Azza GT1 Full Tower Case Review

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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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The Build

Azza’s GT1 installation kit includes two card braces in addition to the factory-installed pair, a handle for the removable motherboard tray, a pair of additional drive adapters, a pack of screws, a PC speaker and a package of screws with standoffs.

A standard ATX board leaves much room to spare, and the card support bracket can be moved or removed for even large boards. The GT1 main chassis has rails on both sides to accept the motherboard tray, allowing it to be installed traditionally (CPU on top facing out to the left side) or upside-down facing the “wrong way” (as delivered).

Notice that the last card brace is slid to its farthest position with the graphics card “one slot from the top”: The card brace is only able to brace top-slot cards when the tray is re-installed “right-side up”.

Azza still supports AC’97 audio headers, even though every board we’ve seen for the past decade or so has used the also-supported HD Audio standard — better safe than sorry?

The GT1’s five 5.25”-bay adapter trays are drilled for both 3.5” and 2.5” internal drives.

We try to test cases in as-delivered configuration, so the GT1 gets tested with the motherboard upside-down. Installing the tray in the other direction would have resulted in the components showing from the other side, but the side panels are swappable to put the window on the showy side.

In addition to the top, bottom, front and rear fans, Azza adds a 120mm fan to the upper mount of the right side. Had we flipped the motherboard and swapped the side panels, that fan would be on the lower mount of the left side.

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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