The Thermaltake Element S VK60001W2Z Case (Externals)

The Thermaltake Element S is a rather unique looking PC case. The top features a grill to the rear with a 230mm red LED fan installed behind and the side also features a 230mm fan. As you might guess, this case offers some pretty hardcore air cooling!

The whole enclosure is made from both SECC steel and plastic. Steel offers superior strength and also manages to keep the price low. Although it would’ve been nice to see many of the plastic parts, such as the top and front panel, incorporate aluminium instead, this would’ve bumped the price up significantly.

The front of the case is like no other I’ve seen. It features a black front panel with a grey door which is accented with bright red. The overall front panel design is very curvy, like a sports car – which was one of the inspirations for the Element S’ design. Altogether this achieves a very sleek and smooth looking enclosure from the front.

Towards the middle of the front panel, the case prompts you to open the door. After opening it, it reveals a plethora of drive bay fascias (9 in total) with perforated fronts – allowing the case to breathe. It should be noted though that only the top three drive bays allow you to install an optical drive behind, the bottom six are for installing intake fans behind only.

The drive bay fascias can simply be unclipped from the front. This saves the hassle of trying to pop them out from inside the case. Therefore, the drive bays can be cleaned easily when dust builds up in the filters behind.

On many enclosures which feature doors, the hinges are often very weak, meaning the door can sometimes snap off after a slight knock. Fortunately the hinge method Thermaltake seem to have used is rather robust, you can actually remove the door altogether if you wanted.

Located towards the top of the case you’ll find the ports and switches. There are:

• 2x USB 2.0
• 1x eSATA
• 1x Reset
• 1x Power
• 1x Mic Jack
• 1x Headphone Jack
• HDD Activity and Power LED

The placement for these on the case maybe unusual for some, however, recently it seems to be the trend. I actually find it’s much less hassle having the ports mounted higher – especially when you have your PC tucked underneath a desk.

The top panel of the case follows on from the curvy styling witnessed on the front cover. This means it too is plastic. However, towards the rear of the top panel are two black perforated grills. Behind the grills is a 230mm red LED fan.

The left side panel has two large, uniquely shaped cut-outs which are backed with a black perforated grill also. Behind these two is another 230mm fan. This provides masses of cooling straight to the hot areas of the motherboard and also to the graphics card (if you have one installed).

Usually on cases the right side is simply forgotten about and normally ends up rather boring. Fortunately Thermaltake has considered this by adding a perforated grill along the rear-side of the case and shaping it. Although this isn’t a lot, it certainly makes an improvement over the normal blank and boring right side-panel you often find.

From the rear of the case you can see the Thermaltake Element S follows today’s bottom-mounted PSU trend of cases. This is proven to improve airflow within the case and also makes cable management slightly easier. Strangely, there are also placements for two 60mm fans; this is rather unusual as I’ve not seen any other cases with mounts for 60mm fans.

At the top of the rear of the case a 140mm fan is installed. However, this can be replaced with a 120mm spinner if needs be. Above the fan placement, you should be able to see a plastic exhaust where hot air can be released from the 230mm fan.