X-bit labs

Roundup: Six System Cases from Thermaltake (page 6)

Category: Other

by Vasily Melnik

[ 09/12/2005 | 03:35 PM ]

Despite this case obviously costing more than it looks, it is very easy to install everything. Even an inexperienced user shouldn’t meet any problems. Following the current fashion, all the devices are fastened without screws. You will only need your screwdriver to mount the mainboard. To install optical and hard disk drives you use slides of two kinds (included with the case):

The wider ones are for optical drives, and the narrower ones with the special screws are for mounting hard disk drives. The screws don’t have threading. You just insert them into the rubber pads and then press the pads to the hard drive’s side. Despite the lack of threading the slides hold well enough thanks to the stiffness of the shockproof rubber pads.

When the slides are attached to the drive, you just snap the device shut in the rack.

You can mount up to five hard disk drives this way, but don’t push it to the limit. If all the bays are occupied, there remains almost no space for ventilation even though there is a 120mm fan at the front panel to cool the rack with the drives. I think that putting more than three hard drives into the rack will have a very negative effect on the ventilation.

I would also want to mark the clever intake fan arrangement: the large openings in the front panel supply enough air to this fan and there’s a minimum of obstacles on the path of the air stream. But this is only until the front decorative door is not closed. When it is shut, the fan finds it much harder to get enough air.

It’s even simpler with the 5.25” rails. Without any rubber pads or screws you just put them on the drive. They hold fast enough – you have to pry the rail with a screwdriver to take it off the device. Well, if you still don’t trust this fastening, you can use the holes to screw the rails up to the drive.

To put an optical drive into the case, you have to take the front bezel off:

It is not a complicated operation – you just open three latches and the panel comes off. Then you fix the drive in its bay:

This done, you can put the front bezel back in place and enjoy the result: