Chassis exterior - part one
Did we mention the chassis is huge? We mean really friggin' huge.
What's impressive is that Thermaltake's sample, pictured above, is a hand-tooled prototype that in theory should look all wonky but in reality looks almost as stunning as the press shot on page one.
Level 10's aesthetics are, of course, a matter of taste - and you're either going to love it or hate it. Either way, you should still be able to appreciate the compartmentalised approach to the chassis design. As the above image illustrates, Level 10 houses the majority of components in their own little space - a feature that should, in theory, aid thermal performance.
The container at the top right houses optical drives, the six "bumps" toward the bottom right each house a hard disk drive, top left is a compartment for the power supply and the large central area contains the motherboard and all associated kit.
Looking at it head on, it resembles some sort of bizarre skyscraper. You might expect to see it among the skyline of one of the emirates, as opposed to under your desk.
Each of the six hard drive bays support 3.5in or 2.5in drives. They're not tool-less, sadly, but they look pretty cool and there's a small red LED light to indicate which bays are occupied.
They seem ideal for hot-swap functionality, but our sample features only two hot-swappable bays. There is room for additional backplates, but whether or not Thermaltake decides to add hot-swappable functionality to all six bays in the final product remains to be seen.
Wondering how you'll keep your drives cool? The vertical column connecting all six drive bays is effectively a giant heatsink that incorporates two 60mm fans.
Our hand-tooled prototype isn't all wonky, but clearly there are areas that aren't yet up to final retail standards. Looking past the foibles of an early sample, Thermaltake's trio of 5.25in drive bays aren't tool-less.
