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Internal Features :::...

The aluminium theme continues inside with the drive cages. The upper cage can accomodate four 5.25" drives which are mounted using quickrelease drive rails. We'll look at these in a moment.

Below the 5.25" cage is the external 3.5" drive cage and below this the internal 3.5" cage which has room for a further five drives.

Front Drive Cage Assembly

Here we can see the front intake fan positioned to blow cooling air across your hard drives. Those who read my case reviews will know how highly the use of 120mm fans rates with me, particularly when they're given chance to breath as is the case here.

120mm Front Fan

The hard drives are installed using supplied thumbscrews and the rubber washers through which they pass are designed to isolate noise. A single thumbscrew at the bottom of the cage and a spring clip at the top allow the cage to be slid out for easier drive fitting.

3.5" Internal Internal Cage

This is a very nice compromise between quick-lock drive rails that people seem rather suspicious about, and the more secure but more long-winded use of traditional mounting screws. This option manages to be secure, quick and damps noise too.

Hard Drive Fitting

Like the internal 3.5" drive cage, the external 3.5" drive can also be removed by simply sliding back a locking lever. It seemed to lock quite securely and showed no tendencies to rattle. Whether it will remain such a snug fit after being removed a few hundred times remaines to be seen.

3.5" Internal External Cage

That rear 120mm fan by the way is illuminated a cool icy blue colour as you might have guessed from its clear contruction and the tape around the edge to secure the wiring. It gets its power though a traditional four-pin Molex but also has a monitor wire to relay rotational speed (the yellow one below).

Case Rear Panel - Internal

Even fitting an expansion card is child's play thanks to those unusual quick-lock clips. I much prefer these to those fiddly one-piece steel retaining brackets though how easy it is to get one replaced if you break it might be a factor to consider

Quick-Lock Expansion Card Clips

Even the bundle is comprehensive, with more thumbscrews than I've ever seen supplied with a case due to their use for mounting your internal 3.5" drives.

The Quick-fit optical drive rails feel a bit flimsy but they work and work well so it's hard to be too critical.

Screws, Stand-Offs and Drive Rails

And just to prove they understand the value of going the extra mile, Thermaltake even include a pair of stickers, one black and one white depending which colour of case you bought, and even a cleaning cloth! No, it's not a high-value extra but it's the thought that counts and I like any company prepared to offer more than they need to, however slight.

Manual, Stickers and Cleaning Cloth

In Use:

Assembling a system inside the Tsunami was a breeze. Like any case this size it can be a little cramped at times but the ability to make room for yourself by taking out the 3.5" drive cages helps a great deal with routing and stealthing your cables and general assembly.

As you'd expect, the fans were very quiet in operation though what was audible was a "whoosh" of air being drawn though the front filter and vents. The use of relatively low gauge aluminium does nothing to dull the noise, but even so it's far from obtrusive. A simple fan controller or even a primitive 12V to 7V switch may have been a nice inclusion but I wouldn't let it colour your buying decision.

Conclusion

The 3DVelocity 'Dual Conclusions Concept' Explained: After discussing this concept with users as well as companies and vendors we work with, 3DVelocity have decided that where necessary we shall aim to introduce our 'Dual Conclusions Concept' to sum up our thoughts and impressions on the hardware we review. As the needs of the more experienced users and enthusiasts have increased, it has become more difficult to factor in all the aspects that such a user would find important, while also being fair to products that may lack these high end "bonus" capabilities but which still represent a very good buy for the more traditional and more prevalent mainstream user. The two catergories we've used are:

The Mainstream User ~ The mainstream user is likely to put price, stock performance, value for money, reliability and/or warranty terms ahead of the need for hardware that operates beyond its design specifications. The mainstream user may be a PC novice or may be an experienced user, however their needs are clearly very different to those of the enthusiast, in that they want to buy products that operate efficiently and reliably within their advertised parameters.

The Enthusiast ~ The enthusiast cares about all the things that the mainstream user cares about but is more likely to accept a weakness in one or more of these things in exchange for some measure of performance or functionality beyond its design brief. For example, a high priced motherboard may be tolerated in exchange for unusually high levels of overclocking ability or alternatively an unusually large heat sink with a very poor fixing mechanism may be considered acceptable if it offers significantly superior cooling in return.

The Mainstream User ~

Cases that look impressive are all well and good but your first priorities should be thermal performance followed by quality and price. It just so happens the Tsunami has class leading thermal performance, excellent quality, and looks impressive too. You sacrifice a little on the sturdiness in exchange for the low weight but confuse light with poor quality, it's possible for a quality case to weigh very little when the right materials and design are used.

No, you probably don't have to spend this ammount of money on a Tsunami to keep your PC running smoothly, much as you don't have to buy a flash car to get to work, but with so much to offer even the most undemanding of PC user I doubt you'd regret it if you did.

If you cherish a little luxury in your life but have enough savvy to not want to make sacrifices in functionality to get them, I can think of no better case on the market that delivers in quite such a big way as the Thermaltake Tsunami Dream. The fact that you can pick one up for a shade over £80 simply makes this too big a bargain to ignore. get saving!

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The Enthusiast ~

Unless you simply have to have a case that's built like a brick outhouse, the Tsunami is almost impossible to fault. Stunning design, quick access to both the front and the insides of the case and incredible thermal performance are just the icing on a very tasty cake.

I don't understand the obsession with putting the external USB and other bonus connectors on top of the case, or at the bottom. On the bottom is a pain for those who stand their cases on the floor while on top is a hassle for those who stand their case on a desk, or for those who stand water cooling units on top of their cases. In a nutshell, why can't they just place them about half way up the front panel and keep everyone happy?

I wanted to moan that the door can't be made to hinge from the opposite side, but then the easy access hinging fascia wouldn't work. I will however moan about those tacky plastic springs that are behind the power and reset buttons, even despite the fact that they ultimately do their job.

Taken on balance I don't think I have used a non-specialist case to date that can compete with the Tsunami as a complete, all-round package. The perfect case isn't with us quite yet, but I'm prepared to doff my cap in Thermaltake's direction for coming so damned close!

Home or LAN Party, it's good for both. Treat yourself for Christmas!

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We're always looking for ways to make our reviews fairer. A Right To Reply gives the manufacturer or supplier of the product being reviewed a chance to make public comments on what we've said. They can explain perhaps why they've done the things we were unhappy with or blow their own trumpet over the things we loved. It's easy for us to pick a product apart but sometimes things are done a certain way for very specific reasons and here the company concerned can explain the reasoning behind their decisions.

Should Thermaltake decide to exercise their "Right To Reply", we'll publish their comments below:

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