Maingear Potenza SS: A Cool, Quiet, SFF Gaming PC

Name: Maingear Potenza Super Stock Small Form Factor Game PC Review
Brand: Maingear

by Joshua Gulick — Thursday, March 14, 2013, 01:00 PM EDT

When it comes to system noise, the Maingear Potenza's closed-loop cooling really makes a difference. It draws the CPU's heat down to the bottom of the system, which houses a radiator and 140mm fan. Because it's so large, the fan moves air at up to 64.34 CFM without making much noise at all. The Potenza is nearly silent. Put it in a room with more than one person, and you probably won't hear the computer's light hum.

We also checked out the Potenza’s power consumption. To run this test, we first measure the system at idle, then load up Prime 95 and FurMark. The combined draw on CPU and graphics resources makes for substantial load, and that’s where we expect to see a real increase in power consumption. For all of these tests, we measure power consumption at the wall outlet.

At idle, the Potenza was neck-and-neck with its peers, but it took the lead (lower numbers being better) when loaded down with Prime 95 and FurMark. The power consumption here isn't likely to make or break a purchase decision for most buyers, but if you're thinking about buying a Potenza, put these results in the Pro column.

Tags: core i7, SFF, Asus, Corsair, Mini-ITX, Maingear, Ivy Bridge, H77, Potenza, gtx 660

Joshua Gulick

Josh cut his teeth (and hands) on his first PC upgrade in 2000 and was instantly hooked on all things tech. He took a degree in English and tech writing with him to Computer Power User Magazine and spent years reviewing high-end workstations and gaming systems, processors, motherboards, memory and video cards. His enthusiasm for PC hardware also made him a natural fit for covering the burgeoning modding community, and he wrote CPU’s “Mad Reader Mod” cover stories from the series’ inception until becoming the publication editor for Smart Computing Magazine. A few years ago, he returned to his first love, reviewing smoking-hot PCs and components, for HotHardware. When he’s not agonizing over benchmark scores, Josh is either running (very slowly) or spending time with family.