Internal
The side panels are held in place by 4 thumbscrews which supports the toolless case design that Thermaltake is heading towards. However, the screws were firmly held in place so a Phillips head screwdriver was required. The x window panel slides right off and has a great fit in my opinion. It was easier to put on and remove than any generic case I’ve ever worked with and was even easier to manage than my Antec SX1030 Encolsure.
Extracting everything that was neatly packed inside the enclosure, we find a WinGo Series manual, a pair of keys for the front panel, standard port panel, WinGo stickers, 2 80mm fans and a bag of screws. Remembering that there are 5 fans included with this enclosure, we do a little bit of detective work. The first fan can be found already mounted at the rear of the case, the second mounted at the top, and the third, peeking out by the hard drive enclosure.
Taking a closer look at where the two free fans are to be mounted we see that the semi-transparent plastic mounting platform can not only be swung out like a door, but even removed with a simple press of a plastic latch located at the top of the hinge. Snapping the fans in is a simple matter as is removal which is a bonus. On several of the cases I’ve worked on, it’s nearly impossible to remove the cages holding fans in place.
Taking a look at the expansion PCI card slots, we see that Thermaltake has been thinking about the toolless design and has implemented a series of plastic tabs that swing up to release the card / metal holder in the slots. Removing the metal covers is a bit tricky the first time using the right amount of force in the right place as not to bend them, but once you get the hang of it, it’s easy. Replacing them is just as easy and a great benefit as I’m fairly annoyed at having open slots at the rear.
What caught my attention was slotted plastic member attached to the left of the hard drive enclosure. At first I didn’t know what this was, but it seemed to line up with the PCI slots, so a quick check and my hypothesis was justified. These slots are extra support for those extended PCI cards
Unfortunately, there isn’t a removable tray with this case. However, due to the sheer size of the case, there is plenty of room to work with. Extended ATX motherboards can be inserted and removed without having to fiddle with the hard drives, etc. which makes upgrading much easier. Taking a closer look at the base of the tray though shows an interesting development. Where we are used to seeing those hex risers to screw the motherboard onto, there are an odd shaped peg that is long enough and thin enough to extend through the holes in the motherboard. The plastic tabs included in the bag of screws fit tightly into the hole and surprisingly secure the motherboard nicely.
Changing attention to the hard drive bay we notice that two of the three slots are already occupied with some odd plastic trays. Removing them proves a pleasant surprise of tool less guide rails one for the hard drives, and the other for the 5.25” bays. While many other cases require that guard rails be secured by screws, these Termaltake guide rails have nibs that slide into the screw holes which in my opinion is a great benefit. Installing a new device is now a simple matter of lining the holes up properly with the guide rails and sliding the unit into the bay.
Looking to the bottom of the case find an interesting black box which could only be the switch for the WinGo EL Lamp found on the front panel. Looking at it revels 3 positions: Middle, which was off, Up for On, and Down for On. Strange to have 2 On positions. Well, after playing around with the switch I realized that up means full on, middle means off, and down turns the light into a Thermaltake blinking add in a fashion that reminds me of those blinking Christmas tree lights. In all honesty, I found the color of the WinGo EL lamp to clash with the pretty blue LEDs of the 2 fans and power led. The blinking mode gave me headaches and was more of a distraction when I was trying to focus on my screen.
