Thermaltake Armor with the 25CM fan review

R

r3dh3adkid

New Member
Alright well I got this case yesterday and I put all my stuff in there yesterday and I must say.....I have alot to say about this case.



- Pros -

It has alot of room
Plenty of 5.25 bays for expansion
VERY VERY good cooling (my temps dropped like 10+)
Tool-Free 5.25 bay clips work nicly
Pretty quiet
Case fan clips work nicly



- Cons -

Tool-free clips for your PCI slots..........ABSOLUTLY THE WORST THING EVER INVENTED!!! (I broke off the PCI Express little white clip thing trying to get my video card in there)
Pretty heavy but not too bad ( a con to some)
Doors queek
Doors rattle when CD drive is spinning fast
PSU was a pain to install at first
HDD Holder is RIGHT BESIDE your PSU


- Specific Details -

I want to stress exactly how much I hate the PCI tool-free clips, I nearly broke my actual video card trying to fit it in there. There was no possible way I could get it in there with those clips on, i was forced to remove them.

The doors rattle when CD drive is spenning but if you position them correctly they dont rattle (consider putting in washers ro fix this problem or removing the doors all together)

The cooling on this case is absolutly great! My load temp dropped around 10C. The case is pretty dang quiet too for its size and number of fans. I have an extra 120mm fan now that i have nothing to do with sence i have all these other fans.

The case fan clips are a intresting thing that I found. They just snap into place. The top vent fan was odd tho. It didnt clip into place, it hasnt fallen out yet so i assume i did it right but i dont think i did.

The Hard Drive holder is RIGHT beside your PSU (PSU is on its side and holder is almost touching it) This could be bad if the PSU fryed and shocked your HD so I opted to move it to the HD bay in the front under all the 5.25 bays.




All in All i'd have to give this case a 5/5

The cooling just overrules all the Cons. Altho I was tempted to give it a 4/5 because the PCI clips are HORRIBLE.




I hope this review has helped someone decide to buy this case because it truly is a wonderful case!
 
Unfortunately I already made a decision on a case that would have effective air flow for cooling the board down as well as other hardwares. The temps on a new board that were 48C soon saw 31-33C. That was after ThermalTake was dropped from the list when looking at an Aerocool model with a 140mm front intake fan where other cases either lack any fans or vents in the front.

aeroengine2pp4.jpg


I simply used a little patience when installing the PCI-E video card and never even had to worry about breaking the retainer. The idea of a hard drive holder near the supply doesn't make sense here either. You would then want a hard drive cooler to go with it there. Here's a look at the Aerocool model in more detail. http://www.xoxide.com/aerocool-aeroengine-2-black.html

I couldn't help adding two 120mm fans to the side cover(blue led).
 
PC eye taht case u posted looks like a copy of the armor, but its 25cm is in the front. looks gay to me
 
I think too many 5 1/4" bays is completely retarded in a case. They are utterly useless. You can only have so many optical drives. The only time they are any good is in a server when you are using hot swappable drive bays for an array. Nobody here will need something like that, I'm sure.

What you need is an abundance of 3 1/2" drives.

Not a bad looking case though.
 
That was one koOp had been looking at before on another thread. If you look at the aeroengine model you will note that the 5 1/4" covers are not solid like seen on the majority of atx cases. Those are actually screens that are used there for increased air flow around the drives there as well as venting a little at the top. In fact you were asking about the legs on the case itself in late August.

aurorasu1.jpg
 
koOp knows what I am talking about there. The legs do raise the case to allow air flow underneath when it's on a totally flat surface. You are going to find that there are only four 5 1/4" bays on the case there. If you look close enough you can partially see the front intake fan almost mid way to the bottom.
 
SirKenin said:
I think too many 5 1/4" bays is completely retarded in a case. They are utterly useless. You can only have so many optical drives. The only time they are any good is in a server when you are using hot swappable drive bays for an array. Nobody here will need something like that, I'm sure.

What you need is an abundance of 3 1/2" drives.

Not a bad looking case though.
Click to expand...
i have virtually the same case, i have the kandalf i can remove the front to make it look like the armor, it even comes with decorative screws for the front bezel(my doors don't squeek).
the case actually has 5x3.5 bays, and mine has a rack by the psu for 3 more. you can also pic up an additional rack of 3 for the front if you want for thermaltake cases. not to mention 5.25 to 3.5 brackets are like only a couple bucks a piece if you need more hd space. which is typically doubtfull.
i like all the bays not because i use them but because it gives you lots of options where you want to shove your stuff.
there isn't a case i'd rather own except for maybe the thermaltake mozart.
 
tommycompton said:
i have virtually the same case, i have the kandalf i can remove the front to make it look like the armor, it even comes with decorative screws for the front bezel(my doors don't squeek). .
Click to expand...

sorry to hijack this post... but whats the Kandalf like? i mean,.. it costs a lot over here, and i have to order is per mail.. so i want to be sure its a nice case before i buy something :)
 
Archangel said:
sorry to hijack this post... but whats the Kandalf like? i mean,.. it costs a lot over here, and i have to order is per mail.. so i want to be sure its a nice case before i buy something :)
Click to expand...

The Kandalf model is a luquid cooled model case. You can look that model over as well as other ThermalTake brand cases seen at http://www.xoxide.com/thermaltake-kandolf-lcs-vd4000bws.html

This is only one of many sites that carries the more stylish but also the more expensive makes and model cases. What helps the most when not having a liquid cooling setup in a case is increasing the air flow. The following two links are for Kandalf models also with the liquid cooling setup.
http://www.xoxide.com/thermaltake-kandolf-lcs-vd4000bws.html black
http://www.xoxide.com/thermaltake-zandolf-case-silver-aluminum.html silver

Without liquid cooling,
http://www.xoxide.com/thermaltake-thermalrock-circle-case.html
http://www.xoxide.com/thermaltake-shark-silver-va7000swa.html
 
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Four is reasonable for 5 1/4" drive bays, but for Pete's sake PC eye, get your terminologies straight. You should, of all people, know better. It's confusing when you don't.

My cases are Antecs and they have four of them. I only use two, but an extra for a removable drive bay never hurts.

Still, 3 1/2" bays are the way to go. I like my harddrives.

However, like I said, that one he has is a nice looking case. Kind of sexy.
 
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