Introduction

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I'd like to thank Thermaltake for supplying the Chaser MK-1 case for this review.

We have taken a look at many enclosures from Thermaltake in the past and this time around we have received the Chaser MK-1 chassis. In recent years Thermaltake has offered elaborately designed enclosures, which did not seem quite the sturdiest and - while the quality was always alright - never really impressing with what is possible. The Chaser MK-1 aims to change that and we are here to give this chassis a spin to see if Thermaltake has managed to iron out any shortcomings.

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Specifications:
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<thead>
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<th colspan="2">Thermaltake Chaser MK-1</th>
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<tr>
<th scope="row">Color</th>
<td>Black</td>
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<tr class="alt">
<th scope="row">Drive Bays </th>
<td>(x4) 5.25", (x6) 3.5"/2.5" Drive Caddies</td>
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<th scope="row">Form Factor </th>
<td>ATX, Micro ATX</td>
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<th scope="row">Expansion Slots </th>
<td>8</td>
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<tr>
<th scope="row">Case Fans </th>
<td>Front (Intake) :
200 x 200 x 30 mm Colorshift fan x 1 (600~800rpm,13~15dBA) or
120 x 120 x 25 mm x 2 (optional)
Rear (Exhaust) :
140 x 140 x 25 mm TurboFan, 1000rpm, 16dBA or
120 x 120 x 25 mm x 1 (optional)
Top (Exhaust) :
200 x 200 x 30 mm Colorshift fan x 1 (600~800rpm, 13~15dBA);
200 x 200 x 30 mm x 1 (optional) or
140 x 140 x 25 mm x 2 (optional) or
120 x 120 x 25 mm x 2 (optional)
Bottom (Intake) :
120 x 120 x 25 mm x 1 (optional)
Side (Intake) :
200 x 200 x 30 mm x 1 (optional)</td>
</tr>
<tr class="alt">
<th scope="row">Dimensions</th>
<td>567.9 x 237.0 x 581.6 mm (22.4 x 9.3 x 22.9 inch)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">Weight</th>
<td>11.6 kg / 25.6 lb</td>
</tr>
<tr class="alt">
<th scope="row">Switches</th>
<td>Power / Reset / Fan High / Fan Low / Lighting toggle switch</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">I/O</th>
<td>(x2) USB 3.0, (2x) USB 2.0 (x1) eSATA, (x1) Headphone, (x1) MIC</td>
</tr>
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Packaging

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Thermaltake ships the Chaser MK-1 in a sturdy full color package. The front holds an image of the chassis, while the rear goes into greater detail about its features and benefits. You will find two holes for easier transportation on the sides of the box.

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Two thick Styrofoam spacers along with a plastic bag protect the unit from damage during the packaging and shipping process. As you can see our chassis made it safe and sound.

Content

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Thermaltake gives you a full set of useful extras with the chassis. Each type of all-black screws is bagged separately and you also receive an extension cable, so that you may easily connect the PSU to the mainboard EPS Power plug. On top of that, there is a 3.5 inch adapter with a front to match the design of the chassis and a set of manuals.

A Closer Look - Outside

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Many of you may remember the first cases from Thermaltake. Those were built extremely well, with the use of thick metal and sturdy front doors or designs. In recent years their cases felt somewhat cheap in terms of build quality. I am positively surprised with the MK-1, as the elaborately designed plastic front and top are of excellent quality and can be considered the best plastic can offer in terms of strength. The metal mesh pieces are reinforced nicely as well. If this is a sigh of things to come, Thermaltake seems to be getting their act together. That said, the futuristic design is not for everyone, but even though it comes with a lot of details, it doesn't "jump in your face" - which is a good thing.

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Taking a look at the front, the blue accents are great and really make the case pop out and draw your attention to it when lined up next to other enclosures. A quick look at the rear confirms that the entire chassis is black with a bottom mounted PSU.

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Thermaltake has also added a lot of design elements to both side panels. The main one comes with a partial window and includes a large 200 mm opening for an optional fan, while the other is completely solid, but still has quite detailed elements, so that it fits perfectly with the rest of the case design.

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In the front, the bottom area consists of a sturdy metal mesh air vent with the Thermaltake logo. Behind it is a large intake fan. Above that are the four 5.25" drive bays. These are covered by blue/black metal mesh pieces, which may easily be removed by hand without having to pull the entire front off the chassis. While these have a bit of play, I did not experience any vibrations being passed on from these. If Thermaltake could add a bit of foam padding to the sides, these pieces would fit perfectly and this possible issue is eliminated.

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In the rear, the PSU bay is located in the bottom. You may install the unit with the fan facing onward or to draw air in from the bottom of the chassis. Above that are eight mainboard expansion slots, so you could install up to four dual-height graphics cards if you choose to do so. In the very top you will find a 120 mm exhaust fan along with three openings to route water cooling tubing through - yes three, which is an uneven number.

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As mentioned before, the top of the chassis is designed just as detailed as the rest of the case. In the front area you will find four USB plugs, two of which are USB 3.0, one eSATA connector, an SATA HDD dock for both 2.5 or 3.5" drives, audio connectivity, two switches for high/low fan settings and a button to switch through the LED colors of the preinstalled cooling units. In the rear there is a large metal mesh air vent. The case can hold up to two 200 mm fans in the top, but Thermaltake only includes one.

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In terms of build quality, the only gripe I have is the headset hook, or "Combat Headset Holder" as Thermaltake calls it. While the idea is great and the company has used this feature in other cases already, I would have liked to see a sturdier implementation.

There are also four feet, which can be turned to face the outside thus giving the case a larger footprint. Blue color accents would make it a shame not to do so.

A Closer Look - Inside

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Both side panels may easily be removed by unscrewing the pair of thumb screws holding each in place. As mentioned before, the interior is all black, but Thermaltake has also added blue elements to the case. There is a large opening in the mainboard tray to give you easy access to the CPU cooler backplate along with several smaller ones to route cables through.

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Six fairly large, bright blue and surprisingly good looking hard drive trays make the installation of the drives a breeze. The locking mechanism works great and due to the shape you can easily hide even the ugliest, oldest drives. Above that are the four external drive bays with screwless locks, similar to those found on other modern cases. These snap into place automatically and should work quite well.

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In the rear, the bottom mounted PSU rests on a metal cross bar. This means an extra step when installing the device. It would be easier and cheaper for Thermaltake to use rubber mounts instead. Above that are the eight expansion slots, which are protected by separate covers being held in place with thumb screws. An all black, turbine shaped fan pulls air out the back of the Chaser MK-1.

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As the power supply is located on the bottom, Thermaltake has placed a 200 mm cooling unit in the ceiling to pull hot air out the top as well. As you can see, there is space for another one to the right.

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Before we dive into the assembly process, let us take a quick look at the cables within the Chaser MK-1. Interestingly enough, the SATA based HDD dock utilizes a Molex plug to deliver power to the drive. On top of that you have the usual connectors for the I/O and power/reset/LEDs. Thermaltake has kept them all black to go with the rest of the chassis.

Assembly

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Installing the mainboard is quite easy as there is plenty of space within the Chaser MK-1. You should not have any issues fitting even the biggest coolers within the chassis. Thanks to the many openings, you can route the cables nicely as well.

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Installing the optical drive is a no brainer. Simply take off the front cover, slide the drive into place until the lock snaps into place - that is it. No tools or screws required and the unit actually holds quite well.

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The blue hard drive sleds are made of fairly sturdy plastic, but are still flexible enough to push a 3.5 inch drive in without snapping it in half by mistake. If you choose to install a 2.5 inch drive, the plastic pins on one side have to be removed first, then the drive can be screwed down with the supplied screws.

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Once the storage units are inserted, simply slide the trays in, make sure the plastic hook locks in on the right side and push the lever shut. The system is dead simple but works very well.

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Installing the PSU is a bit more work as you need to remove the little bar on the floor of the case, place the power supply in the intended location and line up the bar again. Only then can you screw down everything. While this holds the unit so well, that you will never have to worry about it during transport, these measures are a bit over the top.

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Once everything is installed, the chassis makes a great impression. There is loads of room, cable routing is very good with plenty of space to hide them as well. You may have to get a bit more creative with this aspect when filling the chassis to the rim but the result should be very good nonetheless.

Finished Looks

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Fully assembled and with the side panels closed, the Chaser MK-1 manages to strut its stuff perfectly. While I personally go for understated straight cases, this one does look pretty cool.

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The hard drive dock works as advertised and even though there is no eject button, pulling the storage device out is easy enough. Even though I do not own a Tt eSports headset, the Combat Headset Holder makes no distinction and works perfectly fine with my Sennheisers. I have to admit, on a LAN party or even at home, this feature is extremely useful to keep things tidy. The top of the chassis holds a cool looking power LED which lights up in an equally spread blue color - a very nice touch.

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I have taken the top off, to show you the LED configuration of the fans. As you can see, it offers three distinct colors along with an animated variant which cycles through all the different colors.

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While I really like the fact that a user can choose the one color they like the most, or maybe opt for the one that fits the interior cabling the best, the fact that Thermaltake has already used blue in the overall design of the chassis makes the use of the same colored lighting options the most viable choice.

Value and Conclusion

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The Thermaltake Chaser MK-1 sells for around 120 Euro incl. taxes or 159 US Dollar excluding taxes.

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<td>

Great detailed looks
Very good build quality
Functional HDD Dock
Fan control high/low
Multiple LED lighting modes
Combat Headset Holder actually quite useful
EPS extension cable included
Plenty of space inside the chassis for the latest gaming hardware
Easy tool-less ODD installation
Internal USB 3.0
Very cool looking and functional hard drive sleds
3.5 inch adapter in the same look of the 5.25" bay included
Two 200 mm and one 120 mm fans included
Dust filters on all intake areas - even the side

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<td>

Elaborate design not for everyone
Front drive bay covers may vibrate under certain scenarios
Headset holder a bit fragile
Somewhat complicated PSU installation method

</td></tr>
<tr><th>9.5</th>
<td>
Thermaltake has had plenty of ups and downs in its company history. Having been on the market for such a long time we have seen really good cases and then not so good ones. In recent history it feels like the company did not manage to turn too many heads with their line-up, while the competition in the market has gotten rather fierce with young and small start-ups managing to pull more momentum.<br />
The Chaser MK-1 happens to be a case which can easily hold its own against many of the popular cases on the market. Great build quality, incredibly detailed looks and a long list of functional and useful features make the Chaser MK-1 a no brainer. In fact, the looks are probably the one thing you have to fall in love with first, as the features are the cherry on the cake to really put a smile on your face.<br />
That said, Thermaltake needs to take the momentum and offer an affordable version as well, which manages to deliver most of the features and design aspects in a smaller chassis at the magical price point of 99 US Dollars as something like that would address the mass market perfectly. Regardless, the Chaser MK-1 is a cool looking case with inner value which are just as great - well done Thermaltake.</td></tr>
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