Thermaltake Chaser Mk-1 *now with pics*

[ultraman7k]

Just ordered myself a nice treat, the Thermaltake Chaser case.

I've had my eye on it since they announced it this year, hopefully it will be instore for pick up tomorrow and weekend transplant from my Antec 900. Considering it was on sale @ NCIX for 149, I had to pull the trigger. It has all the features that I want (except a separate section for a PSU, but good enough)

Love the looks or hate it, but I totally dig it, and will post pics once I'm done! Cable management should be a breeze compared to my 900!

[Soultribunal]

Cool,

Let us know how it works out for you. Most people hate Thermaltake cases, but I myself rather enjoy the latest breed they have brought out.

ST

[ultraman7k]

So I picked up my Chaser today, turns out it is noticeably bigger than my Antec 900, which is fine.
Initial impressions were everything I expected it to be based on the reviews I'd seen online, so that was a good thing. No surprise, good or bad.

Except that maybe it's lighter than I thought it would be...or has it been that long since I've held a componentless case?

Plastic makes up a good portion of this case, but it doesn't feel cheap so that's nice. I'd say it's on a level comparable to the 900. Also the installation, aside from the motherboard and additional fans was completely tool-less.

If the pictures are hard to see, sorry I was working in some bad lighting and took pics with my phone.



Here you can see the size difference between the two cases. The Chaser is also a fair bit deeper than the 900 and it sticks out from under my desk.




So one of the downsides of the 900, as most people know is the cable management which is next to zero without some modification with a dremel. This is what my case looked like inside the 900. Not exactly the best cable management.



Anyways the top pops right off, and since there seem to be lack of 200mm fans to purchase, I went with a Thermalright 140mm to pair up with the default Thermaltake 200mm fan. The bracket can support 120mm, 140mm and 200mm.




So I went to work, carefully routing wires which was an absolute breeze. There is just so much room and options in this case anybody can do it. Of course the back side of the case is an absolute mess...but no one really looks there any ways...



The finished product inside the tower. As you can see, most of the wires are hidden! Just like that. It's that easy. Also look how much more room my 6970 has lengthwise! If I can do it, so can you.


For those of you wondering what it looks like in the dark...

Overall this was a great case to work with. And although in the past I have balked at Thermaltake's designs, this one blew me away the second I saw it and it did not disappoint.

With the fans on, and the tower right next to me on the floor ( I have 5 fans in this case at the moment 3 stock Thermaltake fans, 140mm thermalright and 120mm Coolermaster R4) it is very, very quiet, moreso than the 900 which I never thought was overly loud. All fans have a removable dust filter which I really really like (aside from the rear exhaust located at the back of the case)

I look forward to adding side fan eventually.

Did I mention how awesome this case is?

[ultraman7k]

So it turns out that unless you connect the two Colorshift fans to the default fan controller, they don't light up. I had previously tied the top fan to my Lamptron FC but the light wouldn't come on.

No biggie, changed it over to the built in FC and it lights up so everything is all good. As it is, I still have 1 slot open for a side fan which I plan to add anyways.

After a couple of days using this case, my verdict still stands that it is a very very nice case.

[Keltron 3030]

Glad you like the case! I really like alot Of TT new products, however, as you mentioned in the first post, it's looks are very subjective, and I just can't seem to get over how bad it looks IMHO.

How have temps been in it compared to the 900???

[ultraman7k]

temps are really great, i'd say it runs about 2-3 degrees cooler.

[Soultribunal]

I really like the changes that TT has slowly been making to its case lineup. They still are a little eccentric (minus the Armor lineup) with their designs, like they are trying too hard but the are much better than previous attempts.

-ST

[ultraman7k]

so I added a Cooler Master 200mm fan on the side. There is one review out there on the net that says you can't, but you can. I guess he just didn't try hard enough? The default screws that fit in with the dust filter on the side panel work just fine. The fan just snaps nicely into place.

Anyways, been running the fan from my FC and controlling the LED with the FC dial (love that no molex required for LED lighting on this, Antec should take a lesson) and GPU idle temps have dropped 2-3 degrees. The side fan also lights up quite a bit more of the case now.

I should also add that blasting all fans (2 top, 1 rear, 1 front intake, 1 side VGA, and 1 bottom mount intake) at full speed is surprisingly...quiet for how many big fans are going. set all my fans to a moderate level, and i barely notice its there.

[trunkspixie]

I have been looking at this case for quite some time now and based on this review, I'm going to take the plunge! To those people who don't like the gaudy lights ... aside from needing your gamer side to be tweaked, this exact case comes in solid black with no lights, so no need to be hatin on Thermaltake. There's something for everyone!

Thanks for the review ultraman7k

[Adzsask]

If I had any money to spare, it would be on this new case , I am a huge thermaltake fan, running a 6+ year old Xaser 3 my grandpa gave me when he replaced his 4 towers with cosmos s cases.