In all seriousness, this new mid-tower case, hewn from SECC, looks to be a promising entry in Thermaltake’s line-up. It claims to be the world’s first to integrate a SATA HDD dock right into the case, and can accommodate two 2.5in or 3.5in drives in sockets mounted above the optical-drive bays. The case also has a USB 3.0 and a USB 2.0 port upfront, in case your external storage comes in a format other than a bare hard disk.
Rounding out the spec sheet are three 5.25in and seven 3.5in drive bays, all with a tool-less design for easy installation, room for seven expansion cards, pre-cut holes for water-cooling and space for a bottom-mounted PSU. Thermaltake also claims room for graphics cards up to 315mm, which means that even a Radeon 5970 will be able to squeeze in. As for cooling, the V9 BlacX comes equipped with 120mm fans at the front and the back, as well as a massive top-mounted 230mm fan behind the HDD docks. For those interested in showing off what’s inside, the case also has a windowed side panel and a fully-black interior.
In honesty, the dock seems like a nice value-add, but hardly a must-have feature. We can’t imagine that too many people have a pile of internal drives that need to be accessed frequently enough to make the integrated dock a necessity. At the same time, Thermaltake is pitching the V9 BlacX at $99 (around £78, including VAT), which makes it cheaper than some other cases which offer a lot less. We think that this combination of low price and extensive feature set could make this one a winner with enthusiasts on a budget.
There’s been no indication on UK pricing or availability as yet. Until we know more, let us know what you think in the community. Is a built-in SATA dock a must have feature or just another gimmick?
