The Urban joins new variants of the Chaser series as Thermaltake greatly deepen their product range in 2013.
The Urban joins new variants of the Chaser series as Thermaltake greatly deepen their product range in 2013.
Last year heralded a number of new Thermaltake products entering the market, from chassis through to PSUs, and CES has seen the start of a line expansion in many of their core products. They’ll be gradually brought into the market over the course of the year, but we thought it would be worth letting you know about some of them beforehand.
Chaser Chassis Range
We reviewed the Chaser MK-I way back in November 2011, a Silver Award winning effort squarely in the Gamer segment in terms of looks but with ample features for the price bracket. Thermaltake however have not been idle, and have now introduced new offshoots to the Chaser chassis: the A31, A41 and A71.
The redesign is significant in terms of aesthetics – they have chosen to use a uniform 9-bay design for the A31 and A71’s front fascia rather than the 4-bay + fan emplacement of the MK1. The overall feel is a chassis which looks a little more grown-up, without losing too much of the gamer feel the MK1 brought to the party.
At present the Chaser A31 will arrive with three colour options – Black, Arctic White and Thunder Blue – and a perspex side panel. Furthermore, we’d like to take a moment to mention that the side panel has no fan emplacements spoiling the look (thanks TT!). Chassis internals look pretty good too with painted black surfaces, rubber cable management grommets and tool-less drive installation. So long as the build quality is there, the A31 looks like a strong ATX gaming chassis for those who really want to show off their system.
Less has been announced about the A41 and A71. The former appears to be a mix of the Armor REVO and Chaser MKI in terms of fascia and chassis design, whereas the A71 is superficially similar to the A31 but with larger internal dimensions and hence support for more PCI slots. Although we’re aware that the A71 will improve cooling over the A31 with 200mm fans, it doesn’t appear at first glance to support the large EATX motherboard form factor which sometimes crops up in performance setups. It’s not clear where they will appear in terms of pricing, but will hopefully be a strong showing from the veteran chassis manufacture.
Urban Chassis Range
As you can see, the Urban chassis’ elegant designs are something of a departure from Thermaltake’s recently released efforts. Designed with a flat front fascia which has what appears to be a brush black aluminium effect, it’s much more restrained in appearance and will interest those who want a less gaudy exterior.
The Urban range will initially consist of four entries: the entry-level S21, the only Urban with a side panel fan placement; mid-range S31 and S41, the latter of which features more extensive air cooling; and S71 with greater internal dimensions for more kit. These designs may also be intended for greater noise reduction than is typical in Thermaltake’s range, and will all come with fan filters and internal USB 3.0 header compatibility.
Although the vast majority of the new chassis have support for Thermaltake’s LCS watercooling system, unmodded internal radiator support isn’t clear.
Cooling
Last but by no means least are new cooling products, for your PC or your notebook. The NiC series of CPU coolers appear to be slimline tower coolers which enable a greater amount of RAM compatibility than is currently offered by the Frio, FrioOCK and Frio Extreme. Once again with gamer aesthetics to show off inside your PC, it’s a slightly more preferable cooler than the budget Contac range.
Something of a niche product, even by cooler standards, are the GOrb II portable notebook coolers. These orbs split in half and lift up the base of your notebook, allowing air to be circulated underneath (augment by their own fan). A pretty neat idea if an overheating laptop is a worry, it’s nonetheless something you’ll be unlikely to see around and about.
Also incoming will be the Water 3.0, an update to Thermaltakes Water 2.0 closed loop CPU coolers which should boast improved radiators and/or waterblocks.
That’s not all from Thermaltake, Tt eSPORTS also have their own range of peripherals to update in 2013 including the Level 10 M mouse, MEKA mechanical keyboards and headsets galore.
