Thermaltake Chaser MK-I Case Review
The Bottom and Rear Panels
Contents
Both panels are attached to the chassis using black thumbscrews. The motherboard tray has a huge hole for you to access the backplate of the CPU cooler without having to remove the motherboard from the case, several holes protected with rubber covers for you to route cables behind it, and several metallic clips for you to fasten cables using cable ties.
Figure 16: Overall look
Figure 17: A view behind the motherboard tray
In Figure 18, you have another overall look inside the case. Expansion cards are fastened using black thumbscrews. The Chaser MK-I supports video cards up to 13” (330 mm) long.
Figure 18: Overall look
The power supply is installed at the bottom of the case. Note that it can be installed with either its bottom fan facing up or facing down, so you can decide if you want the fan of your power supply pulling air from inside the case or from outside of it. The case has an adjustable bracket for the power supply.
The reviewed case supports the installation of a 120 mm fan on this bottom panel, and you can have a power supply up to 7.7” (195 mm) deep together with this fan.
As shown before, the bottom panel has an air filter for the power supply fan and for this optional fan.
Figure 19: Power supply compartment
The Thermaltake Chaser MK-I has four 5.25” external bays and six 3.5”/2.5” internal bays, plus the external 3.5”/2.5” docking bay that we’ve already talked about. All bays use tool-less installation mechanisms, except when you have 2.5” devices.
Figure 20: Disk drive bays
Each 3.5”/2.5” bay is actually a small drawer, with rubber rings around its pegs to absorb vibrations and, thus, reduce noise.
Figure 21: Drawer
The Chaser MK-I also supports the installation of an external 3.5” device in a 5.25” bay, using the adapter that comes with the product. This adapter also supports the installation of a 3.5” hard drive, so you can have up to eight hard drives installed.
Figure 22: The 5.25”-to-3.5” adapter
In Figure 23, you can see the accessories that come with the case.
Figure 23: Accessories
The main specifications for the Thermaltake Chaser MK-I case include:
- Style: Full-tower
- Application: ATX and smaller form factors derived from this one
- Material: Zinc-coated steel (SECC) body
- Power supply: Doesn’t come with the product
- Available colors: Black
- Side panel: Meshed with transparent acrylic window
- Dimensions: 22.4 x 9.3 x 22.9 inches (568 x 237 x 581 mm) (H x W x D)
- Net weight: 24 lbs (11 kg)
- Gross weight: 29.5 lbs (13.4 kg)
- Bays: Four external 5.25” bays, six internal 3.5”/2.5” bays, one external 3.5”/2.5” docking bay, one external/internal bay converted from one 5.25” bay
- Expansion slots: Eight
- Maximum video card length: 13” (330 mm)
- Maximum CPU cooler height: NA
- Fans: One 200 mm “colorshift” fan on the front panel (600 rpm/13 dBA or 800 rpm/15 dBA), one 200 mm “colorshift” fan on the top panel (600 rpm/13 dBA or 800 rpm/15 dBA), and one 140 mm fan on the rear panel (1,000 rpm/16 dBA)
- Optional fans: One 120 mm, 140 mm or 200 mm fan on the top panel and one 120 mm fan on the bottom panel
- Extr
a features: Anti-theft device for corded peripherals, loop for padlock, hole for Kensington anti-theft device, headset support - More Information: https://www.thermaltakeusa.com
- Average Price in the US*: USD 160.00
* Researched at Newegg.com on the day we published this review.
The Thermaltake Chaser MK-I is clearly targeted to the gamer that goes to LAN parties, and it excels at this application because of its three different kinds of anti-theft mechanisms. It is more expensive than good mid-tower models, but we think it is fairly priced for a full-tower model with so many additional features.
Strong Points
- Meshed bay covers with air filters
- Vented slot covers
- Air filter for the front fan
- Air filter for the power supply fan
- Air filter for the optional bottom fan
- Two-speed fan controller for the top and front fans
- Button for changing color and pattern of the top and front fans
- Support for a 240 mm radiator
- Eight expansion slots
- A huge hole in the motherboard tray for accessing the backplate of the CPU cooler
- Holes for routing cables behind the motherboard tray
- External 3.5”/2.5” docking bay
- Support for seven 3.5” or six 2.5” internal devices
- Headset hanger on the left panel
Weak Points
No support for fans on the left-side panel