Gadgetory

Computex 2015 would not have been possible without innovative fantex world-leading Nvidia graphics memory partner Corsair and retail partner and CIX along with silverstone and in win man Thermaltake was in hot waters during their Computex reveal having released their WP wine that is strikingly similar on the outside - what case laps is producing has got the community fired up about thermal fake quote unquote so I visited Shannon to get his side of the story and see for myself if the rumors were true so first of all yes the exterior framing and the total aesthetic of this new series totally reminds me of case labs but this type of structure and framing was also found on mountain mods cases and reminiscent of leonie cases - and I wanted to point that out there because throughout the entire category of this type of high performance water cooling enclosure there are similarities shared between all these brands that makes them people in particular have pointed out the mesh design in the 5 the quarter inch drive brackets that are all different sizes just like what case-law produce but the mesh Shannon told us is made this way for the best possible structural integrity of those really thin pieces of metal so apparently they tried honeycomb squares triangles and circles all that have proven to bend easily under pressure so it's the combination of elements that have added up to this case to look just like a copy this still doesn't hide the fact that thermo tech is clearly interested in acquiring some that market share from case labs and there is a clear divide between how the enthusiasts crowd responded either losing respect for Thermaltake or not really caring about that because the case industry always borrows in some form or another and the last group is happy to see this roll out because they can now afford the case of this caliber now in my opinion case lamps and what they do speaks enormous quality from the thick aluminum panels to quality control and customer service and the entire process is very pleasant and you get what you pay for so while their cases have a distinct look I think it's not what defines case labs in my opinion so the one striking difference between the WP line and case labs are the materials used and target audience Thermaltake uses very thin sheets of metal you can see them just Bend easily as the door swivels to open the exterior panels do not use the same mounting method and the internals are also completely different because of the steel you can now use magnetic dust filters on all the ventilation ports and for someone who is considering a case lab chassis is buying into that high-quality aluminum and incredible customization from the very beginning and the same cannot be said about thermal take of course on the other side of the coin users who cannot afford the case lab chassis now have options at 1/3 of the price which is good for the consumer however this entire heat of thermal fake intensified with the suppressor f51 that is to continue the trend is also strikingly similar on the outside to the fractal design define r5 you have a swirled or the front with brushed plastic front esthetic and sound dampening foam on the inside very similar looking side ventilation strips as on the r5 they've also added this rubber strip in the corner so you can loop that at the bottom and the panel doesn't swivel open during transportation there is a removable dust filter at the top with three removable sound dampening panels on the inside that you can individually remove that are pretty much identical to what fractal design offers with their margins on the inside however the internals are completely different as it utilizes an identical frame as their core v50 one case which is a really good frame in my opinion with module drive cages and plenty of room for everything but I asked Shannon why go this route in the physical exterior department and he told us that this is what people wanted to see simple square edges very elegant design like and thermal takes direction here is to clearly compete with the r5 as both are priced at the $119 so the question becomes what are your thoughts on this entire ordeal with growing design and functionality elements do you think this will negatively impact business with case labs or the sales of the r5 I think it has definitely sent a shockwave throughout the industry but I wonder if this will just blow over and we'll return to business as usual but let us know how you feel on the whole thermal fake bandwagon and let us have a discussion on the industry level of how things like this should be handled