Introduction
Small form factor chassis are fast becoming the modders norm with a full range of well-designed and almost niche market chassis being released. Gone are the days of being exclusive to HTPCs and welcome the days of high powered mITX rigs and Steam Boxes. With the surge in high quality and gaming focused small form factor motherboards, there has never been a better time to go small.
Thermaltake was founded in Taiwan in 1999. Thermaltake manufactured the world’s first turbine cooler ‘Golden Orb’ for Intel Pentium processors. Thermaltake was keen to develop new products, and after years of research, it launched the world’s first liquid-cooler for CPUs in 2004.
Thermaltake also produces a range of chassis, one of which we are reviewing today, the Thermaltake Core V1 mITX Chassis. Thermaltake describe this on their website –
The new Core V1 represented by Thermaltake is a small and cute ITX based chassis with a 200mm fan in the front panel. Smart interchangeable side panels allow users to flip it accordingly to showcase either for superior liquid cooling or superb airflow, which allows you to make your own personal setup. You not only grant to have a really powerful mini system, it also has the ability to house various overclocking components to keep it really cool!
Thermaltake are aiming this at the air and water cooled market, with a Radiator Supporting List on the micro site for the Core V1. Along with this the little chassis boasts the following features,
- Chambers Concept
- Advanced Ventilation
- Interchangeable Side Panel
- Handy I/O Ports
- Great Expansion in Compact Size
So, on with the product shots.
Product shots
With the chassis you get some welcome cable ties, the usual screws and rubber grommets and the instruction booklet. The booklet gives some useful information on CPU cooler and graphics card compatibility. If you have purchased this before any internal components, a very useful helping hand.
We didn’t like the polystyrene that the chassis is transported in, but it’s done a good job none the less. The chassis comes with some protection on the window, and overall feels quite light. The front panel is made from plastic with a very thin foam dust filter built in.
The dust filter is not removable but the front panel is, making for easy cleaning. The quality and grade of the metal used is ok at best, the paint finish is good. It feels a bit thin and on the cheaper side, but that’s because it is. This little chassis will set you back under £40 in the UK, keep that in mind for the rest of the review.
Thermaltake Core V1 mITX Chassis Review
Package - 8.5
Features - 9.3
Build - 9.2
Consumer Experience - 9.2
9.1
LAN rig, SteamBox or just pushed for space in your game room, there are a lot of chassis that do it well enough, this little chassis beats some of the more expensive competition in a lot of areas, and compared to its price range, not much can touch it.
