Thermaltake Tsunami Aluminum Case (VA3000)

Manufacturer: Thermaltake Technology
Supplied by: Thermaltake Technology
Street Price: TBA

by Dean Barker (6/24/2004)

 

Introduction

Thermaltake's line of cases have been varying offshoots of the same basic design concept for the past several model releases, the Xaser V, Skull, LANMOTO, Xaser III and LANFIRE.  While the features have differed somewhat between models, being specifically tailored toward a particular niche, the style has always been recognizable as that of the very successful Thermaltake Xaser design.  With their newest case, the Tsunami, Thermaltake is looking to keep the features that have made their case lineup so successful but add a completely new look to the recipe.  The Tsunami is effectively a Tt LANMOTO case with some slick looking aesthetic changes to the front bezel.  Today, we take a look inside and out of the new Thermaltake Tsunami case to see how it stacks up against its predecessors and the market as a whole.  On to the white paper. 

Specifications

• Dimensions: 495 (H) x 210 (W) x 478mm (D)

• Weight: 6kg

• Construction: Aluminum

• Drive Bays:  (4) exposed 5.25”, (2) exposed 3.5”, (5) hidden 3.5”

• Expansion slots:  (7)

• M/B Type:  Standard ATX and Micro ATX mainboard

• Power Supply:  Not included

• Top mounted Firewire, USB 2.0 (x2), speaker and mic jack

• Cooling: (2) 120mm and 90mm case fans (one of the 120mm fans is Blue LED fan)

• Window: optional

• Available Colors: Silver, Black

The Box

The Thermaltake Tsunami case is offered in four variants, silver or black coloring and with or without a side panel window.  As you can see below, our review sample is the windowed black model.  Thermaltake saw fit to incorporate its 'Fat X' style window into the windowed unit design that breaks the mold of the average square peek panel. 

Looking at the front panel, we figured out why this is called the Tsunami.  Several case manufacturers have put out a wave type front bezel case.  Thermaltake takes a go at it as you can see below.  The curved bezel is made of aluminum and represents about a third of the total weight of the case (which by the way is a mere six kg.)  The small silver strip you see midway down is just that, a silver strip.  The door is a solid piece covering the full height of the bezel which is not separated into a top and bottom half.  Eight small slits are at the base to allow better airflow with the door closed but we'll get to that here directly. 

     

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