A Closer Look - Outside

The chassis itself does look much like a sports car. The window and the air vent have an arrow design, while the front and top also have a few design details. The one thing you will notice right away is the plastic used. There is a lot of plastic in this chassis and Thermaltake has placed a lot of it in the front and on top of the case.


The front consists of drive bays from top to bottom. A total of 12 bays to maximize expandability. The buttons are plastic ones with a chrome finish. The LED lights have been aligned around these buttons. All to go with the theme of a sports car.


The bottom of the front has a slightly different design on the sides than the top part. This is also supposed to give the case a sporty look. Sure, it does - but it also reminds us that these parts are plastic.


The theme with the black and grey continues up top. A few fins, which are also made of plastic can be found toward the front. The I/O is also located here. Thermaltake has chosen to exchange the usual FireWire connectivity with eSATA. Two USB 2.0 ports and audio ports round up the set. Considering the price of the chassis, it would have been nice to find a full set of four USB 2.0 and the omitted FireWire here as well. The rear is the only area which does have a good feel to it. The metal mesh looks refreshingly different than the finer one usually found covering fans.


To install an optical drive you will have to remove the front. This in turn gives you the option to also remove the top. Doing so does not only reveal the front fan, but also one of the two 230 mm ones within the Spedo Advance Package.


The rear of the chassis reveals, that Thermaltake has painted the interior of the Spedo black as well. This is certainly a very nice touch.


The bottom of the case holds the power supply. You may mount the unit with the fan facing upward or downward, as all the needed holes are present. Above that are the expansion bays for the mainboard. Each cover is easily removable and has small holes to let air pass through. Moving up, there are two 120 mm fans to act as an exhaust in the rear. Thermaltake has opted to go for that second rear fan, instead of giving you the possibility to install an additional power supply here. Two holes for water cooling are also present next to the top fan.


Both sides are made of simple metal sheets. While both have the arrow shaped air vent, the windowed side also holds a 230 mm fan. This makes for a total of six fans within the Spedo - very respectable!