Thermaltake XPRESSAR RCS100 Micro Refrigeration Case

[geeknation]

I am building my first computer and was looking at cases. I ran a cross quite a few, but on my list the one that really sticks out is the Thermaltake XPRESSAR that i found on Xoxide.com. It costs nearly 7x more than the other cases i was looking at, it costs $699, while the others were mostly around $99.99.

The thing that struck me about this case is the cooling system. It has a micro vapor-compression refrigeration system that is supposed to be 20C cooler than most liquid cooling systems. The cooling ability is important for the location i plan on putting my computer, my room, which is usually hotter than the summer heat outside, while during the winter the room gets extreme heat from being located directly over the heater.

Another interesting thing about this case is that it is classified as a "Super Case" size category. I've never even heard of that case size. The case has 10 expansion slots, 7x 5.25" drive bays, 1x 3.5" drive bay, and 5x 3.5" drive bays(hidden).

I want the computer to be good for extreme gaming for hours on end but I'm not really sure whether it is worth the price, i don't really have a budget for a case, but i don't want to over spend. Any suggestions?

 

[Pyroflea]

There may be issues with condensation with this type of unit. I haven't looked into the exact methods of cooling for said case, but judging from what you've said, moisture could be a very real, and very dangerous issue.

 

[geeknation]

Ok, thanks, I'll keep that in mind.

 

[Pyroflea]

After re-reading my post, Lemme rephrase that. I'm not trying to turn you off of the case, I'm just making you aware of possible risks involved. You don't wanna dump $700 on a case, and then have issues. The "modifications" needed are fairly straight forward, and just involve waterproofing the area surrounding the CPU generally.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/5-ghz-core-i7-980x-overclocking,2665.html

Take a peek at that article. They use a similar setup.

One would assume that Thermaltake has done rigorous testing, and is 100% confident that their product will not damage any hardware, but one can never be too safe.

Good luck

 

[LePhuronn]

Unless you're living in the middle of the desert I don't think you'd have enough of a problem with ambient temperatures to warrant such expense.

You could probably go with a meaty air cooler like the Megahalems, Venomous-X or NH-D14 and be fine.

What sort of ambient temps are you looking at?

 

[Shadow703793]

Knowing how cr@ppy Thermaltake watercooling stuff are, I wouldn't recommend you buy that case. For $700 you can have a VERY good water cooling set up cooling your GPUs + CPU+ NB/MOSFETs.

Here is a snip from a review:

After all this effort, you'd assume that performance would be rather awesome indeed. Instead, while it raised our hopes - with an idle temp on our QX6850 at stock of only twelve degree - it then dashed them rather fully when it crashed after overclocking. Stock settings managed to go from 12 idle to 51 load, but when overclocked this rocketed up to 32 idle and 81 load! The system crashed at this heat, and it really is a very poor effort considering the frustration of installing the fiddly mounting gear, not to mention plugging the cables inside such a crowded case.

Not only does it not cool better than even a normal heatsink, but it makes a huge amount of noise and vibration, only some of which is dampened by the solid steel case. Due to its huge weight both empty or with a system, disappointing cooling performance and loud noise, we can't really recommend this case to anyone - apart from those with more dollars than sense. .

Source: http://www.atomicmpc.com.au/Review/139361,thermaltake-xpressar.aspx/2

So yeah, it's pretty much cr@p. Like I thought, the compressor + evaporator can't deal with the heat load.

 

[geeknation]

Unless you're living in the middle of the desert I don't think you'd have enough of a problem with ambient temperatures to warrant such expense.

You could probably go with a meaty air cooler like the Megahalems, Venomous-X or NH-D14 and be fine.

What sort of ambient temps are you looking at?

Well my room is 82F during the summer and hotter during the winter.
You suggested using a air cooler? How hard are they to install, what about liquid coolers?

 

[Pyroflea]

Well my room is 82F during the summer and hotter during the winter.
You suggested using a air cooler? How hard are they to install, what about liquid coolers?

My room is about that temperature as well, and I can overclock [a little] with the stock cooler without having to worry about heat issues.

Air coolers are just heatsinks and fans. They're very easy to install.

Liquid cooling takes a bit more work, and is definitely a lot more expensive. Unless you plan on doing some fairly extreme overclocking, a large heatsink would do you just fine, and cost a small fraction of the price of liquid cooling. You have to spend hundreds of dollars to get a liquid cooling system that can compete with a $50-$60 heatsink.

 

[Shadow703793]

^Agreed. The minimum for a CPU WCing loop is ~$200-250 for the top end. However, do realize that WCing will be quite a bit different in terms of load temps. A quality WCing system runs about 10-15C cooler on average against a high end air in load temps.

 

[geeknation]

So what your saying is not to worry about the heat and just stick to your basic fan cooling system?

 

[Pyroflea]

So what your saying is not to worry about the heat and just stick to your basic fan cooling system?

You should always worry about temperatures, just don't go crazy and spend $700 on a case, when a $50 heatsink will do for the majority of your overclocking needs, let alone your standard factory-clock CPUs.

 

[Shadow703793]

^ Yup. There is no reason for most people (unless going for OCing records) to spend $700+ on cooling, even then, these people (assuming going phase change,etc not LN2,etc) will do fine with ~$400-600 with SIGNIFICANTLY better outcome than the cr@ppy thermaktake.

 

[shovenose]

get anh epic noctua nh-d14, and an antec 1200, and i woulld say ur all set to go
or for cpu cooloing you ccan use a corsair h50 wc

 

[geeknation]

^ Yup. There is no reason for most people (unless going for OCing records) to spend $700+ on cooling, even then, these people (assuming going phase change,etc not LN2,etc) will do fine with ~$400-600 with SIGNIFICANTLY better outcome than the cr@ppy thermaktake.

wow, it's kinda obvious that you hate thermsltake. Did you have a bad experience? I need to know if you just have a grudge or actually have a reason, especially since all the full tower cases i seem to find are thermsltake.

 

[Shadow703793]

^ I don't have personal experience with Thermaltake. If you head over to OC Forums, Xtremesystems,etc you will see that people have had very bad experience. For example: http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies-archive.cfm/625046.html

These are quite common problems in Thermaltake WCing stuff. Some of their cases are pretty good, their PSUs aren't too bad either. The main problem with the TT kits are:
1. Under powered and over priced
2. Pump breaks/dies easily
3. Mixed metals in some kits (ie Copper block + Aluminium rad)

If you want to do WCing right read the sticky: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/256607-29-watercooling-read-first

 

[cmcghee358]

Also don't forget that on air or water, you can't get below ambient temperature.

 

[Shadow703793]

^ Yup. But you can do so for a temporary time on water if using chilled water/and or ice/slush box.

 

[cmcghee358]

Yar. Because you are lowering the ambient air that is defusing the heat of the component. Such as placing a EC radiator in an ice box.