What began as an unusually oriented PC case designed to indicate off your parts from a number of sides took on new angles in Thermaltake’s profitable The Tower 300 case. However that 300 mannequin was mere MicroATX, and a Mini-ITX model already existed, so big-as-possible variations of The Tower at all times appeared inevitable. Behold, then, The Tower 600: This pumped-up chassis combines the ATX compatibility of Thermaltake’s earlier 500 mannequin with design refinements and Thermaltake’s latest quirky colour palettes (Black, Snow, Hydrangea Blue, and the Matcha Inexperienced of our pattern). The Tower 600 earns our 4-star ranking together with its 300 and 500 kin, all of that are very a lot their very own animals for this type of high-visibility showcase PC chassis. There’s nothing fairly like them on the market.
Design: A Tower to Match (Nearly) All of the Motherboards
As a result of Thermaltake’s The Tower Sequence factors the motherboard’s typical “entrance edge” down and its rear ports (that’s, its I/O panel) up, The Tower 600’s additional 3 inches of width give it sufficient house for the three additional slots of an ATX motherboard, versus the MicroATX-based 300 mannequin.
A few of The Tower 300’s different design restrictions stay, however we see the profit right here of the additional vertical house in the primary chamber: Motherboards as much as 11.1 inches (282mm) deep will match, together with the standard around-10.6-inch-deep fanatic fashions that generally get tagged with immediately’s semi-imprecise Prolonged ATX (EATX) label. The vary of boards that the 600 will match thus consists of Mini-ITX, MicroATX, ATX, and boards bigger than ATX by not more than 1.5 inches.
Entrance-panel ports are positioned above the entrance glass and embody a USB Kind-C in addition to 4 USB 3.x Kind-A. Separate microphone and headphone jacks are additionally within the combine, together with an oblong reset button, an influence button, and indicator lights for power-on and onboard drive-interface exercise.
(Credit score: Thomas Soderstrom)
The underside of The Tower 600 is roofed by a mud filter that slides out from the case’s entrance edge for simple servicing. The within surfaces of most different vents are equally lined, although the frames of these different filters are retained by clips or magnets.
(Credit score: Thomas Soderstrom)
The one different vent that’s lined from exterior is on The Tower 600’s rear. This vent’s filter covers two 140mm/120mm dual-pattern fan mounts, with tabs at its backside to forestall it from sliding downward and magnets on its sides stop it from falling backward. A full-size ATX power-supply mount sits beneath that vent, and a passage for the system’s exterior I/O cables sits above the vent. (Keep in mind, the ports level straight upward on this case.)
(Credit score: Thomas Soderstrom)
Push-latches on the high and tabs on the backside maintain the entrance glass in place, whereas the metallic aspect panels change the highest latches with ball snaps. The slim nook glass panels and the entrance vent’s panel use ball snaps in any respect 4 corners.
The aspect panels are secured with six slide tabs and two screws every to forestall sliding. There’s sufficient room behind every of the detachable side-panel vents to carry a 420mm-format cooler that’s as much as 470mm lengthy. Sadly, the proximity of the expansion-slot panel to the left fan mount prevents something thicker than 22mm from becoming subsequent to it, and the still-narrower 20mm distance between this fan mount and the motherboard’s left edge shoves 140mm followers proper up towards the motherboard’s cable connectors (assuming that you simply’re utilizing a board that also has the cable connectors pointing outward). For these causes, Thermaltake’s specs technically restrict the left aspect to 120mm followers, although we’d like to see somebody equip The Tower 600 with a trio of slimline 140mm followers…if they will discover them in a lighting type that matches their different parts. (In any case, nearly each part alternative you make on this case will probably be on full show.)
(Credit score: Thomas Soderstrom)
Homeowners will shortly get acquainted with the 2 knurled screws that safe the fitting fringe of The Tower 600’s high fan mount, as they’ll be pulling this panel each time they need to entry the motherboard’s I/O panel or the graphics card’s outputs. (Sure, they’re beneath there.) Manufacturing unit-equipped with two 1,500rpm 140mm followers, the panel can alternatively maintain as much as three 120mm followers on the highest aspect whereas offering 2.75 inches of house beneath for I/O cable administration. If you want to entry the I/O panel typically, this case will not be for you.
(Credit score: Thomas Soderstrom)
Builders additionally get a 140mm/120mm single fan mount on the left aspect of the underside panel, and one other on the fitting aspect of the power-chamber divider.
(Credit score: Thomas Soderstrom)
A straight-on take a look at the motherboard tray provides us a greater view of the cable-connector passage holes across the motherboard’s periphery, which have been added to help Asus BTF and MSI Project Zero cable-hiding motherboards, which have their connectors on the rear face. Retaining in thoughts that the entrance fringe of the motherboard factors towards the underside of this case (discover the expansion-slot panel up high), any give attention to ATX motherboards which have rear-facing connectors may distract us from the truth that this case additionally helps oversize motherboards resembling the ten.5-inch-deep ASRock B650E Taichi Lite.
(Credit score: Thomas Soderstrom)
Take away the big, hexagon-punched drive-mounting panel that covers many of the again of The Tower 600’s motherboard tray, and also you get entry to the world behind the CPU socket of most motherboards. Under the motherboard tray, the power-supply mount can also be detachable.
(Credit score: Thomas Soderstrom)
Held in place with a knurled screw and two tabs, the bigger drive tray helps the builder’s alternative of two 2.5-inch or one 3.5-inch storage drive. Secured by two #2 Phillips screws on the left aspect and one on the underside proper edge, the ability provide mount have to be eliminated to slip the ability unit into place. The knurled screw that holds the smaller 2.5-inch single drive tray isn’t captured (which means that it comes out of the tray with out being compelled). Put it apart in a protected place whereas constructing.
We measured 260mm of clearance between the ability provide mounting flange and the front-panel’s interior flange, however Thermaltake solely charges this house for energy items as much as 220mm in size. A part of that could be a precaution concerning cable house, however Thermaltake additionally sells an optionally available digital front-panel-display package that can devour a portion of that house if you happen to select to put in it.
Constructing With Thermaltake’s The Tower 600
Thermaltake’s package for the Tower 600 features a pair of riser-cable brackets for mounting a graphics card parallel to the motherboard. (The riser cable’s not included, although.) A clamp-on brace can also be supplied for the underside finish of a graphics card that’s mounted straight into the motherboard. You additionally get a substitute entrance vent panel that helps Thermaltake’s accent show panel talked about above.
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After which there is a host of smaller bits and items: a 1-meter roll of Velcro tape (for cable administration) that’s perforated in locations for simpler tearing into small items, six substitute panel snaps, seven expansion-slot covers, the guide, a bag of unfastened {hardware}, together with screws and spare standoffs, and a bundle of cable zip ties. The proven 19-pin USB 3.x inner header extension cable just isn’t documented and certain not wanted, because the case’s cables are lengthy sufficient to achieve all the way in which across the motherboard’s edge.
(Credit score: Thomas Soderstrom)
To attach The Tower 600 to our motherboard, you get a cable set that features HD Audio for the entrance jacks, a mixed F_PANEL for the ability/reset/exercise buttons and LEDs, two 19-pin USB 3.x cables for the entrance Kind-A ports, and a Kind-E header cable for the entrance Kind-C port.
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Eradicating the left energy bay cowl gave us the room we’d want to put in our 12-inch-long normal check graphics card into the 11.1-inch-tall motherboard compartment. We left the fitting cowl put in to assist conceal our energy provide’s cables.
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With modest effort and our normal check elements, our system seems nice all lit up (even with the plain, unlit followers on our 240mm CPU cooler). However it most likely may very well be a bit higher. Thermaltake despatched us a package for that!
(Credit score: Thomas Soderstrom)
The Tower 600’s horizontal stand package permits customers to put the case down, perched securely on its slim left-rear nook, with out part weight tipping it over. Included are a flat stand, two uprights, and substitute case finish cap that permits for a cleaner total look.
(Credit score: Thomas Soderstrom)
The Tower 600’s authentic toes screw on and have flanges to carry the slide-out mud filter. The brand new cowl snaps in, and its clip-in mud filter is on the within.
(Credit score: Thomas Soderstrom)
Now that’s the look we had been going for! Along with displaying extra of our part loadout in correct orientation, the sting package will assist our system carry out higher by laying our graphics card warmth pipes the way in which they had been designed to work (horizontally).
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Testing Thermaltake’s The Tower 600
So, we already know from prior testing in one other vertical-style case that our graphics card’s cooler doesn’t carry out as effectively when the cardboard is standing with its again finish upward. We’ll be together with the case that causes the identical problem in immediately’s comparability. (In fact, we’ll even have the horizontal information for The Tower 600 for customers to check to different instances.) Here is our traditional elements checklist, for reference…
Including solely a pair of exhaust followers to the followers supplied by our check parts, The Tower 600 takes second place in each CPU and voltage-regulator cooling temperatures in our check set, behind Asus’ well-equipped, and large, ProArt PA602. Sadly, it pegs the needle on our graphics card thermal testing when the cardboard is mounted standing up, as a result of our graphics cooler isn’t designed to operate optimally with its ports pointed towards the ceiling. Its displaying is night-and-day extra aggressive with The Tower 600 mendacity down.
Whereas laying the case on its stand solves the GPU-cooling problem, the difficulty stays unresolved for anybody who actually needs the case to face up: We will’t consider any evaluation websites that really check their graphics playing cards on this uncommon orientation.
The Tower 600’s second strike comes from its last-place noise isolation. It’s not a large loss, by any means, however it’s nonetheless a loss.
Verdict: A Very Passable Showcase
As a result of The Tower 600 is an in any other case positive design, we will advocate it to anybody who doesn’t want frequent entry to their exterior I/O cables (coping with the highest cowl and the fan panel in the way in which is a trouble) and who is for certain that their graphics card’s cooler will operate effectively when the cardboard is mounted back-end-up. You’ll be able to forestall that potential second problem if utilizing the horizontal stand.
In any other case, this can be a visually beautiful chassis that can fulfill patient-building part show-offs. Most of Thermaltake’s competitors for this explicit form of case is inside its personal home, so take a look at the entire sizes and designs of The Tower, in all their hues, earlier than you compromise.
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