Conclusion

The Thermaltake Lanbox can be used to assemble a top-end gaming system with impressive performance (at least I successfully finished S.T.A.L.K.E.R. on this system at nearly maximum graphics quality settings). Large top-end graphics cards like GeForce 8800 GTX cannot be installed into it, however. This card will only fit into the Lanbox if the 5.25” cage is modified, making it impossible to install the 7” display. However, this is the only reason why you cannot install such a graphics card. There are no restrictions in terms of cooling and ventilation.

The Lanbox is also good in terms of noise. The front and exhaust fans are all very quiet. They may only be disturbing in the evening when there is little or no background noise. Improving the cooling system to make it silent will only make sense if you’ve installed an appropriate graphics card. For example, the adaptive fan speed management of my X1800 didn’t help much – the noise of its cooler was dominating even in idle mode.

Thus, the Lanbox is indeed an excellent system case. If its market positioning and intended applications are just what you need, you shouldn’t even seek for alternatives.