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UGLIER, BUT BETTER THAN THE ORIGINAL
Thermaltake’s original Level 10 chassis was a remarkable collaboration with BMW DesignWorks in which the companies fundamentally restructured the PC chassis into a series of isolated compartments suspended from a central load-bearing wall. It was stunning, cost $800, and wasn’t actually that practical to use. With the Level 10 GT, Thermaltake has taken the basic look of the Level 10, slapped it onto a more standard full-tower frame, and slashed $500 from the asking price. The end result isn’t quite as sleek as its progenitor from an aesthetic perspective, but far outstrips the original in ease of use and practicality, and is not without a certain sci-fi flair of its own.
At 11.1 inches wide by 23 inches high and 23.2 inches deep, and weighing 28 pounds empty, the Level 10 GT is a hefty case. The case’s frame and right-side panel are made of black-painted steel, and the right side has a ridge with a handle cribbed directly from the Level 10, although it’s not part of the central pillar as on the Level 10. The front panel is made of plastic and contains four mesh 5.25-inch optical bezels and one 3.5-inch external-drive bay. The optical drive bays are toolless, with the latching mechanisms on the right side of the bays.
Like a skyscraper from a sci-fi flick, the Level 10 GT has a certain gaudy charm.
The left-side panel is where the action is. The rear two-thirds comprise a hinged-door panel that locks with a barrel lock, featuring a 20cm color-shifting fan (with directional shutters like a car’s heating vents) on the bottom and a clear plastic window on top. The front third of the panel is devoted to drive trays: five slide-out plastic 3.5-inch trays (with 2.5-inch mounting holes, as well) mimic the solid-aluminum drive trays of the original Level 10, but feature hotswap SATA pass-throughs, prewired with a five-head SATA power cable.
The 20cm color-shift intake fan on the side panel is matched by another on the front panel, as well as a 20cm color-shift top exhaust fan (which can be replaced by a 240mm radiator) and a 12cm rear exhaust fan. All intake fans, as well as the PSU intake, feature slide-out dust filters.
The Level 10 GT includes two USB 2.0 ports and audio jacks on the front of the right pillar, with two USB 3.0 ports, fan controls, and one eSATA port above the optical bays.
Inside, the Level 10 GT is almost conventional, with plenty of routing options.
The Level 10 GT features a much easier install process than its predecessor—almost on par with the Corsair 800D. Its motherboard tray includes eight rubber-grommeted cable-routing cutouts, plus a large CPU backplane cutout. It has eight PCI expansion slots and supports ATX, microATX, and E-ATX motherboards. The motherboard compartment is sufficiently spacious to make installation of even the bulkiest systems a breeze, and the case easily accommodates 12.2-inch GPUs.
Thanks to its plethora of fans and capacious motherboard compartment, the Level 10 GT’s thermal performance was the second-best of any case in this roundup, bested (only slightly) by the Silverstone TJ11, which retails at $600.
If you admired the original Level 10 but couldn’t stomach its asking price or performance compromises, you’ll find the Level 10 GT more to your liking. It’s less sleek and, well, design-y, but in every other aspect it’s the superior case.
Easy install; interesting design; great cooling
Still expensive; garish design isn't for everyone
$280, thermaltakeusa.com
THE LUXURY SPORTS CAR OF COMPUTER CHASSIS
From the moment you first see it, it’s clear that the Temjin TJ11 is Silverstone’s balls-to-the-wall attempt to create the best chassis money can buy. Silverstone packs in virtually every trick in its arsenal—from the mid-chassis air-intake duct found in previous Temjin cases to the unibody aluminum frame of the Fortress FT02 to the rotated motherboard tray first seen in the Raven RV01. The result is massive, possibly overengineered, and awesome.
At 2 feet, 1 inch tall, the Temjin TJ11 is a monster.
At 9 inches wide by 25 inches high and 25 inches deep, the TJ11 is a full inch deeper and higher than the Corsair 800D, itself one of the largest chassis we’ve ever tested. Like all recent Silverstone cases, the motherboard is rotated 90 degrees, so the I/O plate and PCI slots point up. Unlike the Raven RV03, though, the motherboard tray is along the left-side panel, with the case window on the right panel. The TJ11 has a “dual unibody” frame—the front, bottom, and top panels are all a single piece of aluminum, with the rest of the case also made of aluminum, except for the removable motherboard tray and the mid-case fan brackets, which are steel. There isn’t a rivet to be found on the case; it’s all screws all the way, to the delight of any modder.
The TJ11 is separated into two main compartments. The lower compartment contains two three-bay hard drive cages. Each bay has its own 12cm fan, so the hard drives are thermally isolated from the rest of the case, and each HDD tray has its own hotswap backplate. The case can also accommodate two power supplies or one redundant server PSU.
The drive trays remove to accommodate a radiator up to 480mm. Between the bottom and top compartments are two mid-case air ducts that feed cool air to the two filtered 18cm intake fans at the bottom of the motherboard compartment.
The motherboard compartment is generously apportioned, with room for ATX, microATX, SSI CEB server boards, and even XL ATX boards like the Gigabyte G1.Assassin. The case has nine 5.25-inch drive bays—plenty of room for multiple water-cooling reservoirs, fan controllers, and more. Three optional SSD mounting brackets attach to the left side of the optical drive bays.
We’ve chided Silverstone for taking few risks with its Temjin lineup. Never again.
The I/O backplate contains nine PCI expansion slots and can accommodate quad-SLI or CrossFireX setups with the removal of a bracket. All the front-panel cables (two USB 3.0 via a pass-through, two USB 2.0, two audio cables, and two power buttons—one on top and one on the front) and connectors are routed to the bottom of the motherboard for easy cable management. Plenty of cable-routing cutouts mean that it’s easy to construct a beautiful rig in the TJ11.
The case’s two 18cm fans are quite loud at full bore, but the TJ11’s thermal performance was the best of any case in our roundup. This is an all-around fantastic case, with superb performance, plenty of features, and beautiful attention to detail. It’s obvious Silverstone has spared no expense in crafting the ultimate premium chassis. It’s easy to spend more money on less case (see: Thermaltake Level 10, ABS Canyon 695), but it’s also easy to spend less than half of the price on a case that’s more than half as good, if you follow us. Nobody needs a $600 case. But if you’re made of money and want to spend it on a great case, the TJ11 is our choice.
Incredible build quality and attention to detail; great thermal performance; jaw-dropping looks; highly moddable
Ungodly expensive; fans loud at full blast.
$600, www.silverstonetek.com
Comments are closed on this article
delpi98
October 24, 2011 at 1:35pm
I like this I am new reader thank you to post Apple Black Friday Black Friday Apple
mocomike
July 14, 2011 at 3:12pm
ive been intersted in the fractal arc case since these guys reviewed it. Only problem is No One Sells It! Why must you tease us with a case we cant buy! fractal shows only Ncix.com and newegg as their dealers in the us but neither of them has it. I even tried amazon but no luck...
yancey42
June 14, 2011 at 8:48pm
I was wondering why no cases from NZXT. I just bought my first NZXT case for around $35 from Amazon. It was a GAMMA Classic Series ATX Mid Tower Interior Steel Chassis (Black). It was pretty barebones, without a lot of fans, but had places to mount them, if needed. It seems to have good build quality, and for $35 bucks it had both hidden cable routing and tool-less hard drive mounting, and included zip-ties (A nice touch). I bought this for a server build I was working on, but it would have worked well for a budget build as well. Don't know if you could get a large graphics card in there or not, but did I mention it was $35 bucks. I have bought cases in the past for much more without this ones build quality. I never worked with a NZXT case before, but was impressed. I know MaximumPC has reviewed NZXT cases in the past, I was disappointed that one wasn't included in this review.
nedwards
June 14, 2011 at 10:51pm
We just reviewed the NZXT H2, and I asked if they had any cases we hadn't yet seen when I was collecting cases for the roundup. They didn't at that time. They did just announce some new cases, I believe, and we'll review 'em when we get 'em in.
yancey42
June 14, 2011 at 8:48pm
I was wondering why no cases from NZXT. I just bought my first NZXT case for around $35 from Amazon. It was a GAMMA Classic Series ATX Mid Tower Interior Steel Chassis (Black). It was pretty barebones, without a lot of fans, but had places to mount them, if needed. It seems to have good build quality, and for $35 bucks it had both hidden cable routing and tool-less hard drive mounting, and included zip-ties (A nice touch). I bought this for a server build I was working on, but it would have worked well for a budget build as well. Don't know if you could get a large graphics card in there or not, but did I mention it was $35 bucks. I have bought cases in the past for much more without this ones build quality. I never worked with a NZXT case before, but was impressed. I know MaximumPC has reviewed NZXT cases in the past, I was disappointed that one wasn't included in this review.
fallout330
June 14, 2011 at 4:41pm
Looks like the Corsair 650D would be my choice....if I had flexibillity with cost. Great looking Case.
Kazz
June 14, 2011 at 8:04am
Sub-$100 is where it's at for me. And I don't need a case to come with countless fans. I install my own. The BitFenix looks good...
newegg911
June 13, 2011 at 7:11pm
I'm with Neufeld. I actually consider tooless PCI brackets a minus. They are almost always uneeded garbage.
newegg911
June 13, 2011 at 7:09pm
I still don't like it, but the Thermaltake Level 10 is almost reasonably priced this time.
What's up with the Silverstone Temejin? $600? Are you freakin' kidding me? Does it include an expresso machine? It doesn't even look like anything special anyway. And what's up with the TEN bay slots? Cool... it can hold every optical drive I've ever owned at once! I can jam my 4x CD burner from 1997 in there!
I have a HAF 922 and I love it. It's heavy steel, has awesome cooling out of the box, and can be found for under a C-note.
Jasker
June 13, 2011 at 4:35pm
Since when is 57 degrees hotter than 59? Silverstone won system burn also.
MrSatyre
June 13, 2011 at 4:31pm
Huh? The Temijin's slots all point to the top?!? Who wants all their cables sticking out of their case's top like Medusa?
Marthian
June 13, 2011 at 11:52pm
to some, it looks cool. Others, why on earth are there cables up there?
I also believe the reason for the wierd mount is because the air moves better up so I hear. Vapor chambers in the nvidia gpus benefit from this I believe.
Cooketh
June 13, 2011 at 4:14pm
I'm sitting on the Thermaltake Xaser which is a massive tower. I believe it cost me around the $200 range and though it's large, it's all metalic, very little plastic, a ton of fan slots, excellent cooling, roomy, all the perks, but no USB 3 on front.
It's similar to the Silverstone one in alot of ways, but not as tricked out internally. I'd reccomend anyone who wants a big case for modding, cooling, etc take a look at it and the Corsair case featured in this review. My friend uses that corsair case and he loves it. And it looks beautiful in person.
plaskon
June 13, 2011 at 4:04pm
Cooler Master HAF-912 Advanced ... toolless, roomy, plus two very quiet 200mm fans.
Insula Gilliganis
June 13, 2011 at 2:45pm
Wrong about "early Dream Machine builds" not listing the case used.. take off the S on "buildS".. only the original 1996 boot 01 Dream Machine didn't list the case used. But a year later with the 1997 Dream Machine 02, the case was listed as the IW-A500 CompuDEX ATX Medium Tower and every case used in the Dream Machine builds going forward were also listed.
The one time I really cared that Maximum PC miss mentioning what case was used was in the November 2000 issue when reviewing the "Chamsalot P-III 1GHz". Josh Norem mentioned that it was the "Case of the Gods" and "The case is an ace!" but the model number wasn't listed in the specs and only mentioned that it was made by Antec. I hope Mark Miller (aka Chamsalot back then and I believe now roams the MaximumPC hallways as "Number Six") will tell us what model Antec that he used 11 years ago! If only that RAID array would have worked correctly, Mark would have had a Kick Ass 11 rig in his law office! BTW, that case would have fit in nicely inside a Cylon basestar. By your command!
Neufeldt2002
June 13, 2011 at 12:54pm
I really don't understand why you knock points off for a non tool-less design on the PCI slots. I have had tool-less and every one has been flimsy and cheap, that leads to breakage and loose cards. I would gladly take screws on the PCI mounts anytime over tool-less, unless they are thumb screws.
