A Trio of Thermaltake Towers
by Joshua Buss on August 16, 2006 2:30 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Thermaltake Eureka - Internal
Upon opening the Eureka, nothing out of the ordinary stands out.
If you look a little closer however, you'll notice the motherboard tray is more than large enough for extended ATX motherboards and is removable as well. The tray itself is both easy to remove and easy to put into place thanks to the slot design of the parts of the case that are used to anchor the tray.
The removable drive sleds have four vibration absorbing grommets for the bottom of each hard drive, and in our installation proved to be trouble-free. However, we do have to wonder why Thermaltake felt a server case should only be able to hold five internal 3.5" drives considering some "standard" desktop cases hold six or more.
Instead of green plastic clips, the Eureka uses a single metal clip to hold all expansion cards in place simultaneously. The idea is nice, but in practice it's tricky to put more than one card in since they all have to be in place at the time the master clip is secured. The good news is that the clip is strong enough to hold all cards in securely.
While not as elegant as the two-hinge design of the Eclipse DV, the entire front bezel of this case does unclip for access to the front 120mm fan. Other than the fan though, there really is no need to open the bezel since the external drives can be slid in and out of place from the front of the case.
Upon opening the Eureka, nothing out of the ordinary stands out.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
If you look a little closer however, you'll notice the motherboard tray is more than large enough for extended ATX motherboards and is removable as well. The tray itself is both easy to remove and easy to put into place thanks to the slot design of the parts of the case that are used to anchor the tray.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
The removable drive sleds have four vibration absorbing grommets for the bottom of each hard drive, and in our installation proved to be trouble-free. However, we do have to wonder why Thermaltake felt a server case should only be able to hold five internal 3.5" drives considering some "standard" desktop cases hold six or more.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
Instead of green plastic clips, the Eureka uses a single metal clip to hold all expansion cards in place simultaneously. The idea is nice, but in practice it's tricky to put more than one card in since they all have to be in place at the time the master clip is secured. The good news is that the clip is strong enough to hold all cards in securely.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
While not as elegant as the two-hinge design of the Eclipse DV, the entire front bezel of this case does unclip for access to the front 120mm fan. Other than the fan though, there really is no need to open the bezel since the external drives can be slid in and out of place from the front of the case.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
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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.