Thermaltake Announces Core X31 Tempered Glass Edition

[btarunr]

Thermaltake today announced the Core X31 Tempered Glass Edition (model: CA-1E9-00M1WN-03), a variant of the Core X31 mid-tower chassis featuring a tempered-glass side-panel, replacing the acrylic panel on the original. The clear panel covers the entire area of the side panel, letting you show off your gear. Measuring 250 mm x 511 mm x 497 mm (WxDxH), this is one of the wider mid-towers you'll come across, with the extra width being distributed between more "crawl-space" behind the motherboard tray for better cable management, support for larger 200 mm-wide fans along the top and front panels; and additional height clearance for the motherboard tray, letting you accommodate tall CPU air coolers, or an additional graphics card along the plane of the motherboard, using an included PCIe riser.

The Core X31 Tempered Glass Edition features a flexible design, with detachable drive cages and support braces, letting you accommodate heavy liquid-cooling gear, such as pumps, reservoirs, and tubing. Storage areas include two 5.25-inch drive bays, and three 3.5-inch/2.5-inch drive bays. Cooling includes support for one rear 140 mm fan, two top 200 mm (or 3x 140 mm or 3x 120 mm) fans; one 200 mm front (or 2x 140 mm or 2x 120 mm) fans; and two 140 mm (or 2x 120 mm) bottom fans. Each of these fan slots can hold radiators of the corresponding size. The company didn't reveal pricing, but we expect it to be a small premium over the original's $130 price.



View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[bonehead123]

y...A....w....N...

 

[atomicus]

It is getting rather tiresome seeing manufacturers simply add a glass panel to their existing cases in an effort to cash in on the trend.

 

[Hood]

It is getting rather tiresome seeing manufacturers simply add a glass panel to their existing cases in an effort to cash in on the trend.

Why? Tempered glass is a definite upgrade (no scratching or losing it's clarity), and is considered to be a premium material by most people. If the price is reasonable, why wouldn't you want this upgrade? Although I usually avoid Thermaltake products, I rather like these X series cases, because of their no-nonsense design and modular construction. As a premier example of "me too" design and marketing, Thermaltake is at least copying a worthwhile trend...

 

[bonehead123]

Need something completely new and different if they want my cash....

 

[atomicus]

Why? Tempered glass is a definite upgrade (no scratching or losing it's clarity), and is considered to be a premium material by most people. If the price is reasonable, why wouldn't you want this upgrade? Although I usually avoid Thermaltake products, I rather like these X series cases, because of their no-nonsense design and modular construction. As a premier example of "me too" design and marketing, Thermaltake is at least copying a worthwhile trend...

I don't have anything against tempered glass at all... I agree it's an upgrade and looks much nicer vs acrylic, but it's making case manufacturers downright LAZY! They aren't innovating, they're just slapping glass panels on existing cases, and it's turned the case sector very stagnant from a creative point of view. I'm surprised you don't see this... it's very evidently becoming a serious problem, and I am far from the only person to notice. I see comments like this everywhere now, PC enthusiasts are getting fed up with it!

 

[peche]

people complain about almost every news now days...

 

[atomicus]

people complain about almost every news now days...

Because there is usually good reason to.

 

[peche]

Because there is usually good reason to.

not in yours...!

 

[atomicus]

not in yours...!

Explain...?

 

[Hood]

Because there is usually good reason to.

I know how you feel, I'm a hardware junkie as well, and I'm always on the lookout for the "perfect" case. Since the number of useful configurations is limited, similar designs and outright copies are inevitable, so the stand-out cases are those whose features, materials, exterior design, (and price) are a step above the competition. Like Phanteks Evolv and some of Inwin's aluminium cases. As for innovative, Thermaltake's Tower 900, P5, and P3 are all unique among production cases - not saying I'd buy any of them - but they are different...

 

[silapakorn]

Glass is not that big of an upgrade. Acrylic panel on my 5-year-old corsair 600t is still crystal clear, and I clean it once a year or so. It's also cheaper and lighter than glass. Tempered glass is not a necessity, it's merely a luxury with some tradeoffs.

 

[atomicus]

Glass is not that big of an upgrade. Acrylic panel on my 5-year-old corsair 600t is still crystal clear, and I clean it once a year or so. It's also cheaper and lighter than glass. Tempered glass is not a necessity, it's merely a luxury with some tradeoffs.

You clearly haven't owned a case with a glass side panel. WAYYYYYY better. Acrylic is not crystal clear when you put it next to glass. It's fine for what it is, but can't be compared. The ONLY drawback to glass is that it adds weight to the case, which is only going to be an issue if you're lugging your case around to LAN parties all the time etc. Sure, glass cases cost more, but it's a more expensive material and looks much better, so duh! Other than that, it's superior in every other way.