Thermaltake's Xaser III Skull Series - A Case For the Tough Guy
by Purav Sanghani on March 11, 2004 4:20 PM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Hardcano
The VM3000A also features an updated design that includes an rheobus, which Thermaltake calls the Hardcano. This module can be removed just like, and can be replaced with, a normal 5-1/4" drive. The panel itself has an LED display with a 2 color backlight: blue for normal temperatures, and red for the alarm mode. The display shows the user specified alarm temperature on top and the current CPU temperature below. A temperature alarm can be set by an inset dial using a small flat screw driver. When the temperature rises past the set alarm, the Hardcano produces an audible alert along with the red backlight display. On the right half are 2 dials to control the speed of 2 case fans connected directly to the power supply. This number seems insufficient, since there are a total of 4 fans installed. There are also twin ports for USB and a port for firewire capabilities. A disadvantage to the included fire wire adapter cable is that it needs to be taken out externally through the back and plugged in to a fire wire card on the back panel.
Click to enlarge.
Though the Hardcano has a plethora of features, it also has an overabundance of wiring, especially for the USB ports. The bundle of wires to connect the USB ports to the motherboard are separated with their own plugs, which can be time consuming and frustrating to plug in and also confusing, since the labels are not standard.
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JKing76 - Friday, March 12, 2004 - link
Cheese. 100% cheese.Orchid1 - Friday, March 12, 2004 - link
Looks terrible, pc case design has come a long way since the beige box, but in this case I'd rather have a beige box any day.Skulls? is his being marketed at 15 year old Goth Rock fans?
nastyemu25 - Friday, March 12, 2004 - link
guess i wasn't the only one who thought this thing was incredibly uglyaraczynski - Friday, March 12, 2004 - link
that has got to be the single most butch ugly implementation of a side window in a case i've ever seen, obviously a last second throw in with no thought or planning. disgusting.CtK - Friday, March 12, 2004 - link
why dont you show pics with the case fully installed with parts??BenSkywalker - Friday, March 12, 2004 - link
Reading through everything in the review it seems like this is a lower end case then the original XIII line, was that your impression Purav?Less fans, less space and sharp edges- sounds like a step back for TT here.
diehlr - Friday, March 12, 2004 - link
This case is the most hideous thing I have seen in a long time. What is the deal with PC case designs? Nearly every one of them is tacky and looks flat out cheap.clarkmo - Thursday, March 11, 2004 - link
This is the same as the Enermax Titanium case. I don't know who the oem is. Mobo attaches with studs vey easily. Hopefully a new trend.Just pop it right in. It's only noisy if you have noisy fans. I have a 120 mm in the lower area. The psu is very tight buy my slk900a on my 8rda manages to fit. http://www.case-mod.com/store/product_info.php?pro...Adul - Thursday, March 11, 2004 - link
congrats Purv :)mostlyprudent - Thursday, March 11, 2004 - link
You mention the inconvenience of having to remove add in cards to remove the motherboard tray, but why bother completely removing the tray unless I'm replacing the motherboard - hence removing the cards anyway? Of course, I've never had a removable tray that was easy enough to remove to justify taking it out for memory or even CPU changes.