MOSAROR

January 11, 2012 at 9:07am

The thoughts are very well laid out and it was refreshing to read. I was able to find the information that I was looking for. I just wanted to leave a comment as a token of appreciation. Thanks for sharing this on the Net.

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joy

January 09, 2012 at 10:43am

I admit, I have not been on this webpage in a long time... however it was another joy to see It is such an important topic and ignored by so many, even professionals. professionals. I thank you to help making people more aware of possible issues

 

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Tdba

January 06, 2012 at 7:09pm

Hey guys. I had this case for good year and there are some problems with it.

1) when you move the case you have to be carful not to put it on one side of the footing because the mass of the case will rip out some of the screws from the bottom...(happened to me) 

2) the case is very good on cooling down the system (I use air cooling)... Negative side: have to clean it often :)

3) when installing some HD (3-4th in my case) had to put extra padding on the LED button for it to touch the hard drive(not a big problem). 

Overall this is great case to have. Looks good with 3 monitors...;) 

 

Dvdrom

January 03, 2012 at 4:10am

I admire the precious information you offer in your articles. I'll bookmark your blog and have my children check up here often. We are quite sure the can learn several new stuff here than anybody else!

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Restart

December 28, 2011 at 3:19am

This is good article, very informative and on the spot. I'm happy I stopped by and I'm very fond of the fact that I have learned something today. Keep up the good work.

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jeona

December 27, 2011 at 11:35pm

It is perfect time to make some plans for the future and it is time to be happy. I've read this post and if I could I desire to suggest you some interesting things or suggestions. Perhaps you could write next articles referring to this article. I want to read more things about it!

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Holly Golightly

May 18, 2011 at 11:10pm

I asked my boyfriend to get this case. If he does give me this case for Christmas... I think I may propose to him. This computer case is the design of my dreams. I may have fallen in love with it a little late... But wow, I think I am willing to trade my Adamo for this perfect rig. I will definitely use it for more than 10 years. This is the case of my dreams. I do not care about the haters think. It is the exact opposite of a mac. It is complex, and rich in detail. I can stare at this case all day. This computer is like literature. Plus, my and my boyfriend love building and customizing our rigs, so I know this will be a fun dream come true!

samathax

March 02, 2010 at 8:49am

Thanks for the link to this resource . black onyx earrings

winmaster

October 12, 2009 at 4:18pm

...but I decided to buy this case instead. Its not just a case, its a work of art.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

xXaJaXXx

October 11, 2009 at 12:59am

foot! this is the perf case LIke mentioned b4, for those that can afford it, or shuLds i say don't even ask what it costs! For those of uy Lucky enuff to buiLd pC's fer the actuaL rich, teLL is what u put in it and how weLL it cools. And if 5870x2's or GTX295's fit. Mano, i7 extreme, 5870 x3 in CfX, RAID0 SSD's w/ RAID5 Storage, Eyefinity with some crazy 3x 60" plazma's, Does Bose make a PCIe card. . ? 

bensen408

October 09, 2009 at 3:54pm

It's what you would get if you crossed a Cylon (reimagined BSG) with the WOPR from WarGames.

K0BALT

October 02, 2009 at 3:32am

I dont care what the article says. Even if each chamber has ventilation, it's not much. i can take my side panel off and remove all ten of my 120mm fans and have the same thermal performance. Interesting concept, but not for me. I like a big bulky case with over a dozen LED fans humming away to keep everything cool.

knexkid

September 30, 2009 at 5:17am

Will it fit a 5870? What about 2 5870's? If the answer is yes, I'm gonna eat ramen noodles for the next year so I can get this bad boy. It is beautiful. I just wish there was a window in the motherboard compartment. With a little red tint, that would be sweet!

ghot

September 29, 2009 at 7:43pm

.....does it come with someone to dust it?   FAIL!

 

Take an OS, and edit out all the efficiency, and what you have left is a post-XP Microsoft operating system :)

Geeksquadmyss

September 29, 2009 at 3:32pm

There is nothing unique or different about macs they have looked the same way for what a decade? Macs stop looking cool 4 years ago this however is one hell of a good looking case, and i just may buy one to put my new PC in  ill admit that a lot of PC cases suck and looks the same, however to say that macs look cooler is a bunch of crap since they remain pretty much uniform, and there more novelty now than anything, kinda like the Wii.

relaxed911

September 29, 2009 at 12:59pm

As a designer, owner of a BMW and Mac Pro, and a PC builder and enthusiast, i have to say this case is pretty hideous and uninspired.  The Mac Pro may be starting to show its age, but nothing could hold a candle to it for long time.  I'm still amazed whenever opening up the Mac Pro at how well it's engineered and how elegant and intuitive the overall layout is. It seems sad and strange to me that the PC marketplace has so few stylish and contemporary designs made for adults.   

Lrscpa

September 29, 2009 at 12:16pm

41 lbs?!?

lodc2

September 29, 2009 at 12:05pm

I am both an owner and a fan of Apple products, but if you think a mac pro holds a candle to this design... my god you've had waaaay to much of Job's koolaid.

 

Comic Book Guy

September 29, 2009 at 6:53am

I want one, time to get rid of the HAF 932, still think it was stupid of Cooler Master not to include any fan filters; hopefully the Level 10 by Thermaltake is better...wonder when the full specs are going to show up.

Comic Book Guy

Xylogeist

September 29, 2009 at 6:44am

Honestly... it looks cool... and I want it... but why the F$%& is it 700$?! NO piece of metal and plastic no matter how neatly aranged with wires is worth that! Does it at least come with a power supply?!

fnordfnord

September 29, 2009 at 5:03am

Why is this article split across two pages? The benefit of a web page is that you can fit an infinite amount of information (such as a long article) in a finite amount of space (on a computer's display) simply by using teh browser's vertical scrolling feature.

Everybody these days uses ad blocking software. If this article splitting is an attempt to raise revenue for the web site, it will not work. In fact, splitting the article across two pages actually increases your web site's overhead by generating up to double the traffic.

Frederico

September 28, 2009 at 11:45pm

 

I have to admit, on first glance, I was very impressed that something in the PC world could actually be so striking. Love it or hate it, too expensive or worth it, you have to admit it makes a statement. 

 What I also find interesting is seeing an almost even split in opinions in the comments; the only middle ground are those that like it but think it costs too much; otherwise it's lust or bust.

This may be the wrong place to point this out, but for those that dig it, you might just gain some insight as to why Apple customers are, in part, willing to pay a premium for their hardware. Not only is it (frequently) visibly striking, but it is (nearly) always well-made, of the best materials, and not only that, but it is *engineered* with remarkable thought towards achieving whatever is its primary goal. It may be all about looks, and then it may not be as easy to tear into; or it may be all about function, and looks become secondary -- but only just.

 I'm not saying Apple is always perfect; I'm not saying that sometimes the quality just isn't quite as good as it should or could have been; I'm not saying every piece they make belongs in a museum; but, by and large, every Apple product made for the past fifteen years was meant to be *seen*, not just used. Love him or hate him, Jobs’ design aesthetics put very high demands on Jonny Ive and his team; for better or worse, Jobs' visions of simplicty, form and function are driving us towards some incredible technology, if for no other reason than it makes Apple's machines more beautiful (c.f.: Intel Light Peak).

 I would like to go on about what makes Apple's rigs stand out, both inside and out, but this article is about the ThermalTake Level 10. So, allow me to make some observations, now that the initial impact of the vision is sinking in.

1) I notice both here and on the manufacturer's site, that there is a glaring absence of shots of the rear. I suspect that is because from the rear, it's just another ugly-ass ATX-style PC. There isn't much you can do without also building a slick rear panel cover to hide all the yuk that is the rear of an ATX mobo form factor, and then you need to do considerable engineering to make sure it still cools properly. 

Compare this to the rear of a Mac Pro (image), which, while not perfect, at least attempts to be as pretty as it can be, without making it difficult to access the ports or block the cooling. Look at the cover latch, if nothing else: that could have been really ugly, but Apple made it part of the form, blending it in as best as can be. They even moved the AC power socket, which in all prior cases of this form factor, was on the upper right, to the dead center, to grant a better symmetry. The I/O ports are intentionally grouped and balanced, too. The PCI gates are blended and molded to be as clean as possible. Even the primary MOBO fan grill is aligned diagaonally to match the perforation pattern of the body cover and not at 90 degree vertical/horizontal as you would expect any cheap PC to do. You would be proud to let someone see the back of this rig sitting on or under your desk.

 2) The latter treatise leads me next to the lock-side of the Thermal 10; I can't say I love or hate the offset-T as part of the design, but I can say they *ruined* this progressive, striking form factor by putting cheap, ugly-ass barrel-locks just like you find on any other "secure" ATX case. And then to add all that hokey labeling -- S.S.S.: Smart-Lock Security System (Puh-leeeze!) and System Security Lock, and then to label what each lock secures with lines and target points and letters, is just plain awful. Why not use icon art, at least, indicating what each lock will do at a given position. And make it blend into the case using shades of grays, not bold white.  And f you *had* to use cheap barrel locks, couldn’t you have designed a cover plate for them that reflected better the ‘cityscape’ concept of the opposite side?

 Like it or not, the side panel design is completely at odds with the aesthetics of the component side, and especially the front  side, which is truly minimal in text.

3) Which brings us to the front, which almost had me drooling enough to consider purchasing one for the lone PC I use, until I zoomed in on the optical bay cover. Oh, dear god, will PC designers never, ever take a cue from Apple? This gorgeous concept is *instantly* destroyed by making the optical bay no better, and not very different at all than any other cheap ATX box. Three drive bays, and each with a cheap plastic-looking facia plate. Even if you fill them each with three black-face optical drives, those drives will still *look* like 5.25’’ drives, complete with brand markings, burn-speed tags, buttons, and sometimes even audio jacks.

And even if you painted over all that ugly, you’d *still* see the gaps and seams where the drives protrude from the case! Why did we go to all the effort to build this gorgeous form factor, not only hiding, but giving glorious clothing to the uninspired, unattractive generic components, only to leave the most-often accessed pieces like any other ugly PC case.

Now, that said, I do see what looks like it might be a tiny button on the uppermost bay on the right lower side. This might actually be a flip-down drive-cover gate after all. But where are the button-plates for the lower bays? And why are they still ugly, looking like nothing more than cheap ‘there’s nothing actually in this bay’ blank covers?

Again, look at the Mac Pro (image and image). Is it the perfect design? No, but tell me those auto-drop hideaway doors are not sexy! Starting with the 1998 G3 towers, Apple has worked hard to hide the generic 5.25’’ drive faces seen everywhere else. Even before that, they used custom integrated bezels and snap-on face plates to make them blend as best they could. Even HP, Dell and others made decent attempts at this. And, yes, even Apple did a few rounds of drop-gate covers, but I promise you they all looked better than the Thermal 10, if indeed it even uses them.

For TT and BMW to overlook this section and come up with something so cheesey within an effort to redefine what a PC tower must look like is shameful.

And, once more, they ruined it with bright white, un-clever, unartistic branding on the upper left corner.

4) I am anxious to see one of these in person; or hear detailed comment from MaximumPC’s upcoming review as to how easy to access the HDD bays are. Because that is the single feature, mounted to the industrial exposed heat sink on this rig that looks totally awesome and beautiful, both. I have to be honest, they *look* as though they will be herky-jerky, wiggle-waggle, catchy-jammy to take in and out, if you know what I mean. But, if the slides and guides were machined properly, they might just slip in and out like a knife in the jelly jar. However, since the TT website claims it is *extruded* aluminum, not machined, I don’t have much faith. 

Kudos, however, for making them 2.5/3.5 adaptable with no extra hardware. Big time points, there.

5) I’m not a fan of red LEDs, but I won’t penalize for that. No doubt the light effects are easily replaced with blue, green or whatever makes you happy. Likely even will become and option if they sell enough of these.

 My question is, though, can I attenuate the brightness, or must I add a dimmer set to make the glow tolerable in low/no light conditions. Can I adjust from the outside, or will I have to open the case. Important questions for a case this expensive.

 And, *please*, tell me they don’t pulse and throb with use. The company site seems to indicate it does under Design -> Stylish -> Lighting Effect, but it’s not clear. If it only does it when sleeping, I could probably live with it, but if it does it all the time, it’s a deal breaker. A novel effect for just about ten minutes, and then you’ll be putting electrical tape over the whole rig, especially if you’re trying to do a design layout, photo restoration, or editing a movie, and that pulsing red light keeps affecting your color sense.

6) Yes, the multitude of surfaces, especially those in the path of airflow, are going to get dusty. Keeping it clean will be tedious. But all computers, even Macs, get dusty -- inside and out. The question is, does this tiered, compartmentalized design allow for more dust to get inside or less? And, does it make it easier, or harder to clean the innards now and again to prevent overheating and static capacitance and discharge?

7) Double Branding Foul: Ten yard penalty and loss of down. You already put your name on the optical bay, must you also have it over the expansion bay, too?

8) At the end of the day, when you open up all the unique access covers, it’s still an ugly ATX, wire-harness spaghetti clusterfudge. Not TT/BMW’s fault, completely; after all, this is designed for universal ATX use, but, still, better effort could have been made to allow the steam/cyber-punk geeks to run open-frame or with clear-covers. Again, look at the current Mac Pro. (image) Tell me that’s not built with the idea it could be run sans dress plate. I promise you it’s predecessor, the Mac Pro G5, which included a clear cover underneath the dress plate, was meant to be, and is very often run open frame for those geeks that like to. This one is also meant to, giving easy access to the SATA hot-swap bays. You shouldn’t, but you can even hot-swap the ATA-133 optical drives from the quick-slide-out optical bay.

Like TT’s Thermal 10, Apple has gone to great efforts to create multiple, separated, distinct cooling zones, each fan system attenuated and regulated to the needs of the devices contained within. If the fans don’t need to run, they don’t, or they throttle up and down as its devices work harder. I hope the Thermal 10 does the same, and doesn’t just have four or five or six bigass fans blowing through every zone no matter what.

9) Hey, and thanks for that handle. 47 freakin’ pounds of thanks. Another thing the Mac Pro has retained from the first B&W G3, even if they will cut into your flesh if you try to carry with just one hand without gloves.

Anyway, I’m very pleased to see TT/BMW trying to shake things up in an otherwise dull and ugly PC landscape. Even if this first pass at art and excellence falls short, at least in my eyes, I hope they are not afraid to refine and try again and again till they get it right. That’s what Apple has had to do. Good design is both inspiration and evolution. You can’t have one without the other and expect to win.

 

Frederico

September 28, 2009 at 11:45pm

 

I have to admit, on first glance, I was very impressed that something in the PC world could actually be so striking. Love it or hate it, too expensive or worth it, you have to admit it makes a statement. 

 What I also find interesting is seeing an almost even split in opinions in the comments; the only middle ground are those that like it but think it costs too much; otherwise it's lust or bust.

This may be the wrong place to point this out, but for those that dig it, you might just gain some insight as to why Apple customers are, in part, willing to pay a premium for their hardware. Not only is it (frequently) visibly striking, but it is (nearly) always well-made, of the best materials, and not only that, but it is *engineered* with remarkable thought towards achieving whatever is its primary goal. It may be all about looks, and then it may not be as easy to tear into; or it may be all about function, and looks become secondary -- but only just.

 I'm not saying Apple is always perfect; I'm not saying that sometimes the quality just isn't quite as good as it should or could have been; I'm not saying every piece they make belongs in a museum; but, by and large, every Apple product made for the past fifteen years was meant to be *seen*, not just used. Love him or hate him, Jobs’ design aesthetics put very high demands on Jonny Ive and his team; for better or worse, Jobs' visions of simplicty, form and function are driving us towards some incredible technology, if for no other reason than it makes Apple's machines more beautiful (c.f.: Intel Light Peak).

 I would like to go on about what makes Apple's rigs stand out, both inside and out, but this article is about the ThermalTake Level 10. So, allow me to make some observations, now that the initial impact of the vision is sinking in.

1) I notice both here and on the manufacturer's site, that there is a glaring absence of shots of the rear. I suspect that is because from the rear, it's just another ugly-ass ATX-style PC. There isn't much you can do without also building a slick rear panel cover to hide all the yuk that is the rear of an ATX mobo form factor, and then you need to do considerable engineering to make sure it still cools properly. 

Compare this to the rear of a Mac Pro (image), which, while not perfect, at least attempts to be as pretty as it can be, without making it difficult to access the ports or block the cooling. Look at the cover latch, if nothing else: that could have been really ugly, but Apple made it part of the form, blending it in as best as can be. They even moved the AC power socket, which in all prior cases of this form factor, was on the upper right, to the dead center, to grant a better symmetry. The I/O ports are intentionally grouped and balanced, too. The PCI gates are blended and molded to be as clean as possible. Even the primary MOBO fan grill is aligned diagaonally to match the perforation pattern of the body cover and not at 90 degree vertical/horizontal as you would expect any cheap PC to do. You would be proud to let someone see the back of this rig sitting on or under your desk.

 2) The latter treatise leads me next to the lock-side of the Thermal 10; I can't say I love or hate the offset-T as part of the design, but I can say they *ruined* this progressive, striking form factor by putting cheap, ugly-ass barrel-locks just like you find on any other "secure" ATX case. And then to add all that hokey labeling -- S.S.S.: Smart-Lock Security System (Puh-leeeze!) and System Security Lock, and then to label what each lock secures with lines and target points and letters, is just plain awful. Why not use icon art, at least, indicating what each lock will do at a given position. And make it blend into the case using shades of grays, not bold white.  And f you *had* to use cheap barrel locks, couldn’t you have designed a cover plate for them that reflected better the ‘cityscape’ concept of the opposite side?

 Like it or not, the side panel design is completely at odds with the aesthetics of the component side, and especially the front  side, which is truly minimal in text.

3) Which brings us to the front, which almost had me drooling enough to consider purchasing one for the lone PC I use, until I zoomed in on the optical bay cover. Oh, dear god, will PC designers never, ever take a cue from Apple? This gorgeous concept is *instantly* destroyed by making the optical bay no better, and not very different at all than any other cheap ATX box. Three drive bays, and each with a cheap plastic-looking facia plate. Even if you fill them each with three black-face optical drives, those drives will still *look* like 5.25’’ drives, complete with brand markings, burn-speed tags, buttons, and sometimes even audio jacks.

And even if you painted over all that ugly, you’d *still* see the gaps and seams where the drives protrude from the case! Why did we go to all the effort to build this gorgeous form factor, not only hiding, but giving glorious clothing to the uninspired, unattractive generic components, only to leave the most-often accessed pieces like any other ugly PC case.

Now, that said, I do see what looks like it might be a tiny button on the uppermost bay on the right lower side. This might actually be a flip-down drive-cover gate after all. But where are the button-plates for the lower bays? And why are they still ugly, looking like nothing more than cheap ‘there’s nothing actually in this bay’ blank covers?

Again, look at the Mac Pro (image and image). Is it the perfect design? No, but tell me those auto-drop hideaway doors are not sexy! Starting with the 1998 G3 towers, Apple has worked hard to hide the generic 5.25’’ drive faces seen everywhere else. Even before that, they used custom integrated bezels and snap-on face plates to make them blend as best they could. Even HP, Dell and others made decent attempts at this. And, yes, even Apple did a few rounds of drop-gate covers, but I promise you they all looked better than the Thermal 10, if indeed it even uses them.

For TT and BMW to overlook this section and come up with something so cheesey within an effort to redefine what a PC tower must look like is shameful.

And, once more, they ruined it with bright white, un-clever, unartistic branding on the upper left corner.

4) I am anxious to see one of these in person; or hear detailed comment from MaximumPC’s upcoming review as to how easy to access the HDD bays are. Because that is the single feature, mounted to the industrial exposed heat sink on this rig that looks totally awesome and beautiful, both. I have to be honest, they *look* as though they will be herky-jerky, wiggle-waggle, catchy-jammy to take in and out, if you know what I mean. But, if the slides and guides were machined properly, they might just slip in and out like a knife in the jelly jar. However, since the TT website claims it is *extruded* aluminum, not machined, I don’t have much faith. 

Kudos, however, for making them 2.5/3.5 adaptable with no extra hardware. Big time points, there.

5) I’m not a fan of red LEDs, but I won’t penalize for that. No doubt the light effects are easily replaced with blue, green or whatever makes you happy. Likely even will become and option if they sell enough of these.

 My question is, though, can I attenuate the brightness, or must I add a dimmer set to make the glow tolerable in low/no light conditions. Can I adjust from the outside, or will I have to open the case. Important questions for a case this expensive.

 And, *please*, tell me they don’t pulse and throb with use. The company site seems to indicate it does under Design -> Stylish -> Lighting Effect, but it’s not clear. If it only does it when sleeping, I could probably live with it, but if it does it all the time, it’s a deal breaker. A novel effect for just about ten minutes, and then you’ll be putting electrical tape over the whole rig, especially if you’re trying to do a design layout, photo restoration, or editing a movie, and that pulsing red light keeps affecting your color sense.

6) Yes, the multitude of surfaces, especially those in the path of airflow, are going to get dusty. Keeping it clean will be tedious. But all computers, even Macs, get dusty -- inside and out. The question is, does this tiered, compartmentalized design allow for more dust to get inside or less? And, does it make it easier, or harder to clean the innards now and again to prevent overheating and static capacitance and discharge?

7) Double Branding Foul: Ten yard penalty and loss of down. You already put your name on the optical bay, must you also have it over the expansion bay, too?

8) At the end of the day, when you open up all the unique access covers, it’s still an ugly ATX, wire-harness spaghetti clusterfudge. Not TT/BMW’s fault, completely; after all, this is designed for universal ATX use, but, still, better effort could have been made to allow the steam/cyber-punk geeks to run open-frame or with clear-covers. Again, look at the current Mac Pro. (image) Tell me that’s not built with the idea it could be run sans dress plate. I promise you it’s predecessor, the Mac Pro G5, which included a clear cover underneath the dress plate, was meant to be, and is very often run open frame for those geeks that like to. This one is also meant to, giving easy access to the SATA hot-swap bays. You shouldn’t, but you can even hot-swap the ATA-133 optical drives from the quick-slide-out optical bay.

Like TT’s Thermal 10, Apple has gone to great efforts to create multiple, separated, distinct cooling zones, each fan system attenuated and regulated to the needs of the devices contained within. If the fans don’t need to run, they don’t, or they throttle up and down as its devices work harder. I hope the Thermal 10 does the same, and doesn’t just have four or five or six bigass fans blowing through every zone no matter what.

9) Hey, and thanks for that handle. 47 freakin’ pounds of thanks. Another thing the Mac Pro has retained from the first B&W G3, even if they will cut into your flesh if you try to carry with just one hand without gloves.

Anyway, I’m very pleased to see TT/BMW trying to shake things up in an otherwise dull and ugly PC landscape. Even if this first pass at art and excellence falls short, at least in my eyes, I hope they are not afraid to refine and try again and again till they get it right. That’s what Apple has had to do. Good design is both inspiration and evolution. You can’t have one without the other and expect to win.