A Trio of Thermaltake Towers
by Joshua Buss on August 16, 2006 2:30 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Thermaltake Aguila - External and Internal
Making a welcome re-appearance, the famously easy to use Thermaltake "handscrews" show up again holding the side panel in place, but they're entirely optional given the decently strong keyed latches at the top and bottom of the panel. The back panel itself is actually two pieces which are each removable and re-configurable to allow BTX motherboards to work as well, keeping this case's prospective audience nice and large.
As for the bottom, the Aguila also has the telltale Thermaltake rotatable feet, and in addition to the area behind the door there is also ventilation holes on the bottom of the case. Now let's take a closer look at the inside of the Aguila.
In terms of overall size, the Aguila proves to be just big enough for a full ATX system, which will appeal to anyone who has only a small area to work or needs to transport the machine a lot.
Hard drives in the Aguila mount sideways like the Eureka's, but they're in a removable cage like the Eclipse's that first locks into place and is then secured with a single case screw. In practice the cage was easy to use and the drives stayed quiet thanks to the rubber grommet mounts.
Unlike many of the more compact cases, this cage holds four drives instead of three, but that's still one less than the Eclipse's five. The bay under the hard drive cage is great for tucking extra cables or putting in one of Thermaltake's 5.25" "accessory trays". Speaking of 5.25" drives, let's look a little closer at the optical drive installation.
The Aguila supplies plastic and steel rails that friction-mount to each optical drive to be installed. These rails helped our drive (which unfortunately has been missing its tray cover for a while now) slide in very easily and lock in place securely. While playing around with the different drive configurations, we decided to try moving the front door to the right hinge entirely, and this proved very simple.
In addition we tried the vertical 5.25" bay just for fit, and while it was a little tight it certainly worked. Note that this pretty much kills the usefulness of the hard drive cage, but there is one free 3.5" bay in the included power / reset bay, so if one only has a single hard drive they could certainly use the vertical mount if they chose.
Without the door attached at all, the Aguila still looks very nice, resembling the latest Mac computer with the similar perforated look, or the Armor with simply smaller flaps. Again though, these can be removed completely if desired with a standard Phillips screwdriver.
Making a welcome re-appearance, the famously easy to use Thermaltake "handscrews" show up again holding the side panel in place, but they're entirely optional given the decently strong keyed latches at the top and bottom of the panel. The back panel itself is actually two pieces which are each removable and re-configurable to allow BTX motherboards to work as well, keeping this case's prospective audience nice and large.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
As for the bottom, the Aguila also has the telltale Thermaltake rotatable feet, and in addition to the area behind the door there is also ventilation holes on the bottom of the case. Now let's take a closer look at the inside of the Aguila.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
In terms of overall size, the Aguila proves to be just big enough for a full ATX system, which will appeal to anyone who has only a small area to work or needs to transport the machine a lot.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
Hard drives in the Aguila mount sideways like the Eureka's, but they're in a removable cage like the Eclipse's that first locks into place and is then secured with a single case screw. In practice the cage was easy to use and the drives stayed quiet thanks to the rubber grommet mounts.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
Unlike many of the more compact cases, this cage holds four drives instead of three, but that's still one less than the Eclipse's five. The bay under the hard drive cage is great for tucking extra cables or putting in one of Thermaltake's 5.25" "accessory trays". Speaking of 5.25" drives, let's look a little closer at the optical drive installation.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
The Aguila supplies plastic and steel rails that friction-mount to each optical drive to be installed. These rails helped our drive (which unfortunately has been missing its tray cover for a while now) slide in very easily and lock in place securely. While playing around with the different drive configurations, we decided to try moving the front door to the right hinge entirely, and this proved very simple.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
In addition we tried the vertical 5.25" bay just for fit, and while it was a little tight it certainly worked. Note that this pretty much kills the usefulness of the hard drive cage, but there is one free 3.5" bay in the included power / reset bay, so if one only has a single hard drive they could certainly use the vertical mount if they chose.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
Without the door attached at all, the Aguila still looks very nice, resembling the latest Mac computer with the similar perforated look, or the Armor with simply smaller flaps. Again though, these can be removed completely if desired with a standard Phillips screwdriver.
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oopyseohs - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - link
I am curious as to what meter you used to measure sound below 40dB, or 30dB for that matter. I am looking for such a device myself.crydee - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - link
Any idea if when we can see some reviews for the huge Kandalf LCS and the one with the 24 cm fan on the side? That is what I'm looking forward to. The TT website is useless with dates or anything of the like though.akugami - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - link
I'm not a big fan of case doors and with the case door off the Aquila still looks good. However, no integrated optical drive bezels kills it for me. I like a clean uniform look and the aesthetics of a case is killed when you install a black/silver/beige optical drive in it that doesn't match the rest of the case.The other two cases are not my cup of tea.
JoshuaBuss - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - link
Just a suggestion.. have you thought about a black aguila with black optical drives? I think that would look really sharp.. door or notShapeGSX - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - link
I have a Thermaltake Tsunami, which is indentical inside to the Eclipse.http://www.turbocarz.com/shapegsx/tsunami/">Pictures here
I have been very impressed with the case. Since I was building a home theater PC with large hard drive space requirements, I wanted a case that would cool 5 drives adequately. Because of the large 120mm fan in front of the drives, this case has performed the task admirably.
http://www.turbocarz.com/shapegsx/tsunami/target6....">Here is a picture of 4 hard drives installed in the case. I now have 5 drives installed in the case (1.1TB) and the drives still never get hot.
I really wanted a case without a door on front, but it is really hard to find everything you want in a case. And for me, the hard drive cooling was paramount.
My next case will also be a Thermaltake.
Lonyo - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - link
I managed 5 hard drives in a Coolermaster Praetorian with 2x80mm front fans right in front of 4 of the HDD's, and no door.There are many things which do not really appeal, such as the lack of a sliding motherboard tray, the doors, the side/front ports etc.
Nothing which makes it have any appeal over other cases really, I think I would be more likely to get Coolermaster again.
araczynski - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - link
i like aquila, unfortunately i'm tired of the closing/swinging door designs (on the front), as well as buttons being on the front of the case, rather then on top.i'm getting a centurion 532, simple design, great price, build it and forget it. i want to stare at the screens (games) not the tower, how much enjoyment does one get from staring at spinning fans? and even after a while i would think that too much lighting in the peripheral vision would get annoying to what you're trying to focus at, perhaps even unhealthy for the eyes?
but to each their own.
Araemo - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - link
Just a question about the motherboard in use...Why does it have a PCI-express slot near the right edge? What model is that?
Murst - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - link
I never really got into the TT cases. They just seem too colorful for me. The last 2 cases I've had were a lian-li and the wavemaster, and they're both simple-enough looking while still remaining sharp.But I guess that's just personal preference.
Looks aside, the only things that really matter are noise level, how easy it is to install components, and the available space (like, some cases don't even have enough space for some heatsinks) - imo anyways. From what I've seen, TT cases never really met all of the above conditions in a single design, but maybe I've missed something.
JoshuaBuss - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - link
That's what I'm really try to emphasize here.. the Aguila is really startin to get everything right. The Armor definitely had some issues.. namely the green clips.. but the Aguila really doesn't have much wrong with it... (at all)