Xaser III Aluminum: ThermalTake drops Chenming

Features

ThermalTake loaded this case with pretty much any feature or option they could get their hands on.  To tour the case in a systematic approach, we started from the inside and worked our way out.  We first would like to mention that the Xaser III has very clear, clean instructions on the inside of the cases.  Since many of the features on the case are completely non-traditional, ThermalTake provides illustrations right on or next to the component in question.  We could tell right away that this case was clearly oriented for the do-it-yourself type of person.

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Like the Xaser II, this unit did not have a removable motherboard tray.  Typically we do not have kind things to say about cases without removable trays.  However, since the Chenming chassis is so massive, there is plenty of room to work inside.  While not a true Chenming variant, the structural internal remain similar.  The crossbar inside the case was lowered and designed to house a swing panel that holds the side panel fans.

This extra swinging panel looks like another one of those radical designs.  Although a lot of manufacturers have been putting fans on the side panel, typically they get caught in the panel when closing or the wires from the side fans produce an unfavorable mess.  The extra swinging panel provides a brilliant solution to the problem by eliminating the matter entirely.  Furthermore, since the top fan is positioned above the CPU, the fan exhausts heat straight from the CPU heatsink fan.  Cooler Master and others have proven this technique works well with the ATC-201A.  Our benchmark will prove if it works for ThermalTake.

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The expansion card slots grew on us as well.  Employing another radical design, the tool less bay did not rely on thumbscrews or even a plate to lock cards in place.  Instead, each slot relies on its own plastic locking device.  A plastic pin with flat head flips up to unlock each component.  The advantage to this method, as opposed to a single plate, is the entire bay does not have to be unlocked to add a single component.  While the single plate method works well, it seems all too often that one card jumps out of place as soon as the plate is released.