Thermaltake is pretty well known for their cases I think and this is my first time reviewing one. They sent over their new Xaser WinGo V8000A case which the top of the line in this series of cases. The case is 490 x 205x 580 mm in dimension and is made of aluminum so it is pretty light weighing only 14.77 pounds which is light for how large it is. The case boasts a lot of features which we will look at throughout the review.
The box that the case comes in is very nice and of high quality. The box has all kinds of information on it along with some award logos. The case within is very well protected with thick styrofoam to keep it protected.
The front of the case is pretty cool looking and has a few nice features. First, on the top and bottom of the door there is a knob which is a fan control. if you hook your fans up to these knobs you will be able to change their speeds with ease. The back of the case has a nice overall design. The case comes with thumbscrews and a 80mm exhaust fan as well as keys for the lock.
The window on the side panel comes protected really well on both sides. There is also a nice sized handle so that you can easily remove the panel. With the protection removed from the window you can see the Thermaltake etching and how nice the window really is.
The top of the case features some external ports which are nice. Underneath the little door there is a firewire, 2 USB, MIC, and headphone port(s). Behind the door there is a piece of plastic with holes in it, this is for the fan which is attached to the inside top of the case. This will do a nice job alongside the exhaust fan to pull hot air out of the system.
There is a lock on the door of the case to keep all of your hardware secure and to stop people from turning your case on or off. You have the option of locking it, unlocking just the door, or unlocking the door and front bezel. When the door and bezel are unlocked you can easily access behind the bezel which is better than removing it completely I think. Behind the bezel there is a 80mm intake fan with a filter on it to pull cool air into the case. You can also see a small knob next to the filter, turning this to the locked position will lock the side panel keeping your expensive hardware safe.
Inside the case come some accessories which include an I/O backplane, hardware, manual, and three stickers. The manual does a good job explaining the features of the case that are unique that you may have questions about.
After taking the side panel off and looking inside the case you can see that it isn’t your standard OEM case. The first thing that caught my eyes was the two fans mounted to the plastic panel. These fans have special adapters that allow the plugs from the knobs on the front of the case to control their speed. The Door does unclip from the side and swing open so that you can easily work inside the case. On each fan you can see a small plug which is used to connect to the fan control knobs on the front of the case.
Inside of the case stuck to the bottom of the case is an inverter. This inverter is for the WinGo EL lamp which is basically a lit up section on the front of the case. You can use the inverter to turn the El lamp on, off, or set to flash depending on which you prefer. Below the case are the optional feet, you can either leave them tucked under the case or bring them out for better stability.
The first set of jumpers below are for the motherboard, these include the power, reset, LEDs, and speaker. The second set of jumpers are for the top USB, firewire, MIC, and audio out.
This case is tool free which means it comes with drive rails for 5.25″ and 3.5″ drives. I put two on both my hard drive and CDROM so I could easily install them. Attaching the drive rails is simple, all you have to do is use push them into the screw holes. The small rails are for 3.5″ drives and the large rails are for 5.25″ drives.
Once the rails are on the drives all you have to do is slide them in until the click into place. The CDROM was really easy to install because I just had to unlock the bezel, swing it open, and slide the drive in. The hard drive installation was also really easy because the cage is perpendicular to the case. This makes it really easy to just slide your hard drives in because you don’t have to get in the case.
Installation of the main hardware went quite smoothly there was nothing really negative to comment on. Everything went into place correctly without any modification. After getting all the internal hardware installed I then hooked up the optional fans I wanted and cleaned up the inside of the case so that it looks presentable.
Like I mentioned before the front of the case has a door that has a glowing Thermaltake logo on it. You can set the inverter inside the case to on, off, and flashing. I currently have the case to just turn it on automatically, below is what it looks like when turned on. It’s a pretty nice touch however I don’t particularly like company branded things like this.
Conclusion
This being my first experience with a Thermaltake case I must say I am quite impressed. Though some of their previous Xaser series cases I did not like because of the aesthetics I do like this one. It looks great and even better works great. There are a ton of features that make the case really easy to use and maintain. There are also many features which promote functionality, cooling, aesthetics. This case looks to cost about $125 which could be a little expensive for some, however it is a worthy case if you want to spend the money. Overall I am very happy with this product and am going to award it a 10/10 and award it the OCmodshop Seal of Approval. I would like to thank Thermaltake for sending me this case to review.
Pros
- Comes with a window installed
- Ability to fully lock the case
- Easy access USB, fireware, and sound ports
- Screw less PCI chips
- Drive rails for 3.5″ and 5.25″ drives
- Retractable feet for stability
- 5 fans included
- 2 fan speed control knobs
- No sharp edges
- WinGo EL lamp for looks
Cons
- Maybe a bit expensive?