Thermaltake's Xaser III Skull Series - A Case For the Tough Guy
by Purav Sanghani on March 11, 2004 4:20 PM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Design
When we think of Thermaltake, the image that comes to mind is their trademark front bezel design. This particular model has a black front bezel to match the rest of the 0.8 mm SECC shell, with red brushed aluminum trim to give it a sleek look. It also sports a skull designed light with 3 modes, a flashing pattern that complements the VM3000A's strong looks, a constant On mode, as well as an Off mode. The inverter switch used to change between the 3 modes can be detached from the system if the light show is not to be used.The VM3000A features a swinging door, which conceals the drive bays as well as the power and reset buttons and LEDs. The buttons themselves are both flush to the plastic casing to prevent accidental shutdowns or resets. The entire front bezel can be removed easily by grabbing hold of the bottom side and pulling straight forward from the case.
Click to enlarge.
The side panels are also made from the same strong 0.8 mm SECC as the rest of the chassis, so bending is not a problem. The left panel has a plastic window, which is also shielded with its honeycomb design. Both panels are screw-less and can be removed and replaced easily. Both panels are EMI shielded to help protect the installed hardware from magnetic interference.
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JKing76 - Friday, March 12, 2004 - link
Cheese. 100% cheese.Orchid1 - Friday, March 12, 2004 - link
Looks terrible, pc case design has come a long way since the beige box, but in this case I'd rather have a beige box any day.Skulls? is his being marketed at 15 year old Goth Rock fans?
nastyemu25 - Friday, March 12, 2004 - link
guess i wasn't the only one who thought this thing was incredibly uglyaraczynski - Friday, March 12, 2004 - link
that has got to be the single most butch ugly implementation of a side window in a case i've ever seen, obviously a last second throw in with no thought or planning. disgusting.CtK - Friday, March 12, 2004 - link
why dont you show pics with the case fully installed with parts??BenSkywalker - Friday, March 12, 2004 - link
Reading through everything in the review it seems like this is a lower end case then the original XIII line, was that your impression Purav?Less fans, less space and sharp edges- sounds like a step back for TT here.
diehlr - Friday, March 12, 2004 - link
This case is the most hideous thing I have seen in a long time. What is the deal with PC case designs? Nearly every one of them is tacky and looks flat out cheap.clarkmo - Thursday, March 11, 2004 - link
This is the same as the Enermax Titanium case. I don't know who the oem is. Mobo attaches with studs vey easily. Hopefully a new trend.Just pop it right in. It's only noisy if you have noisy fans. I have a 120 mm in the lower area. The psu is very tight buy my slk900a on my 8rda manages to fit. http://www.case-mod.com/store/product_info.php?pro...Adul - Thursday, March 11, 2004 - link
congrats Purv :)mostlyprudent - Thursday, March 11, 2004 - link
You mention the inconvenience of having to remove add in cards to remove the motherboard tray, but why bother completely removing the tray unless I'm replacing the motherboard - hence removing the cards anyway? Of course, I've never had a removable tray that was easy enough to remove to justify taking it out for memory or even CPU changes.