A Trio of Thermaltake Towers
by Joshua Buss on August 16, 2006 2:30 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Thermaltake Eureka - Installation
We'll wrap up our look at the Eureka by stepping through some of the installation steps of our standard ATX test bed. First up was putting the power supply into place, which is easy thanks to the ample space above it. Next we mounted the motherboard to the removable tray, which had all the appropriate standoff positions clearly labeled just like all Thermaltake cases we've looked at lately.
As noted earlier, slipping the tray into place was easy as well. There were really no cable problems to speak of - there is plenty of room for even the most complicated server builds, and the very standard layout only amplifies this point.
A close-up of the expansion card clip shows how it supports the weight of our 6600GT video card. To undo the strip one has to lift on the green plastic tab at the top.
In another effort to simplify things the Eureka keeps the 5.25" rails behind each drive bay cover.
Once our install was completed we noticed how much the honeycomb grill acts like a standard case window, letting users see the contents of their computer - especially if there are extra lights inside. With this much venting on the side though, we worried that the case might not adequately cool the hard drives.
Many cases are designed to create a "wind tunnel" effect from the front of the case to the rear fans; all of the venting can negate that type of air flow, so the end result is almost like removing the side panels altogether. That may or may not cool effectively, but before temperature testing let's look at the third case in the comparison.
We'll wrap up our look at the Eureka by stepping through some of the installation steps of our standard ATX test bed. First up was putting the power supply into place, which is easy thanks to the ample space above it. Next we mounted the motherboard to the removable tray, which had all the appropriate standoff positions clearly labeled just like all Thermaltake cases we've looked at lately.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
As noted earlier, slipping the tray into place was easy as well. There were really no cable problems to speak of - there is plenty of room for even the most complicated server builds, and the very standard layout only amplifies this point.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
A close-up of the expansion card clip shows how it supports the weight of our 6600GT video card. To undo the strip one has to lift on the green plastic tab at the top.
In another effort to simplify things the Eureka keeps the 5.25" rails behind each drive bay cover.
Once our install was completed we noticed how much the honeycomb grill acts like a standard case window, letting users see the contents of their computer - especially if there are extra lights inside. With this much venting on the side though, we worried that the case might not adequately cool the hard drives.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
Many cases are designed to create a "wind tunnel" effect from the front of the case to the rear fans; all of the venting can negate that type of air flow, so the end result is almost like removing the side panels altogether. That may or may not cool effectively, but before temperature testing let's look at the third case in the comparison.
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mostlyprudent - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - link
I have been wrestling over the case issue recently. I like the looks of the Antec P150, but need door to keep the kids from turning off the PC at random. I like the P180, but it's too big. I've considered the Sonata II, but want a different PSU. Any idea how the Aguila compares performance-wise to the Antec cases?KorruptioN - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - link
Consider the Antec SLK3000B. No PSU, is decently quiet, very cheap, comes with a door (no lock though), and is about an inch taller. I have one (along with the new NSK6500) and am happy with it.JoshuaBuss - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - link
The aguila would perform right up there with a p150 in terms of thermals. the p150 would be slightly quieter stock though (assuming you set its tri-speed fans to the slowest speed)