Thermaltake
Chaser A41
The second product in this article comes
from a higher price catalogue and prides of more advantages on appearance as
well as internality.
Thermaltake
Chaser A41
Chaser A41 has a front panel in original form,
a side window and a few blue details on its appearance (on the tripod and front
shield of disk compartment). In the contrary, it is a qualifying product with a
typical grid facade.
Dust
filter can be seen from the bottom.
A dust filter can be seen from the bottom.
It protects PSU as well as the position of additional fan in the bottom.
Its
frame is not fixed to the frame
There is a small problem with that filter.
Its frame is not fixed to the frame and slides back and forth when you lift the
front side of case.
You can also see the similar tripod in
Thermaltake Armor Revo that we have evaluated before.
Looking from the top allows you to see an
exhausted fan and a panel connected I/O that points out this case will be put
on the floor (or a corner table).
The
case will be put on the floor (or a corner table)
I/O port is the same as Corsair's that
discussed above: two USB 3.0 ports (connect to the motherboard), headphone and
microphone jacks. The connections are far from each other, so you can use them easily
at the same time.
Press buttons and indicators are designed more
traditionally than the Carbide 200R. Reset button is divided the same as Disk
indicator. Yet power button is combined with a Power indicator. LED is not too
bright and is not distracted.
There is a small indentation in front panel
behind buttons and indicators. You can hold a few of small things there.
Accessories are pretty better than Corsair,
including recycled cables and PC speakers.
Front
panel can remove easily
It is more delicate than Corsair’s, front
panel can remove easily. It is remarkable with removable dust filter.
Removable
dust filter
There is a wide gap between front rotor and
the filter so that fans will also get unclean air.
A
foam rubber plate behind metal grid helps to shield dust
The front shield of disk drive is designed
as usual: a foam rubber plate behind metal gird helps to shield dust. The plastic
frame with handy lock allows removing easily a shield without discarding the whole
front panel down. Actually, you have to remove front panel when you want to
clean the filter.
Having
to arrange screws on the top and bottom of panels so that they balance to frame
The sides are the same as Carbide 200R’s
for fixed screws. You have to arrange screws on the top and bottom of panels so
that they balance to frame.
And as Corsair case, this provocation is no
problem because cable compartment is even wider than Chaser A41’s while the similar
side is pressed.
Huge screws for the side panel are still in
the hole when removed, so you can’t loosen them.
As many other PC cases from Thermaltake,
single-expanded slots are covered by a common holder with purpose of avoiding
us. It does not provide any benefits about fixed aspect, but it makes assembling
process longer, and the whole product becomes a little bit expensive.
Headphone
rack
Telling about external details, we should
note headphone rack that you can see in many modern Thermaltake products.
This rack can fit with a table PC case,
Chaser A41s are obviously designed to be placed somewhere below users. We don’t
think it is handy because of a headphone near your knee’s area.
Colorful
details
When the side is removed, we can see many colorful
details: fast lock of 5.25-inch outside compartment. Like tripod, they are
similar to one in Thermaltake Armor Revo and guarantee fixity pretty well. If
you want to be more reliable, you can use good old screws.
In the bottom of case, there is a disk rack
with four separated compartments. There are two 3.5-inch compartments between disk
rack and 5.25-inch external compartment: the top one is outside and the bottom
one is inside (compatible with 2.5-inch disk drive).
There are three holes with rubber seal at
the top of back panel. They are means for tube of fluid-cooling system. Hole in
the rack of motherboard is also rubberized.
The disk compartment is supported 3.5-inch device
(use side-buffers associated to absorbed vibration buffer) and 2.5-inch device
(use bottom-buffers of disk drive)
The
side of chamber is too high to make them keep airflow
The side of the chamber is too high to make
them keep airflow, and that can cause negative effect on air circulation. By
the way, the manufacturer's web presents another drive compartment with lower edge.
The
manufacturer's web presents another drive compartment with lower edge
Assembling our configuration in this case
is simple and easy. Fixing each drive with four screws spends the most time.
Assembling
configuration in this case is simple and easy
Chaser A41 supplies less space for
expanding card slot than Carbide 200R if you use the top drive compartment. In
the other hand, 315mm is enough for any modern graphics cards wherever your
disk drive is.
Cable compartment is deep, so you can hide cables
easily and there is no problem to close the corresponding table.
The
cable compartment is deep
The cut-line of CPU cooler is as big as
Corsair Carbide 200R’s. It’s hard to find a motherboard that sockets of its CPU
does not match to that window.
The default ventilation system includes
three available fans: one 120mm intake fan is remarkable on the front; one
200mm exhausting fan is noticeable on the top side, and one 120mm intake fan on
the back.
The
default ventilation system includes three available fans
There are some positions for a 120/140mm
fan on the bottom of frame. Instead of 200mm fan on the top, you can install
two 120mm fans or a 120x240mm exothermal tool of fluid-cooling system with such
two fans.
There is a perforated plastic band below
top panel to protect frame from dust.
A 140mm fan can be installed opposite to
the drive bracket (there is an appropriated holes) but Thermaltake puts a
smaller fan on there to cut costs down. As you can see in the picture, there
are a lot of spaceful metals behind the fan, can make negative affect to
cooling.
In Silent mode of motherboard, fans have
speeds including: 615 RPM (front 120mm fan), 990 RPM (back 120mm fan) and 540
RPM (top 200mm fan).
Assembled
computer looks good enough
Assembled computer looks good enough based
on remarkably smart points and unique border of front panel.
Strong points
·
Good outside ventilation
·
Preventing from dust
·
Lovely designed case
·
Easy to install into computer
Weak points
·
Some mistakes in designs of dust filter and
drive racks
Specifications
of Thermaltake Chaser A41
·
Size: 252x495x511
·
Compatibility: ATX, micro ATX, Mini-ITX
·
External compartment: 4 x 5.25”; 1 x 3.5”
·
Internal compartment: 5 x 3.5”/2.5”
·
Outside port: 2 x USB 3.0; 2 sound jacks
·
Fan: 1 x 120mm; 2x120mm
