Thermaltake Level 10 VL30001 N1Z Case Review :: Exterior

Front

Lock 1

Lock 3

System security lock

Wow where to begin on the exterior of the case. Thermaltake built this case using eructated aluminum. Aluminum of course is a lightweight but strong metal that is used in many products including Coke cans. The case itself weighs 55 pounds empty which is about the heaviest empty case I’ve seen in a long time. The case looks like a safe on the front.

Right side

Power and Reset

I/O

Thermaltake logo

The front of the case is rather interesting in that there are two locks on the cover as well as two thumb screws. Lock #1 is labeled PSU/MB/Side Panel. The second lock is for the ODD/HDD. One thing to note is that it is very hard to open the case without having a key once it is locked. By very hard I mean you would have to break the case open as the case is engineered to be safe.

The thumb screws hold the side panel in place but again without using the key it will not open once locked without the key. The top of the case has a handle. This case in fact, has two handles to allow the case to easily be transported by two persons, alleviating the strain on one’s back that carrying a 70+ pound loaded case would give some people.

HDD Racks

Rear

Left ¾ view

Left side

The left side of the case has the FP I/O of the case which includes four USB 2.0 ports, an external SATA port, the HD Audio port and the Power button. Behind the FP I/O are two compartments, one for the ODDs and 5.25” drives and one group of six trays that are for the 3.5” drives like the HDDs. Moving to the back of the case we see that Thermaltake has split the case into four compartments: ODD, HDD, Motherboard and PSU. The bottom of the case has a base with the second handle.

Rear I/O

PSU

Top

HDD

The design of the four compartments is really ingenious. If you think about a regular case, there is an area for the PSU either on top or the bottom, depending on the case, an area for the motherboard whether vertically mounted or horizontally mounted, an area for the HDDs and an area for the ODDs. Unfortunately they all share an enclosed space. Thermaltake has split them off into separate compartments so the video card does not lie next to the HDDs in the case but is separated by a cover therefore keeping separate components cooler. The top of the case has a stripe that is a LED light that lights up red when the case is turned on.