People who like to custom build their PCs know that having all the best parts is good and all, but having a device to contain them all is the key ingredient. I’m talking about a chassis. A chassis, tower, box, case or whatever you want to call it, is the loving home of your computer. Now, anybody can just stroll on down to their local computer store and grab a basic $50 case to house your computer parts, but it takes a true enthusiast to go all out and get a case that really shines. For people like that we have Thermaltake. Thermaltake is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of PC cases and they have been stunning consumers with their most inventive creation, the Thermaltake Level 10 Chassis, a concept case created in conjunction with BMW DesignWorks. The Level 10 chassis is a new take on the standard body computer case. Instead of storing everything behind a few aluminum panels, the Level 10 is completely external. The chassis incorporates a central pillar with individual compartments attached to it to house the motherboard, PSU, optical drives and hard drives.
Each compartment on the Level 10 has its own ventilation, which is particularly useful. There are large panels on the lower left side of the Level 10 that cover the motherboard mount, PCI-E cards, GPUs, etc. There are six slots on the right hand side of the chassis that are quick-swap SATA bays which are connected to a large vertical heatsink and each bay has mounts for 3.5 inch and 2.5 inch drives. A box on the top right of the chassis is used to house three optical drives with the power supply being housed in the top left. Aside from it being completely external, the Level 10 has some other neat features to spruce up eye appeal and make it look really cool. A red LED strip runs from the front of the chassis all the way across the top and back down to the back. Also included are red LED intake and exhaust fans in the motherboard compartment and red LED lights in each of the six SATA bays that light up when the bay is occupied.
Being completely external, the Level 10 makes it easy to swap out parts. A panel on the right side of the device comes off for easy access to the rear of the motherboard tray, just as it would on a standard case, and holes for cable routing and a backplane cutout for installing CPU coolers are also included. Front panel connectors include 4 USB 2.0 ports, one eSATA port and standard audio jacks. The Level 10 fits all standard ATX and micro-ATX motherboards but, thankfully, the motherboard tray is removable, in case you can’t lay it on its side after installing a board. The lights on the SATA bays are really cool and the fact that it can house either 3.5 inch or 2.5 inch with no additional hardware is an added bonus. The back panel is a little tricky to put back on and you may have to mess with the hard drive locking mechanism to get it back on. Another thing about the Level 10 is that it is a monster of a case. This puppy measures a full 12.5 inches wide, 2 feet deep and 26.2 inches high with a total weight (before parts) of 47 lbs. Thankfully there is a carrying handle mounted on the top which will make transporting the Level 10 somewhat easier.
The Level 10 has a whole lot of style and ranks up pretty high in performance as well. The external take on the case is definitely a cool, new way of doing things and could become a popular new trend. The one thing about the case that may not become some popular is the price. To acquire what is probably one of the coolest looking computer cases on the market today you better be prepared to fork over around $700. For that kind of money you could build yourself a very good computer but even if you do, you know it won’t look as cool as the Level 10 does. All you hardcore PC enthusiasts out there better start saving if you want to put this bad boy in your house.
