Thermaltake Xaser III V2000A, Continued
While some might consider some of these features to be a little over the top, the fan bus control coupled with the temperature monitoring via the front mounted LCD do resolve the problem of being able to monitor the cooling performance of the case. In our testing it worked well, but we have to admit that with all of the fans in this case and all of the wires running every which direction it could be somewhat of a chore to wire.
Speaking of the fans and cooling, this case wins a special award from THG for the most 80mm fans that we have seen in a stock case from the factory, with an incredible eight possible placement slots for fans. Cooling with this case isn't an issue, but depending on your configuration, you may want to use all or some of the fans. We really liked the air duct channel that is able to help channel air in the unit. Nice touch and something that does seem to work pretty well.
Most users will need to pay special attention to the placement of the fans within the case and make sure that they are all moving air in the correct direction, so that you don't create a turbulence effect inside the case which will minimize the cooling potential of the case. In our testing however, this case was able to achieve the most air movement in our testing and is the only case in this review to receive a perfect score of 10 for cool potential. With that being said, it is important to note that with all eight of the fans going and max speed this case was loud.
While you do lose the top 5-¼ bay for the fanbus/temp, the external port connections for the audio, USB, and 1394 Firewire are mounted under a little pop up dome located on the top of the case. This case is intended to be placed on the floor and with that type of an installation it is understandable why Thermaltake chose to place the ports on the top of the case.
The Xaser III is already starting to make inroads with the pre-modded case buyers that are LAN partygoers. We continue to see an increasing number of Xaser III cases at each and every LAN party that we attend. With the high quality of the Xaser III's construction it is easy to see why people like this case.
The Xaser III is an exceptional case and if we had to say anything negative at all about the case, it would be that our sample seemed to have some difficulty with the side panel being removed. It isn't a difficult process, but it seemed that our panel was just difficult to put on and take off. Once we got the hang of doing this a few times it wasn't an issue.
The Xaser III is a big case and it is clearly designed to be the ultimate. Thermaltake does deliver that with this case. We can recommend the Xaser III as an excellent case, offering solid construction with a good configuration. While it might be overkill for many, this case will grow in popularity due to the exceptional feature set offered by the Xaser III. The only thing is with a retail price that is almost $250 US, it is expensive, but not most expensive case we have seen. Clearly, it isn't for everyone, but a lot of users who want this kind of design and performance will choose the Xaser III.
