Getting back to the front panel; the panel also contains the usual HDD activity and power LED’s. They are located mid ship on the right, just above the lock. The lock for the front panel is dual position. You can lock only the INNER panel by turning it 90°, or both the inner and outer at the 180° point. The side panel can also be locked via a locking knob located under the inner front panel, approx half way up on the left. Thermaltake has included a front 80mm intake fan (2050RPM, 21dBA) located on the bottom behind the inner front panel. It comes complete with a dust filter than can be removed and cleaned. Air access for this fan is through vents in the inner and outer front panels.

Heading around to the side, we can see the X shaped window, which comes with scratch protecting plastic on BOTH the inside and the outside, ensuring no damage will occur during shipping. This is the first I have seen of this, all the previous cases I have reviewed have only had protection on the outside, kudos to Thermaltake for the extra care.

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The side panel is held on with the usual upper and lower retention hooks, and the outer handle allows for the firm yank rearward required to unhook it. The side panel has a very secure fit. Thermaltake has included two large thumbscrews to further secure the side panel on, but as I stated earlier, you can completely lock it closed by turning the lock knob behind the inner front panel. The outer handle on the side panel is vented to allow intake air to the upper side fan, and the lower fan has air access via inlet holes on the lower middle of the window. More on the fans when I crack the case open.

       
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The rear contains the usual access holes for the PSU and inputs/outputs as well as the vent holes for the included 90mm speed adjustable (1300RPM~3000RPM) exhaust fan. The fan is held in with a plastic retainer that clips in quickly and easily. Thermaltake has also added a blowhole with an 80mm blue LED exhaust fan (2050RPM, 21dBA) to the top of the case. The top is also where they have chosen the mount the front accessory ports. They can be found just ahead of the blow hole underneath a plastic door that snaps open and closed. Two USB 2.0 ports, one IEEE1394, a microphone, and a headphone jack can all be found under the door. I assume that Thermaltake chose to mount the accessory jacks on top to keep the clutter down in the front panel, but I found that having them in the middle on top puts them far enough back that they are almost inconvenient to get at, especially if you plan to have your case under your desk. The underside holds four fold-out feet to help stabilize the heavy beast of a case.

Cracking the Damier open, I immediately noticed the huge mass of wiring, most of it courtesy of the Hardcano. The dual 90mm window intake fans (1300RPM~3000RPM speed controlled upper, 1800RPM 21dBA blue LED lower) are not mounted in the side panel but in a removable swing out plastic mount inside the case. Both fans come with dust filters, or in my case, cat hair traps.

           
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The interior of the case is laid out quite well; with the hard drive mounts located sideways on the bottom front, where the intake air from the front fan blows across them too help keep them cool. There are a total of 7 external bays (5x5.25”, 2x3.5”) and three internal (3x3.5”). The PCI card mounts are screw-less, but I ran into a speed bump with them as I will explain later. All edges are rounded to help keep the blood loss down when installing your hardware. Due to it only being a mid tower, there is not a huge amount of room inside, but there is more than enough to be able to install your hardware. The motherboard tray is not removable which I don’t love, but as I said, there is enough room to make do without.

Hardware installation in the Damier case is quite painless due to the fact that almost everything is screw-less. The motherboard installed quite easily using the included fasteners. The optical drives are a breeze to install as Thermaltake included quick release retainers. I have seen quick release retainers used in cases before and they work well but you still have to screw them to your optical drives. Not so with the Damier, the retainers have small pins on them that align with the screw holes. Just place them against the sides of your drives making sure to align the pins with the holes and then slide your drives in from the outside. As I stated earlier, you need to open both the outer and inner front panels to install the drives.

       
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The hard drives install the same way using smaller versions of the plastic quick release retainers. I like the way that the hard drive mounts sideways in the bottom front of the case making it ridiculously easy to plug in the power and data cables. I have a SATA hard drive and it installed fine, but I can imagine if you use IDE that you might have to make a few sharp turns with the cable to access the drive the way it is mounted, but no big deal.

The only thing that is not screw-less (other than the motherboard) is the floppy drive installation, but it is not hard, just slide it in from the outside and screw it in. Instructions for the use of the drive mounts is listed in the included users manual as well as there are several stickers mounted in various places on the case with diagrams to assist you.

Here is where I found my first snag; the PCI quick lock retainers. I am not going to lie; I could not get them to work at all. It seems that if the PCB of whatever card you are trying to secure extends above the metal bracket on the card, it gets in the way of the retainer, and you cannot close it. I could not get the retainer to work with either my ATI 9800 Pro, or my SoundBlaster Audigy 2. Luckily, you can remove a few tiny screws on the outside of the case and the entire retention system comes off where thankfully Thermaltake has left the original screw holes. I just ditched the quick lock retainers and screwed my cards down normally. I don’t see myself having to remove them enough to really need a quick release anyways.

           
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The power supply went in without any hassles, but it added a whole lot more to the wiring mess that was already present. I mentioned earlier that there was a ton of wiring present coming from the Hardcano and I wasn’t lying, there is.  You have to hook up and attempt to hide 3 sensor probes, 7 fan control Molex, 3 Molex power inputs, 3 speed signal wires, and 1 CPU fan connector. Toss in the 480W PurePower PSU and that makes for one ugly rats nest to deal with. On the upside, each wire is clearly labeled and the user’s manual helps you along with the install. I normally just laugh and toss the manual aside, but in this case I actually needed it.

Thermaltake is well known for creating quality cooling solutions and modding accessories and their Xaser line of cases is no exception. Although the bright blue Damier case stands out enough that it might not appeal to everyone, I happen to be a fan of blue, so it was right up my alley. Weighing in at just less than 35lbs, the Damier isn’t practical to use as a LAN gaming rig, as you need to pack a forklift to move it around.

That aside, the Damier is loaded with features. Sporting a Hardcano fan controller with triple temperature probes with alarms PLUS an extra two single fan controllers as well as 5 cooling fans, the Damier is designed to help cool and monitor even the most over clocked gaming rig.  Thermaltake has decided to make installation a breeze also by making your hard drives and optical drives completely screw-less, but I found the PCI retainers need a redesign before they will work with modern cards.

The auxiliary USB and FireWire connectors being on top also takes some getting used to, but I found it to be no problem after using it for a while. I wish the case had been a full tower, as it is quite tight inside trying to hide the mass of Hardcano and power supply wiring. Other than the PCI retainers not working and the mass of wiring, I was quite happy with the Damier case and it will be home to my over clocked 2.8E Prescott for a long time. I would like to give the rating system a redesign; the five “X” deal just doesn’t give you enough choices. That said, I will give the Damier 4 out of 5.