Thermaltake Armor+ MX Case - A Personal Take

After about 4 years of owning a Dell and a HP mainstream PC for home use, I figured it is time for a change, and I wanted a custom PC. One of the most important items to consider when building a new PC has got to be the casing for me. It has to look good, has good features, and easy to work with. After numerous days of research, I finally settled for the Thermaltake Armor+ MX casing.
This casing is known as the Thermaltake Armor+ MX casing. It is a mid tower casing, a smaller version of its bigger brother the Armor+ which is a full tower version of the same design. On first sight of the case, it appears to be a rather large mid tower casing, maybe I am used to the smaller mid tower casings of mainstream PCs like Dell and HP. I figured, a larger mid tower is a good thing, which means more room to work with, and it might not get as hot inside the casing.

It is quite a heavy chassis, but it felt solid and of good construction. I like the way this casing is different from the norm. It looks futuristic, very stylish, and packed with features. I will summarize them as follows:

1. Cable management system - enable you to hide extra length of cables on the right side of the chassis, out of sight, and can make your case look neat.

2. 5 5.25” and 4 3.5” device provision - plenty of space to install your drives. However, bottom 3 drive space is blocked by front intake fan.

3. Sliding hood with toolbox on top -good for storing some extra screws, cable ties, a flash drive, and other small things. The tray can be removed to get extra access to inside of case. Very innovative feature.

4. Tool-free design - do away with screws.

5. Removable HDD cage- pull out HDD tray for easy access.

6. Excellent cooling system - Front (intake) : 120 x 120 x 25 mm blue LED fan, 1300rpm, 17dBA
Rear (exhaust) : 120 x 120 x 25 mm TurboFan, 1300rpm, 17dBA, Side (intake) : 230 x 230 x 20 mm blue LED fan, 800rpm, 15dBA.

My only gripe is that the side fan is a killer in terms of noise generated. Much louder than the 2 other fans. Most people will not get used to it. One solution is to mod the voltage from 12v to 7v for the side fan, and it will reduce the noise significantly.

7. Nice mesh design for front slots - good use of mesh design instead of cheap plastic covers.

8. Front protective flaps - made of aluminium, good protection and looks good.

In conclusion, I am very happy with this case. It is indeed a strong case, looks good and only flawed by a couple of minor issues. The side fan is a bit loud, plastic painted areas are prone to scratches and not fan controller friendly. Other that that, I feel it is a great case to own if you want something that is a little different from the norm.