Our most recent test bench for cooling utilized Intel’s i7-14700K, and it (along with its i9 sibling) was one of the most difficult-to-cool CPUs in recent history. As a result, I recommended liquid coolers paired with CPU contact frames to prevent potential CPU bending for those looking to sustain the best possible thermal and CPU performance.

With their dramatically different architecture, Intel’s Arrow Lake (Core Ultra 200) CPUs present different challenges for cooling. In addition to using more advanced manufacturing and packaging processes, the CPU’s hotspot has shifted north compared to the previous-generation Raptor Lake CPUs, which may impact the performance of some coolers. MSI is offering a mounting offset kit at no charge for users of their AIOs, which the company claims can improve performance by up to 3 degrees Celsius.

Before we get into the cooler testing results, we’re going to take a quick look at MSI’s Velox 100R case, which we used for this testing. MSI also sent along the motherboard and power supply we used, while Intel provided the Core Ultra 7 265K CPU.

MSI Velox 100R Computer Case specifications

Features of MSI Velox 100R Computer Case

*️⃣ Side view and customization options, hinged door

Looking from the side, the inner design is simple but effective. At the top, you have support for extra fans or up to a 360mm radiator. The bottom houses a chamber hiding the PSU and drive cage.

There are only two parts that aren’t quite traditional here: To the side of the motherboard you can install up to two additional fans. The other, more interesting feature is the side cover – the door is hinged and opens using a convenient handle. The picture below shows the cover in the closed position.

When you open the door, you’ll see there are four circles on the side. The top two circles are protective padding to prevent damage to the door. The middle two circles are magnetic, sealing the door to the case when it’s closed.

*️⃣ Efficient design

While fishbowl-style computer cases may have an aesthetic appeal, I tend to prefer more traditional setups because side intake isn’t usually as efficient or effective as traditional direct airflow from front-intake fans in cases like MSI’s Velox 100R.

*️⃣ Subtle LED lighting strip

On the side of the bottom cage, there is a slim lighting strip that stretches from one end of the case to the other, adding a subtle flair to the case’s aesthetic.

*️⃣ Build Quality and Price

The build quality of MSI’s Velox 100R is sturdy, with no apparent weaknesses. However, it is a bit lacking in space behind the motherboard – so you’ll have to take some care with cable management. Its price is moderate at $139.99 – you can certainly find cases that are more and less expensive.

*️⃣ Rear side view, storage support, and cable management features

The backside of the unit is this case’s primary downside. There’s not a lot of room to work with. For cable management, MSI includes three Velcro straps as shown in the image below. Two 2.5-inch drives and two 3.5-inch drives are supported, for a total of 4 drives. The 2.5-inch drives can be installed behind the motherboard, and the 3.5-inch drives can be installed to the drive cage at the bottom of the unit. I’ve highlighted these areas in the photo below.

*️⃣ Four pre-installed 120mm ARGB fans

The fans included with a case have a huge impact on noise levels and thermal performance. MSI includes three 120mm intake fans and one 120mm exhaust fan in the Velox 100R, all of which are PWM-controlled. For this cooling setup, I’ve set these fans to run at 35dBA.

*️⃣ IO Panel

The IO panel is located at the top of the case and features a button to quickly change LED lighting settings on the fly which is connected to a hardware ARGB hub. THere’s also one USB-C and two USB-A ports here, along with separate mic and headphone jacks, an HDD activity indicator, plus power and reset buttons.

*️⃣ Dust filters

The top, side, and bottom of the case are protected with easily removable dust filters. The front is filtered with mesh, but does not feature an easily removable filter.

*️⃣ Radiator and Fan Support

Radiators up to 360mm can be mounted at the top or front of the case. Two fans can be installed on the side of the unit, three on the top, and one on the rear exhaust.

Other components

*️⃣ MSI Ventus 3X OC RTX 4070Ti Super GPU

MSI provided the Ventus 3X OC RTX 4070 Ti GPU for use with CPU + GPU cooler testing. During stress testing, this GPU will consume up to ~290W of power, but typically consumes much less in gaming.

What I like about this GPU is that it features the same bulky heatsink and fans featured on MSI’s more power-hungry RTX 4090 Ventus. This might be a bit overkill for a card that consumes less than 300W, but it allows for cool and quiet operation in any workload you might encounter. I can recommend MSI’s Ventus lineup of GPUs for gamers looking for strong performance paired with whisper-quiet noise levels.

*️⃣ MSI Z890 Carbon Wifi Motherboard

MSI also sent along its newly released Z890 Carbon Wifi motherboard for testing. One of the things that I especially liked about this board is that the CPU power connection has been moved from its traditional spot in the top left corner to a spot above the RAM slots. This makes installing the CPU power cables a much simpler task.

Many motherboard makers skimp on their built-in SSD heatsinks, cooling only one side – this can cause throttling in some scenarios – but not MSI. In addition to supporting five NVMe SSDs, the SSD heatsinks that come with the Z890 Carbon Wifi motherboard are double-sided and so should effectively cool SSDs in common scenarios.

The motherboard also has two PCIe 5 x16 slots and one PCI-e 4 x16 expansion slot for use with GPUs and other devices.

*️⃣ MSI MEG AI1300P PCI-E 5 PSU

To power our cooling setup, MSI provided a MEG AI1300P PCI-5-supporting PSU. What I like about this power supply is that it features the ability to report detailed statistics such as system power consumption, PSU temperatures, and more if connected to a motherboard via USB. The PSU also ran cool and quiet in all scenarios I tested it under, but the components I’ve used won’t push the PSU to its limits – your experience might be different with more power-hungry components.

Finally, Intel provided both a Core Ultra 7 265K and Core Ultra 9 285K CPU for use in our cooling testing. Today we’re covering the cooling needs for the more common Core Ultra 7 265K, and as you’ll see in the benchmarks below it’s much easier to tame than previous-generation INtel CPUs. However, the same can’t be said for Intel’s more power-hungry Core Ultra 9 285K, but that’s an article for another day.

To be clear: The advice given in this article is only applicable to Intel’s Core Ultra 7 265K and Core Ultra 5 245K CPUs. We’ll soon have another feature covering the cooling needs of Intel’s Core Ultra 9 285K, with a different set of guidelines and recommendations.

Testing configuration – Intel LGA1851 platform

I do a few things to ensure my results are useful to actual users. To begin, I strictly regulate the ambient temperature to 23C during testing. I do not accept results at 22 or 24C as valid, even though, in theory, there shouldn’t be much of a difference.

I also do my best to emulate the conditions a user would encounter using the cooler, with thermal loads similar to those a person would experience in real life, and tested in a real case – not on an open bench, which can decrease the difficulty of cooling.

As Intel’s Core Ultra 7 265K is easy to cool, we’ll be focusing our reviews on low and mid-range air coolers, with a special emphasis on quiet noise-normalized performance.