Thermaltake's Xaser III Skull Series - A Case For the Tough Guy
by Purav Sanghani on March 11, 2004 4:20 PM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Final Thought
The benchmarks prove that Thermaltake's Xaser III VM3000A is not the cream of the crop. It had a higher noise level compared to a handful of cases that we have reviewed in the past as well as a high degree of complexity in wiring. The Kingwin KT-424, which we reviewed back in August of last year, had a detachable lead bundle, which came off along with the motherboard when the tray was removed. Another overlooked featured, which was also included in the KT-424 and the KT-436, but not in the VM3000A, was the removable tray including the back panel of the chassis. In this case, we had to remove all add-in cards and all wiring in order to remove only the motherboard.On the other hand, the VM3000A has many strengths. Its well constructed screw-less design makes for effortless installations and even easier replacements using mounting rails, add-on card fasteners, and metal spacers (motherboard). The Hardcano itself is feature-packed with fan controls, USB and firewire ports, and a temperature alarm that keeps you well informed of potentially dangerous conditions.
While the few shortcomings, like sharp edges of the case's chassis, slightly complicated wiring, and a somewhat high price tag, may lower the VM3000A's overall attractiveness, its bold look and great features (like the Hardcano module and the standard 4 fan design along with the low noise levels) bring this Xaser III back in line with its counterparts.
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KristopherKubicki - Thursday, March 11, 2004 - link
Purav has been with us for a couple years, but this is his pilot review :) Congrats Purav - much better than my pilot ;)Kristopher
CZroe - Thursday, March 11, 2004 - link
"The Thermaltake Xaser III VM3000A's main feature is its completely screw-less design. Though it can be difficult to deal with some screw-less features, such as drive mounting rails, Thermaltake has done a great job with the design and construction of its chassis."Umm, I must know: Is it as "great" a job as the ThermalTake Xaser III chassis? I've already posted in the forums about it (See the URL below), but basically the chassis' screwless slot design prevented full-length PCI cards from being inserted even though the case had special slots to stabilize them (Full length PCI cards have a plastic handle which fits the slots).
There aren't enough pictures to tell if the case even has these slots, so I must ask :) Also, a better description of the "swing bar" is needed as well as an image. I'm still confused as to how it can stabilize a PCI card...
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=...
klah - Thursday, March 11, 2004 - link
Hey Purav, have any pictures of the interior with all of the components installed?sandorski - Thursday, March 11, 2004 - link
I got 1 of these cases 3 weeks ago, I really like it. The flashing light is kinda hokey, but overall the screwless design and appearance of the case really impress me. The case looks and feels solid.The review was entirely correct about installing the power supply, it is very difficult if the mobo, cpu, and cpu hs/fa is installed. I managed to get my old noisy 350watt Enermax in, but only after removing the rear fan shroud first.
tfranzese - Thursday, March 11, 2004 - link
Near identical to this SilverStone I looked at, but I dig the SST's looks far more. Anywho, I just wonder if the design flaws were fixed.Case I'm referring to is here: http://www.soundcardcentral.com/reviews/cases/sst-...