Thermaltake added a new mid-tower case to its Core series this week that is well-suited to water cooling systems. The new Core V41 is the smallest chassis in the family which includes the full tower Core V71 and the Core V51 mid-tower. Thermaltake's new case is a slightly more compact version of the Core V51 that maintains the curved metal mesh design. The Core V51 supports full ATX motherboards, multiple graphics cards, tool-free storage, and a large acrylic window.

The Core V41 has a full mesh front panel with two externally-accessible 5.25" drive bays, two audio ports, and two USB 3.0 ports. The case has eight PCI expansion slots on the rear. It supports up to ATX motherboards, 170mm processor heatsinks, 275mm long graphics cards, and 180mm power supplies. Thermaltake includes a massive CPU cutout that should accommodate installation of just about any CPU backplate without needing to remove the motherboard. There are four large cable routing cutouts (sans grommets) around the motherboard tray as well as three water cooling grommets to allow external radiators and up to 1/2" diameter tubing.

Storage consists of two 5.25" drive bays, six 3.5" bays, and two stealth 2.5"/3.5" bays behind the motherboard tray. In a neat twist, all three tool-free bays are removable to allow for longer graphics cards and top-mounted liquid cooling radiators.

The case supports a wide range of cooling configurations with vents along the top, front, rear, and bottom of the case (the Core V41 has rather tall feet which should make a bottom-mounted fan actually useful). Thermaltake includes magnetic dust filters on the top and front of the case, and it has been designed with front-to-back intake/exhaust airflow in mind. Thermaltake bundles the case with a single 120mm front intake and one 120mm rear exhaust.

For air cooling, users can add two 120mm fans to the bottom and two 200mm fans to the top of the case. Alternatively, water cooling radiators can be set up as follows:

  • 1 x 360mm radiator in the front
  • 1 x 360mm radiator up top
  • 1 x 120mm radiator (common for sealed loop CPU coolers) in place of the rear exhaust fan.

There are some minor compromises, but overall the Core V41 looks to be a decent case with some useful features for its price range. Thermaltake has not yet revealed pricing or availability, but it should hit below the $100 mark at retail. For reference, the Core V51 retails for just under $110 USD and you are getting slightly less case with the V41.

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