Thermaltake Core V31 Window ATX Mid Tower Case Black 2X5.25 3X3.5INT Front USB3.0 Audio No PSU

Comment:
For the longest time now I've been running a Corsair 600T. I am running 2x 970GTX G1, and trust me when I say, they are LONG cards. Problem was that I got a new desk, and the 600T simply takes up too much space along with a pair of studio monitors. So in a way I was forced to downgrade cases to something smaller, yet large enough that it could still fit my hardware. After looking around I settled on this case, and it does not disappoint. The build quality is top notch. Its a great size in that its not so big that you have tons of empty space (like what I had in my 600t) but large enough that you can comfortably fit radiators, or even a full watercooling setup, as well as large videocards. Very impressed with the layout as well, as you can mount your ssds on the back side of the case so that they are out of the way. The front panel is also very smart since you can remove it and mount 2 x 120mm (or 140mm) fans, which makes it an ideal case for those who wish to use a corsair h100 or alternative AIO cooling solution in push/pull. Tons of space for it. The side panel window is always a nice touch as well, and overall the unit is not too flashy, but subtlely very smooth looking with the perforated front panel. Overall I'm very impressed with this case, and for $75 which is what I paid for it, its a steal. I can't comment on its immediate challengers, such as the corsair 300/400r (which I was almost going to buy).. but this one ends up being cheaper, but no less functional or attractive, or just overall awesome.

Comment:
NCIX unfortunately didn't have this in stock when I wanted to get it, so I ended up paying more from another vendor, but I would have rather bought it here. That being said this is a relatively attractive, compact ATX case with 8 PCI-E slots, and can house up to 8 (!!!) fans and two large radiators. The top fan spaces are off-set towards the left of the case, and further away from the motherboard, so presumably a very thick 360mm radiator can be utilized up top if regular low profile RAM is used. The front can house a 280mm radiator of virtually unlimited thickness with the bottom 5.25" optical tray removed or a 240mm radiator if you want to keep both optical trays. The 5.25" trays can be removed by loosening a couple of thumbscrews each. I found these thumbscrews a bit difficult to remove without a screwdriver as they basically go through holes in the chassis that are a bit too small and "catch" the threads, which can make them resistant to turning. This was the only build quality issue I found. The front disk cage can be removed and sits on a "rail" with multiple screw holes that allow it to be moved up and down, or removed completely. Behind the motherboard tray there are two 2.5" drive sleds that can be removed with 1 or 2 thumbscrews. Two placements for the sleds are behind the motherboard tray and two placements are behind the tray in the front, behind the 3.5" disk cage mounting rails. Very flexible for cable management and if two more sleds could be bought, this case could store up to 4 2.5" disks without using the front drive cage. With the 8 PCI-E slots you could theoretically put a triple SLI or Crossfire system in this case with proper spacing, and have great airflow or very powerful custom water cooling. While the metal is a bit on the thin side, there are a lot of extra bends in the case to make it more rigid and there is very little flex for such a light chassis. This is one of my favorite ATX cases ever. There are few, if any compromises and this could easily house the most powerful systems a there is a lot of graphics card space available, many drive bays, and lots of fan spaces. I can only say this case is really, really good! This review was modfied by poster @ 03-06-15 09:37 AM