Review: Thermaltake Xaser VI PC case
Date : 01 30 2008 Category : Technology
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Simon Crisp, Personal Computer World, Thursday 31 January 2008 at 00:00:00
Some minor problems but an otherwise good-quality case
The Xaser VI has excellent build quality but there are a couple of design niggles that could have been ironed out. Our review sample came in a silver and black mesh finish, but there is also a black and red mesh version; both are offered with or without a windowed side panel. Although it looks hefty, the Xaser VI is constructed of aluminium and weighs just 11kg, 6kg lighter than the steel version. The Xaser VI has a removable motherboard tray, which is one of our main frustrations with the case. Not only do you have to take both side panels off but you also need to have a screwdriver handy because thumb-screw fixings arenít used. The side panels are, thankfully, held in using thumb-screws but, they are small and positioned close to the side of the chassis, so people with big fingers will find them awkward to use. A neat touch is the movable power supply support in the top of the case, which allows all lengths of PSU (not supplied) to be firmly supported, and the expansion slots are all tool free. Thereís plenty of space for your drives, with seven 5.25in bays with external access, one of which can used as a 3.5in bay, and a further seven 3.5in bays split between three cages. The main cage, which is perpendicular to the case front, holds five bays, each with a tool-free tray that holds the drive. There is also a slot in the motherboard plate that allows for tidy cable runs from the motherboard to the rear of the drives. This main cage can also be taken out simply by unscrewing a single thumb-screw. The remaining two cages are permanently fixed to the bottom of the case. Niggles aside, this is another top-quality case from Themaltake.
