A Trio of Thermaltake Towers
by Joshua Buss on August 16, 2006 2:30 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Thermaltake Eureka - External
Time to move on to a slightly newer case from Thermaltake, the Eureka. Stepping away from the more traditional exotic looks Thermaltake is most known for in their case designs, the Eureka is much more monolithic in its appearance. The all aluminum case is adorned only with the company name and case name on the hinged front door.
The right side panel is completely void of any variations, and a honeycomb stamped grill sculpted in the shape of the number 3 is the only area of interest on the left side of the tower. The same feet which come standard on many Thermaltake cases are present on the Eureka as well; these feet can be rotated if necessary.
Taking another step in a little more unconventional direction Thermaltake made the front door very curved - almost a complete semicircle in fact. It has a very solid feel to it though, and it's held shut with two magnetic points near the top and bottom.
With the door open the case's five external 5.25" bays and two 3.5" bays become visible, along with the power and reset buttons, power and hard drive activity LEDs, and a large ventilation area at the bottom. The divots at the side of each bay indicate the drives slide in using provided rails.
Just like the Eclipse DV, the Eureka's front-mounted ports are located on the right side of the case, just behind the door.
The Eureka's ports are pretty tight though, so one would have to get some extension cables if any of the devices they'd like to plug into here directly are overly large.
There isn't too much of interest on the back of the case; standard-sized thumbscrews are used to hold the right side panel on more permanently, but a keyed latch in the middle of the back edge of the panel does hold it sufficiently.
Time to move on to a slightly newer case from Thermaltake, the Eureka. Stepping away from the more traditional exotic looks Thermaltake is most known for in their case designs, the Eureka is much more monolithic in its appearance. The all aluminum case is adorned only with the company name and case name on the hinged front door.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
The right side panel is completely void of any variations, and a honeycomb stamped grill sculpted in the shape of the number 3 is the only area of interest on the left side of the tower. The same feet which come standard on many Thermaltake cases are present on the Eureka as well; these feet can be rotated if necessary.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
Taking another step in a little more unconventional direction Thermaltake made the front door very curved - almost a complete semicircle in fact. It has a very solid feel to it though, and it's held shut with two magnetic points near the top and bottom.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
With the door open the case's five external 5.25" bays and two 3.5" bays become visible, along with the power and reset buttons, power and hard drive activity LEDs, and a large ventilation area at the bottom. The divots at the side of each bay indicate the drives slide in using provided rails.
Just like the Eclipse DV, the Eureka's front-mounted ports are located on the right side of the case, just behind the door.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
The Eureka's ports are pretty tight though, so one would have to get some extension cables if any of the devices they'd like to plug into here directly are overly large.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
There isn't too much of interest on the back of the case; standard-sized thumbscrews are used to hold the right side panel on more permanently, but a keyed latch in the middle of the back edge of the panel does hold it sufficiently.
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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.