A Trio of Thermaltake Towers
by Joshua Buss on August 16, 2006 2:30 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Introduction
Lately, with all the commotion in the CPU and GPU markets, the case industry seems rather unexciting. Somehow AMD buying ATI just seems a little more important than choosing the tower of your dreams for your next rig. But with huge shifts in anything - be it a new processor or a better integrated platform - the number of people interested in building a new PC at all grows, and with that growth comes the necessary interest in new cases.
While it's certainly nice to see Conroe generating much, much less heat than the Pentium D series, we certainly won't be able to get rid of worrying about the thermal outputs of our computers altogether any time soon. Also, with even decently-configured towers becoming so inexpensive to build the emphasis on looks and low noise levels is at an all-time high in the case realm.
Taking all these factors into mind, Thermaltake has been busy revamping some of their older products, as well as refining the aspects that have made previous cases of theirs so popular. After polishing up their work they sent us three different cases that showcase some of the fruits of these labors.
While we've already examined the ThermalRock Eclipse in a large roundup from last year, we're going to take a brief look at its latest incarnation, the Eclipse DV - now officially a Thermaltake product. This newer case is very much like the original, but will serve as a good comparison to the newer designs Thermaltake has to offer as well. The Eureka is targeted as a true server case, and although some of its design features will definitely make this obvious it could still fit into a lot of users' "perfect combination of features" list. Lastly we'll examine the very new Aguila desktop case, a product quite similar to the very popular Armor Jr. case but with a couple useful tweaks. Here's a quick breakdown of what the different models offer:
(TL: Tool-less, TS: Thumbscrews, SS: Standard Screws,
TR: Tool-less rails, SR: Screwed rails)
Time to look at the first case!
Lately, with all the commotion in the CPU and GPU markets, the case industry seems rather unexciting. Somehow AMD buying ATI just seems a little more important than choosing the tower of your dreams for your next rig. But with huge shifts in anything - be it a new processor or a better integrated platform - the number of people interested in building a new PC at all grows, and with that growth comes the necessary interest in new cases.
While it's certainly nice to see Conroe generating much, much less heat than the Pentium D series, we certainly won't be able to get rid of worrying about the thermal outputs of our computers altogether any time soon. Also, with even decently-configured towers becoming so inexpensive to build the emphasis on looks and low noise levels is at an all-time high in the case realm.
Taking all these factors into mind, Thermaltake has been busy revamping some of their older products, as well as refining the aspects that have made previous cases of theirs so popular. After polishing up their work they sent us three different cases that showcase some of the fruits of these labors.
While we've already examined the ThermalRock Eclipse in a large roundup from last year, we're going to take a brief look at its latest incarnation, the Eclipse DV - now officially a Thermaltake product. This newer case is very much like the original, but will serve as a good comparison to the newer designs Thermaltake has to offer as well. The Eureka is targeted as a true server case, and although some of its design features will definitely make this obvious it could still fit into a lot of users' "perfect combination of features" list. Lastly we'll examine the very new Aguila desktop case, a product quite similar to the very popular Armor Jr. case but with a couple useful tweaks. Here's a quick breakdown of what the different models offer:
(TL: Tool-less, TS: Thumbscrews, SS: Standard Screws,
TR: Tool-less rails, SR: Screwed rails)
Time to look at the first case!
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Griswold - Thursday, August 17, 2006 - link
The first one looks like some vertical hi-fi deck with a side window - and I hate side windows.Yuck indeed.
seven9sn10s - Thursday, August 17, 2006 - link
The Aguila has a measurement of 27dB(12" above) and subjective rating of 2/10.In a previous review, the Raidmax X1 & Antec P150 both a measurement of 45dB(12" above) & subjective rating of 2/10 & 2.5/10 respectively. The subject ratings to dB measurements do not seem to be on a consistent scale. Am I to believe that the Aguila is so much quieter than the Raidmax X1 or Antec P150?? Please clear this up. Thanks.
seven9sn10s - Friday, August 18, 2006 - link
Hello???Somebody please answer.. is this Aguila case far quieter than the Antec P150/Solo? Tryin to build a system here. Thanks.
poopoohead - Sunday, August 20, 2006 - link
yeah, me too! the measurement seems so low compared to any other case they have ever tested, even the Zalman HTPC that they said was very quiet? why does the article not make special mention of the aguila super quietness?Gholam - Thursday, August 17, 2006 - link
HEC 6A rebadge, Chieftec DX rebadge... pay once for the case, and twice more for a TT sticker. No thanks.Missing Ghost - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - link
The Aguila with no window does not exist?! I thinkstthiel - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - link
"There's a law on AnandTech case reviews: no matter what they might review, a bunch of people have to show up and grouse about how the cases look like crap, or they're nice looking but too expensive, or some other opinion followed by the statement that "no one would ever buy these...."So what your saying is people have different opinions...thats very insightful.
teng029 - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - link
i like this case, although removable motherboard trays should be standard on cases these days.tthiel - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - link
Those are some seriously ugly cases.eastvillager - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - link
All bling, no zing.