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Thermaltake Element S Video Review

2009-03-11
welcome to another episode of the Harvard next product showcase we're gonna be looking at the thermal take element s the latest mid tower chassis from Thermaltake lately many of the cases to hit the market have really attempted to redesign the traditional case into more of a work of art or even a sculpture of sorts with the element s thermaltake intends to bring the case back to basics the look and feel of the case really gives off a simple yet modern design and it has the price tag to reflect that Thermaltake also promises that this isn't just another boring box under the options it provides really covers almost any use from gaming to server looking at the dimensions it fits well into the mid tire category it's nine inches wide 20 inches tall and 21 inches in length the case weighs in at a modest 22 pounds mainly due to its solid metal construction and relatively minimally use of plastic the front door is about the only piece on the element that has any color for the most part the outside is a softer matte black and the red trim on the front adds just that little bit of elegance the door opens to reveal a covered and meshed panel and at the bottom a single 120 millimeter fan with an optional slot for a secondary fan for the front ports we have the usual there's 2 USB 1 eSATA HD audio and then power reset activity LEDs also on the top panel situated directly over the motherboard is a large 230 millimeter exhaust fan spins fairly slow at 800 rpm so it's incredibly quiet the side panels are nearly identical on both sides no fancy windows no crazy designs there are two simple air intake slots there's also another version of the case and it adds a second 230 millimeter fan on the outside panel which is better suited for those who need serious airflow jumping to the back we have a fairly typical layout at the top and exhaust point for the 230 millimeter top fan as well as another 120 millimeter exhaust fan just below that there are two optional areas for 60 millimeter fans for those who are comfortable with the noise and 7 expansion slots the case has a bottom mounted power supply and two holes for water cooling tubes moving to the interior a quick analysis of the edges of the side panels and we see rubber strips have been added around the edges in order to reduce vibration noise a relatively simple addition that makes a big difference opening it up there really isn't a speck of any color except black anywhere on the case our bottom mounted power supply has its own little chamber with plenty of room to fit most longer power supplies and to keep wire clutter down to a minimum the cables can also be run underneath the hard drive bay through a hollow opening it's great for storing cables there's also a bottom vent for airflow and while it'd be difficult to see the chamber piece actually has rounded edges as does the rest of the case in order to keep wires and fingers safe if necessary the chamber piece can be easily reamed looking at hard drive bays for such a compact case it's nice to see so much room there's seven three and a half inch bays in a toolless removable tray and the airflow design allows for excellent harddrive cooling potential an incredibly unique feature of the element that you really don't see elsewhere is that Thermaltake had the foresight to include SSD drive bays on the removable power supply chamber moving up to the drive bay area you can see the compromise that was made in order to achieve so much hard drive space there are only three five and a quarter inch bays as we turn to the motherboard tray their support for M ATX and ATX Thermaltake has done an absolutely top-notch job with the layout of the area they have angled cable openings to the tray over the areas where connectors are most likely to attach to the motherboard and other accessories as well as openings to the far right four side facing SATA connections and other plugins and to top it all off they have included the coveted opening for heatsink backplates found on practically all heavy heat sinks about the only thing the tray is missing is the fact that it's not removable which for some very particular individuals is apparently a highly valued asset and at the top are 230 millimeter fan situated directly over the CPU area a perfect position for drawing out the warm air installation wiring in the element s is incredibly easy the construction and design of the case allow for not only very clean wiring but it really helps to cut down on the time spent on installation in the end even a novice system builder is going to be able to wind up with very few cables cluttering up the middle and hindering airflow speaking of airflow air is pulled in through the fans on the front as well as through the openings on the side it's then dispersed through the fans on the top the back and bottom of the chassis it's a fairly typical flow design but with the number of fans moving air circulation and heat should not be a problem installation of most every component is fairly standard however for the hard drives Thermaltake is opted for a simple tool list design special thumb screws are used to slide the drive into the grooves and it locks into place with a clip the rack itself then fits back into the case I held in by more thumb screws and more clips as we rotate around you'll notice how the hard drive bays are inset a lot for cabling up the back of the chassis the ATX tray also has the perfect amount of room between it and the side panel for relatively thick cables to be run across without hassle and so that about wraps up the element test product showcase we hope you enjoyed this episode and encourage you to click that little yellow button up in the top right corner there and subscribe to receive future video updates also if you have any questions or comments regarding this video or future videos please feel free to post them in the youtube comments page and don't forget to visit triple W Hardware canucks comm for all the latest computer news and reviews thanks for watching
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