Overclocker Cafe - Thermaltake Xaser II Plus Aluminum Case Review

Thermaltake Xaser II Plus Aluminum Case

Manufacturer: Thermaltake Technology
Supplied by: Thermaltake Technology
Price: TBA (~$140)

By Dean Barker (7/25/2002)

Introduction

Only a few years ago, Thermaltake made the Golden ORB and that was about it. Since then we have seen them diversify their heatsink line into several designs. They have also been putting out other products such as case fans, smart case fans, heat spreaders for RAM, hard drive racks, chipset coolers, pretty much any cooling related item you can think of. With this said, now Tt is going to be making high end cases. There will initially be two models. The Xaser II 5000 Plus is a black steel job where the Xaser II 6000 Plus is a silver colored aluminum number. Both are based on the popular Chieftec cases with several added features thrown in for good measure. Special thanks to ThermalTake folks for sending the Xaser II 6000 Plus model over for us to play with.

Let's see what we have...

Specifications

Dimensions: 80x80x25mm Silent Fan, 21dB per fan, Front x2, Rear x2, Side Panel x 1
Drive Bays: 4 x5.25", 2 x 3.25", 4 x 3.5"
Material 1.0mm Aluminum Made
Expansion Slots: 7
Weight: 5kg
Power Supply: none
Mainboards: Suites standard ATX.

When you first look at the Xaser II case, you immediately recognize the design as a familiar one. You can also see some immediate differences.

The aluminum drive bay cover is a hard one to miss with that big red X on it. That door is no flimsy piece of sheet metal either. Depending on if you measure the thickness on the recessed black areas or the sides you will find it to be 2 - 12 mm thick. There was enough metal there that with no components in the case, it was decidedly heavier up front and very much unbalanced. This was intentional on the part of Thermaltake. You will see why shortly.