Thermaltake Armor Full Tower ATX / BTX Case

Reviews: Cases

Author:
Editor:
Sponsor:
Published:

Bryan
Kurtis
Thermaltake
May. 7, 2005

<< Previous

Home >>

Conclusion

Overall, I was very pleased with the quality and performance options of this case. The only downfalls of the case were the lack of an included power supply and BTX upgrade kit - both these things should have been included, in my opinion. That said, the case has a lot going for it. The toolless drive bays are the easiest to use that I have seen, the moveable HDD tray provided a nice bit of versatility and makes for a great use of space, the case is BTX compatible (with optional accessory), the case keeps out dust and provides many little additions such as a compartment drawer and larger thumb screws for a user-friendly setup.

It seems as if Thermaltake designed this entire case perfectly from the ground up. It was very hard for me to find any flaws in the case, and the only things I disliked were based on opinion. It is rare to see a case with performance and quality all undeniable and I have to give Thermaltake an A+ for this fine piece of work. The case has a classy and clean look, sturdy and smooth construction, and manages to incorporate quality and convenience all into one sweet package.

Pros

Looks
Aluminum construction
More than enough drive bays
Excellent toolless design
Drive bay cover filters
Excellent air flow
BTX upgradeable
Oversized thumbscrews
Storage drawer
Great installation manual

Cons

Windowed side panel removal is a bit tricky
No PSU included
No removable motherboard tray

<< Previous

Page 5 of 5

Home >>

Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: First Impressions
Page 3: Inside the Case
Page 4: Quality Check
Page 5: Conclusion

Subscribe to Full-Tower [more info]

Add Comment

17 User Comments

1 - Posted by PennyManDeux on May 7, 2005 - 4:43 pm

Nice looking case! A big change from what Thermaltake normally does. Good job!

Now.... MOTHERBOARD TRAY!

2 - Posted by Dyrewolph on May 7, 2005 - 8:17 pm

well here i was with my mouth on the floor that brian had done a review... i thought he was just some admin dude and didn't do much *snicker* but its okay I realised it was Bryan and not Brian :twisted:

3 - Posted by Brian on May 7, 2005 - 10:08 pm

If only I had time to do a review, would be a nice change of pace. I've been putting in a LOT of work behind the scenes... too bad I can't show it to you guys... yet...

;-)

4 - Posted by Kurtis on May 8, 2005 - 1:04 am

brian, u don't have to lie to them. they all know that the "work" you have put in behind the scenes is just creating that silly bouncey badger avatar! :-P ;-)

oh and in case u guys care, i've been working on some video card reviews. you can look forward to the X800 XL 512MB review going up either tomorrow (sunday) or monday

5 - Posted by Dyrewolph on May 8, 2005 - 6:02 am

someone's on drugs :lol:

6 - Posted by Kurtis on May 8, 2005 - 10:16 am

/me points at Dyrewolph

7 - Posted by Brian on May 8, 2005 - 10:17 am

The Bouncy Is Fun! The Bouncy Is Important! The Bouncy Rules All!

Don't Dis The Bouncy!

8 - Posted by J2T on May 9, 2005 - 8:38 am

Well thats a definate improvement over their Xaser line of cases IMO. The only thing is I would like to see a removeable mobo tray and those "guards" in the front seem rather pointless.

9 - Posted by Kurtis on May 9, 2005 - 8:58 am

those things are just for looks i think, they don't really serve a purpose. certainly, they won't conceal any color mismatched bay devices :-P

10 - Posted by PennyManDeux on May 10, 2005 - 11:14 pm

Dey is fo da style my shizzle fo crizzle! A tizzle bizzle bling bling don't hurt nuttin!

11 - Posted by PsychoSnowMan on May 12, 2005 - 12:39 am

That's an awesome case.
I have a problem. My current case is the standard cheap non-name brand beige box type. It's all metal except for a plastic cover that goes over the front. Cooling is atrocious. So bad in fact that I have to leave the side panel off or it will overheat, and the dust that that lets in probably isn't all that good. I could add another case fan to the back which would be a good idea but I'd still have the problem of my big IDE cables blocking the front intake, I already know I could switch to rounded IDE cables. Unfortunately I don't really have the money to buy that sweet 160$ case. And all the ones I see on newegg below 60$ are either white/tan boxes that probably don't have good cooling and aren't that attractive, or look like someone made a computer case out of some riced out Honda chassis.
I looked over the case reviews here but most were either fairly expensive or didn't have that good of cooling.
Are there any stylish cases that aren't covered in LEDs, with good cooling for under $60-70? And can anyone suggest some good ones? If there aren't I suppose it wouldn't be too bad to go for a more expensive case, especially since cases don't become outdated nearly as fast as the rest of my components.

12 - Posted by J2T on May 12, 2005 - 9:45 am

Ok, here a few I like in that price range at the Egg. I'm assuming you are just looking for the case and not necessarily a PSU also

Antec SLK3000-B (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82...)

Chenming 301KEB (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82...)

Enermax CS-517FS (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82...)

13 - Posted by Brian on May 12, 2005 - 10:56 am

Of those three I would go with the Antec. Looks like it allows for better airflow than the Enermax.

14 - Posted by Rich on May 12, 2005 - 1:02 pm

I am a big fan of Antec cases too.

I have used this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82...

15 - Posted by J2T on May 12, 2005 - 1:11 pm

Well, out of those three I do prefer the Antec, but I thought I would give some variety. ;-)

16 - Posted by billycat on May 17, 2005 - 4:51 pm

Just how thick are the sidewalls on those armors? I have a Antec P160 and a Thermaltake Tsunami and the Tsunami's sidewalls are paper thin and feels flimsy. Antec's sidewall feels fairly solid in comparison (seems like 1.5mm or more though I didnt measure.)

Case has great features, I'm just a bit concerned about the durability.

17 - Posted by Guest on June 8, 2005 - 5:44 am

i just wish you would have told me how quiet this case is and how cool, compared to same setup in another case.
i bought one last week dammit. then discovered thermaltake has zero tech support. won't respond to any emails and has no phone support at all

now, just today, antec has a new sonata and the p180, both much better construction than thermaltake

Add Comment

To add a comment without being a member, you may omit the password field, but you must enter your name (or nickname) along with your comment. * Denotes required fields.