Thermaltake Suppressor F51 Mid-Tower Case Review - PAGE 1

Thermaltake has a long history of providing quality computer components to the global community, and I am sure that many readers have purchased at least one of their products in the past. With Thermaltake’s global reach comes the opportunity (and responsibility) to keep a keen observation of market trends and understanding of consumer needs and demands. By participating in computer exhibitions worldwide and maintaining regional branch offices and distributors, Thermaltake is positioned to keep close tabs on those trends.

One one such components is Thermaltake’s Suppressor F51 mid-tower case featuring removable noise dampening panels, case cooling options that include a pre-mounted 200mm front and 140mm rear fan, and versatile liquid cooling mounting options. The Suppressor F51 comes with air filters at the front and bottom of the case to keep airflow clear of debris; another filter is available up at the top if you remove one of the sound reduction panels.

The Suppressor F51 model being reviewed today is the windowed version, thus only the cable management side panel has any sound reduction material attached. The non-widowed version would feature additional sound reduction material on the component side panel, as well as a removable section to attach a side fan for even greater cooling potential especially around the motherboard PCI card slot area.

The Suppressor F51 should be a fun item for any computer enthusiast to configure, with the modular drive bays allowing for hard drive setups that meet their needs while obtaining the maximum air flow potential with a variety of fan mounting options or liquid cooling setups. Let's see just how well this computer case is built, and view the varied configuration options for computer system setups.

Packaging
Thermaltake makes use of some of the least adorned packaging for its products. The front panel of the Suppressor F51 box has a simple black band around the top with the Thermaltake logo, name and a simple motto on the front. Next is the Suppressor F51 model name with a graphical side on image of the case taking up most of the middle, imposed over another black band across the box front with an emblem announcing that this case supports liquid cooling on the far right side. Lastly is another black band across the bottom advertises the Thermaltake website URL. The back panel of the box is largely the same as the front, aside from the exploded graphical image of the interior layout superimposed across the middle black band.

Just below the carrying cutouts on each side panel are images of the windowed and non-windowed versions of the case. On the right side panel below the case image are four features translated into 12 languages.

The left side panel has the two different model images, with a small circle marking the model type contained in the box. Below that is a specification listing similar to the one that will appear at the bottom of this review page.

Contents
The inner foam protection and transparent plastic bag kept the Suppressor F51 case clean and more importantly was able to prevent damage during shipping. After removing the foam protection and plastic bag, we find the case is further protected by an applied plastic protection on the large case side panel window and on the bottom rubber standoff feet.

Between the foam and the outside plastic bag we find the user’s manual and the warranty guide in its own bag, and located in one of the internal drive trays is another plastic bag containing the accessories shown in the photo below. One item not explained in the manual is the radiator mount bracket that is the first item you see in the photo, which itself is followed by a speaker and the two manuals. Under the mounting bracket are five plastic tie wraps for the cable management setup with a design that makes them reuseable by locking and unlocking. Following that are extra motherboard mounting lugs with a special tightening nut, four fan mounting screws, four power supply screws, four long screws for radiator mounting and groups of screws for mounting hard drives, motherboard and other accessories.

The user’s manual has 18 pages of detailed information and images translated into 12 languages. The next photo has a sample of four of the pages.

Specifications:

Information courtesy of Thermaltake @ http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Chassis/Mid_Tower_/Suppressor/C_00002677/F51_Window/design.htm