Azza GT1 Full Tower Case Review

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By Thomas Soderstrom
last updated

Azza always has a full tower for builders who want enough space for their enormous hardware. Today we examine the firm’s latest iteration.

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Exterior

Most of the GT1’s depth is designed to allow long graphics cards and big drives to fit at the same horizontal level, and the case even has nine 5.25” front-panel bays to allow installation of hot-swap backplanes, digital fan controllers, USB 3.1 breakout panels and the like. Those without a bay panel adapter such as the one included with ASRock’s Z170 Extreme6 are stuck with a pair of USB 3.0 Type A and a pair of USB 2.0 ports.

Arguments whether a USB 3.0 front-panel header can handle USB 3.1 Gen 2 transfers are mute, due to combined cable-length concerns. This prevents motherboard manufacturers from considering the front-panel header’s practicality for direct-plug devices such as Type-C thumb drives, though applying a “Gen 1” label to a Type-C front-panel port might be an option for case manufacturers. Until engineers can reach an agreement on front-panel Gen 2, we’re told that the only options are an old-fashioned I/O-panel extension cable hanging out the back of a case with a repeater on the port end, or a bay device.

Hiding around back, the GT1’s not-so-secret added features include a removable/reversible motherboard tray, a cover over the power supply, and an extension power cable mounting hole next to the power supply cover. Those latter two items hint to an internal power supply mount.

Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom is a Senior Staff Editor at Tom's Hardware US. He tests and reviews cases, cooling, memory and motherboards.
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12 Comments Comment from the forums
  • jossrik
    On my Solano, the 230mm fans aren't. They're somewhere around 200mm, by any reasonable measurement, but they're decent fans, relatively quiet, and they move some air according to their numbers, not sure if they're fluffed like the fan size or not, also, it was supposed to have 140mm fans up front, but 140mm fans from any other company don't fit, 120mm fans fit... Still a good case, would buy again, but as said, heavy, this isn't for LAN parties, but it fits all my stuff in there, including a sleeping bag and a tent.
    Reply
  • Skhmt
    "Arguments whether a USB 3.0 front-panel header can handle USB 3.1 Gen 2 transfers are mute..."

    So arguments can't talk? That makes sense, since arguments aren't people.
    Reply
  • falconsport
    how does it compare with extra large case like xigmatek elysium or HAF X?
    Reply
  • Flying-Q
    "Arguments...are mute..." ---> Arguments...are moot..."
    Reply
  • jimmysmitty
    Can't stand front facing drives. Just looks better with side mounted which is in pretty much every case these days.

    The different mount is interesting. Almost reminds me of the BTX standard just without the shift in board layout. Would be interested in other manufactures to test this to see if it is any better. I would assume the GPU would get more heat since heat rises and it would be higher in the case.
    Reply
  • TheViper
    I really wish they'd start selling the Hurrican 2000 again. Way better than this new case.
    Reply
  • Crashman
    16632922 said:
    "Arguments...are mute..." ---> Arguments...are moot..."
    Or muted, which is what happens when they're moot :p

    Reply
  • Martell1977
    Just upgraded my case from a mid-tower to the Thermaltake Overseer RX-1 Snow Edition and I am amazed how much cooler and quieter it is than my old case. Plus is has the hot swap drive dock on the top which is a big plus for me as I do a lot of data recovery for clients. I have to admit, I was surprised how much bigger overall the case is...this is my first "Full Tower".
    Reply
  • Onus
    IMHO, full tower cases are a niche product, that is just not the best choice for almost all system builders; this means three or more graphics cards and/or enough other expansion cards that won't fit or can't be cooled by an ATX case.
    Reply
  • Martell1977
    16637575 said:
    IMHO, full tower cases are a niche product, that is just not the best choice for almost all system builders; this means three or more graphics cards and/or enough other expansion cards that won't fit or can't be cooled by an ATX case.

    That is exactly why I got a full tower. With everything inside, the airflow wasn't enough for my system and my CPU was idling around 50c and GPU's around 80c. With the new tower my CPU idles at 39c and GPU's at 65c.
    Reply