Thermaltake V9 BlacX Edition

[tigerbalm]

I've been trying to upgrade my Antec 300 case, and this looks like the best bang for the money! Dual docking, front USB 3.0, 3 fans, tool-free, side window, black inside and out, good reviews. This exclusive model for Newegg has RED fan, although I prefer Blue...but not a big deal. The knock on this case is the not-so solid tool-less drive and card retentions, but you can use good 'ol screws instead. Also the cable management is not the best, but I have a modular PSU...

$74.99-$6 (ends 2/27/12)-$25 Rebate = $43.99 AR

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133183

 

[zposter]

Great case for a great price! I've had one for close to a year now.

I just don't like how the hard drives have to be wired from the back of the case. You have to take off the right side of the case to hook them up. It's a real inconvenience.

 

[BenJeremy]

Yeah, I sprung for this case on my new build. I added the BioStar USB 3.0 bracket to provide two more USB 3.0 ports in the front, since this case uses a standard "A" connector snaked back through one of the cooling ports to connect externally to one of your rear USB 3.0 ports (the motherboard I'm getting has the 19/20 pin front panel USB 3.0 connector)

The build in docks will be nice... I have docks all over here right now, and it will be nice to consolidate the capability.

Cooling looks great, but cable management sucks - I'll live without the nice cable management, since none of my cases have had anything resembling that yet. I'm pairing it with the Cooler Master 850W PSU on sale at TigerDirect, which is modular, so that will help.

 

[BenJeremy]

Great case for a great price! I've had one for close to a year now.

I just don't like how the hard drives have to be wired from the back of the case. You have to take off the right side of the case to hook them up. It's a real inconvenience.

I've been wondering why case manufacturers haven't gone with a backplane "click-in" SATA board behind these drives. It's standardized, to it would make more sense... then again, I have to spend $600+ if I want a case with the vertically oriented motherboard, which should be common these days, not expensive and rare.

 

[bznotins]

I've been wondering why case manufacturers haven't gone with a backplane "click-in" SATA board behind these drives. It's standardized, to it would make more sense... then again, I have to spend $600+ if I want a case with the vertically oriented motherboard, which should be common these days, not expensive and rare.

Totally agree here. You should be able to wire your power/sata cables to the backplate and then be able two swap drives without ever having to touch a cable. That would be awesome.

 

[zposter]

I've been wondering why case manufacturers haven't gone with a backplane "click-in" SATA board behind these drives. It's standardized, to it would make more sense... then again, I have to spend $600+ if I want a case with the vertically oriented motherboard, which should be common these days, not expensive and rare.

That's what I wonder every time I deal with drives in this case. Especially this case since they have sockets for two drives on the top of the case. Didn't anyone think it might be a good idea to put them inside as well?

 

[SunRey]

Thank You!

 

[cubeless]

in 4 1... don't need a case but this one seems too cool to pass up...

 

[WhipperSnapper]

I just don't like how the hard drives have to be wired from the back of the case. You have to take off the right side of the case to hook them up. It's a real inconvenience.

How hard is it to take off the right side panel? I might actually prefer that as a way of reducing the amount of clutter I see when I take off the left side panel. (In my case though, admittedly I still have IDE dinosaur cables running around for some older spindle drives and optical drives.)

 

[zposter]

It's easy to take off, just two thumbscrews.

 

[Ricochet]

in 4 1... don't need a case but this one seems too cool to pass up...

Ditto. At $43.99 AC + AR I couldn't pass it up.

 

[tigerbalm]

$43.99 ???

 

[zposter]

74.99 - 6 - 25 = 43.99

Damn, I might just have to pick up another one myself. I don't know what for though.

 

[mythek]

nice casee, how's thermaltake and their rebate?

 

[nuprotocol]

I have this case and love it. You can do cable management by hiding the wiring behind the hard drive bays. Thats what I did. Almost makes me want to pick up another one.

 

[p_monks33]

I have had this case a while as well. My big complaint is definately the expansion card slot mechanism. its so sloppy and a pita to get your cards in and out of if they are big cards. A minor complaint for an otherwise eye pleasing case. I have all my cables behind the MB tray so its quite neat.

 

[BD231]

I'd bite if she wasn't so ugly

 

[BenJeremy]

I'd bite if she wasn't so ugly

...and yet you take pride in the IN WIN Dragon Slayer as a case?

The V9 is pretty eye pleasing, to me at least... powder coated and fairly clean lines. The fan on top just makes it look... powerful.

I haven't lit it up yet (PSU due in tomorrow for this build), but most of the reviews have been very favorable on it.

 

[BenJeremy]

OK, put most of the stuff into this case for my new build... (still waiting on delivery of the actual power supply and Samsung 830 SSDs for the RAID-0 boot), and a few things to note:

Installing my video card was a pain with this case. I had to remove the whole tool-less fixture (3 screws) to install my GTX560 ti, since the geometry was all wrong to insert the card properly in the PCI-E slot while trying to slip it into the tool-less slot holder clips.

The USB 3.0 cable is not the best engineering It loops around about 5 inches out the back, and the cable is stiff. I'm tempted to unplug it and forego the the single USB 3.0 port... they should have created a better connector at the external rear panel USB 3.0 port to plug in, allowing the cable to go in flatter.

The huge fan on top is awesome, but keep in mind, there is no protection for cables running underneath it, and care must be taken to route them properly out of the way of the fan blades.

The floppy bays were a tight fit for my memory card reader, specifically the guide tabs - I needed to pry them (very slightly) to get the reader to fit.

I can't say too much about cable management... my temporary power supply is an Antec 550W, and is not modular. Cables everywhere. My final PSU is an 850W Cooler Master Silent Pro Mark II - it's modular, so that should help. If you are one of those enthusiast who pay a lot of attention to detail, you can probably handle the cable management fine in this case.

I'm running an ASUS P8Z68-V Pro/GEN3 motherbord with an i7 2600k, cooled with a Corsair H70. The radiator is mounted to the case's rear chassis fan, which was reversed to bring air in over the radiator. My CPU at idle is room temperature (71degF) as is the motherboard chipset. Cooling is great in this system, even with the wire mess in it right now.

The drive bays have 4-pin Molexes and SATA cables dropping down through the case to connect. To really utilize them, make sure your motherboard has hot-swappable (AHCI) options for your SATA (mine does)

Overall, I'd rate this case about 8.5 out of 10 on my personal scale. It could have better cable management, but otherwise, it has everything I expect of a contemporary computer case. This is the best case I've owned so far.

One oddball note... anybody have any idea what the "Power Holder" is for??!??!?

 

[zposter]

One oddball note... anybody have any idea what the "Power Holder" is for??!??!?

I've been searching for an answer to that since I got mine and I don't think anybody knows.

 

[BD231]

...and yet you take pride in the IN WIN Dragon Slayer as a case?

The V9 is pretty eye pleasing, to me at least... powder coated and fairly clean lines. The fan on top just makes it look... powerful.

I haven't lit it up yet (PSU due in tomorrow for this build), but most of the reviews have been very favorable on it.

Its the cooling and the size I like about the inwin. Micro ATX, 2 140mm fans, 4 120's, an 80mm and a 92mm for fifty five bucks retail. Quiet, ultra compact without loosing any room for dual gpu's or cable management behind the motherboard tray and probably one of the best dual gpu cooling designs out there. Had to have it!

The v9 would be a gorgeous if it didn't have that big massive piece of plastic sitting on the top. Still a good price though, enjoy!

 

[JimNNail]

lol I bought one to use for spare parts for my older Thermaltake V9 case. Not to crazy about the slots on the top of the new model but the rest of the case parts will work fine with mine.

 

[Frankdux]

Hello all, Im new to the Thermaltake v9 Black ED.

I have 2 questions,

1) How do I get 2 replacement Drive Locks, the red plastic tabs on mine sheered off.

2) What is the item called " Power Holder" for ????


Thanks peeps

 

[Raswan]

You're better off going to the Computer Help thread. No one is going to see this post here, Frank.

 

[Frankdux]

ok thanks.. will do