PCExtreme.net - ThermalTake Tsunami Dream ATX Case Review.

ThermalTake Tsunami Dream ATX Case, Page 2.

Review Date: August 29, 2004
Reviewed by: Dwayne Sessom
Sponsored by: Computer Gate

What's Inside, cont:

One thing is for sure... this case has no lack of drive bays. It can accomodate up to eleven drives with no problem. You could throw in a DVD-RW, and ten 400GB hard drives to build one kickass 4TB server if you had the cashola! The bottom hard drive cage is secured with a single thumb screw, and slides out for easy access. I was also astonished at how light the drive cage was. It is super-light, but very durable, and has vibration-dampening rubber o-rings in the drive mounting holes. ThermalTake really put some thought into the design and constuction of this component alone.

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Removing the drive cage reveals the massive 120mm intake fan. Although I have never really liked ThermalTakes ugly orange fans, at least they put it in the front where it can't be seen. Right above the front intake fan is another two-drive removable cage which uses a clever spring loaded latch system for retention. One push on the thumb lever releases the bay and it slides smoothly out of the rack.

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The ThermalTake Tsunami has a nice access panel on the top of the case with two USB 2.0 ports, Firewire, and audio In/Out. I wish the wiring system for this was a bit more tidy, but ThermalTake did a good job of cable management in spite of the mess of cables hanging from the roof of the case. Usually, the top of the case is a bad place for data ports, but I have actually found that I use the USB port quite a bit. The location is convenient if the case is setting on the floor right next to you!

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The finished product:

After moving my rig into it's new home, I was pleased with the final result. It is now about 1/3 of the weight it was before, and looks great! No more breaking my back lugging my LAN rig around to LAN parties, and I now have a rig that stands out from the crowd! Here is what I ended up with after adding some UV cathodes.

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ThermalTake has definitely designed a winner once again with the Tsunami Dream. From the top notch paint job, to the elegant overall design and obvious quality craftsmanship throughout, the Tsunami is elite among PC cases. The dual 120mm fans and 80mm side fan are enough to keep any rig cool. In fact, I removed the 90mm Vantec Tornado from my Swiftech MCX4000-T, switched off the pelt, and am currently using it for a passive heatsink. The two 120's and single 80mm fan move enough air that it cools the passive heatsink with NO problem! If you are looking for something different from the crowd, this is what the doctor ordered!

I am awarding the ThermalTake Tsunami the "100% Extreme Award"! Cases just don't get much better than this!