Test – Cooltek / Jonsbo US: Specs | CPU | Hashrate

Test – Cooltek / Jonsbo U2 | Specs | Price | Hashrate |CPU performance | Advantage and disadvantage, Profitability, and other important information

Cooltek is a brand that was created in 2003 and offers products that are designed to offer excellent value for money, whether they are boxes, fans or even box accessories.

Today I am going to offer you a mini-ITX box which is under the Jonsbo brand (which is in fact Cooltek) all in aluminum and designed for a very compact configuration, I named the U2! On the program, an all-aluminum case with a somewhat special format, namely much higher than deep, capable of accommodating a graphics card with a maximum length of 22 cm, this will therefore change the cases tested by your servant until now, and It’s not worse!

It is not easy to find in France but it is available under the LDLC brand at a price of around 70 € for the classic version and 80 € for the windowed version, it is not the least mini-ITX box. expensive but it’s all aluminum, which generally blows up the rating, but not here! Let’s see what the beast has in its belly.

specification – Cooltek/Johsbo US

Mini-ITX case obliges the Jonsbo U2 is compatible only with mini-ITX motherboards, it is made only of aluminum and this is felt in its weight more than 2 kg, it is clear that it is not him who will sink the weight of the configuration 😉 The dimensions are also very contained with a height of 33.1 cm for 20.8 cm of width and 23.3 cm of depth, a rather atypical shape which will please those who have a limited space in depth.

However, these dimensions are felt very logically on the graphics card with a maximum length of 22 cm, this will greatly limit the options and it will be imperative to pay attention to the choice of the latter. However, the cooler is not left out with a maximum height of 17.5 cm, the only constraint will be in relation to the space available around the socket, as usual in a mini-ITX configuration.

Regarding storage the Jonsbo U2 is not really outdone, especially taking into account the size of the beast, 1 slot dedicated to a 3.5 ″ hard drive as well as 2 compatible 3.5 ″ / 2.5 ″ slots, this will be sufficient for the vast majority of users even if, as we will see later, restrictions must be taken into account.
The ventilation is provided by a 12 cm fan located at the back, it is possible to add 12 cm also at the front but this

will prevent the installation of a 3.5 ″ hard drive in this location.
Offered at a price of around 70 € for the non-windowed version and 80 € for the windowed version (under the LDLC brand) it is clear that for a 100% aluminum box the price charged is not high, to see if the box holds the road!

The box could not be more sober, a box all that is more classic with on the front side a diagram of the case with a complete technical description of the beast accompanied of course by the brand and the model. At the back an exploded view of the case is present showing the main functions.

On the sides a small screed on the main strengths of the U2, indicating its compatibility with almost all the coolers on the market as well as power supplies in ATX format.

Once the box is open, we find the bundle placed on the box in its plastic bag, 2 foam panels are on each side to absorb the shocks of transport, it should not have the slightest problem.

The bundle consists of:

• 1 Fractal Jonsbo U2 box (yes yes!)
• 1 Manuel
• 1 support for power supply
• 4 rubber feet
• 1 speaker to connect to the motherboard
• Some plastic cable ties
• The necessary screws

The bundle is the most correct, in addition to the manual and the necessary screws Jonsbo provides some cable ties as well as a support for the power supply and a speaker to be installed directly on the motherboard and which can be practical.

Here is the beast! All dressed in black, sobriety is clearly in order here. As can be seen the shape is rather unusual, rather than being longer than tall Jonsbo is doing the reverse here with a case which is shallow but with a height of 33cm. Aluminum requires the U2 is very light, the build quality is really excellent here, nothing sticks out and everything exudes quality.

The front panel does not round off the sobriety of the whole, an aluminum plate with only a power button and the eternal connection. Brushed aluminum is pleasing to the eye and certainly won’t stain a living room.

The front connector could not be more classic, 2 USB 3.0 connectors as well as the eternal 3.5 mm jacks for headphones and their microphone.

The top speaks for itself, black brushed aluminum and that’s it!

The underside is a little more interesting, given that the graphics card is directly behind this wall there are of course ventilation holes to let the beast breathe. There are also rubber pads for installing a 2.5 ″ peripheral (on the right in the photo) and others for a 3.5 ″ or 2.5 ″ peripheral (on the right). Of course, rubber-fitted pads are there to avoid transmitting any vibrations to the surface on which the case is placed.

The 2 sides are identical, of a foolproof sobriety once again, only air vents are present on the front to create an air flow thanks to the rear fan.

At the rear we find the location of the power supply which is at the top of the box, a ventilation grid which hides the 12 cm fan (which seems a little restrictive however) as well as the 2 removable extension brackets and openwork at the bottom. The most interesting thing is at the bottom right, in fact a rheobus is integrated and allows to manage the 12 cm fan, 3 positions are available “Low” “Medium” or “High”, no need to draw you a picture 😉

Before starting it should be noted that Jonsbo added rubber washers between the hand screws of the side panel and the carcass in order to avoid scratches, a little nicer.

Here is the interior of the beast! As we can see here the layout is rather classic, the motherboard is housed between the rear fan and the front grille (which allows the installation of a fan or a 3.5 ″ disk. The graphics card will be housed at the bottom in front of the back ventilation, you will have to be careful when installing hard disks / SSDs in this place because if they are installed in addition to a graphics card, the latter will have great difficulty in having enough fresh air from outside.

The power supply will sit well at the top, note that the fan must be installed at the bottom because there is no ventilation on the top.

The front cage can accommodate a 3.5 ″ hard drive or a 12 cm fan, it is drilled with holes so that the air flow can be between the fan and the front cover, the air will then enter the sides of the cases.

1 3.5 ″ / 2.5 ″ disk as well as a 2.5 ″ disk will find their place here, as I said you have to be careful if a graphics card is installed otherwise you will not have enough air.

The fan is a 12 cm model given to consume a theoretical maximum of 15 dB, no RPM or specific model given.

THE connection could not be more classic, all the cables are black and therefore will not alter the sobriety of the whole. Note that the fan rheobus is powered via a molex connector unfortunately, you will most certainly need to use a cable from the power supply only for the latter, which is not really ideal for a mini-ITX box.

The configuration used during the tests :

• Processeur: Intel Core i5 655K @ Stock
• CPU Fan : Silverstone AR06
• Motherboard : Gigabyte GA-H55N-USB3
• Graphics card : None
• Mémoire: Corsair Vengeance 1 x 4 Go 1600Mhz
• SSD: Intel X25-M 80Go
• Alimentation: be quiet Straight power E9 580CM
• Operating system : Windows 8.1 64bits

Not having a graphics card fitting in the U2, the tests will proceed without it.

The assembly in the U2 went very well, however, you must follow the manual and install the components in a specific order, for example, start by installing the hard drive behind the front panel before the motherboard otherwise we will not be able to replace in place the cage etc .. Here is what it gives it once everything is installed:

As you can see everything is packed in there, even without a graphics card! Most of the work is to tidy up the cables leaving from the power supply, in fact there is no way to hide them in the box so they will have to be crammed as much as possible behind the power supply. On the other hand the be quiet! of the test is not the smallest on the market and fits perfectly, and without forcing so for a case of this size it’s really very good.

In order to test the box, I will carry out an OCCT Power Supply test for 30mins and then take the temperatures of the main components such as the processor (average of the 4 cores), the motherboard, the graphics card as well as the hard drive. The box will be tested once with the fan in “low” position with the Raptor hard drive installed (in order to see the impact of its vibrations, given that it is hell), once in “low” with only the SSD and finally once in “high” with only the SSD.

Regarding noise pollution, I will proceed as in the file on silent PCs namely 1 raised in front, to the right, to the left, to the rear and above with the box in vertical position.

Testing

At rest the temperatures in the U2 are contained, with 31 ° for the processor and 52 ° for the motherboard in 12V while in 5V we go to respectively 33 ° and 54 °, the difference is not significant, and c is normal given the little heat released. The hard drive remains at a small 36 ° (which is good for a WD raptor).

Ambient sound level: 31dB

Several things to say here, in 12V already the configuration is very discreet with between 32 and 33 dB on all sides, at the rear on the other hand we go up to 37 dB, which is normal given that this is where it is. find the fan, but the 12 cm installed by the brand is excellent.

Once set to the minimum the sound level drops to be almost inaudible, only the rear once again emits a higher sound level, but with 33 dB you will have to have your ear almost glued to hear it, it’s very good.

However, things go wrong when the Western Digital Raptor hard drive is installed, experience aluminum cases respond very poorly to vibrations and this is once again the case with a noise level (even with the fan at minimum) which rises significantly. The highest reading is on the top with 36 dB, all other values ​​are also higher than with only the installed SSD. One thing is certain, if you want a silent U2 you will have to ignore a hard drive that vibrates a lot, and be careful with the others.

At rest, the CPU cooler fan turns at its minimum, namely 966 RPM which is quite normal.

Charge

In load, temperatures logically rise but remain very good, with 65 ° for the processor and 60 ° for the motherboard in 12V against respectively 67 ° and 62 ° with the fan at the minimum. Despite the small size of the beast the components are quite well pampered and are in no way endangered. Note, however, that it is possible to install a large fan so the temperatures could be much better.

Ambient sound level: 31dB

The sound level under load does not change much compared to what is observed at rest, in 12V all readings are identical with a maximum of 37 dB at the rear, in 5V the only difference is at the rear which goes from 33 dB to 35 dB, still very quiet and will delight fans of silence. With the Western Digital Raptor we are always well above because of the vibrations with 36 dB above and behind, although this is not the end of the world the vibrations are very clearly audible even far from the beast.

With the case fan at minimum the processor fan goes up to 1500 RPM while it goes to 1600 RPM once the case fan is set to minimum, the gap is not very important but is still there.

Here we are at the end of this test, what about the Cooltek / Jonsbo U2?
The search for the perfect mini-ITX case is a long journey, some want a design, others performance, others a mix of the two, everything will ultimately depend on needs. Cooltek / Jonsbo offers here a compact all-aluminum case which is of a particularly good finish and manufacturing quality and which offers a sober but effective design.

The performance is very good for this type of box with a fan which is both efficient and very quiet even at maximum. In addition to that it will be possible to install a cooler with a maximum height of 17.5 cm and therefore keep noise pollution as low as possible (if a graphics card is not installed. The choice of graphics card is when much smaller with a maximum of 22 cm in length, which will require more research.

Who says compactness, however, says side effects, in fact if a graphics card is installed it will be necessary to pay attention to the position of the storage devices in the low position otherwise they will not have sufficient ventilation. Aluminum often has the effect of transmitting the vibrations of the hard drives to the carcass, no exceptions here with a Western Digital Raptor disc (which undermines the vast majority of boxes however) which greatly increases the sound level of the machine.

Offered at a price of around € 70 for the non-window version and € 80 for the windowed version, the Cooltek / Jonsbo U2 (or its LDLC badged version) is a box that is worth a look for those who want all aluminum very well built. while remaining largely affordable, whether for an office configuration or a mini-ITX game configuration (if the graphics card is not too large).

Advantages

• Finishing the set
• Build quality
• Sobriety
• Silent fan + rheobus
• Good performance for its size

Disadvantage

• No dust filters
• Disc vibrations

Related posts:

7-nanometer Nvidia GPU, TSMC will handle most of the production ASRock X299, a new BIOS allows you to install 2 TB of memory MSI Prestige X570 Creation Review: Test | Specs | Hashrate Radeon RX 5500 XT, PCI Express 3.0 castrates performance? An overclocker ran 1TB of RAM on an X299 motherboard limited to 256GB Best Review 2021: MSI MPG X570 Gaming Edge WiFi Under $250 ($200)