A Trio of Thermaltake Towers
by Joshua Buss on August 16, 2006 2:30 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Thermaltake Aguila - External
The Aguila takes a number of steps to really improve Thermaltake's offerings in the desktop case segment, starting first and foremost with a little more straightforward design on the front door.
Both logos - the company's and the case's - are finished nicely and look great against the respective metal mesh and brushed aluminum.
The Aguila is available in both silver and black, with and without a side window. Our silver model came with a side window, and for all practical purposes it's identical to the Eclipse DV's - extra fan ventilation and everything.
Taking design elements mostly from the Armor series, the Aguila front behind the door looks pretty familiar. With a full fledged door, things will truly be protected though, and should one want to remove the door entirely they will only be left with two much smaller flaps, (and even those can be removed as well if desired.) A vertically aligned 5.25" drive can be installed too, just like in the Armor Jr.
More like the Eclipse DV than the Eureka, opening the entire front panel of the Aguila is not only more useful but is even encouraged with true hinges and a lock specifically for this purpose.
This is how one would change the front fan filter and prepare the external bays for a drive. To that note, it should be mentioned that the bay covers for the external drives are all easily removed and reinstalled thanks to the use of real screws instead of snap-off metal pieces.
Instead of having extra ports on the side or front, the Aguila has them on top, just like the Armor. We're not too sure if the sleek pop-up cover was even necessary, but the protection from dust and food crumbs getting into the jacks will be appreciated by many anyway. In another 'nice touch' move, Thermaltake put the identifying symbols for each jack on the underside of the cover.
The Aguila takes a number of steps to really improve Thermaltake's offerings in the desktop case segment, starting first and foremost with a little more straightforward design on the front door.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
Both logos - the company's and the case's - are finished nicely and look great against the respective metal mesh and brushed aluminum.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
The Aguila is available in both silver and black, with and without a side window. Our silver model came with a side window, and for all practical purposes it's identical to the Eclipse DV's - extra fan ventilation and everything.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
Taking design elements mostly from the Armor series, the Aguila front behind the door looks pretty familiar. With a full fledged door, things will truly be protected though, and should one want to remove the door entirely they will only be left with two much smaller flaps, (and even those can be removed as well if desired.) A vertically aligned 5.25" drive can be installed too, just like in the Armor Jr.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
More like the Eclipse DV than the Eureka, opening the entire front panel of the Aguila is not only more useful but is even encouraged with true hinges and a lock specifically for this purpose.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
This is how one would change the front fan filter and prepare the external bays for a drive. To that note, it should be mentioned that the bay covers for the external drives are all easily removed and reinstalled thanks to the use of real screws instead of snap-off metal pieces.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
Instead of having extra ports on the side or front, the Aguila has them on top, just like the Armor. We're not too sure if the sleek pop-up cover was even necessary, but the protection from dust and food crumbs getting into the jacks will be appreciated by many anyway. In another 'nice touch' move, Thermaltake put the identifying symbols for each jack on the underside of the cover.
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raskren - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - link
I'm tired of these Nite Brite cases designed for the 15 year old boy. Come on! How about something a little more professional? I don't need or want giant holes, windows, or cases covered in LEDs!JoshuaBuss - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - link
despite what the majority of comments seem to point to, the fact is Thermaltake's cases sell like hot-cakes. people like them.. and no, I'm not just talking about 15 year old boys. different strokes for different folksOperandi - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - link
Nickelback, the Chevy Cavalier, and Huffy bikes sell like “hot-cakes” too yet all three suck, hmm… how about that?People like them sure but based on the comments here not the Anandtech demographic.
JoshuaBuss - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - link
trust me, the 'active anandtech comment posters' demographic is nothing like the 'active anandtech reader' demographic ;)Le Québécois - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - link
Amen !Forbin85 - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - link
I have to agree. What's with the doors on the front too?I actually just bought myself a Coolermaster Centurion 534 for my Conroe build.
bob661 - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - link
I have a red Aspire aluminum case. I can't find my case anywhere anymore so I'm assuming it's been discontinued although steel versions can be found. Very simple design with side facing hard drive trays damn near the same as the Aguila. I'll have this case for a LONG time before I give it up. BTX will probably be the only way I'll change it.AMD4ME2 - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - link
I personally like screws! to hold in my expansion cards! I work on alot of machines daily and seriously... I'm sick of opening computers and finding expansion cards bouncing around in the case because of some wimpy screwless design.SilthDraeth - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - link
"Once our install was completed we noticed how much the honeycomb grill acts like a standard case window, but frankly we appreciate the ventilation and EMF shielding it provides more than just the cool factor."Just how much EMF shielding do you think an aluminum grill provides? And you mention that you like the ventilation, while at the same time, you express your worry over your hard drives getting to hot???
and
"This decision is interesting for a case designed more for sever use though, considering it sacrifices airflow over the hard drives, which shows up as considerably higher temperatures for our system hard drive and MOSFETs."
I guess you can say the case is designed for servers. I actually thought it was a small form factor case, instead of an ATX case for building your own standard computer in.
On a positive note I like the Aguila's design, but I still do not think it touches the Coolermaster Praetorian.
JoshuaBuss - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - link
good point. I'll see if I can re-word that.