Thermaltake Launches Urban S21 Mid Tower Chassis

Subject: Cases and Cooling | March 3, 2013 - 10:53 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: thermaltake, mid tower, case, atx

Thermaltake has released a new mid tower chassis aimed at enthusiasts favoring minimalist designs. Constructed of SECC (Steel, Electrogalvanized, ColdRolled, Coil) steel, the Thermaltake Urban S21 supports ATX motherboards, high-end graphics cards, and both air and water cooling options. It measures 17.2” x 7.5” x 19.6”.

The new chassis is all black and features a brushed metal design on the front panel. The brushed metal front door hides the externally-accessible drives. At the top of the front panel, the case features two USB 3.0 ports and two audio jacks. A power LED along with both power and reset button adorns the top-edge of the case. The side panel has space for one 120mm fan as well as a clear window above it that is about the size of a 120mm fan. Four large case feet hold the mid tower above the floor, allowing the PSU intake and an (optional) additional 120mm fan to bring cool air into the case.

Thermaltake includes two 120mm fans, but the case itself can support a maximum of five 120mm fans. The Urban S21 case interior features tool-less drive bays for up to six hard drives and three optical drives. Further, it has cable management holes, water cooling grommets, a bottom-mounted power supply, and a CPU cutout.

Thermaltake’s Urban S21 case looks good and has a decent feature set. The case will reportedly go on sale sometime this month, but the company has not yet announced pricing. Here’s hoping the price is right as it is looking like a nice mid-tower case so far! You can find more specifications on the Urban S21 on this product page.

Fractal Design Integrates USB 3.0 Support Into New Core 3000 USB 3.0 ATX Chassis

Subject: Cases and Cooling | February 5, 2013 - 09:21 AM | Tim Verry
Tagged: usb 3.0, mid tower, fractal design, core 3000 usb 3.0, Core 3000, atx case

Fractal Design has taken its budget-friendly mid-tower Core 3000 case, and updated it with USB 3.0 support on the front IO panel. The new SKU is aptly named the Fractal Design Core 3000 USB 3.0.

The new case is essentially an upgrade to the Core 3000. It is a black case with white accents on the drive carriages and PCI expansion slots. The front panel of the case features two optical disc drive bays and a dust filter covered by a mess grill. The top of the case holds an exhaust port and a new front IO panel. The IO panel includes two audio jacks, power and reset buttons, power and hard drive activity LEDs, two USB 2.0 ports, and two USB 3.0 ports.

The Core 3000 USB 3.0 case has room for two 5.25” drives and up to six 3.5” or 2.5” drives (with the top drive cage being removable). Seven PCI expansion slots, a CPU cutout, and cable management/routing holes are all standard features of the Core 3000 USB 3.0 case.

On the cooling front, the mid tower chassis comes equipped with three Silent Series R2 fans out of the box along with a total of seven fan cutouts. By default, there is one 140mm 1,000 RPM intake fan in the front, one 120mm 1,200 RPM exhaust fan in the back, and one 140mm 1,000 RPM fan attached to the top of the case.

The available fan positions are as follows:

• Front of the case:
  • 1 x 120mm fan
  • 1 x 140mm fan
• Top of the case:
  • 2 x 120mm or 140mm fans
• Rear of the case:
  • 1 x 120mm fan
• Side of the case:
  • 1 x 120mm fan
• Bottom of the case:
  • 1 x 120mm fan

The Core 3000 USB 3.0 case has a MSRP of $74.95 in the US. All in all, it looks to be a decent case for the price. You can find more information on the product page.

Rosewill Launches Armor Evolution Mid-Tower Case

Subject: General Tech | December 21, 2012 - 01:39 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: rosewill, mid tower, case, armor evolution

Rosewill recently announced a new Armor series case called the Armor Evolution. The new mid-tower chassis is constructed of SECC steel and measures 8.74” x 19” x 22.84.” The mid-tower case supports motherboards from micro-ATX to E-ATX in size. The front IO includes power and reset buttons, two USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, and two audio jacks. Rosewill uses perforated metal for the ventilation panels on the sides of the case.

Rosewill packages the case with five fans, and the case supports a total of 9 fans. The pre-installed fans include:

• 2 x 120mm red LED-lit fans on the front panel
• 1 x 120mm top fan
• 1 x 120mm rear fan
• 1 x 230mm side fan (optional support for four 120mm fans on the side panel)

The case additionally supports:

• 2 x 120mm fans on hard drive rack
• 1 x 120mm fan on bottom of case
• 1 x 120mm fan on the top

Internally, the Armor Evolution supports seven 3.5” drives, three 5.25” drives, E-ATX motherboards, and up to seven PCI expansion slots. Additional features include a tool-less design, CPU cutout, cable management routing holes, a bottom-mounted PSU, and water cooling grommets on the rear of the case for routing tubes outside of the case to external radiators. The Armor Evolution supports graphics cards up to 14” and CPU heatsinks up to 6.5.” Rosewill has also included removable dust filters to cut down on dust buildup.

It looks like a decent case from Rosewill that offers plenty of cooling (both air and water cooling options), and it should be competitively priced. Unfortunately, there is no official word yet on pricing or availability for the Armor Evolution case.

Thermaltake Oversees Production of New Overseer RX-1 e-Sports Computer Case

Subject: Cases and Cooling | September 20, 2011 - 11:08 AM | Tim Verry
Tagged: thermaltake, mid tower, gaming, case

Case and processor heatsink manufacturer, Thermaltake, recently announced a new gaming centric computer case under their e-Sports lineup. The new Overseer RX-1 case is a full tower design with lots of external ports and airflow options. Set to debut in September, the company claims that the steel (SECC) chassis is made specifically for e-Sports fanatics, and lives up to the full tower name with dimensions of 21.1 x 8.7 x 22.8 inches.

The exterior of the case is dark black with blue LED accents. The top of the case features ridges and two 20mm fan mounts. The top of the case also features a top loading hard drive hot swap bay, two internal USB 3.0 connections, two USB 2.0 connections, and one eSATA port. The front of the case includes a “breath” logo and 20mm fan both back-lit by blue LEDs, as well as four externally accessible 5.25” bays. The fan cover is a black mesh grill with the Thermaltake logo in the center. In total, the case supports six fan mounts. In addition to the previously mentioned fans, there are two optional mounts on the bottom and side panel, and one rear 120mm fan.

The internals are gamer friendly, and support graphics cards up to 12.5” in length. Painted the same dark black as the outside of the case, the interior of the case features a bottom mounted power supply (PSU), six 3.5” drive bays (one externally accessible), three 5.25” bays, a multitude of expansion card slots, two access holes for external water cooling radiators, and tool-free installation for the 5.25” bays. Other notable features include cable management holes, 3.5” bay carriages that are also compatible with 2.5” SSDs, a PSU dust filter, and a front fan dust filter (both removable).

The full tower gaming case is slated to debut worldwide in September, and while its looks are certainly subjective, it does have a lot going for it if you’re into the stylized aesthetics. Unfortunately, there is no word yet on MSRP.  More photos of the case can be found on its product page.

BitFenix Launches Two New Merc Mid Tower Gaming Cases

Subject: Cases and Cooling | August 12, 2011 - 06:39 AM | Tim Verry
Tagged: mid tower, chassis, bitfenix, atx

Gaming hardware designer BitFenix recently announced two new computer chassis. Named Merc Alpha and Merc Beta, both enclosures are of the mid-tower ATX design and deliver gaming features for budget prices. Product Manager David Jarlestedt stated confidently that “gamers will be hard pressed to find a better value enclosure in this segment.”

The differences between Merc Alpha and Merc Beta are subtle but important for cooling potential. Specifically, Merc Alpha is able to accommodate up to eight 120mm fans (including two on top) while the Merc Beta eschews the two top 120mm fan grills in favor of a flat surface and a total of six fans.

Features shared between both models include an all black interior and exterior coating, black cabling for the front ports, cable management features, CPU cooler motherboard cut-out, four USB 2.0 front panel ports, and easy to use thumbscrews to secure the case door and internal drives. Further, the cases support three 5.25” optical drives, seven 3.5” hard drives, and one 2.5” drive bay for an SSD.

Both Merc Alpha and Merc Beta will be available in stores starting August 2011 with an MSRP of $39. You can see more photos of the budget gaming cases here.