PC Components

ENDORFY Armis 100 Solid Test – Office case with space for external drive

Behind the ENDORFY brand is the former SilentiumPC brand. It was founded in 2007 in Warsaw, Poland, and initially focused solely on PC components in the case and cooling sector. However, as the portfolio has since been expanded to include various computer accessories in different categories (mouse, keyboard, headsets, etc.), the manufacturer has decided to change the name from SilentiumPC to ENDORFY. However, the main focus in the development of new products remains unchanged: good value, good features and solid workmanship. Today we are testing the new ENDORFY Armis 100 Solid, which is advertised by the manufacturer as an office case.

Technical details

Model ENDORFY Armis 100 Solid
Case type Midi-Tower
Case dimensions 200 mm (W) x 423 mm (H) x 388 mm (D)
Case weight 3.5 kg
Material Steel, plastic
color Black color
Front connections 2x USB 3.0 Type-A, 1x headphones/microphone, 1x card reader (microSD/SD)
Drive bays 1x 5,25″
1x 3,5″
1x 3,5″/ 2,5″
4x 2,5″
Expansion slots 7x horizontal
Form factors ATX, µATX, ITX
Ventilation Front: 2x 120 mm
Rear: 1x 120 mm
Radiators Front: 1x 240/ 120 mm
Rear: 1x 120 mm
Max. CPU cooler height 165 mm
Max. Graphics card length 335 mm (without front fan)
Max. Power supply length 160 mm (with 5.25″ drive)
Space for cable management < 18 mm
Price € 46.99 *
Special features Dust filter, cable management, integrated card reader

ENDORFY Armis 100 Solid: The scope of delivery

ENDORFY packs the midi tower in a compact box made of brown cardboard and prints a list of the most important features, a table with technical data and two images of the midi tower on the outer skin. Inside the packaging, the manufacturer wraps the Armis 100 Solid in two blocks of thin polystyrene and a plastic film.

The accessories are stowed in a plastic bag, which is attached to the interior with cable ties and also holds the I/O panel cables together. The scope of delivery includes all necessary mounting screws, mounting instructions, six long cable ties and a pre-installed 120 mm fan.

External impression

Visually, the ENDORFY Armis 100 Solid is absolutely inconspicuous and focuses on understatement. The front panel is made of plastic and has a structure that is presumably intended to resemble brushed aluminum. However, the material thickness of the plastic is quite borderline. If we remove the front panel, two mounting slots for a 120 mm fan are revealed behind it. There are also simple dust filter mats on the side ventilation openings.

A feature that has become very rare is support for an external 5.25″ drive. Here too, the ENDORFY Armis 100 Solid does not disappoint and offers space for just that. When installed, however, there are unfortunately quite large and noticeable gaps on the sides of the drive. Finally, above the external 5.25″ slot, ENDORFY places the front-facing I/O panel, which has two USB 3.0 ports, sockets for headphones and microphone, two buttons for power/reset and even a card reader for (micro)SD cards.

The top of the Armis 100 Solid is completely closed. Nevertheless, there is a small indentation here, which indicates that an existing body was used for this midi tower and simply no ventilation opening was milled into the lid. In principle, however, this area can also be used as a storage surface.

As you might have guessed from the name, both side panels are closed and made of relatively thin steel. However, as the side panels are not so large, the material thickness is not so significant and hardly reduces their stability. The body is locked in place with two knurled screws and there is a recessed grip on both sides. Finally, the left-hand side panel can be locked using an eyelet or an optional lock to prevent theft of the components.

At the rear is a layout that we no longer see so often. The power supply unit is mounted at the top of the Armis 100 Solid, with the mainboard and the pre-installed 120 mm fan underneath. In the lower area we find seven PCI slot panels, six of which have to be broken out. Only the top one can be reused. As is usual with inexpensive cases, the expansion cards are screwed on outside the case.

ENDORFY places the Armis 100 Solid on very simple plastic feet and does not implement any noteworthy features on the underside. With the exception of a few holes, the entire base section is completely closed. The only special features here are two screws that hold the hard disk cage inside and can be removed.

Interior impression

Due to the chosen layout, the interior of this midi tower is of course very different from what we are used to. There is no division into two areas and all components are housed in one large main chamber. The mainboard tray is slightly recessed and has a huge cut-out to allow access to the rear of an already installed mainboard. There are also four large and one small opening for cable management.

At the rear of the interior, we can see the mounting position for the power supply unit and the pre-installed case fan. As already mentioned, almost all of the PCI slot bezels have to be broken out and replacement bezels are not included in the scope of delivery. ENDORFY has had two large openings cut in the front area of the interior. These allow two optional 120 mm fans to transport cold air into the interior unhindered.

On the other hand, there is not much to see on the back of the mainboard tray. ENDORFY creates a little more space for cables above and to the left of the mainboard with indentations and places some eyelets there to tie down the cable ties. The additional bulge on the side panel provides around 15 to 18 millimeters of space at the rear. There is just enough space for cables that are not heavily sheathed.

The ENDORFY Armis 100 Solid stands out positively in the area of hard disk compatibility. In addition to the bay for the external 5.25″ drive, there are a total of four mounting slots for 2.5″ data carriers as well as an additional mounting frame for two 3.5″ or one 3.5″ and one 2.5″ hard disk. Even if the cage is removed, a 3.5″ HDD can still be installed directly on the base. However, two of the 2.5″ data carriers block two of the large cable management openings when installed.

Processing

When you take the ENDORFY Armis 100 Solid out of the box, you immediately notice the midi tower’s low weight of just 3.5 kilograms. Compared to other midi towers, the Armis 100 Solid is of course somewhat smaller, but you can clearly see at one point or another that material has been deliberately saved. However, the material used leaves a good impression. We could not detect any sharp edges, dents or scratches. Finally, the paintwork was also carried out neatly and evenly.

ENDORFY Armis 100 Solid test: Installing the components

Now we come to the system installation for the ENDORFY Armis 100 Solid test. As hardware, we use an AMD Ryzen 5 1400* on an ASUS TUF Gaming B550M-Plus* with 16GB Crucial Ballistix Sport LT gray DDR4-2666*. The Ryzen is cooled by an Alpenföhn Brocken 4* and is overclocked to 3.8 GHz (1.175 V). A Gigabyte AORUS GTX 1060 6GB is responsible for the image output. The power supply is provided by the fully modular LC-Power LC550 V2.31 Platinum*.

Although the ENDORFY Armis 100 Solid is a midi tower, the interior is very compact. Nevertheless, according to the manufacturer, the interior offers space for 160 millimeter long power supplies, 335 millimeter long graphics cards and 165 mm high CPU coolers. With the exception of current high-end GPUs, the Armis 100 Solid can therefore fit a large number of gaming components on paper, even if gaming is not the actual focus of the case. If that’s not enough, a compact water cooling system with a 240 mm radiator can also be installed in the front. This naturally reduces the maximum length for a graphics card.

We were able to complete the installation of our test system quickly and easily. Almost all the spacers were pre-installed and saved us a lot of time. However, the cabling was a bit of a challenge. Despite the indentations, there is just enough space behind the mainboard tray for a handful of thicker cable harnesses. Thanks to the numerous eyelets, however, we were able to secure the cables well. The cable management openings were also sensibly positioned and dimensioned. However, if you want to achieve a neat appearance, then the use of a power supply unit with modular cable harnesses is mandatory.

ENDORFY Armis 100 Solid comes from the factory with a pre-installed 120 mm fan in the rear. This is of the Stratus 120 PWM type, has a 4-pin PWM connection and can therefore achieve speeds of between 200 and 1400 revolutions per minute. The fan also has a zero fan mode. In terms of appearance, the fan consists of a black frame and a black rotor blade. However, the Stratus 120 PWM does not have any decoupling elements.

Load test

Finally, we come to the temperatures reached in the ENDORFY Armis 100 Solid test. Prime95 and FurMark were run for 30 minutes at a room temperature of 20 °C during the stress test. In addition, the stress test was carried out in the standard fan configuration with three speeds (minimum speed, 50% PWM and 100% PWM) and with an additional front fan. The results are listed in the table below.

Scenario
Temperature
CPU: 50% PWM (1100 rpm)
GPU: 50% PWM (1650 rpm)
Benchtable/ open setup
CPU: 58.2 °C
GPU: 63.4 °C
CPU: 50% PWM (1100 rpm)
GPU: 50% PWM (1650 rpm)
Rear: 1x 120 mm minimum speed (220 rpm)
CPU: 80.2 °C
GPU: 82.3 °C
CPU: 50% PWM (1100 rpm)
GPU: 50% PWM (1650 rpm)
Rear: 1x 120 mm 50% PWM (950 rpm)
CPU: 70.7 °C
GPU: 74.1 °C
CPU: 50% PWM (1100 rpm)
GPU: 50% PWM (1650 rpm)
Rear: 1x 120 mm 100% PWM (1600 rpm)
CPU: 67.5 °C
GPU: 70.5 °C
CPU: 50% PWM (1100 rpm)
GPU: 50% PWM (1650 rpm)
Front: 1x 120 mm minimum speed (330 rpm)
Rear: 1x 120 mm minimum speed (220 rpm)
CPU: 78.1 °C
GPU: 78.0 °C
CPU: 50% PWM (1100 rpm)
GPU: 50% PWM (1650 rpm)
Front: 1x 120 mm 50% PWM (950 rpm)
Rear: 1x 120 mm 50% PWM (950 rpm)
CPU: 70.5 °C
GPU: 69.5 °C
CPU: 50% PWM (1100 rpm)
GPU: 50% PWM (1650 rpm)
Front: 1x 120 mm 100% PWM (1600 rpm)
Rear: 1x 120 mm 100% PWM (1600 rpm)
CPU: 65.5 °C
GPU: 66.1 °C

With only the pre-installed rear fan, the ENDORFY Armis 100 Solid is unfortunately clearly positioned at the rear and is definitely not suitable for hotter gaming components. If you still want to build a compact gaming system with this case, then both fan slots in the front should be fitted.

But even then, the cooling performance is not comparable with current midi towers with a mesh front and open lid section. In our opinion, it doesn’t have to be, as ENDORFY clearly advertises the Armis 100 Solid as a case for office PCs. We can’t even find the word “gaming” on the entire product page.

ENDORFY Armis 100 Solid test: Conclusion

The ENDORFY Armis 100 Solid is the manufacturer’s most affordable and smallest case. Despite its compact dimensions, it offers space for ATX mainboards, large CPU coolers and long graphics cards as well as mounting points for up to three fans and an above-average number of data carriers. ENDORFY also equips the Armis 100 Solid with a slot for an external 5.25 drive and two USB 3.0 ports as well as a card reader for (micro)SD cards. Finally, a solid 120 mm fan with PWM connection is also part of the scope of delivery.

On the other hand, we noticed the general cooling performance, which suffers from the closed front panel or lid. In general, the classic ATX layout with a top-mounted power supply unit is now rather unsuitable for gaming systems and places an unnecessarily high load on the power supply unit. We also found the material thickness, which is quite thin in places, to be negative. The low overall weight, on the other hand, can be a positive or negative aspect of this midi tower, depending on the intended use.

As already mentioned, ENDORFY advertises the Armis 100 Solid as a case for office PCs. Due to its positive characteristics, this midi tower should generally be well suited for this purpose if the installed components are not too hot and the lower material thickness is not a deal-breaker. However, the price of € 46.99 * is currently too high. We see the ENDORFY Armis 100 Solid at between €35 and €40, but as it is very new, it could of course still be that the street price settles in this range.

ENDORFY Armis 100 Solid

Processing
Structure
Equipment
Cooling
Price-performance ratio

78/100

The ENDORFY Armis 100 Solid is a simple and plain but interestingly equipped midi tower with compact dimensions and yet plenty of space for hardware. However, we would only recommend the case for an office PC and the purchase price should be below the €40 mark.

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