Thermaltake Suppressor F31 Mid Tower Case Review - PAGE 1

Late last year I had the pleasure of reviewing Thermaltake’s Suppressor F51 mid-tower case. The Suppressor F51 came with two external accessible drive bays and two internal 3 HDD/SSD cages that could be removed, making for a highly customable configuration and great air flow when set up with a variety of fan or liquid cooling options. Now I have the Thermaltake Suppressor F31 mid-tower case for review which shares many attributes with the Suppressor F51, though the Suppressor F31 does have some major differences.

The first actual difference is physical size with the Suppressor F31 measing 28mm lower and 62mm less deep, but also 20mm wider to allow for easier reach of the I/O ports and external accessible drive bays. Although the lower height allows for only one internal drive bay cage, the Suppressor F31 still has two external accessible drive bays and the option to mount three HDD/SSDs within the cable management area thanks to the wider footprint.

Second is the use of 120mm front and rear fans in the Suppressor F31 compared to the 200mm front and 140mm rear fans of the Suppressor F51, which should prove interesting due to the air flow from the front fan having to first pass through the HDD/SSD cage and potential loss of air flow pressure into the case interior. Without the second HDD/SSD cage seen in the Suppressor F51, the Suppressor F31's 120mm rear fan will hopefully have what it takes to draw air from the front of the case out the rear for optimal cooling performance.

The Suppressor F31 also comes with a full sound dampened front panel instead of the windowed version of the Suppressor F51. With this door panel comes with the option to add a fan which will direct air flow directly into the PCI slot area of the case, or you can have it pull air out of the case interior. Either way you have the option to set up improved system cooling, while reducing the noise levels normally associated with a computer system during operation thanks to the sound dampening material.

The wider Suppressor F31 also facilitates cable management with more space for power supply, I/O Port and motherboard cable positioning. Having spent a lot of time with taller computer cases to install my ATX motherboards, it's always refreshing to have a case that can easily fit on the desktop while allowing room to slide under my overhead equipment mounting shelf.

Packaging:
Like the previously reviewed Suppressor F51, Thermaltake keeps information regarding the Suppressor F31 to a minimum on the outer shipping box. The Suppressor F31 model name is in bold, black letting above a graphical front/side-on image of the case taking up the left side with an emblem highlighting how the case supports liquid cooling on the far right side. The back panel of the box is largely the same as the front panel, except for an exploded view of the interior layout superimposed across a black band.

On the right side panel below the carrying handle cutout is a case image followed by four features translated in 12 languages: top-front I/O ports with two USB 3.0 and two USB 2.0, 2 preinstalled 125mm fans with removable filters, 2 + 3 drive bays with modular drive racks design, and finally silent operation, LCS and cable management.

On the left side panel are two different case images with a small circle under each to indicate which case version (case window or windowless) is contained in the box. Below that is a specification listing similar to the one that appears at the bottom of this page.

Contents:
The Suppressor F31 mid-tower case itself comes wrapped in a transparent plastic bag with foam cushion surrounding it for protection against possible shipment damage. Once removed from the plastic bag, we find the only other protection measures are plastic wrappings around the case feet.

In the next image we have the accessories supplied in two plastic bags. One bag contains the Suppressor F31 user manual and warranty guide. The other bag is found in one of the inner drive trays of the case containing the accessories shown below. This bag includes a motherboard speaker, a package of 12 rubber pads, 4 power supply mounting screws, 12 motherboard mounting screws, two spare motherboard standoff screws with a special mounting tool, four fan mounting screws, and finally 22 accessory mounting screws.

The user manual has 23 pages of detailed installation and set up information with images, translated into 12 languages. Below are two sample pages including possible cooling solution set up.

Specifications:

Information courtesy of Thermaltake @ http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Chassis/Mid_Tower_/Suppressor/C_00002733/Suppressor_F31/design.htm