Computing on Demand PC News & Reviews
It is easy to see that Tt is trying some cool things here. Most motherboard installations require you to screw the board in place. In this case you can use the “push pin” idea for installing it. This is a neat idea, but I would still prefer to screw the motherboard down. I bent more than one of the pins trying to get them secure. One thing that confused me was that Tt sent the case with 4 standard motherboard mounts that require screws and the rest of the installation is with these pushpins. I would think a manufacturer would make it all or none. Following their tool-less approach, even the PCI and AGP slots can have cards installed without the normally required screws.
The total installation is an easy one and most of the components fit right into place, with only one exception. It seems as though many new designs are moving the hard drives around a little, as you will find this one does too. The hard drives power and IDE connections now face you instead of the motherboard. This is fine, in this case anyway, if you are using the standard motherboard channels to hook up your drives, but if you use an IDE controller card you will be hard pressed to find cables that will be long enough for you to connect your drives. One of the reasons for this is the fact that this case has such a great depth, almost 23 inches. This was one problem that I experienced and as you can see from the pictures below, I was unable to connect my hard drives.
After everything is said and done, I’m not completely impressed with this case. Although it has its advantages over most cases out there, because of its price tag of over $150.00 is in a class with some stiff competition. For my wallet, I would have liked to have seen some improvements with regards to the fans, the infeststation of connections, the lack of “true” tool-less, and just the overall esthetics of the case. It is far to busy for my tastes.
Even though the LCD and fan controllers look cool it would have been nice for Tt to provide the user with a less complex installation for them. Frustrations just reign supreme when making all the necessary connections; enough so that I would even consider leaving it unconnected.
For a case that could have had so much going for it, I just can’t see myself buying one. They started to impress me off the bat when I saw real hinges, real locks, an aluminum bezel, sturdy construction, rails, and fan filters. I still just can’t seem to get by the neglects and oversights with regards to, hdd rack distance, the sheer number of connections, the use of 90mm fans, and the overabundance of “Thermaltake” all over the case.
