Azza GT1 Full Tower Case Review

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

By Thomas Soderstrom
last updated

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Interior

Removing the side panel, we find three screws at the front of the motherboard tray which secure it to the drive cage, in addition to the six bolts at the rear. We also get a peek at front-panel power supply mount and the relatively vast space reserved for hiding power cables.

With the face off, we can see the front-panel power supply mount fully exposed, along with four break-away EMI shields and five adapter trays drilled for both 3.5” and 2.5” hard drives/SSDs. A clip on the side of the cage releases these trays, as well as any other pin-securable 5.25” bay devices.

Supposing you don’t want to use the bottom of the front panel as an exhaust for a front-mounted power supply, the GT1 includes a clipped-in 90x15mm intake fan. Though the fan could be flipped to pull exhaust heat away from a power supply, the case doesn’t include the power extension cable that would have made that mount most useful.

The GT1’s top panel holds up to two 230mm fans, but it only comes with one (in exhaust orientation). Alternatives consist of up to four 120mm fans, and Azza even included enough space at the ends of those fan mounts for the end caps of a 4x 120mm radiator.

Two filters slide-out of the bottom to prevent dust accumulation in the lower 140mm intake fan and both power supply locations. The bottom panel also supports dual-120mm-fan radiators — that is, if you’re willing to settle for justone power supply.

Remembering that the motherboard tray ships upside-down and can be flipped, the GT1 includes cable pass-through for the bottom edge Micro ATX, ATX, and XL-ATX motherboards, another passage for ATX12V/EPS12V cables, and forward cable passages for boards up to 11.3” deep.

Descriptions get a little tricky from here, since the GT1 includes a card brace bracket mounted only 10.3” forward of the I/O panel. It can be moved forward 1.6” to alternative mounting holes, or removed completely to open up the entire 14.6” internal depth. While E-ATX boards fit, the GT1 doesn’t have the fourth column of standoffs needed to secure the front edge of 13”-deep boards.

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.
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