Product Listing

Thermaltake Level 10 GT Battle Edition - Man Your Battle Stations!

By Wong Chung Wee - 18 Oct 2012
Launch SRP: S$449

Internal Design

Internal Design

The side panel swings out to reveal an interior that has neat compartments in terms of its drive bays, with enough room to fit up to a EATX form factor motherboard. We also noticed the large cut-out at the motherboard panel to accommodate CPU cooling solutions that may require access to the backplates of the boards. There are also a number of rubber grommets for excellent cable management; some chassis manufacturers will provide only the cut-outs, but for casings of such high-end pedigrees, the implementation of rubber grommets will set them apart from those run-of-the-mill counterparts. There is also a bundled top 230mm cooling fan with LEDs and we showed earlier its dedicated control buttons that are located at the top of the casing. There is an identical fan that is housed in the side panel door that is also controlled by those buttons.

With the side panel door ajar, we see the roomy interior of the Level 10 GT Battle Edition chassis.

The side 230mm cooling fan with LEDs is housed in the side panel door. The louvers that are controlled by a lever direct the air flow into the interior of the chassis. Depending on your cooling priorities, you can get it to cool more of your CPU or more of your GPU(s).

There is a 3-pin electrical contact point at the edge of the door. When the side panel door is closed, the electrical circuit is closed, allowing the 230mm side cooling fan to be operated by the fan control buttons. The huge side panel door can be lifted off its hinges for easier access to the interior during installation of components.

 The electrical contact that when closed, will supply power to the side 230mm cooling fan. It also allows for control of the fan from the top fan control buttons.

This is the bottom hinge of the side panel door; there is another near the top. Lifting the side panel door off its two hinges is an easy feat.

After removing the side panel door, we peered to the front of the chassis where the drive bays are located. From the top, there are four 5.25-inch drive bays followed by a lone external facing 3.5-inch drive bay. We also spotted five internal quick swap 3.5-inch drive bays that can be removed without having to open the chassis. Such drives are inserted from the front of the chassis after removing their drive covers. Their installations are not entirely tool-free as M3 screws are needed to provide additional fastening to these drives. These drive bay covers have dust filters behind the wire mesh covers and act as front air intake vents. The front fascia cover of the Level 10 GT Battle Edition is easy to remove; we had to pinch a pair of round clips with metal tips and removed the cover with a quick jerk at its bottom hand grip.

From the top, there are four 5.25-inch drive bays as shown on the left; to the right, the lone 3.5-inch external facing 3.5-inch drive bay.

 The drive covers can be easily removed by pressing both retaining tabs that are located at each ends of the covers.

Removing the front fascia cover was surprisingly easy although the cover features old-school round fastening clips that have metal tips.

With the front fascia cover removed, we could see the 230mm front cooling fan with LEDs a lot better. We can also see the rear 140mm cooling fan that is a standalone one as it is not controlled by the fan operation buttons.

Shown here is the rear of the drive bay covers - they have dust filters behind their front wire meshes.

For the installation of our 3.5-inch HDD, we had to ensure that the 3.5-inch drive bay was unlocked before we could slide out one of the drive trays after depressing its release button that is located at the front of the chassis. Once removed from its drive bay, we installed our HDD into the tray and secured it without much fuss.

We had to press and hold the front release button before we could slide out the 3.5-inch drive bay tray.

Each 3.5-inch drive tray has a retractable dust cover that snaps over the grip of the tray.

The front and side views of the 3.5-inch drive bay tray. From the front view, you can see the retractable black dust cover for the finger grip of the tray.

The mounting screw holes are meant for securing 2.5-inch drives.

We secured our installed 3.5-inch HDD to the tray with four screws. The same screws are used for securing 2.5-inch drives.

Sliding in the tray with our securely installed HDD.

We removed the other side panel that was held in place by a pair of thumbscrews so that we can get a better look at the rear of the 3.5-inch drive bays. The drives in the drive bay share a single SATA power connector.

A single SATA power cord supplies power to the drives installed at the 3.5-inch drive bays.

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8.0
  • Aesthetics 8.5
  • Functionality 8.5
  • Usability 9
  • Value 6
The Good
Quick swap 3.5-inch drive bays
Security via lock-and-key system
Excellent cable management system
Four large cooling fans in total
Fan control system with LED control
The Bad
High premium for Battle Edition
Limited availability
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