Review on Thermaltake Tempered Computer Chassis CA 1I3 00M1WN 00 by Jacob Ashman

Pros: Appearance. This case looks beautiful with tempered glass, acrylic faceplate and LED fans. Lots of space. This case was much more comfortable to work with than my previous one (Cougar Solution V1). The increased space gives my graphics cards more room to get air in and out more efficiently and ensures stable airflow with proper fan placement. The hard drive cage can be removed and the drive bays installed behind the motherboard, allowing for better airflow through the case and (in my opinion) a cleaner looking case. The included fans are pretty good, they blow more air much quieter than my previous fans, and the blue color of the non-RGB versions is the perfect shade of blue for my setup. -------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------- ------------ Cons: My biggest complaint about the case is the fan support. The front can be equipped with 3 x 120mm fans, 2 x 140mm fans or 1 x 200mm fan for intake, and the top can be equipped with 3 x 120mm fans, 3 x 140- mm fans or 2 x 200 mm fans as an outlet. If you want to use the maximum allowable fan area to maximize airflow, you'll end up with negative air pressure inside the case, which isn't ideal as it doesn't dissipate heat properly and draws in dust through unfiltered gaps. This could be corrected by increasing the height of the case by 5-10mm, giving the front of the case the same fan support as the top and maintaining neutral/positive airflow, which is recommended. The additional height would also create more space above the motherboard for better placement of the top heatsink. The radiator/fan configuration I was hoping to achieve was a 280mm radiator + 1 x 140mm fan in front for intake, 360mm wheel on top for exhaust, 1 x 140mm exhaust fan rear and 2 x 120mm bottom intake fans. Unfortunately the case doesn't support this setup and I have to either modify the case or find another configuration that fits. Another issue is that the bottom of the case only supports 2 x 140mm fans if you have a short PSU. . I have an EVGA SuperNova G2 and can only install 2 x 120mm or 1 x 120mm and 1 x 140mm making it difficult to balance the airflow issues on top with bottom mounted fans. simultaneously. If you put 360mm on one, you can only put 280mm on the other. I also had to ask this question 3 times on the store page to get a proper answer from the manufacturer (in all other cases they just posted support specs which weren't enough. Manufacturer/store reps should start to post the ones asked to read questions more carefully before answering). The gap above the motherboard for routing the processor power cable is big enough, but barely. It would be great to open it up a few millimeters more. The motherboard stands are too close to the back of the case, causing the PCIe slot covers to get caught between the motherboard and the case, making it very difficult to remove them to fit my two ports . graphics cards. Moving it 0.5-1mm towards the front of the case would solve this problem. Acrylic front panel painted too dark. It still looks good, which is what I expected after reading previous reviews of the same edition. You can see the LED fans through it, but it doesn't glow enough to illuminate the surrounding walls. The kit does not include a PCIe extension that allows the customer to use a vertical graphics card bracket out of the box. It must be purchased separately. The kit doesn't include a PSU shroud, but for $100, it's reasonable to exclude it. ------------------ --------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- In the In general, I really like this event. My biggest complaints relate to minor issues (although in production they wouldn't cost much more to fix pre-production; maybe they could get their QA department to be a little more choosy) but once your system is fully built is, you will not be a problem with them. I'm just highlighting these points to help all of you plan your builds better. All in all, I definitely recommend this case.