New Case Time

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Mattly
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New Case Time

Post by Mattly » Sun Mar 12, 2006 12:53 pm

Thanks Mat at VRconcepts for a good price on my latest purchase. With installing a water cooling system I had become concerned with condensation issues and my inability to keep an eye on things in my current computer case. I did some surfing on case reviews and we very impress with what I read about the Kandalf by Theermaltake.

So I ordered one. :cute:

http://www.thermaltake.com/product/Chas ... 000swa.asp
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Last edited by Mattly on Sun Mar 12, 2006 1:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Mattly » Sun Mar 12, 2006 12:58 pm

Overclockers Cafe review.

http://www.overclockercafe.com/Reviews/ ... t_Kandalf/


Conclusion

My attitude with all reviews is that no matter how good a product is, there is usually one fault or oversight in construction quality or from a product's original design. The Thermaltake Kandalf is one of those very small percentage of products that I honestly can't find anything wrong with. I'm not going to go into its positive qualities again except by listing its 'Pros' however, it needs to be said again, this is an exceptional case. If I were to design the 'perfect case', the Tt Kandalf would be it. My only real suggestion is one to Thermaltake's design team and that would be more of a request to produce a similar unit but sized like the Tt LANFIRE.

You get what you pay for usually. In this instance, you get a lot more. While a $210USD street price is on the outer edge for high end case priceing; the features, upgrade options, overall design and layout make it a bargain for those who can afford it. If you are shopping around for a new case and have the cash - the Thermaltake Kandalf absolutely should be your next case.

Pros

Exceptionally nice design

Aluminum construction

Magnet/Steel shim bezel catch

Removal of bezel doors makes case extremely light weight

Filtered bay covers

Water cooling hose access holes

Storage tray able to hold 20 discs

Innovative rear mounted HDD rack

120mm intake and exhaust fan

Best tool free drive setup we've ever seen

Tool free expansion card stays

Can be upgraded to take BTX mainboards

Nice lighting effects

Fantastic ventilation

Fat thumb screws rock!

Cons

The price is high compared to some other cases. (better?)
The name
Last edited by Mattly on Sun Mar 12, 2006 3:15 pm, edited 4 times in total.
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Liquid
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Post by Liquid » Sun Mar 12, 2006 2:41 pm

Pretty cheap $210, you can pay $400 for a high end home pc case. You dont seem to get much for $200 nowdays.

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Post by Riven » Sun Mar 12, 2006 2:51 pm

Liquid wrote:Pretty cheap $210, you can pay $400 for a high end home pc case. You dont seem to get much for $200 nowdays.
Yeah but that $200 is in USD

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Post by Liquid » Sun Mar 12, 2006 2:53 pm

Dohh. does mattly know this is a NZ site

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Post by Jetboy » Sun Mar 12, 2006 3:01 pm

using one of those myself (though without the black bit on the front door) and is a damn good case, plenty of room for everything and 120mm fans used everywhere to keep the noise down

Installed a Bigwater cooling kit which the case is designed to use and fitting it all up couldnt have been easier :)

From Matt as well :)

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Mattly
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Post by Mattly » Sun Mar 12, 2006 3:08 pm

Liquid wrote:Dohh. does mattly know this is a NZ site
Liquid I copied the review conclusion from an american site without thinking about the price comment. I have deleted that comment from the conclusion. Thanks
Last edited by Mattly on Sun Mar 12, 2006 3:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by Liquid » Sun Mar 12, 2006 3:10 pm

Mattly wrote:
Liquid wrote:Dohh. does mattly know this is a NZ site
Yes Liquid, I linked to the Thermaltake site. I didn't mention what price I paid. I just said it was a good deal. ;p
You mentioned $200 and $210, hence i thought you were talking NZ $

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Post by Prometheus » Sun Mar 12, 2006 4:04 pm

Noice case _b

With the front cover like that, do you have to open it everytime you want to put in a cd ? I've got a sutpid swinging door cover on the front of mine, and with hindsite - it's a dumb idea. :D Wish I had a slot loading dvd drive in the top or something. . . . .
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Post by Flyboy69 » Sun Mar 12, 2006 4:16 pm

I've got a Thermaltake Xaser III case that I bought a couple of years ago, thermaltake seem to do the best cases for cooling and been at a good price. I was running s Aquarius II water cooling system until yesturday, when I install my new system and discovered that it didnt fit my new P4 3.6 CPU with a 775 socket.
No, he didnt slam into you, he didnt bump you, he didnt nudge you, he rubbed you, and rubbing son, is racing.

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Post by Liquid » Sun Mar 12, 2006 4:28 pm

I had a black steel Thermaltake Xaser III case for bout a week , so heavy almost broke my back lifting it, so i sold it. :D

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Post by Flyboy69 » Sun Mar 12, 2006 4:37 pm

Liquid wrote:I had a black steel Thermaltake Xaser III case for bout a week , so heavy almost broke my back lifting it, so i sold it. :D
They are pretty heavy, but I hardly move it around.
No, he didnt slam into you, he didnt bump you, he didnt nudge you, he rubbed you, and rubbing son, is racing.

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Post by CarnaGe » Sun Mar 12, 2006 5:05 pm

In the process of updating my vitals as well and will be getting one of these....

Image

A few other newbie bits going in this to help make gaming and photo editing easier.

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Post by Mattly » Sun Mar 12, 2006 5:49 pm

yus, the armour case is very nice to. ;)
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Post by Noon416 » Sun Mar 12, 2006 8:09 pm

After considering both those cases carefully, I actually went for the Coolermaster Stacker case. :)

Why?
- Fits more. I run 8 HDD's with intent to run 12 soon, and with 12 I won't have to give up my DVDRW & Memory Card reader.
- Space for a second PSU + comes with 2nd PSU adapter (for power on/off)
- Conversion to BTX without the need to buy a kit (like the Thermaltake's do)
- Drive cages fit 4 drives each instead of 3
- If I need to, I can forego all front panels and run 16 HDD's in the case.
- Front panel has 6 USB + 1 Firewire + 2 audio sockets (headphones, mic)
- Can fit a crossflow fan that blows air across the motherboard from right to left (looking straight on), great for enhancing passive cooling

_b
Last edited by Noon416 on Sun Mar 12, 2006 8:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by Noon416 » Sun Mar 12, 2006 8:16 pm

Mattly wrote:Overclockers Cafe review.
...
Storage tray able to hold 20 discs
...[/b]
btw, they got this wrong. ;) 12 HDD's is the max in the Thermaltake cases (3 x 3drive cages in front + 1 x 3drive cage at rear).

Still a nice case (like I say, I'd considered one), but accuracy is good before people buy things. :)

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Post by Mattly » Sun Mar 12, 2006 10:41 pm

I only took one review Noon. :rolleyes: I'm sure that one reviewers inaccuracy really isn't too important in the scheme of things is it? ;p

Here's another review

http://www.tweaknews.net/reviews/kandalf/

or this

http://www.insanetek.com/review.php?id=140&page=2
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Post by Jetboy » Sun Mar 12, 2006 11:19 pm

CarnaGe wrote:In the process of updating my vitals as well and will be getting one of these....

A few other newbie bits going in this to help make gaming and photo editing easier.
Just a quick note, the black ones steel and fairly weighty....almost got the black one as it looks heaps classier (IMO) but for LAN's just not keen to do my back in heh, silver version is Aluminiumn

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Post by Riven » Mon Mar 13, 2006 11:04 am

Noon416 wrote:
Mattly wrote:Overclockers Cafe review.
...
Storage tray able to hold 20 discs
...[/b]
btw, they got this wrong. ;) 12 HDD's is the max in the Thermaltake cases (3 x 3drive cages in front + 1 x 3drive cage at rear).

Still a nice case (like I say, I'd considered one), but accuracy is good before people buy things. :)
Whats a DuD ;p

They are talking about a 20 CD disc holder :rolleyes:

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Post by Noon416 » Mon Mar 13, 2006 12:05 pm

Well then, I guess they're right after all... ;p

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Mattly
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Post by Mattly » Mon Mar 13, 2006 1:05 pm

Noon416 wrote:Well then, I guess they're right after all... ;p
:raspberry: :laughing: :haha: :stir:
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Post by Noon416 » Mon Mar 13, 2006 1:24 pm

Starts thinking of ways to engineer the situation of Mattly lying squished flat under Noon's case... :D

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Post by Typhoon » Mon Mar 13, 2006 2:09 pm

The Kandalf and Amour are the same case, just different front flaps

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Post by Agent X20 » Mon Mar 13, 2006 7:39 pm

Is it just me or are pretty much all Thermaltake case front panels hideous?
It's like a Chinese/Taiwanese interpretation of American hi-tech design.

Hideous logo. Check.
Silly pointless checkerboard or strange dagger motif. Check.
Funny doors to get in the way. Check.
Sticky-outy-bits with lights. Check.

Actually I take that back... having just scanned Ascent's list it seems some of them actually look ok. Must be showing my age or something or a subconscious desire to troll.

:p

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Mattly
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Post by Mattly » Mon Mar 13, 2006 8:59 pm

Agent X20 wrote:Is it just me or are pretty much all Thermaltake case front panels hideous?

:p
yeap it's just you. :rolleyes:
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