Thermaltake Element S PC Case
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You can also install water cooling using the available knockout holes along the power supply for the tubing with an externally mounted water cooler system. There is also a place to install two smaller 60mm fans beside the 7 rear PC card and video card slots for added cooling.
The Element S easily accommodates a full sized ATX motherboard with plenty of room when installing or working with your system like doing maintenance. I found there was enough room to reach in and remove the side clips on my CPU heat sink assembly for those stubborn clips on the AMD CPU system.
This was really handy when having to remove and work on my system just recently when I was having some problems with my system and ended up reinstalling Windows. I did remove all the extra hardware to see what the problem was that I was having and found working in the case quite easy.
The Thermaltake Element S is about the smallest case I would want to use for any system as I like to have plenty of room for working in my system and the case is a dream to work with. The front panel snaps on and off easily using a level underneath the front panel so you don’t even have to take the side panels off.
Just reach under and in the slot between the front panel and the case for the lever that pushes the tabs holding the front panel on so you can remove the front panel. The top panel also comes off easily by moving the tabs holding it onto the case but you do have to remove both side panels.
The side panels have a rubber gasket to help with vibration so you have no metal on metal contact that I have had problems with on other cases on occasion. The Element S is a great case and I had no problems installing my system or working on it since installation.
The side panels on the case I received has an intake/outlet area toward the rear of the side panels with vent holes but no Plexiglas area so you can see in the case. Another handy feature is the small clip that attaches with a screw from the inside and holds the cables of your mouse and keyboard so no one can walk off with them.
The front panel cables inside are plenty long and connect easily with a regular motherboard and I found I had no problem even getting the audio to the odd spot on mine. My Gigabyte motherboard has the audio connect on the rear of the motherboard by the back panel and the front panel audio cable easily reached this connection.
The front panel USB and buttons are on the top facing upward which is nice if you have your case toward the floor but they are not really visible or usable if you have the case sitting on your desk or table. The front panel section has the usual bright LED on and drive lights, the power and reset buttons, two audio connections, an eSATA connection and two USB connections.
The front panel area is easy to reach when the case is sitting lower but I found that I don’t mind occasionally having to get up to plug something in or hit a button. This only happens occasionally for me and having the front panel stuff more facing the top is no problem for me.
The Thermaltake Element S really does have a lot of features and is a great all around case for keeping your system cool as well as having lots of handy inside features. The drive cage being multi oriented and being able to install a 2,5 inch drive is nice as well as the quick installation of an extra front fan.
The case is very quiet and handles my system very well with very little noise coming from it, my Intel system is actually louder as I sit here writing this review. At times when walking by I can hardly tell when the computer is on and often have to look at the lights on top to check and see.
This case is really a dream to work with and one that makes a lot of sense for anyone wanting a mod tower case that has plenty of room for the occasional work on your system. I highly recommend the Element S from Thermaltake as a great all around PC case that is quite affordable.