Xaser III Aluminum: ThermalTake drops Chenming

Construction

Like the Xaser II we looked at, the Xaser III is based on an aluminum design.  We have noted from other case reviews that aluminum seems to only provide minimal cooling advantages. However, the light weight and style of aluminum has secured its position in case manufacturing for some time to come. 

Our Xaser III came in very impressive packaging.  Typically, most of the cases we review do not come as extensively packaged, and the result sometimes leads to an unintentional knick or scratch.  Unfortunately, it seems as though some components were not completely secure inside the case, and the result was a chipped molex connector.

Breakdown

Shrinkwrapped for Your Protection

1 No power supply 2 Drive bays x 4 4 x 5.25” External Drive Bay (One Filled) 2 x 3.5” External Drive Bays 6 x 3.5” Internal Drive Bays 3 80x80x25mm, 2 x Rear Exhaust fan 4 80x80x25mm, 1 x Top Exhaust fan 5 80x80x25mm, 2 x Front Intake fan 6 80x80x25mm, 2 x Side Exhaust fan 7 Top USB inputs 8 NO Removable motherboard tray

Also like the Xaser II, our V2000A Xaser III did not come with a power supply.  Since we have another power supply review coming up, we selected the TTGI 4 Fan 520W power supply to use for the benchmark and examination process.

The V2000A comes with very little acrylic.  Unlike some other cases on the market, ThermalTake’s designs tend to carry a buffed or brushed aluminum construction.  The V2000A is constructed of a brushed chassis, which The Kingwin 463-WM and Cooler Master ATC-201A both flaunted eye catching surfaces and colors.   In fact, the only remotely reflective surface on the entire case is the ThermalTake light strip that runs down the front of the unit.  We will get more into the light strip and other mod features later in this article.

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The Xaser III weighs in approximately 8.5Kg, which is about 3.5Kg heavier than the original Xaser II Aluminum.  We found a large increase in weight in the front panel, where ThermalTake engineers replaced the grill with even more aluminum.  Furthermore, the case has been stretched out an additional two inches deeper to accommodate more room inside the case.  This small modification will come to haunt us later in the review, unfortunately.