Installation

While installation of the hardware was quick and simple, the wiring included in the case slowed down the process of making connections to the case fans and the power supply. We first had to move all of the wiring out of the way to the outside of the case in order to install the motherboard and drives easily.

The power supply, on the other hand, installed easily. There was just enough room between the top of the case and the support bar to slip in the OCZ PowerStream. We were also afraid that the fan at the top of the case would get in the way of installing the power supply as it has occurred in other cases that we have looked at, but the placement of the fan was perfect for the installation our test power supply.




Click to enlarge.


Thermaltake included plastic drive rails that snap on the other sides of both 3-1/2" drives as well as 5-1/4" drives for easy installation. Installing the Seagate Barracuda took seconds rather than the minutes that it would require without the tool-less drive rails.




Click to enlarge.


Motherboard Tray Benchmarking
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  • treadhed - Thursday, September 9, 2004 - link

    This case fukin blows. The option to have fan control, temp readouts, yada yada are not worth the trouble thermaltake makes hooking it all up. It uses power connecters for all of its sensor and control function wires, which can make it VERY confusing when plugging it in. On top of that I think I got a wire crossed and blew my powersupply, because it's not turning on any more. I've built hundreds of systems in many types of cases. That is definatly my worst experiance ever.

    This joker is freaking HEAVY too, I mean heavy to the point of being ridiculus.
  • treadhed - Friday, July 30, 2004 - link

    Mine just came in, and I'll say they could do without the thermaltake logo everywhere. The worst was the thermaltake "coolall your life" logo stamped on the plexi window, which I did not see when I was browsing cases. Out of every case I looed at when I was shopping around this one looked the most cooling efficient "out of the box", which is important when you really don't have time to spend monkeying around with modding a case plus making it heat efficient.

    This has it all it one package, the extra well placed fans plus the front temp readout and fan control. The front temp readout is what contributes to all of the wiring, but then again, any front temp and fan control readout you add to your case is going to contribute to alot of wiring, so that's really not a minus for this case.

    I'll post again after I've put my parts in.
  • sandorski - Monday, July 26, 2004 - link

    4 months ago I got a VM3000(skull) and am very pleased with it. I could live without the Light inset on the front(skulls on each end of the Thermtake name), which is quite gaudy when on, but overall it's a nice looking case IMO. However, despite that light, the front door on the Skull is relatively conservative, unlike what the front of this reviewed case looks like.

    The Toolless design is real nice as are the drive rails.

  • shuttleboi - Sunday, July 25, 2004 - link

    This is the most grotesque case I have ever seen in my life. Why can't PC makers take a cue from Apple's engineering team and produce aesthetically pleasing cases?

    To posters #4, 7, and 8 (and anyone else who bought this fugly case): get your eyes checked.
  • darklight0tr - Saturday, July 24, 2004 - link

    I actually like many of the Thermaltake designs. Sure, they are a bit outlandish, but I have found many of the current cases designs offered by manufacturers to be a bit boring. At least Thermaltake is attempting to add a bit of flare to their cases. I guess it just doesn't work for some.

    I plan on buying a WinGo V7000D for my next computer.
  • Dantzig - Saturday, July 24, 2004 - link

    Please review some classier looking cases. I didn't know cases this ugly existed until Anandtech started reviewing them! This one is almost as bad as the spiderman case.

    The cases don't have to be boring, but ones that don't look like a joke would be nice.
  • PuravSanghani - Friday, July 23, 2004 - link

    #5: That number in the summary was a typo and has been fixed. The actual temperature of the CPU after 30 minutes of system on time was 43.6 Degrees Celsius which is a safe 54 Degrees under the Athlon64 3200's 97 Degree maximum stated operating temperature.
  • skunkbuster - Friday, July 23, 2004 - link

    the word 'gaudy' comes to mind when i look at this thing.
  • skiboysteve - Friday, July 23, 2004 - link

    eyah i had to work out one of the plastic things to get my radeon in as well, very annoying to put your screw driver through the tiny opening after you take off the plastic thing.
  • dachkine - Friday, July 23, 2004 - link

    I've spent some long hours assembling my new computer using this case and even though the cables were a mess, I believe the worse thing is the PCI screwless mechanism.
    I have a Radeon 9800 and it was not possible to hold it it the plastic fixing thing.

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