Thermaltake Armor+ MX Mid Tower Case Review

Packaging and Accessories

Unlike Thermaltake’s CPU cooling solutions which are known for the flamboyant and eye catching designs, Thermaltake has always taken a different approach when it comes to their computer cases and this case is no exception. Don’t get us wrong; this is a very nice looking box and it has all the possible information one could conceivably need, but it is a very muted color scheme consisting mainly of blacks and whites. In some ways it is almost if Thermaltake know they have a great reputation when it comes to cases and therefore don’t need to yell and scream to get you attention. Some people would call this arrogance but we like to consider it more along the lines of a quiet self confidence which usually one can see only in ancient ZEN monks.

After you get over the subtle design scheme the next thing one notices is this box is big for a midsized case. It’s not monstrous like we saw in the Thermaltake Sword M Super Tower Case w/Liquid Cooling Review but it does dwarf many other mid size boxes. Luckily it is not heavy as a log like the Sword's was either as I have misplaced my fork lift and I’m not throwing my back out for any case. This combination of size yet light weight is of course a good thing as all this extra space equates to extra large crumple/trauma zones; and boy are we glad it had them! When this case arrived by Mr. Courier it looked like it had been “touch ‘n go” dropped from the back of C-17 rather than from the back of a truck, or maybe the truck just ran over it a few times, we’re not sure. While we were able to push out and fix the dents in the cardboard box for the photo shoot (yes this is was worse than shown) some of the damage was unfixable. The upside to this rough handling by the couriers is it just highlights how good this protection scheme really is; for not even a scratch was present on the Armor+ MX case!


When one takes a close look at said protection scheme it becomes very obvious it is not fancy, and it’s not overly complex but it does work. Instead of taking the exotic materials route, Thermaltake went for the tried and true method of suspending the Armor+ MX in the center of the case via the use of two full length pieces of foam. The case itself was also wrapped in a cloth-like material to avoid scratches, and from first hand experience this combination sure does work. As a side benefit, having the case nestled in the center with huge gaps on the front and back side makes taking this case out of the box very easy. One simply has to reach down on each side of the case and lift it out. No fuss, no hassle and best of all no chance of damaging the case while extracting it from the loving embrace of its protection.


The list of accessories is on the long and complete side as fitting for a $150+ case. You get the usual bag of screws and brass stand offs, a decent manual, a small shamy for wiping smudges of the case and lots of zip ties, cable ties and even large stick-on cable ties. All in all the first impression one gets from this case is very good, you could even say that at this point we were cautiously optimistic about it. The only nagging negative feeling has to do with the included shamy, as when a manufacture takes the time to include one it usually means said product is a dust bunny and smudge magnet, and those dusty bunny freeloaders are hard to get rid of.