A Trio of Thermaltake Towers
by Joshua Buss on August 16, 2006 2:30 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Thermaltake Eclipse DV - External
The original Eclipse was a great case. It offered much of what's needed in a desktop tower enclosure and had few faults. Let's get right to it - the only significant change in this DV variation is the change from a mere CD holder primarily for decoration in the front to a full-fledged, fully functional, DVD/CD-R/W slim-line combo drive.
Because of this change, the front bezel can no longer really 'unfold' into two doors like the Eclipse did; instead the entire front bezel swings open to reveal the external bays and power / reset buttons. On the side is also where you'll find the button for opening the drive, just like laptop drives. In this shot you can also see the nicely folded cables for the drive and lights, ensuring one will never have to worry about the cables getting stuck or kinked when opening the door.
Taking a step back, here's a more direct shot of the front bezel. The clear plastic strips in the middle of the front light up blue when the computer is powered on, and HDD activity is signaled by a red LED adding to the light show on the left side of the bottom strip. A disc in the drive is quite visible through the sharp looking window, not unlike many popular table-top CD players available.
The ornament at the bottom is supposed to indicate volume based on a soundcard's output levels, but in our experience it seemed to respond directly to access of the disc in the included drive, as it was glowing even with our on-board sound card disabled in our test bed.
Now we'll examine that right side in a little more detail. The lock and front ports are here, closer to the bottom, so along with the drive opening in this direction here are two more reasons to make sure there is plenty of clearance on the right side of the case towards the front.
The Eclipse DV suffers from a problem found in many other cases unfortunately, and that is the problem of requiring a certain amount of clearance on both sides of the case for optimum usability / appearance. On the one hand, the ports, the optical drive, and the main front door are all accessed from this side, but enjoying the view the case window provides and doing anything internal requires relatively unrestricted access from the left side. The good news though is that there is no need for completely unrestricted access to the right side - only the front area needs to be open.
Here is one of the nicest features of the Eclipse DV: unlike cases which require the front bezel to be forcefully pried off, this Thermaltake case has been designed to make this process a cinch.
Unlocking the latch with the provided key allows this entire portion of the case to hinge out, providing easy access to the external drive bays and their respective covers, as well as the removable filter for the front 120mm fan. Again, cable management has been thought through carefully, and the latching fit itself is snug and secure.
The original Eclipse was a great case. It offered much of what's needed in a desktop tower enclosure and had few faults. Let's get right to it - the only significant change in this DV variation is the change from a mere CD holder primarily for decoration in the front to a full-fledged, fully functional, DVD/CD-R/W slim-line combo drive.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
Because of this change, the front bezel can no longer really 'unfold' into two doors like the Eclipse did; instead the entire front bezel swings open to reveal the external bays and power / reset buttons. On the side is also where you'll find the button for opening the drive, just like laptop drives. In this shot you can also see the nicely folded cables for the drive and lights, ensuring one will never have to worry about the cables getting stuck or kinked when opening the door.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
Taking a step back, here's a more direct shot of the front bezel. The clear plastic strips in the middle of the front light up blue when the computer is powered on, and HDD activity is signaled by a red LED adding to the light show on the left side of the bottom strip. A disc in the drive is quite visible through the sharp looking window, not unlike many popular table-top CD players available.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
The ornament at the bottom is supposed to indicate volume based on a soundcard's output levels, but in our experience it seemed to respond directly to access of the disc in the included drive, as it was glowing even with our on-board sound card disabled in our test bed.
Now we'll examine that right side in a little more detail. The lock and front ports are here, closer to the bottom, so along with the drive opening in this direction here are two more reasons to make sure there is plenty of clearance on the right side of the case towards the front.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
The Eclipse DV suffers from a problem found in many other cases unfortunately, and that is the problem of requiring a certain amount of clearance on both sides of the case for optimum usability / appearance. On the one hand, the ports, the optical drive, and the main front door are all accessed from this side, but enjoying the view the case window provides and doing anything internal requires relatively unrestricted access from the left side. The good news though is that there is no need for completely unrestricted access to the right side - only the front area needs to be open.
Here is one of the nicest features of the Eclipse DV: unlike cases which require the front bezel to be forcefully pried off, this Thermaltake case has been designed to make this process a cinch.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
Unlocking the latch with the provided key allows this entire portion of the case to hinge out, providing easy access to the external drive bays and their respective covers, as well as the removable filter for the front 120mm fan. Again, cable management has been thought through carefully, and the latching fit itself is snug and secure.
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raskren - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - link
I'm tired of these Nite Brite cases designed for the 15 year old boy. Come on! How about something a little more professional? I don't need or want giant holes, windows, or cases covered in LEDs!JoshuaBuss - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - link
despite what the majority of comments seem to point to, the fact is Thermaltake's cases sell like hot-cakes. people like them.. and no, I'm not just talking about 15 year old boys. different strokes for different folksOperandi - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - link
Nickelback, the Chevy Cavalier, and Huffy bikes sell like “hot-cakes” too yet all three suck, hmm… how about that?People like them sure but based on the comments here not the Anandtech demographic.
JoshuaBuss - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - link
trust me, the 'active anandtech comment posters' demographic is nothing like the 'active anandtech reader' demographic ;)Le Québécois - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - link
Amen !Forbin85 - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - link
I have to agree. What's with the doors on the front too?I actually just bought myself a Coolermaster Centurion 534 for my Conroe build.
bob661 - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - link
I have a red Aspire aluminum case. I can't find my case anywhere anymore so I'm assuming it's been discontinued although steel versions can be found. Very simple design with side facing hard drive trays damn near the same as the Aguila. I'll have this case for a LONG time before I give it up. BTX will probably be the only way I'll change it.AMD4ME2 - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - link
I personally like screws! to hold in my expansion cards! I work on alot of machines daily and seriously... I'm sick of opening computers and finding expansion cards bouncing around in the case because of some wimpy screwless design.SilthDraeth - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - link
"Once our install was completed we noticed how much the honeycomb grill acts like a standard case window, but frankly we appreciate the ventilation and EMF shielding it provides more than just the cool factor."Just how much EMF shielding do you think an aluminum grill provides? And you mention that you like the ventilation, while at the same time, you express your worry over your hard drives getting to hot???
and
"This decision is interesting for a case designed more for sever use though, considering it sacrifices airflow over the hard drives, which shows up as considerably higher temperatures for our system hard drive and MOSFETs."
I guess you can say the case is designed for servers. I actually thought it was a small form factor case, instead of an ATX case for building your own standard computer in.
On a positive note I like the Aguila's design, but I still do not think it touches the Coolermaster Praetorian.
JoshuaBuss - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - link
good point. I'll see if I can re-word that.