expert in this field.
During the annual international IT-exhibition Computex 2008, IKONIK received the ‘Innovation Award’ from world’s leading IT-website Tom’s Hardware. Only two companies got this award and IKONIK was one of the lucky ones.

Our international work force
Ikonik Technology does not only have an experienced management team, but also prides itself in the fact that we possess an international work force. We understand that each culture holds its own values and ‘way of thinking’ and thus we established native speakers for each market.

Our values

• Empower people
• Deliver cutting-edge products
• Delight customers
• Honesty

Our vision
Our mission is to become a mature and sophisticated player in the IT-market, driving people and products to its upmost capabilities. The strategy aims at the growth of the company by focusing in the areas of integrating PC and technology into everyday lifestyle, with a certain panache. Technology no longer needs to be an entity that only certain trained people can excel, in, technology is compatible with everyday life. Ikonik Technology uses design to ensure people not only use a computer product, but uses a smart looking product too. We want to bring something new in everything what we do. We want to distinguish our self in design, performance and marketing.

Features

Specifications

Model name	Ra X10 LIQUID
Case type	full tower
Dimension (W x H x D)	220 x 572 x 606
Color	Black / silver
5,25” drive bay	6 (incl. convert kit for 3,5’ external device)
3,5” internal drive bay	8
Expansion slots	8
Side panel	Two-tone interchangeable (mesh/transparent)
Material	Entire aluminum (3.0 mm front door / 1.2 mm body construction / 2.0 mm material thickness construction bars
I/O panel	top (dual e-SATA / quad USB 2.0 / one IEEE 1394 / one audio)
Cooling	2 x front 120 mm incl. LED / rear 1 x 140 mm incl. LED / rear bottom 2 x 80 mm incl. LED / 2 x 4 80 mm side fans incl. LED
Mainboard support	µATX / ATX / CEB / E-ATX (extended-ATX)
Tool-less design	One-touch removable front drive-bay cover / removable MB-tray / one-click HDD installation / PCI-slots
Protection	Rubber op HDD and PSU railing for anti-vibration and noise reduction
Maintenance	Removable and washable filter, HDD cage and MB-tray
LED	Front / rear / left / right
Design	Diamond-cut front door/ rotatable & removable anti-dust cover / EPS 12V PSU support/ diamond sandblasted aluminum top cover / top cool LED blue water flow indicator

Pictures & Impressions

The Ra comes in a fairly large box since it is such a large case. On the front is a picture of the case, and a little picture about the SIM system (more on that later). When we flip the box to the back, we see a more detailed view of many of the features of the case. This will help any potential customers identify the selling points of the case.

When we open the box, we see that Ikonik packed this case very tight. So tight in fact, that it was a little hard to pull the heavy case out myself. On the top we see that Ikonik packed the accessories right on the top so they can be pulled out first, ensuring that you don’t loose them in the bottom of the case.

Here is a picture of all of the included accessories. If you look at the bottom right you will see a glimpse of my cats tail LOL. Included is liquid, 1366 mounting bracket, AM2/3 mounting bracket, temperature sensors, mounting hardware, keys, cleaning cloth, quick disconnects, FDD drive cover, and a cable to connect the SIM to your computer.

Also included with the case are some more step by step accessories. These include an instruction manual, a quick install manual, and a CD with drivers on it. The instruction manual includes detailed information about the case and warranty, which happens to be (FIND THIS OUT). The quick install manual will get you up and going as quick as possible.

As I pulled the case out i noticed the great protection to the case. The case was secured by styrophoam, and there was a thick soft plastic bag over the case. This is much better than the standard plastic covering that comes with most cases. On the top is a rubber cover that is protecting the USB, eSATA ports, ect. This cover has a magnet on it, so it can be used on the case all the time, a good idea for people who are afraid of getting dirt in their USB ports.

When we look at the front of the case, we see Ikonik’s unique styling. The top front panel has a cut in it that almost resembles a sword. Under that is Ra in lettering. Ikonik has used an interesting font for the lettering, and it actually looks kind of cool. Under that is a vent for the fans to suck air from. When the case is on you can see a piece of metal that was positioned right in the middle of the vent. The piece of metal has a convex shape.

As we move to the front panel we see an assortment of plug-ins. There are 4 USB 2.0, two eSATA, one 1394, a hard drive activity light, a power button, and a flow indicator. The flow indicator moves to tell you if liquid in your system is moving. This is very helpful if your system is not working correctly, as this will tell you that you should turn your computer off before it overheats. Oddly there is no reset button. For some this may be annoying, but I never use the reset button, so it doesn’t bug me.

When the side of the case is opened we can see where all the CD rom drive bays are. The covers are very unique because they feature a push system that if you push one side in, it is released and can be pulled out. There are a total of seven drive bays, more than enough for just about any user, and plenty enough if you plan on putting a dual radiator in the drive bay. The drive bay door has two screws that are magnetically held in place, so it is easy to pull open, but will stay closed.

As we move to the side of the case we see the window. A metal grill comes attracted to the side of the case, but the case also comes with Plexiglas sides that can be easily put on. The Plexiglas sides are also much lighter than the metal grill. I like the Ikonik logo right on the side of the case. The windows are also in a perfect position so you cant really see the hard drive bay.

The feet are plastic of course, but they have the nice feature of retracting. All you have to do is push them in until they click, then when they are pushed again they will spring out.

Now if we take a look at the water block we will see it is polished a bit. It is not a mirror finish, but it certainly isn’t too bad. The odd thing is the block has a circular shape at the bottom. Generally water blocks are a square, but this does not matter a whole lot since the majority of the heat given off by the CPU is directly in the center of the chip.

When we open up the case we are greeted with bare aluminum. I personally like to see the aluminum painted black, especially on a more expensive case, but I can see why Ikonik did not do this, as a lot of people like the plain aluminum. At the bottom left we see a hard drive cage that can fit two hard drives. This would be for people who don’t want to have their hard drives heating up incoming air. To the right of that is the pump and reservoir all encased in a neat box.

As said before, this box holds the water pump and res. The window on the side is to show how full the res is. The case itself looks like it is made out of stainless steel. There is also a skirt on the bottom so there is not just a random space beneath the box. You cant see it very well, but to the left is where you plug in the SIM, which controls and monitors the pump.

As we take a close look at the disk drive bay we can see how Ikonik secures the drives. This device works by clicking the big button to the right. This moves a small metal pole into the screw hole of the inserted drive. The left clip is then slid over to the right to unlock the drive.

This is a picture of the hard drive sliders. The rubber pegs are inserted into the screw holes on the hard drive, and then you simply slide your hard drive right into the drive bay. As you can see, there are also two black plastic holders that when inserted put pressure on the other side of the pegs, and thus hold the hard drive in more secure.

Here we can get a better look at the bottom radiator. As you can see the radiator is pretty close to the hard drive bay. So close in fact it is pretty hard to put a SATA power cable into the hard drive when it is facing the radiator.

Now if we take a look at the top rad we will see the same exact thing. If you look to the right you will see that the rad is just short of being a full 4 fans long. This is a bit disappointing, but not a whole lot of the rad is missing, so it will still have a lot of cooling power.

Here we can get a little better look at the bottom radiator.

Here is a great look at the two intake fans. The fans look of great quality, and they move quite a bit of air. The white color also blends in quite well.

Now we move towards the back of the case once more, and see the two 80mm extake fans. These will pull hot air from the hard drive, keeping it cooler.

Here we have two holes which can be used if you have a radiator mounted on the outside of the case.

If we move further up we will see the case locking mechanism. When you insert the key and turn it, this metal piece will slide over, and keep someone from opening the case. Right above that is a clip that helps hold the side of the case on.

Here is a view of the back of the case. As you can see, the fans are on the other side of the case, and they are not all intake fans, the top fans are intake, and the bottom ones are extake. The motherboard tray is also removable. There are four screws on the back, and make sure you also get the thumb screw in the front, or the side wont go anywhere.

Here is the SIM. In a way this is the brains of the computer case. This module monitors fan speed, and the liquid system. This is also where you plug in the temperature sensors. With these sensors you can set certain fans to spin at different speeds according to temperature.

Here we see a perfect example of the excellent cable management this case has. Thought the whole case, cables are carefully routed, and managed. Much more so than in any other case I have seen before.

More example of good cable management. The cables are in a bit of a bundle, but Ikonik made sure they would not be easily seen when looking through the hard drive bay.

Here we get a great view of the motherboard back plate. As mentioned before it can be easily taken out to help you install your motherboard with more space. This back plate supports a wide variety of motherboards including extended ATX.

The SIM

One of the most important components of the case is the SIM module itself. This is really what sets this case apart from any other case with built in liquid cooling. The SIM module itself has a pretty important job, monitor the temperatures. Now let us take a look at this piece of equipment.

First we have the actual module itself. A is where you plug in the power. B is one of the individual fan plug ins, as is C. There are a total of 6. D is the LED power, which can be turned on or off. E is where you plug in the temperature monitors, there are a total of 6. F is where you plug in the USB monitor to your motherboard. G is the plug in for the water pump.

This is what the module looks like stock, minus the pump being plugged in, and the power being connected.

Here we have the power connection, as you can see the SIM uses a standard Molex connector for power.

Here is a picture of the connector connected directly to the motherboard. Since the front of the case has 4 USB ports, I decided to leave them all plugged in, and use the alternate method of plugging the SIM into the computer.

All you have to do for the other method is run the included SIM to USB adapter, and plug it into the back of your motherboard, into one of the many USB ports.

Here we see a thermal probe installed on the NB heat sink. You can put these anywhere you want to measure the temperatures, and have the fans spin accordingly.

Here is a large diagram that explains the software. The software controls all the fans and the pump through the SIM.

Here we have the different fan speed selections. You can have the fans not move completely, adjust them according to temperature, or have then run full blast. The system is quite loud at full blast, so I recommend against it.

Methodology

Instead of your average case vs. case compaison, I have decided to pit the liquid included in the case against the Cooler Master V10. Take into consideration that I used a D-tek Fuzion with a custom top, you may not acheive the same results. For testing the maximum temperature, I ran LinX for about a half an hour to heat the CPU up, then I wrote down the temperature. I then let the system idle for about a half an hour, and then recorded the average low temperature. I did the test with the pump on auto with the fans also on auto, and with full speed on both the radiators, and the pump. I have created a chart below of my system specs for reference.

Test Rig
Case Type	Ikonik Ra X10 Liquid
CPU	Intel I7 920 @ 3.7
Motherboard	Intel SmackOver X58
Ram	(2×3) Mushkin HP3-12800 @ 1480, 8-8-8-20
CPU Cooler	Cooler Master V10 Liquid
Hard Drives	WD SE16 640 GB WD SE16 750 GB
Optical	Lite-On DVD R/W
GPU	Leadtek GTX275
Case Fan	Two Front 1200mm Intake One Back 120mm Exhaust Two Back 80mm Exhaust Four Side 80mm Exaust Four Side 80mm Intake
PSU	Corsair HX1000W

 

Testing

 

As you can see the liquid was just barly able to beat out the V10. This is a little disapointing, as I was expecting a bit more from this system. I may try adding another radiator, since i think that the slow moveing fans may be the culprit for the poor performance. Either way, the liquid was a lot quieter than the V10 running at full blast, so that was a releif.

Conclusion

There is no doubt that this case is one of the top cases out there. The liquid performance was definitely lower than I expected, but it was not too terrible. The case itself has plenty of fans for great airflow. Not only do the fans have great airflow, they also look pretty cool with blue LED’s on them. The fans aren’t the only thing that looks good either, the exterior has very nice styling, and functionality.

The only thing that is putting this case out of the reach of the everyday person is the price. While $500 is no small price to pay for a case, there really is $500 worth of stuff in here. While the performance of that $500 wasn’t the greatest, it was still able to beat a $130 air cooler, while being quieter. There is just so much going for this case, that its hard not to recommend it to someone who can afford to fork out the cash to buy one. Overall the Ikonik Ra X10 Liquid has many features, and delivers a decent cooling performance to make it all but worth the step price tag.

We are trying out a new addition to our scoring system to provide additional feedback beyond a flat score. Please note that the final score isn’t an aggregate average of the new rating system.

• Performance 7.5
• Value 9
• Quality 8.5
• Warranty 9
• Features 9
• Innovation 9

 

Pros:

+  Toolless
+  Lockable
+  Liquid included

 

Cons:

–  Performance lower than expected

With a final score of 8.5 out of 10 the Ikonik Ra X10 Liquid receives the Bjorn3D Seal of Approval.