The good folks at Thermaltake, fresh off the heels of the Spedo gaming chassis, have taken a step in a slightly different direction with their newest chassis design with the Element Series. The Element Series, which bares the tag line Create for Pros, is more targeted towards the professional market than the usual gamer market. With the smooth corners, a matte black finish and subtle red edging around the door, it seems that Thermaltake has gone with a more subdued, stealth-like if you will, appearance package to the first release in this series. Today we will be taking a look at the first release in the Thermaltake Element Series, the Thermaltake Element S.
First Impression:
The Thermaltake Element S comes packaged in a stylish black box with a large picture of the upper portion of the case on the front and plenty of informative pictures of the case's features on the rear. The case specifications can also be found in text on the side of the box.
Inside we find that the case encased in two styro-foam end caps, to keep it from any damage during shipping or while in storage. It is also wrapped in a very nice blue cloth like bag that has the Thermaltake name and logo printed on it. This is done to prevent the case from receiving any scratches and prevent it from getting dusty. Just inside the box we find the owners manual.
Specifications:
Case Type
Mid Tower
Material
SECC
Front Bezel Material
Plastic
Color
Black
Side Panel
Solid
Motherboard Support
Micro ATX & Standard ATX
Motherboard Tray
No
5.25" Drive Bay
3
Ext 3.5" Drive Bay
0
Int 3.5" Drive Bay
7
Expansion Slots
7
Front I/O Ports
USB 2.0 x2, eSATA & HD Audio ports
Cooling System
Front (Intake): 120 x 120 x 25 mm TurboFan, 1300 RPM, 17 dBA : 120 x 120 x 25 (optional)
Rear (Exhaust): 140 x 140 x 25 mm TurboFan, 1000 RPM, 16 dBA
Top ** (Exhaust): 230 x 230 x 20 mm Red LED fan, 800 RPM, 15 dBA
VGA (Exhaust): Two 60 x 60 mm fan (optional)
Liquid Cooling Capable
No
Liquid Cooling Embedded
No
Power Supply Supported
Standard ATX PSU (optional)
Power Supply Included
No
Dimension (H*W*D)
21.3 x 9.1 x 19.9 in 505 x 230 x 540 mm
Net Weight
19.49 lbs 8.84 kg
Warranty
3 Years
** Thermaltake's specifications list the top fan as being a 230mm fan. However, after removing the top and actually measuring the fan (because it seemed a tad small), I found it to only be a 200 x 200 x 20 mm fan.
Features:
Anti-vibration and noise reduction material on side panels
Stealth Black Interior
Massive Storage Capability with 7 x 3.5" and 2 x 2.5"HDD bays
Direction-free HDD cage
Excellent thermal performance with optimal air flow
Folding edge design to strengthen structure and prevent cutting
I just read your review of the Thermaltake S case as I am putting together a new build with this case so I will withhold my overall comments until I''m finished. I will say, however that I was disappointed when I saw the case feet. Such hard plastic nubs with the annoying rotating center (for what purpose?) are inappropriate on a case that otherwise seems focused on being quiet.
My very first "mod" was to replace the feet, but how to remove them?!!? The front two are located between the floor of the case and a raised and riveted base plate. It took me more than an hour and I had to raid my wife''s cosmetic tool box to find something to reach those two enclosed front feet. I finally found what my wife called a pair of "scissor tweezers" just like the pair in the link. They are small enough to reach the top of the feet and still pinch the plastic nub that allows the foot to be pushed down and through the mounting hole. Do the two rear feet first and you will easily see how they come out. They mount similar to a stock Intel CPU HSF with the mounting barbs coming up through the floor of the case instead of going down through the mobo like the Intel part.
I replaced the feet with a product from Acousti Products called AcoustiFeet, which are self-adhesive soft
silicone feet and come in four different degrees of softness created for different weight components from PC cases to any electronics that can benefit from the anti-vibration properties of the feet. They come in matt black and clear/translucent and they fit perfectly into the Element S''s foot wells that are stamped into the bottom of the case floor — about 1 1/8" dia.
I hope this helps anyone who loves this case, but hates those feet!
