The CTE E550 TG shares its predecessor’s “face down” design. (That’s, the entrance fringe of the motherboard faces the underside of the case, and the “rear” I/O panel is on the high.) Nonetheless, this chassis provides PC builders a little bit of Thermaltake’s aesthetic from its The Tower series by changing the rear radiator mount with a glass panel for three-sided viewability.
Thermaltake additionally rearranged the connector holes on the motherboard tray’s periphery to match the rear-facing connector placement of MSI Project Zero and Asus Back to the Future (BTF) boards in each ATX and MicroATX type components. Plus, a number of of the holes that face the aspect radiator bracket have been enlarged to extra simply route EPS12V/ATX12V and fan-cable ends to the motherboard’s common “high” edge—which now faces ahead, because the motherboard tray is rotated 90 levels clockwise.
The CTE E550 TG seems similar to its E600 predecessor from the rear indirect angle, aside from the brand new model’s rear glass and its Gravel Sand two-tone shade scheme, which wasn’t obtainable once we reviewed the older case in its now-outdated Hydrangea Blue. (That blue was a particular shade scheme for 2024; lately, Thermaltake points sure restricted colorways yearly.) Past Gravel Sand, Thermaltake provides variations in black, Snow (white), and Matcha Inexperienced.
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Carried-forward options embody the 2 full-length vented sections on the suitable aspect panel (see the photograph under), the higher passage for peripheral cables that (primarily) attain the graphics card and motherboard I/O panel, extra passage for any inner cables or coolant traces that you just may need to exit above the ability provide, and the full-size mount on your energy provide.
(Credit score: Thomas Soderstrom)
The forwardmost aspect vent serves the aspect radiator/fan bracket, whereas the CTE E550 TG’s front-panel ports are positioned on the highest panel, proper above it. Right here we discover a large energy button with a big LED diffuser for power-on, two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Kind-A ports (labeled “USB 3.0”), one USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 Kind-C port, separate headphone and microphone jacks, and a tiny reset button that’s the identical diameter because the outer shells of these audio connectors.
(Credit score: Thomas Soderstrom)
Swinging across the different aspect, we discover that the underside panel’s mud filter, which covers a triple 140mm/120mm dual-pattern fan bracket, slides out simply from beneath the glass. So long as we’re wanting on the bracket in addition to the filter, we should always point out that the 476mm of area between the entrance and rear panel brackets is sufficient to set up almost any massive radiator within the 420mm or 360mm format.
(Credit score: Thomas Soderstrom)
That is the place we begin peeling off panels to disclose inside options, so it’s a very good time to say that the highest panel’s and proper aspect’s vents are coated, from the within, by rigidly framed mud filters that use a mixture of tabs and magnets to remain in place.
(Credit score: Thomas Soderstrom)
Secured with six easy-release ball snaps, the highest panel rests simply 2.5 inches above the motherboard I/O ports. That requires some consideration of the kind of cables you’ll be able to connect. (Inflexible adapter blocks, for instance, in all probability received’t match right here.) There’s additionally sufficient room subsequent to the I/O panel gap to mount a 240mm-format radiator, or simply two 120mm followers if air is extra your model.
(Credit score: Thomas Soderstrom)
Thermaltake says {that a} energy provide as much as 220mm will match behind (and barely beneath) the motherboard tray, however we measured simply over 330mm of area between the mounting flange and the aspect radiator bracket. No matter what you select to do with the additional 110mm, you’ll discover two 3.5-inch drive cages on the high rear nook, plus a dual-format drive tray massive sufficient to carry a 3.5-inch drive and a 2.5-inch drive.
(Credit score: Thomas Soderstrom)
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Retaining in thoughts that the I/O port fringe of the motherboard faces the highest of the CTE E550 TG, the area beneath the motherboard mounting space is designed to carry an included vertical card bracket: Thermaltake calls it a “floating bracket,” because the rotated motherboard’s vertical slots make all card installations vertical, in a method or one other. The low-slung floating card set up requires an extra-long model of what most individuals consider as a riser cable. (Right here’s what the bracket and cables looked like in our CTE E600 MX set up.)
You’ll additionally discover a bunch of the holes that we beforehand talked about, together with the massive rectangular one which’s coated, partially, on the alternative aspect by the beforehand talked about two-drive tray. That opening is there to make it doable for builders to exchange the CPU-cooler assist plate which may be positioned behind their motherboard’s CPU socket.
(Credit score: Thomas Soderstrom)
The motherboard tray is stepped 1.5 inches inward from the aspect fan mount, and its standoffs deliver the motherboard out a further half an inch. The area beneath it’s stepped inward 2.25 inches (57mm) from the aspect fan mount. In consequence, builders who need to match that thickness in a side-mounted liquid-cooling package ought to in all probability use a 32mm-thick radiator with their 25mm-thick followers.
(Credit score: Thomas Soderstrom)