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| by Wankerfx | June 24, 2007 | ||
| Thermaltake Soprano DX review Attachment 596 Review: Thermaltake Soprano DX Price: $130.68 CAD Availability: Black Manufacturer's Part Number: VE7000BWS Warranty: 3 year warranty Table of Contents 1- Exterior thoughts 2- Exterior dimensions 3- Interior impressions 4- Interior dimensions 5- Benchmarks 6- Cool factor 7- Room for improvement? 8- Conclusion Everyone has their own personal taste in cases. The youth are into "gamer" cases with flashy LED lights; the older people are into plain cases, but what about that group in between? Thermaltake has developed a case where gamers, the older crowd, and everyone in between can enjoy. It's the Soprano DX! This case combines both elegant visual effects, and sophistication while keeping its style. Whether you're a hardcore enthusiast or a businessman, this mid-tower case will satisfy all of your needs. Exterior thoughts: The box is pretty basic, but it does the job. Attachment 598 The Soprano DX is made of a light aluminum and the front panel sports a "piano key" brushed finish. The case is a glossy black colour and has several touches which I will include later on in the review. It includes two fans, a front 140mm and a rear 120mm. They both have several blades, creating less of a headache when it comes to noise. Attachment 599Attachment 600 The front of the case is very appealing. It has a nice aluminum front door with a dim blue LED light when running. Attachment 601Attachment 602 I've never seen anything like this case. The front actually has two doors; one used to cover the drive bays and the other used to access your drives with "ease". We learn later that this method of installing drives is not so easy. The rear is pretty plain and simple, but it doesn't throw off the touch of the case. Attachment 603 Thermaltake hit the spot when adding this cute little touch. They've included a compartment which opens to display two USB 2.0 ports, headphone and microphone jacks, and an E-SATA connector. This is everything a gamer is looking for when going to lan parties. They don't want the difficulty of reaching behind the case and plugging in their headsets, they want easy access and Thermaltake has provided it to them with the Soprano DX. Although, I would prefer if the case had a Firewire connection instead of an E-SATA, because cameras are most used amongst consumers. The Thermaltake Soprano is smaller than the Sunbeam Transformer, but has a classy look, instead of a full-blown gamer style. Exterior Dimensions: Attachment 605 The Soprano DX is small enough to fit on a desk, but is better suited to sit on the ground, because of the location of its easy-access headphone/microphone jacks. Interior Impressions: Attachment 606 This model of the Soprano DX includes a side window to show off your gear. The inside of the case is pretty fancy. It incorporates a tool-less design, where you don't need any tools to install disk drives or graphics cards. Attachment 607Attachment 608 The USB ports on the top are a pain when installing big power supplies; it takes enough effort to stress over it. The PCI slots have an integrated "tool-less" locking system. It seems excellent, but we'll get to the negatives later. Attachment 609Attachment 610 Thermaltake decides to show pride in their case by stamping in their own "Tt Design" into the floor, inside the case. The Soprano DX leaves enough room for some cable management beside the hard drive bay; while a monstrous 140mm fan introduces you when you look in the front bay area. It's a big fan and has several blades, leaving the owner with complete silence. The hard drive bay is also removable with just a turn of a thumb-screw. Interior Dimensions: Attachment 611Attachment 612 The height between the bottom of the case and the PSU support rack is 338mm and the distance between the back of the case and the front drive area is 285mm. This provides enough space for an ATX case and some cable management. My 7900GTX has plenty of space leftover when in place, so it shouldn't be a problem for a G80 to fit in. Benchmarks: This test is to compare a low-end case performance level to a mid-range case's performance. Components: Quote:
Attachment 613 I was slightly disappointed with the results the Soprano DX provided, but it's ability to deliver good performance with a low DB is unique. The Sunbeam Transformer's fans were ear-blistering compared to the Soprano DX, in conclusion, Thermaltake takes the gold. Cool Factor: Attachment 614 I wasn't expecting this from Thermaltake. Not many mid-ranged cases can handle the size of the Tuniq Tower 120, but the Soprano DX proves to be an exception. Attachment 615 The Soprano DX has a lot of class. The two front doors can be locked with a single key. This feature is absolutely a must for all lan party attenders. It prevents unwanted people from reaching in your case. Room for Improvement? The Thermaltake Soprano DX is an amazing case, but it has a few flaws: Attachment 616 I always look at the instructions when doing something for the first time. The Thermaltake Soprano DX instructions proved to be useless, due to its vague details. It wasn't of any help when all the components are crammed in a single bag either. The problem I encountered with installing my dual-slot PCI-E graphics card was the "tool-less" PCI card safety system. I thought the idea was cool, but it isn't practical for those with big graphics cards. It took me twenty minutes to figure out only single slot cards would fit without any modifications. The "tool-less" system is held in place with four screws and is easily uninstalled. Attachment 619 The third door definitely helped out with the process of installation, but it has its flaws. It's impossible to install disk drives in the first two slots without having to remove the top hinge of the door. It's not that big of a deal, but it gets annoying if you're constantly changing drives. Attachment 620 Thermaltake has the right idea when incorporating a tool-less installation for the 5.25" drives. The clips engaged with a satisfying click when the drives were pushed into place. The drives couldn't be pulled out, but they can be pushed in with adequate pressure, even when secured. Again, this problem doesn't cause a lot of grief, because the drives can't be pushed in too far. Conclusion: Pros: -Affordable -Nice features -Quiet stock fans -Sleek Cons: -Poor instructions -Not so tool-less PCI system -Placement of door hinges -Slight slack when 5.25" drives are secured After a one week period of usage, I've fallen in love with this case. The case is perfect after passing all of the installation annoyances. It runs on par with the Sunbeam Transformer as far as temperatures go, but is as silent as a ninja while doing so. The Soprano DX has great expandability and includes all the bells and whistles. This is an all-around case; it's suitable for all sorts of ages and doesn't fail to please even the toughest of critics. I'd like to thank Thermaltake for sending me this case to review. Please feel free to discuss this review here: http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/revie...html#post12941 Wankerfx |
