Falcon Northwest FragBox Review: Tiny Gaming PC, Big Performance
Falcon Northwest FragBox (2023): Noise, Thermals, And Our Conclusion
We spent some time monitoring noise levels and temperatures while subjected the FragBox to repeated runs of gaming benchmarks and stress tests. At idle, we measured around 40.5db of fan noise, which is definitely noticeable compared to the 35.7db ambient noise in the room. Meanwhile, you can barely tell when the large custom-built tower PC in the same room is running at idle. That said, the FragBox’s idle noise is nowhere near a roar, sounding more like a pleasant hum without any harsh tones. Also, to be fair, the FragBox is trying to keep more powerful components cool in a small enclosure.
While piling on stress tests for both the CPU and GPU, the system’s fan noise hovered around 46.6db, occasionally peaking at 47db. This level of noise is still nowhere near a roar and is comparable to well-cooled larger gaming PCs, such the Maingear Vybe. This particular form of testing is also pretty unfair to the FragBox, as most workloads won’t completely max out both the GPU and CPU at the same time. While running gaming benchmarks, the fan noise averaged 42.6db, which is what buyers should expect for real-world usage playing recent titles at 4K with max settings. With an over-ear headset on and game volume or voice chat turned up, you’ll barely notice any noise at all coming from the FragBox. Given the powerful components packed inside, we really didn’t expect the noise levels from a compact system to be this low.
As for temperatures, the CPU runs quite hot under load, but that has nothing to do with the FragBox. As we noted in our Core i9-13900KS review, Intel squeezes every bit of performance out of this CPU as it can by using all thermal headroom available. Whether in our roomy test bench or in the compact FragBox, the Core i9-13900KS quickly climbs to around 100°C and sits there at that ceiling. As we recounted in the previous section, sustaining this high temperature seems to have no noticeable impact on performance. Once the work load lets up, the CPU quickly falls back down to 50°C.
On the GPU side, the hottest temperature we ever observed during testing was 69.2°C, but that was while running Furmark, which is a notoriously difficult workload for GPUs. While driving a 4K display during non-GPU intensive workloads, the 4090 hovered between a cool 28 and 30°C. The overall takeaway here is that we observed no dangerously high temperatures or worrying behavior during this testing.
While piling on stress tests for both the CPU and GPU, the system’s fan noise hovered around 46.6db, occasionally peaking at 47db. This level of noise is still nowhere near a roar and is comparable to well-cooled larger gaming PCs, such the Maingear Vybe. This particular form of testing is also pretty unfair to the FragBox, as most workloads won’t completely max out both the GPU and CPU at the same time. While running gaming benchmarks, the fan noise averaged 42.6db, which is what buyers should expect for real-world usage playing recent titles at 4K with max settings. With an over-ear headset on and game volume or voice chat turned up, you’ll barely notice any noise at all coming from the FragBox. Given the powerful components packed inside, we really didn’t expect the noise levels from a compact system to be this low.
As for temperatures, the CPU runs quite hot under load, but that has nothing to do with the FragBox. As we noted in our Core i9-13900KS review, Intel squeezes every bit of performance out of this CPU as it can by using all thermal headroom available. Whether in our roomy test bench or in the compact FragBox, the Core i9-13900KS quickly climbs to around 100°C and sits there at that ceiling. As we recounted in the previous section, sustaining this high temperature seems to have no noticeable impact on performance. Once the work load lets up, the CPU quickly falls back down to 50°C.
On the GPU side, the hottest temperature we ever observed during testing was 69.2°C, but that was while running Furmark, which is a notoriously difficult workload for GPUs. While driving a 4K display during non-GPU intensive workloads, the 4090 hovered between a cool 28 and 30°C. The overall takeaway here is that we observed no dangerously high temperatures or worrying behavior during this testing.
Falcon Northwest FragBox Review Conclusions:
We’ll begin with a slight repeat of our Maingear MG-1 review, but with a few key words changing the outcome a bit: the Northwest Falcon FragBox is the fastest pre-built PC we’ve tested to date. The Intel Core i9-13900KS and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 together make for the most potent gaming setup you can buy at present (at least until Ryzen 7000X3D options enter the scene), and the FragBox consistently broke our benchmark records, topping even the Core i9-13900KS and RTX 4090 results from our test bench. We thought thermal management and noise with such beastly hardware in such a small form factor might be an issue, but we were proven wrong.
Beyond the CPU and GPU, the FragBox's 2TB Kingston Fury Renegade SSD showed itself to be blazing fast, and we found the 32GB of DDR5 RAM to be likewise. The system's 1000 W SilverStone SFX-L power supply also handles its thirsty components like a champ. Falcon Northwest demonstrates with its FragBox that you can have a reasonably portable PC with the best hardware available.
The question potential buyers will have to ask themselves is whether they’re willing to pay the price for the FragBox’s special form factor and premium fit and finish. That’s not a question we can answer for everyone, but we guess that $5,489 as tested isn’t a price point to scoff at for most people. If you do order your own FragBox, Falcon Northwest stands by its product, offering a three year warranty for both parts and labor on top of one year of Falcon Overnight Service and technical support for the lifetime of the machine. We have only positive things to say about the FragBox and Falcon Northwest, and for that we’re giving this mini-might of a gaming PC our Editor’s Choice award.
