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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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.