Thermaltake Level 10 Full-Tower Chassis Review
Andy Ruffell / 14 years ago
Exterior
Normally when we see a case we expect one big compartment that is split into areas for all of your vital components. The Level 10 design is completely different and breaks the mould. It has the areas that a normal case would have but they are all seperate in a module-type design.
There are four section in total to house your most common components for your system. These include an area for the power supply, motherboard and it’s partner components, optical drives and hard drives.
For convenience, Thermaltake include a carry handle, though i’m not sure how many users will want to be carrying this to a LAN event as even without installation of your system components, this case weighs well over 20Kg.
The other side of the case includes what can only be described as a plate to hold everything together. This is held on by two thumbscrews which can’t be completely removed so there is no fear of losing them.
This side also includes a locking mechanism, much like we used to see on Chieftec cases many moons ago. Whilst this was the norm in the 90’s, it is quite unseen in this day and age, though if going to a LAN party or massive multiplayer event like the i series, you will want to make sure that your internals are safe and sound if you need to nip off for a quick bathroom break.
The front of the case features a very unique style that looks much like a server blade design with some boxes to the side. It features a red LED strip on the slim-line part and incorporates various front panel connectors. This includes an eSATA port, headphone and mic ports and four USB 2.0 ports as well as a power on and reset button. If you want USB 3.0, Thermaltake have developed the Level 10 GT which includes them on the front instead.
The rear gives a view of the sleek design of the base and shows us the location of the PSU and motherboard. There are 8 expansion slots in total and the motherboard tray accepts Micro ATX and full-size ATX motherboards. You can also see the pre-supplied 120mm red LED fan that features next to the rear I/O panel slot.
The optical drive bay section includes space for three drives, but Thermaltake also include a flap panel pre-installed in the first bay, thus giving your optical drive a slightly different look the norm and adding in with the uniqueness of this case.
There are 6 individual sections for hard drives and SSD’s and each one is numbered. These drive bays support 2.5″ and 3.5″ drives and the top two are hot-swappable. They also feature an LED to show when a particular drive bay is in use.
