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Old 06-21-2011
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Default Thermaltake Level 10 GT


Thermaltake Level 10 GT

Today we are unboxing and taking a look at the Thermaltake Level 10 GT PC case

Unboxing



First off you will notice that the box carries over the BMW design inspiration that signifies Thermaltake’s partnership with BMW on the design and concept for this case lineup. Also there is a large USB 3.0 badge which tells me I will have USB 3.0 front panel connectors most likely which will be detailed further later in this review.

Once you open the box you pull out the large Styrofoam edge protectors which allow lifting of the case out of the box. Next you see the bag which protects the case against scratches and scuffs during shipping. This is a nice feature and also gives you something you can place the case or your whole system into if it needs to be stored or packaged to travel. Now time to remove the covering.



Right away you can see this is not just a revision of a rectangular box that you slap computer parts into. Too often now days a computer case is just a metal rectangle with maybe some plastic or metal cladding on top of it to make it look like its not what it is…. We have all seen the old white rectangular cases I am referring to…. Now take your HAF 932 or most other cases out there and strip off the facia pieces and ancillary components and you will find although internally they may vary from case to case they all share basically the same structure with just minor modifications.

Now look at something new…. Something that dared to be “different”



There are some things that stood out to me that I really liked and really made this case come together to be the complete package.
  • USB 3.0 Header ready to connect to todays newer motherboards (no need to route cabes through rear of case to connect to USB 3.0 IO ports)
  • Side Case door rather than panel (still can be removed)
  • Ability to turn off and change color of fan LEDS
  • EATX support
  • Support for expansion cards in excess of 14” in length
  • 5x hot swap HDD bays with mounting for 3.5” Hdd or 2.5” HDD/SSD
  • Directional internal louvers on Case Door to allow direction of airflow over key areas
  • Full black powder coated interior

That may seem like a long list but in reality there are many more things I like about this case.

I usually have a list of things I would like to see different or don’t like but honestly after a couple weeks of using this case I really haven’t seen anything I would like to see different with it.


Installed components
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z68X-UD3H-B3
CPU: Core I7 2600K & I5 2400
Memory: Kingston DDR3 1600 Mhz Cas7 2x2gb
Hdd: WD Velociraptor 300GB & 120GB SATA III/6G SSD
Graphics card: Gigabyte GTX 560 Ti SOC
CPU cooling: Thermaltake Frio OCK
PSU: Thermaltake Toughpower Grand 1200W


Features

5x Hot swap HDD bays

These can be removed quickly and easily as long as the key is in the unlocked position. The bays can be used with both the standard size 3.5” Drives but also has mounting holes for 2.5” drives and SSD usage. All 5 Bays have a integrated backplane that automatically connects to the drive once the hot swap drive cradle is slid into place. The only issue I have had with this design is that when non-standard drives (velociraptor) where the position of the SATA power and data cables is changed which means the backplane will not line up. The backplane for all 5 hot swap bays come prewired for power fed by a single molex which should help a lot with cable management.





Support for expansion cards in excess of 14” in length
Just as the title implies. No matter how long cards get (theyre already at 12”) I cant imagine any time soon they would reach 14” but in the chance they do with the Level 10 GT you will be covered. You will notice for reference this card is a reference GTX 580 and just for better reference of the sheer amount of space I even laid a Crysis game case on the card so you can compare as to how much space you have. We are talking many inces past the end of the GTX580 which means plenty for anything you would need to install.



Color switch fans/Fan speed control
The fans on this case can switch a variance of colors (red, Blue, green) or a mix of all of the colors. And for those who do not like colored or light up fans at all they can even have the lighting turned off completely.
This can all be controlled from witched at the top panel of the case and you can also select from high and low fan speed directly from an adjacent switch on the same top panel. Whats cool about this is that even on the higher setting is was only audible is I had the case at ear level and even then it was not overpowering but you did notice the audible difference when high speed was selected.

Excellent cable management design
When looking at the case open on either end you will be hard pressed to not notice the steps taken to make cable management and routing as easy as possible.
It starts by just noticing the large rubber cutouts all around the motherboard tray. These help all of your cables have a neat appearance coming from the rear of the motherboard tray and directly to their connection and when you move to the reverse side by removing the other side panel you will see on the rear of the motherboard tray there are cable management guides/hooks to help route your wiring to eliminate clutter.



Installation

Getting everything installed was surprisingly easy. First off there is plently of room to work in so it was not cramped feeling at all. Not to mention with the oversized CPU area cutout in the motherboard tray you can install any cpu cooler without removing the motherboard. Routing all wires to their respective locations was easy as well and you can tell a lot of thought was put into the location of key components and cable lengths to allow connection to any type of motherboard configuration.



Bundled Accessories

This case came with many accessories to allow easy building of your new system.
  • More than enough screws to allow mounting motherboard and mounting of drives into the Hot swap bays
  • Headset Holder
  • Users manual
  • Cable Ties
  • PC Speaker
  • 8 pin ATX CPU power extension




Conclusion and final thoughts
When I first looked at this Case I was a little questionable as to what I would really think of it as the design is far from what you see anywhere else. Once I used it I realized that the real benefit of this case is the overall package. While the styling was something that took a little getting used to, the ease of use, ease of maintenance and overall cool factor. Seeing something different than a rectangle metal box makes this case an awesome choice for anyone looking to build a higher end system with the desire to have something that doesn’t look like what everyone else has at their desk.


Pros:
  • Easy to install components, coolers pretty much anything
  • Cable management is about as good as it can get
  • airflow is very good and side panel allows directional flow
  • USB 3.0 Pin header connection wired to front panel

Cons:
  • Styling will not appeal to everyone
  • Nothing else I can find as of now, Will update if I find anything
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Old 06-21-2011
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Nice review Punx, but for all its negatives I still liked the original Level 10. That was a stunning case........
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Old 06-21-2011
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Quote:
Originally Posted by thebanik View Post
Nice review Punx, but for all its negatives I still liked the original Level 10. That was a stunning case........
Yeah, but I like this case because of the weight.... if youve ever lifted the original level 10...

not to mention this is 66%+ lower price lol
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Old 06-22-2011
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Saw one at MC, and it's HUGE
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Old 06-22-2011
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Looks pretty sick, how would it do for a water cooled gammer ....

where do you go with the rads ?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Witchdoctor View Post
Looks pretty sick, how would it do for a water cooled gammer ....

where do you go with the rads ?
I have a swiftech MCR 220 and fits fine up top replacing the color changing large fan.
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