Thermaltake BlacX Review

Design & Construction

Cracking open the BlacX is a relatively straightforward procedure that entails nothing more than removing 2 screws from the bottom the of the device. There are no warranty void stickers and it is almost as if Thermaltake wants you to explore the inner workings of this unit; like a proud designer wanting to show off his latest feat of engineering prowess.


The very first thing that you notice when you do end up opening the case is a big slab of iron counterweight located on the bottom. This weight is approximately the same weight as a full size hard drive and this would make sense as it would put the dock’s center of gravity just below the front of an installed hard drive. A low center of gravity is a always a good thing in a docking station but this hunk of iron is not just dead weight, it also is a good way to up-armor the bottom of the device. Any sharp object that somehow broke through the bottom of the plastic case would easily be stopped from doing damage to the internal PCB by the steel plate.


This piece of metal is also easily removed by simply unscrewing two more screws. When you do remove the metal plate you instantly understand how Thermaltake managed to insulated the delicate internals from static charge coming from the hunk of metal just below it. The side of the counter weight that faces the printed circuit board has a plastic shield glued to it which is very similar in composition to the anti-static strips found on many aftermarket heatsink back plates.


Once the metal plate is removed you get to catch your first glimpse of the engineering marvel that is the BlacX. As you can see in the above photo, the inside is very sparse and it not cramped or cluttered in the least. There is a spring for the ejection mechanism and a loaded PCB.


This PCB houses not only the SATA connector and the SoC chip but also the power connector for the hard drive which will be docked into the BlacX.


The Initio INIC 1606L provides an advanced solution to connect SATA devices to USB Host with integrated CPU and embedded SRAM/ROM. It combines a USB mass storage controller, a SATA link controller chip and a Turbo 8051 8 bit processor with 24KB embedded ROM and 2KB SRAM.

While the 8051 was originally developed back in 1980 by Intel (you may remember its better known younger “siblings” the 8088 and 8086 processors) it has been updated over the years and the Turbo version is a much more powerful version of that classic. Considering the low demands that this dock will be placing on it is more than powerful enough for its intended task. All in all the INI 1606L is one powerful little controller chip.


The eagle eyed readers among you who noticed these capacitors' unique color scheme in the earlier photos we are happy to say that YES these are real Rubycon capacitors and it was very nice to see them. These capacitors are rated for 105c and there are 2 large and 2 small caps running the length of one side of the PCB. Seeing those nice lovely high quality capacitors remove any fears or doubts about this units long term durability; at least when it comes to its power.