Introduction

Lately, with all the commotion in the CPU and GPU markets, the case industry seems rather unexciting. Somehow AMD buying ATI just seems a little more important than choosing the tower of your dreams for your next rig. But with huge shifts in anything - be it a new processor or a better integrated platform - the number of people interested in building a new PC at all grows, and with that growth comes the necessary interest in new cases.

While it's certainly nice to see Conroe generating much, much less heat than the Pentium D series, we certainly won't be able to get rid of worrying about the thermal outputs of our computers altogether any time soon. Also, with even decently-configured towers becoming so inexpensive to build the emphasis on looks and low noise levels is at an all-time high in the case realm.

Taking all these factors into mind, Thermaltake has been busy revamping some of their older products, as well as refining the aspects that have made previous cases of theirs so popular. After polishing up their work they sent us three different cases that showcase some of the fruits of these labors.

While we've already examined the ThermalRock Eclipse in a large roundup from last year, we're going to take a brief look at its latest incarnation, the Eclipse DV - now officially a Thermaltake product. This newer case is very much like the original, but will serve as a good comparison to the newer designs Thermaltake has to offer as well. The Eureka is targeted as a true server case, and although some of its design features will definitely make this obvious it could still fit into a lot of users' "perfect combination of features" list. Lastly we'll examine the very new Aguila desktop case, a product quite similar to the very popular Armor Jr. case but with a couple useful tweaks. Here's a quick breakdown of what the different models offer:



Time to look at the first case!



Thermaltake Eclipse DV - External

The original Eclipse was a great case. It offered much of what's needed in a desktop tower enclosure and had few faults. Let's get right to it - the only significant change in this DV variation is the change from a mere CD holder primarily for decoration in the front to a full-fledged, fully functional, DVD/CD-R/W slim-line combo drive.

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Because of this change, the front bezel can no longer really 'unfold' into two doors like the Eclipse did; instead the entire front bezel swings open to reveal the external bays and power / reset buttons. On the side is also where you'll find the button for opening the drive, just like laptop drives. In this shot you can also see the nicely folded cables for the drive and lights, ensuring one will never have to worry about the cables getting stuck or kinked when opening the door.

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Taking a step back, here's a more direct shot of the front bezel. The clear plastic strips in the middle of the front light up blue when the computer is powered on, and HDD activity is signaled by a red LED adding to the light show on the left side of the bottom strip. A disc in the drive is quite visible through the sharp looking window, not unlike many popular table-top CD players available.

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The ornament at the bottom is supposed to indicate volume based on a soundcard's output levels, but in our experience it seemed to respond directly to access of the disc in the included drive, as it was glowing even with our on-board sound card disabled in our test bed.

Now we'll examine that right side in a little more detail. The lock and front ports are here, closer to the bottom, so along with the drive opening in this direction here are two more reasons to make sure there is plenty of clearance on the right side of the case towards the front.

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The Eclipse DV suffers from a problem found in many other cases unfortunately, and that is the problem of requiring a certain amount of clearance on both sides of the case for optimum usability / appearance. On the one hand, the ports, the optical drive, and the main front door are all accessed from this side, but enjoying the view the case window provides and doing anything internal requires relatively unrestricted access from the left side. The good news though is that there is no need for completely unrestricted access to the right side - only the front area needs to be open.

Here is one of the nicest features of the Eclipse DV: unlike cases which require the front bezel to be forcefully pried off, this Thermaltake case has been designed to make this process a cinch.

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Unlocking the latch with the provided key allows this entire portion of the case to hinge out, providing easy access to the external drive bays and their respective covers, as well as the removable filter for the front 120mm fan. Again, cable management has been thought through carefully, and the latching fit itself is snug and secure.



Thermaltake Eclipse DV - Internal

Taking a peek inside the Eclipse DV we see a rather familiar layout.

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For better or worse the standard Thermaltake green clips are used to hold expansion cards in place. In previous reviews we've noted how these work fairly well for a majority of cards, but on some - such as the Audigy 2 SoundBlaster - they get stuck once locked into place. There is still certainly some advantage to keeping a case as tool-less as possible, but when simple screws really hold cards in place better and are more universally compatible, it's almost a shame Thermaltake continues to use the green clips in the DV.

Like most tower cases, the new Eclipse is reinforced structurally with a crossbar, which gives rigidity and extra support for the power supply as well.

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Here you can see the 5.25" drives are secured with rails (which screw onto each drive individually). The dual removable cage design hasn't changed much at all from the original. Once removed from the case it's easier to see they latch differently from each other, but the good news is they're both tool-less designs which have been executed well.

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With such a small number of differences from the original Eclipse case we'll move right along to the installed test bed. Here one can see the lone ribbon cable leading from the slim drive. The cable isn't really any longer than it needs to be, and can be neatly tucked out of the way above the front fan, which is also removable. The bad news is that for people with only one IDE channel on their motherboard, only the single included drive can be used since there is no way to chain another drive on this cable. The accessory box that comes with the case and holds the extra parts (including the rails, keys, and a cleaning cloth for the window) can fit under the support for the hard drive cage.

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Just like in the Eclipse, installing our testbed was problem free. The only caveat (other than the above-mentioned IDE port use) is that you really have to install the PSU before you can put the motherboard in, but this is true in many tower cases. The ample clearance between our hard drive and the front-facing IDE channel (a space often neglected) was appreciated.

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Thermaltake Eclipse DV - Extra Images

To finish the coverage of the Eclipse DV here are few more pictures we took of the enclosure. The window is a little different from the original Eclipse, and includes a vent over the CPU which could have an 80mm fan attached if desired.

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The back is nearly identical to the Eclipse and Armor Jr. cases, except for one of the stock slot covers. The jacks are fed from the included combo drive so audio can be passed back into a sound card in case it doesn't have the necessary CD headers internally.


When powered on, the Eclipse DV puts on quite a show. As we mentioned previously there's a "volume indicator" on the front at the bottom that lights up, but it seems to correspond more with CD access than sound.


The clear plastic in front is lit up at the tops and bottoms over each piece, and HDD activity triggers an extra flash of red on the left side of the bottom piece.


In this final shot the drive is open and the texture of the brushed aluminum front is easy to see. It should be noted that this design is really only for people who know they can take relatively good care of their computers and media - it should be no surprise that this might not be the best case for a frequent LAN party attendee. One missed-placed step while the drive is open and the centerpiece of the case could be ruined.

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Thermaltake Eureka - External

Time to move on to a slightly newer case from Thermaltake, the Eureka. Stepping away from the more traditional exotic looks Thermaltake is most known for in their case designs, the Eureka is much more monolithic in its appearance. The all aluminum case is adorned only with the company name and case name on the hinged front door.

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The right side panel is completely void of any variations, and a honeycomb stamped grill sculpted in the shape of the number 3 is the only area of interest on the left side of the tower. The same feet which come standard on many Thermaltake cases are present on the Eureka as well; these feet can be rotated if necessary.

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Taking another step in a little more unconventional direction Thermaltake made the front door very curved - almost a complete semicircle in fact. It has a very solid feel to it though, and it's held shut with two magnetic points near the top and bottom.

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With the door open the case's five external 5.25" bays and two 3.5" bays become visible, along with the power and reset buttons, power and hard drive activity LEDs, and a large ventilation area at the bottom. The divots at the side of each bay indicate the drives slide in using provided rails.

Just like the Eclipse DV, the Eureka's front-mounted ports are located on the right side of the case, just behind the door.

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The Eureka's ports are pretty tight though, so one would have to get some extension cables if any of the devices they'd like to plug into here directly are overly large.

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There isn't too much of interest on the back of the case; standard-sized thumbscrews are used to hold the right side panel on more permanently, but a keyed latch in the middle of the back edge of the panel does hold it sufficiently.





Thermaltake Eureka - Internal

Upon opening the Eureka, nothing out of the ordinary stands out.

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If you look a little closer however, you'll notice the motherboard tray is more than large enough for extended ATX motherboards and is removable as well. The tray itself is both easy to remove and easy to put into place thanks to the slot design of the parts of the case that are used to anchor the tray.

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The removable drive sleds have four vibration absorbing grommets for the bottom of each hard drive, and in our installation proved to be trouble-free. However, we do have to wonder why Thermaltake felt a server case should only be able to hold five internal 3.5" drives considering some "standard" desktop cases hold six or more.

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Instead of green plastic clips, the Eureka uses a single metal clip to hold all expansion cards in place simultaneously. The idea is nice, but in practice it's tricky to put more than one card in since they all have to be in place at the time the master clip is secured. The good news is that the clip is strong enough to hold all cards in securely.

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While not as elegant as the two-hinge design of the Eclipse DV, the entire front bezel of this case does unclip for access to the front 120mm fan. Other than the fan though, there really is no need to open the bezel since the external drives can be slid in and out of place from the front of the case.

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Thermaltake Eureka - Installation

We'll wrap up our look at the Eureka by stepping through some of the installation steps of our standard ATX test bed. First up was putting the power supply into place, which is easy thanks to the ample space above it. Next we mounted the motherboard to the removable tray, which had all the appropriate standoff positions clearly labeled just like all Thermaltake cases we've looked at lately.

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As noted earlier, slipping the tray into place was easy as well. There were really no cable problems to speak of - there is plenty of room for even the most complicated server builds, and the very standard layout only amplifies this point.

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A close-up of the expansion card clip shows how it supports the weight of our 6600GT video card. To undo the strip one has to lift on the green plastic tab at the top.



In another effort to simplify things the Eureka keeps the 5.25" rails behind each drive bay cover.



Once our install was completed we noticed how much the honeycomb grill acts like a standard case window, letting users see the contents of their computer - especially if there are extra lights inside. With this much venting on the side though, we worried that the case might not adequately cool the hard drives.

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Many cases are designed to create a "wind tunnel" effect from the front of the case to the rear fans; all of the venting can negate that type of air flow, so the end result is almost like removing the side panels altogether. That may or may not cool effectively, but before temperature testing let's look at the third case in the comparison.



Thermaltake Aguila - External

The Aguila takes a number of steps to really improve Thermaltake's offerings in the desktop case segment, starting first and foremost with a little more straightforward design on the front door.

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Both logos - the company's and the case's - are finished nicely and look great against the respective metal mesh and brushed aluminum.

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The Aguila is available in both silver and black, with and without a side window. Our silver model came with a side window, and for all practical purposes it's identical to the Eclipse DV's - extra fan ventilation and everything.

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Taking design elements mostly from the Armor series, the Aguila front behind the door looks pretty familiar. With a full fledged door, things will truly be protected though, and should one want to remove the door entirely they will only be left with two much smaller flaps, (and even those can be removed as well if desired.) A vertically aligned 5.25" drive can be installed too, just like in the Armor Jr.

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More like the Eclipse DV than the Eureka, opening the entire front panel of the Aguila is not only more useful but is even encouraged with true hinges and a lock specifically for this purpose.

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This is how one would change the front fan filter and prepare the external bays for a drive. To that note, it should be mentioned that the bay covers for the external drives are all easily removed and reinstalled thanks to the use of real screws instead of snap-off metal pieces.

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Instead of having extra ports on the side or front, the Aguila has them on top, just like the Armor. We're not too sure if the sleek pop-up cover was even necessary, but the protection from dust and food crumbs getting into the jacks will be appreciated by many anyway. In another 'nice touch' move, Thermaltake put the identifying symbols for each jack on the underside of the cover.



Thermaltake Aguila - External and Internal

Making a welcome re-appearance, the famously easy to use Thermaltake "handscrews" show up again holding the side panel in place, but they're entirely optional given the decently strong keyed latches at the top and bottom of the panel. The back panel itself is actually two pieces which are each removable and re-configurable to allow BTX motherboards to work as well, keeping this case's prospective audience nice and large.

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As for the bottom, the Aguila also has the telltale Thermaltake rotatable feet, and in addition to the area behind the door there is also ventilation holes on the bottom of the case. Now let's take a closer look at the inside of the Aguila.

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In terms of overall size, the Aguila proves to be just big enough for a full ATX system, which will appeal to anyone who has only a small area to work or needs to transport the machine a lot.

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Hard drives in the Aguila mount sideways like the Eureka's, but they're in a removable cage like the Eclipse's that first locks into place and is then secured with a single case screw. In practice the cage was easy to use and the drives stayed quiet thanks to the rubber grommet mounts.

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Unlike many of the more compact cases, this cage holds four drives instead of three, but that's still one less than the Eclipse's five. The bay under the hard drive cage is great for tucking extra cables or putting in one of Thermaltake's 5.25" "accessory trays". Speaking of 5.25" drives, let's look a little closer at the optical drive installation.

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The Aguila supplies plastic and steel rails that friction-mount to each optical drive to be installed. These rails helped our drive (which unfortunately has been missing its tray cover for a while now) slide in very easily and lock in place securely. While playing around with the different drive configurations, we decided to try moving the front door to the right hinge entirely, and this proved very simple.

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In addition we tried the vertical 5.25" bay just for fit, and while it was a little tight it certainly worked. Note that this pretty much kills the usefulness of the hard drive cage, but there is one free 3.5" bay in the included power / reset bay, so if one only has a single hard drive they could certainly use the vertical mount if they chose.

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Without the door attached at all, the Aguila still looks very nice, resembling the latest Mac computer with the similar perforated look, or the Armor with simply smaller flaps. Again though, these can be removed completely if desired with a standard Phillips screwdriver.



Thermaltake Aguila - Installation

Looking towards the back of the case from the inside we can see the new clips Thermaltake has designed to hold expansion cards in place.

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Notice how these simply slide laterally, putting pressure on cards in the exact direction that they need it, and how they can then be secured with the provided screws. It's a little clunky given the reliance on screws at all, considering if one has to use screws (period) they might as well use normal expansion card screws. However, even without using them the clips snap pretty tightly, so technically calling them tool-less is still somewhat correct. In any case, they're still an improvement over the sometimes downright incompatible green clips.

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The actual install of our test bed into the Aguila was very straightforward. While we had a lot of options for the optical drive placement, nothing would have really compromised the ease of installation save for choosing the vertical bay.

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This main image showing the completed build sure shows how a PSU with modular cables could really help keep cable clutter down to a minimum. Also note how it takes a decently long power cord to get to the SATA hard drives because of the sideways mounting design. All things considered there is still quite a bit of room to tuck extra cables out of the way though, and even using our side-facing IDE channel wouldn't be too difficult in the compact chassis.

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As for the view, with our windowed version of the case the install was plenty visible thanks to the good design of the window which also worked well on the Eclipse DV. Also, the side vent was placed well even if it's not completely necessary in our build.

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After finishing the build we wanted to take another look at the finished product. While not quite as subdued as the Eureka, the Aguila overall has a simpler theme for its design than many of Thermaltake's latest cases, and choosing one of the two windowless options available with the case would only further this design direction. More importantly than the looks, however, is the fact that after everything is completely installed the computer felt very sturdy yet thankfully lightweight.

In the accessories area Thermaltake includes an optional PSU support bracket, more than enough case screws, the keys, and two more items a little less standard.

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A micro-fiber cleaning cloth for the case will be appreciated by many, and small plastic films with self-adhesive tape can help ensure no contact is made with the case when using a BTX motherboard or components which stick out more than usual.



Benchmark Comparisons
To get as meaningful a comparison as possible between the three cases we installed the same set of hardware into each one: our standard ATX test bed. Each system used the default fan configuration the case came with, which meant two 120mm fans running at 12V in each case. The ambient air temperature during all tests was kept at a steady 23.5 degrees Celsius.

ATX Test Bed
DFI LanParty UT 915P-T12 Pentium 4 530 Prescott 3.0ghz OCZ 512MB DDR2 x 2 Zalman CNPS 9500 Heatsink Seagate 120gb SATA Hard Drive Chaintech GeForce 6600GT Zalman VF-700 Cu GPU Cooler MSI DVD-CD/R/RW Combo drive Zalman ZM460-APS PSU

With similar overall designs and the same number and placement of fans in each case, we didn't expect to see much difference in cooling performance between the three units. However, taking a look at the component temperatures chart below showed us that we needed to look a little closer at what each case was doing thermally.


No doubt the reason the Eureka was getting such low CPU and GPU temperatures was its large ventilated area on the side panel directly above these components. This decision is interesting for a case designed more for sever use though, considering it sacrifices airflow over the hard drives, which shows up as considerably higher temperatures for our system hard drive and MOSFETs.

Between the Eclipse and the Aguila, things are much closer. Without ventilation on the sides they pull the majority of the air through the front, resulting in much lower hard drive temperatures - especially under load. Both cases keep generally good temperatures across the board, but the Aguila's ability to stifle drastic heat changes from idle to load certainly deserves merit.

The temperature benchmarking results are interesting at the most, but the noise level testing was downright shocking for the three cases.


Even with only two large fans, the Eureka case came in registering a full 42 dB-A on our sound meter. This surprised us, because subjectively, we really felt the Eclipse was just as noisy. It seemed that the rear fan in both cases could benefit form a fan controller reducing its voltage to 10 or 9 volts - at the stock 12 V setting there was a very noticeable hum from the Eclipse and the sound of moving air from the Eureka.

Coming out of this arena the Aguila was a clear champion. With competitive temperatures and a very pleasant lack of annoying whines, the Aguila's fans were definitely tuned and placed the best for good performance without annoying sound levels.



Final Words

Taking this review at surface value one can see three well thought-out and generally good case designs, and hopefully a clear winner for the combination of features that individual is looking for.

A little deeper down though, this article shows that in general there is still progress being made in this industry, and perhaps more importantly there is room to develop further still. The newest of the three cases here, the Aguila, really shows the best overall customization, usability, and thermal performance to boot. For around $120 online, someone can enjoy a work of engineering that shows good craftsmanship, styling, and performance engineering as well.

For users looking for a case capable of holding an extended ATX motherboard, options are a lot more limited. We're all accustomed with the all-too-familiar look of behemoth beige server cases with more fans than drive bays, but the Eureka helps to squelch this connotation with a clean look and easy-to-use layout. It's certainly not the quietest tower case out there, but with a relatively good chance of putting a server computer in an area that might not get much traffic this might not be a big problem. The good cooling performance is enticing too, and considering an average online price of $140 there really is a lot of value for your dollar here. It doesn't hurt that the unit is built like a tank, either.

Some people really care about the looks of their new rig more than anything else, and with cases as unique as the Eclipse DV it's not hard to see why. With acceptable noise levels and cooling abilities, easy-to-use drive cages, and an industry first built-in visible optical drive, the $240 Eclipse DV has a lot going for it. It most certainly isn't going to be the first pick for a lot of people, whether because of the price, exotic styling, or need for space on both sides of the case for optimal enjoyment, but some people will see this unit simply as a "have to have it" product, and for that we applaud Thermaltake for taking a leap and running with the idea so many of us had when we saw the original Eclipse.