Thermaltake Shark Aluminum Case (VA7000)

A look inside 

Removing the left side panel reveals a shiny and familiar layout with a few exceptions.  Beginning at the rear, we see the blue LED 120mm fan we noted earlier mounted above seven expansion slots.  You will notice a light green tab on top of these.  This is the card and bracket cover holder.  It pulls up and out unlocking the expansion slots for addition or removal of whatever you need to change.  The only negative here, which is slight, is that the slots can’t be locked in independently of one another.  This system still beats the hell out of screws though. 

     

What has been missing from many of Thermaltake’s cases of late has been a removable motherboard tray.  The Shark reintroduces the removable motherboard tray for Thermaltake.  This one is of the lift out variety rather than the more common type that pulls out from the rear of the case.  Two oversized thumbscrews lock the tray in place.  With these removed, the tray can be slid forward then pulled out of the Shark. 

  

As we move forward inside the Shark you can see below that not only are the USB and IEEE1394 connectors the block type but so is the audio connector cables for the outside panel.  This will be welcome for the LAN party crowd who use headphones almost exclusively. 

The hard drive rack is turned 90 degrees to allow direct access to any hard drives you have.  The rack contains five pull out trays that accept a hard drive by bottom mounting.  Notice that the mounting points are cushioned to reduce any vibration and noise that may be created by the drive. 

     

Above this are the visible 5.25” and 3.5” bays.  If you look closely you can see tool free drive rails mounted behind each expansion bay cover.  Dare I say they are sea mist blue instead of just blue? 

Our last stop is the front 120mm intake fan.  This is accessed by removal of the front bezel.  Six small plastic tabs may be depressed to release the bezel.  A tight screen filter snaps onto the 120mm fan to reduce muck from entering the case from this point. 

  

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