Thermaltake Level 10 GT Review - PAGE 3

Instead of a standard removable side panel to access the Installation area, Thermaltake has gone with an adjustable door that can easily open and close. This gives quick access to the internal components and can help save time when upgrading individual components such as the graphics cards and memory.

Earlier we mentioned the internal airflow from the 200mm side intake fan could be adjusted to direct the flow at different internal components. As you can see from these photos, this is done via internal flaps that can either be pointed down toward the power supply or up toward the graphics cards and chipsets. This is a unique feature that allows users to customize the cooling in the Level 10 GT.

The motherboard tray on the Level 10 GT is massive and can support Micro-ATX, ATX, and extended ATX form factor boards. Additionally, the motherboard tray has several rubber covered holes to facilitate better cable management, and a rather large rear CPU access cutout. All of these features make installing the motherboard a breeze, and since the stand-offs are pre-installed in the case, all that's needed to do is to put the board into the chassis and screw it into place.

To improve the airflow within the chassis, Thermaltake has included a rear 140mm fan along with a top mounted 200mm fan. Both fans exhaust the hot air from the CPU, but the top mounted fan can be removed to allow for a 240mm radiator. There are also additional fans found in front of the hard drive bays and on the side panel.

Installation of the hard drives is very easy, and the Level 10 GT can accommodate up to five 3.5" or 2.5" storage drives. To secure a drive into the hot-swappable bays, a SSD or HDD is first secured to the bay enclosure and then slid back into the case. When the drive is in place, the SATA data and power headers are locked into their connection points, which are powered via connections on the opposite side.

The back panel of the Level 10 GT includes plenty of cable management options and also has ample room to hide extra cables. Most of the additional room is located near the HDD and ODD drive bays, as there is a slight recess in this area for more room. To power the SATA drives, Thermaltake has used a single interconnected power cable that requires only a single connection to power all the installed hard drives.

The five ODD and single FDD bays are accessible from the front of the case. All that needs to be done to install a drive is to remove one of the covers from the front and then slide the drive into place. After the component is in the right position, there is a latch on the side of the bay that locks the drive into the chassis.

With all the components in the chassis you can see that the Level 10 GT can accommodate virtually any high-end component, including one of the longest graphics cards on the market, the XFX HD 5970 BE. Additionally, with eight available expansion slots the Level 10 GT can potentially support up to 4-way CrossFireX and SLI. The cable management was also excellent, as we were able to easily route the cables of our non-modular power supply behind the side panel. This will not only improve the overall look inside the case, but also increases the internal airflow by reducing obstructions.

To best show the available lighting of the Level 10 GT, we made a video of the different LED configurations. The Level 10 GT can rotate between blue, red and green, but it also has a few multi-color settings. This feature can be a great for anyone fond of LED lights, but for those who don't care much for them, the LED lights can also be turned off completely.