facebook rss twitter

Review: Thermaltake Level 10 GTS Snow Edition

by Parm Mann on 1 June 2012, 09:41 3.5

Tags: Thermaltake (3540.TWO)

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qabhib

Add to My Vault: x

Inside the Level 10 GTS Snow Edition

Thermaltake's smallest and most affordable Level 10 enclosure can be a bit quirky on the outside, but open it up and it's a lot like most other modern-day chassis.

Finished with an all-black interior that contrasts well against the white overcoat, the internal cavern looks inviting and spacious for a mid-tower frame that isn't particularly big. Getting inside is easy - both side panels are held in place by captive thumbscrews - and there are plenty of features in place to help aid the build process.

 

In keeping with what you'd expect from a modern Ā£90 chassis, the Level 10 GTS provisions for a bottom-mounted power supply, there's a large cutout in the motherboard tray for CPU cooler installation, cable-routing is well catered for with four rubber-grommeted holes and there's room for cables to be passed over the motherboard tray - making it easy to route often-tricky CPU power connectors.

The plastic mould covering the four hot-swap storage bays are a little on the large side, presumably for effect, but there's ample room inside to put together a high-end build; CPU coolers can measure up to 175mm in height, and graphics cards will fit provided they're less than 315mm in length. That's sufficient for some of the longest cards on the market today and the seven expansion slots will make light work of two-way SLI or CrossFire configurations.

Helping maintain that user-friendly feel, all four optical bays are tool-free, each expansion slot is equipped with a thumb screw, and cooling possibilities are plentiful. Out of the box, Thermaltake equips the Level 10 GTS with a front 200mm blue-LED intake and a rear 120mm exhaust. The default configuration works reasonably well - as we'll demonstrate a little later in the review - but for those who crave more there's an option to add a side intake (140mm, 180mm or 200mm), a bottom intake (120mm) and a top exhaust (2x 120mm or 1x 200mm). And, if you prefer to make use of liquid-cooling, there's sufficient clearance for a 240mm radiator up top.

 

The exterior design is an acquired taste, but on the inside there's not a lot wrong with the Level 10 GTS. The chassis is one of the smallest mid-tower enclosures we've tested in recent months, but Thermaltake puts the space to good use and there are plenty of nice touches that make the build process feel fluid from start to finish. There's a decent amount of room behind the motherboard tray - helped of course by the bulge in the rear side panel - and it's easy to quickly put together a clean-looking build.

The Level 10 GTS scores well in terms of usability, and that's a quality that didn't always apply to the original Level 10, but are the two pre-installed fans enough to keep hot-running components sufficiently cool under load?