Voodoo – Color shift Fan with 6 color changing pattern for optimal gaming experience.
	Vivid – Three color shifting fans creates most eye catching appearance.
	Vary – Adjustable fan speed control for performance mode or silent mode.
	Ventilation – Excellent thermal performance with optimized air flow.
	Vast – Support up to 11X5.25 drive bay or 5X5.25 and 6X3.5 with 2 iCage.

Since the beginning of Thermaltake in 1999, it has been at the forefront of creating new and exciting products at a time where most computer users were provided little to no choices for components. This may seem irrelevant, but in reality crucial to the performance of a PC.

Thermaltake Server Series solutions, with years of thermal experience and industry leadership, sets its goal on reforming total thermal management in server segment by formulating the perfect mixture of versatility, efficiency and thermal management with each respective server product category: Rackmount Chassis, Server Fixed & Redundant Power Supply and Server CPU Cooling Management Solutions.

With its comprehensive line of products, Thermaltake’s core customers can enjoy a one-stop-shop experience, reduce product design-in evaluation period and most important of all, flawless integration process. Each of Thermaltake’s strengths enables its customer to focus on their core business while taking advantage of the skills and efficiency of a single thermal management solution partner.

Our recent marathon of Thermaltake case reviews forges ahead with a look at the mid tower Armor A90.  “Created for Combat” is the motto Thermaltake has applied to this chassis, no doubt in reference to it’s rugged design and emphasis on gaming.

First up is a quick company profile of Thermaltake.  Once upon a time Thermaltake was known only for their cooling products, but in recent years they have expanded their product offerings to encompass a wide range of enthusiast products.  Headquartered in Taiwan, Thermaltake has a strong global presence in all major market areas. Here is a snippet taken from their web site:

“Since the beginning of Thermaltake in 1999, it has been at the forefront of creating new and exciting products at a time where most computer users were provided little to no choices for components that may seem irrelevant, but in reality crucial to the performance of a PC.

Thermaltake Server Series solutions, with years of thermal experience and industry leadership, sets its goal on reforming total thermal management in server segment by formulating the perfect mixture of versatility, efficiency and thermal management with each respective server product category: Rackmount Chassis, Server Fixed & Redundant Power Supply and Server CPU Cooling Management Solutions.

With its comprehensive line of products available, it enables Thermaltake’s core customers to enjoy a one-stop-shop experience, reduce product design-in evaluation period and most important of all, flawless integration process. Each of Thermaltake’s strengths enables its customer to focus on their core business while taking advantage of the skills and efficiency of a single thermal management solution partner.”

Follow along as we explore the Thermaltake Armor A90 Mid Tower Case!

The fine folks at Thermaltake USA were kind enough to send along a Element G mid tower case for us to review.  The slogan attached to the Element G by Thermaltake is “Create For Pros”.  We are assuming that means the professional gamer as the pictures on the back of the box show several different gaming scenarios.

Lets start with a little company profile of Thermaltake to get an idea of what they are all about.

“Started from the passion for the DIY (Do It Yourself) concepts and the desires to realize the goal of “Ideas are originated from humanity; Realizing ideas is our belief. Thermaltake Technology was established in January, 1999 and has been market to the world with “Thermaltake brand name ever since.

The brand personality of Unique, Aggressive, Vivid, and Stylish makes Thermaltake an expert in creating Exciting things and Fascinating environment for gamers and enthusiasts, also Keep them Constantly High physically and mentally. Excellent technical expertise and integration ability, plus dare to experiment on the new possibilities give Thermaltake the source of authority in the market. Moreover, Thermaltake get close to consumers and observe lead users behavior and requirement, to design aesthetic and high quality products which will greatly improve system performance and bring the user to the up most potential. With innovative design and unique style, Thermaltake products spread rapidly among the enthusiasts in DIY market and soon become the number one choice for PC DIY enthusiast worldwide.”
Read on as we take a tour of the Element G offering by Thermaltake!

Thermaltake offers a wide variety of computer chassis to fit almost any system configuration and price point.  Today we are going to take an in-depth look at the V3 Black Edition Mid Tower.  Given it’s suggested retail price of a mere $49.95 USD, the V3 Black Edition case is at the lower end of Thermaltake’s chassis offerings and is definitely an affordable option.

About Thermaltake

“Founded in 1999, IPO in Taiwan Stock Exchange since December 2007. Thermaltake Inc. a multinational company pioneering in PC Thermal Solution, Award Winning State of the Art PC Power Supplies and revolutionized PC chassis. The company revolutionizes the PC market by creating, innovating and implementing the most efficient solutions in its technology. Thermaltake also participates in various environmental conservation programs to help save the mother Earth. Today, Thermaltake has expending its well known brand throughout the USA, Germany, Taiwan, China, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and Canada, soon to be in every continent.”

Follow along as we take a tour of the V3 Black Edition case, install a system into it and share our impressions.

Introduction

In the computer industry, cases are a rather hit and miss affair. With some monstrosities such as the forthcoming Thermaltake Ten to the elegant Lian Li cases, we have seen computer chassis come and go.

Remember the days when computer cases were a drab off-white colour and full of razor sharp edges?  In those days building a computer was considered baptism by fire!  The nearest a consumer could get to an elegant case was from Apple and these had the resemblance of ‘boiled sweets’  In today’s  world we  see many types of computer enclosures and in many interesting shapes. To add another factor into this ‘whirlpool’ of chassis configurations; we now have the consumers themselves making their own cases!

Company Background

Fractal Design was founded in Sweden in the year 2007 by a Mr Hannes Wallin! They first entered the Scandinavian Market in 2007 and two years later they had explored additional markets in Europe; namely Germany, France, Switzerland and the UK amongst others.  They also have recently signed a contract with their new distributor in Australia.  In addition, during the second Quarter of 2010 they will enter the North American market!

Their goal is to be widely recognized for a high end level of design and products.  Fractal is putting great effort into choosing the right partners in each region, and  their strategy is to work with a good structure of selected distribution partners and retail/e-tailers!

One of the core ideas of Fractal Design is to provide products with an extraordinary design level. The principles of their products have been stylish, simplistic and clean; which they prefer to call the Scandinavian design! Their ethos is to produce products that incorporate the above, but without compromising quality, functionality and pricing.

Cooler Master has been in business for more than a decade. They were “founded with the mission of providing the industry’s best thermal solutions.”  The Cooler Master CM690 II Advanced that we’ll be looking at today, which is a significant update to the venerable CM690, a budget champion for wire management with superb airflow, aims to push them further toward that mission.

Packaging and Specifications

The box arrived as it would when purchasing it from a store with no additional box or padding around the case’s own box. As you can see, it didn’t need any and survived the trip through UPS’s system quite nicely. The box is strong and the styrofoam floating the unit inside is ample to protect it in transit.

On the back of the box are some photographs and descriptions of various aspects of the case. The side lists the specifications, which are listed at Cooler Master’s site as well. The features outlined on their site are:

• Oversized front and top mesh design for superb ventilation.
• Accommodates 120 x 240 mm radiator inside the top or bottom.
• Dust-control filters for all meshed areas.
• Air cooling support for up to 10 fans (with support for up to 5 x 140mm fans).
• External SATA X-dock .
• Front blue LED fan on/off switch.
• Rear retaining holes for water cooling kit.
• Includes 1.8″ & 2.5″ HHD and SSD adapter.
• Cable management and CPU retaining hole for easy maintenance.
• Includes VGA card bracket (supports triple GPU card).

Box Front	Box Rear
Box Side	Box Opened

Out of the Box

Every once in a while in the computer enthusiast community someone comes up with an idea to make something, based on a product already available on the market, and turns it into something even better.  There are hundreds of articles all over the internet where people have taken a retail product and modified it to meet their own needs.  Depending on the skill level of the person doing the modifications, more times than not the results are quite impressive.  Enter Ivan Liang (Navig) and his Very Low Cost Tech Station.  Spawned from his original DIY Tech Station, and with an eye towards affordability, Ivan has produced the “Very Low Cost” version.

First of all, thanks to Ivan for providing this unit for review and the subsequent need for a replacement part, more on that later.  So, lets have a look at this “Very Low Cost” version and see how well it stacks up against others on the market.

Specifications

The first thing you need to know is that Ivan will build these to any specification the customer wants.  This particular unit was the base system with a few extra additions.  The choices are only limited by one’s imagination and wants. Below are the specs of the unit received for review:

**Note – the additional 3.5 drive rack can be used to house additional hard drives, Floppy Drives, or any 3.5 device.

Here are the dimensions of the unit as shipped:

• Top Deck – 15″ X 19″
• Bottom Deck – 15″ X 19″
• Top/Bottom Height Assembled – 9-3/4″
• Rear Panel Height – 15-3/8″

Packaging

The unit arrived well taped via UPS in a large box.  The box seemed to have made the journey in good condition.  The unit arrived completely assembled, ready for a basic build.  The watercooling brackets and additional 5.25 drive brackets will need to be installed by the user as they add components.  Special care was taken to cut shipping blocks and attach them to the unit in the hopes of minimizing potential damage to the Tech Station during shipment.  As you can see by the last picture below, even the shipping blocks were not able to keep the unit from being damaged by the gorillas that work for UPS.  This is by no means the fault of Ivan as the unit was actually packaged very nicely and precautions were taken by him (shipping blocks) to prevent this from happening.  Ivan was extremely quick to send a replacement rear panel, which installed easily.  If you’re a pretty handy sort of person, perhaps asking for the unit to be disassembled before shipping might be an option to explore.  Below are the pictures of the packaged unit as it was unboxed:

Pricing

This particular unit, as ordered, sells for $160 USD, Here is the cost breakdown:
Base Unit: $100
CMOS Clear Switch $10
Extra 3.5 Drive Bay Stack $10
Extra Front Panel Bracket $10
2X Front Panel Units (Firewire, USB, Audio, MIC) $30
Total = $160

As stated before. these units are totally customizable.  Get with Ivan for pricing on a unit that fits your needs.  Just let him know what you want and he will design it for you and provide pricing. It doesn’t get much easier than that!  You can contact Ivan at Navigmodworks@gmail.com

Now that the “Very Low Cost Tech Station” is unpacked and the replacement back panel is on the way, some glue was applied to the broken piece to allow the review to continue.  So, let’s have a look at what this Tech Station has to offer!

Below is a group of pictures taken from various angles. The first picture is of the front panel area.  Here you will see the dual front panels consisting of Firewire, 2X USB, Front Panel Audio, and MIC connections.  A look at the top deck shows three slots cut out to allow cables from the bottom deck to be easily brought to the top and thus connected to the motherboard.  The size and length of these slots are more than adequate for routing a large amount of cables.  Also, you can see the motherboard stands, which are rubber and have a threaded screw in the middle.

The second picture is a left side view.  The drive rack toward the rear is intended for mounting up to five 3.5 hard drives.  The drive rack toward the front is intended for mounting floppy drives, card readers, or any other 3.5 device.  You can also see the “T” and “L” brackets used to attach the back panel to the upper and lower decks.  Another great feature is that the rear panel has been notched at the two places where the upper and lower decks join with it.  The upper and lower deck actually “Slide” into this notch and then it is screwed in to place.  This method makes for an extremely stable unit, if feels very solid when working with it.

The third picture is of the back of the Tech Station.  The two vertical bars are used to secure the power supply unit in place.  This design only allows three screws to be used to attach the PSU.  This is because of the one offset hole all power supplies have.  With the three screws attached, the power supply feels very solid in its place.  You will also notice the four hefty screws (two at each deck height) that attach the back panel to the upper and lower decks.  In combination with the notch method, these large screws really make for a solid feel to this Tech Station.  You will also notice where a 120mm fan hole has been cut in to the top deck.  The fan will direct air to the underside of the motherboard, and more precisely the CPU area, another great feature for all of you overclockers out there!

Continuing our tour around the Very Low Cost Tech Station, the fourth picture is of the right side of the unit.  On the bottom front you will see two thin brackets, this is where your 5.25 drives are attached.  If you attach more than one 5.25 drive, brackets are included to join them and hold them solidly in place.  A very simple but effective flat bracket is used for this.  The block of wood you see attached to the bottom right is simply a platform for the power supply to rest on.  It is needed to bring the bottom of the power supply level with the bottom edge of the rear panel thus allowing the power supply mounting brackets to do their job.

The fifth picture is a quick shot of the bags of hardware included.  In these bags you will find the additional 5.25 drive brackets, the watercooling radiator brackets, a host of drive screws and nuts and bolts for attaching your watercooling radiator.

Let’s have an even closer look at a couple areas of this Tech Station.  Here are a couple of close shots of the two front panels.  It’s worth looking at these just to get a feel for the craftsmanship that go into them.  The face plates are hand made to fit the components attached to them.  It is hard to tell these from factory manufactured items.  Not only do they look good, but they are of great quality and work fantastic!  The power and reset buttons are large and all metal, almost industrial feeling.  The hard drive activity LED and power light LED are good size and are just the right brightness. The clear CMOS switch is the one manufactured by Silverstone, and is solidly attached to the face plate as well.  The dual Front Panel that houses the Firewire, USB, Audio, and MIC connections is also of great quality and securely attached to the face plate.  Plugging devices into the USB, Firewire, Audio, and MIC ports feels very solid.  All and all these front panels are just superb and of excellent quality.

Now let’s have a closer look at the bracket used to secure your PCI and PCI-e cards.  Its a simple “L” bracket attached with two screws.  The appropriate holes have been drilled and threaded.  Light weight aluminum thumb screws are provided to secure the cards.  This system works very well and securing your cards is a snap to do.  The first picture below gives you a good idea of how this bracket works.

Like every good artist, a signature on your creation is a necessity. Ivan put a very discrete signature on the front, left corner of the top and bottom shelf. You almost have to know it is there to notice it.  The second picture below gives you a view of this signature.

Now that we have taken an extensive tour of the Low Cost Tech Station, lets explore how a system actually gets installed on it.  As you can imagine there is a lot of room to work when everything is wide open and easily accessible.  If you change hardware quite often, you will really enjoy how quickly components can be swapped around.  If you’re part of the extreme overclocking crowd and use CPU pots and the like, then using a Tech Station is the only way to go.

Here is a list of the components used to assemble the system:

• Biostar TPower I45 Motherboard
• Intel E8400 CPU
• Thermalright HR-01 Plus CPU Cooler
• G.Skill 2X2gb DDR2 1066 Memory
• Visiontek HD3870 PCI-e X16 Video (Two in Crossfire)
• PCP&C 750 Quad Power Supply
• Western Digital 500gb SATA II HDD
• Western Digital 160gb SATA II HDD
• LG SATA DVD Rom Drive
• Generic USB Card Reader

The motherboard was assembled with the CPU, Heatsink, Memory, and a single video card for now.  As the board was lowered on to the top shelf the standoffs were found to be in the perfect location, the motherboard dropped right into place.  Once the board was lowered on to the top shelf, the provided brass thumb screws were used to secure the motherboard.  The video card was then secured to the bracket using the provided aluminum thumb screws.  Below are some pictures of the motherboard mounted to the top shelf.

Next, the components that will reside on the lower deck were installed.  The hard drive rack is the standard Lian-Li five drive housing.  You simply remove two thumb screws that secure the bay, slide it out and install your hard drives. Two Western Digital hard drives were installed leaving enough room to tuck unused PSU leads and other cables in the bay.

Continuing the build, the PSU was mounted and secured to the PSU mounting brackets.  Again, it will only be possible to use three screws to mount the PSU, which is more than enough to keep it secure in its place.

Now the DVD Rom drive and the card reader need installed.  Again, this is a painless operation, just slide the components in place and secure with the provided screws.

Finally the cable leads were brought to the top deck through the cable management holes and attached to the motherboard.  The location of these cable management holes allow you to bring cables to the motherboard from almost any conceivable angle. This is by far one of the nicest features of this Tech Station.  Below are some pictures of the assembled lower deck of the Tech Station.

As previously mentioned, the Tech Station arrived with a damaged rear panel.  As promised Ivan sent along a replacement panel quickly.  The excellent craftsmanship continued as this replacement panel fit perfectly.  All that needed to be done was drill a few holes for the brackets and screws and the job was done.  This is the kind of customer support the big boys could learn from!!  Here are a couple pictures of the replacement panel and after it was installed.

And finally a few shots of the completed build.  A nice setup with a fresh install of Ubuntu 9.10!

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

With out a doubt the “Navig’s Low Cost Tech Station” will rival any product on the market costing substantially more.  The unit is sturdy and very well layed out.  These Tech Stations are rather large and provide a good amount of room to work with, both on top and on bottom.  Hats off to Ivan for making his ideas come to fruition.  If you are looking for a Tech Station that is “Low Cost” but has the look and feel of a much more expensive one, this is the ticket.

Usually a pros and cons section would be placed here, but, given the fact the only real con was the piece that was broken on arrival, it is not necessary.  The only suggestion would be to perhaps draw up a good set of assembly instructions and ship the unit disassembled.  Other than that, the pros are listed throughout this review and there are lots of them!

Here at Overclockers Tech we use an award system to rate reviewed products based on a 1 to 10 rating. A rating under 5/10 does not qualify for an award, a rating between 5-6/10 earns a Bronze Award, a rating between 7-8/10 receives a Silver Award, and our top honor the Gold Award is given to products that receive a rating between 9-10/10.  In order to achieve a gold award a product must exceed expectations, be a terrific value for the money, have great customer support, and be a leader in its class.  Without any reservation, we give “Navig’s Very Low Cost Tech Station” the gold award based on a well deserved 9.5/10 rating.

9.5/10

Introduction

Thermochill is a company that have been at the forefront of the water cooling industry for many years. With the change over from the HE to the PA series, sales have rocketed and demand has always been extremely high, mainly in places such as Germany and the USA. Thermochill was a Yorkshire based company until recently, but now has moved to elsewhere in the United Kingdom, due to its recent acquisition by Rob from Watercoolinguk and Paul from XSPC.

The latest radiator to come out from this company is the PA140.3, and overclockerstech.com is lucky enough to have the first prototype! This version obtained was graciously provided by Steve Verity, the previous owner of Thermochill for evaluation purposes. The prototype that is under test sports the old sixteen millimetre fan spacing; however, since then the fan spacing has changed to twenty millimetres. In essence, any temperature results displayed in this build will be voided to the changes outlined above. However we hope that it should at least give you, the reader, an idea of the performance of this radiator.

MountainMods has been around for many years making cases for the more discerning of users; whom love lots of room in their cases ,for the use of air-flow or through water cooling! No one can deny that MountainMods supplies a great deal of options with their chassis. Browsing on the internet will glean many an interesting water cooling setup using these products.  Recently, MountainMods have produced a few new ranges of cases, sporting the resemblance of a ‘Borg-Cube’ however due to the advent of their newer range, such as the Monticule, Avalanche and Pedestal series, this concept has changed somewhat. The latest release is the Mountain Mods ‘Crystal Ship’ range. The easiest way to describe this would be to picture the ‘Ascension’ series, but with Acrylic panels.

Before venturing further, it is worth noting that this review would never have been completed without the cooperation of www.! They were kind enough to send various water blocks and fans for testing.  Aria is an online retailer that specializes in various motherboards and graphics cards etc. When you think of computer components, think WWW.aria.co.ukaria.co.uk

Thermochill PA140.3 Specifications

Mountain Mods Crystal Ship Specifications

Component List Specifications

Hardware:

Water Cooling Specifications

Whilst essentially this article is a review, it is also a build log as well as a guide for, (1) assembling the case and (2)  building a water cooling system! It is worth noting that since technology rapidly advances, throughout the build there may be a few slight alterations.

List of Case Parts

Frame Section:

• Base Plate
• Front Aluminium Frame (to hold the front panel)
• Rear Aluminium Panel
• Two Cross Struts
• Two Motherboard Trays
• Two packs of brass Motherboard stand-off screws
• Two sets of 3.5″ Bay holders
• One 5.25″ bay holder (fits 5x 5.25″ devices…………in this configuration only)
• One pack of Small Tapered Assembly Screws (STAS  screws)
• One pack of 6/32 screws
• One pack of castor wheels 4 castors in total
• Power on/Reset Switches
• Two LED’s with leads to the motherboard for HDD and Power on
• Pack of Thumb Screws for the rear panel motherboard and PSU mounting.

Acrylic Panel Section:

• Front Panel (Dark Smokey Grey)
• Two Side Panels (Dark Smokey Grey)
• Top Panel with 140mm Fan holes (Dark Smokey Grey)
• Pack of Black Hexagonal screws (BHS)
• Pack of silver Locking nuts (to mount the 5.25 bays)
• Two acrylic PSU Covering plates
• Four Acrylic feet (these are optional to replace the castors)

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Assembling the MountainMods Crystal Ship

Frame Section

Before assembly it would be prudent to use a solid work-desk, with either a thick dust-sheet or blanket over the surface to prevent any potential scratches on the aluminium and the acrylic panels.

• Select the base panel and orient it so that the small catches at the side face you. Note the screw holes upon the base panel are of differing lengths. The side that has the holes at shorter intervals is the FRONT panel, the rear has the longer spacing.

  

• Select the rear panel and simply slot the base plate into the rear panel. Note: the catches or ‘lugs’ of the base plate should fit INSIDE the rear panel. If they are correctly aligned, the inner screw holes of the base plate should be visible from the side panel screw openings.

Base Plate	Base Connecting Joint	Base and Back Panel Connected

• Use a Small Tapered Assembly Screw (STAS) to attach the rear panel to the base plate, and then re-orient the whole unit 90 degrees in order to install the second screw. Then turn the panels around and repeat the process for the other side. NOTE: it would be prudent NOT to install the screws TIGHTLY due to a later procedure in the build. Repeat the process for the front panel/frame
  

STAS Screw	STAS installtion	Ninety Degree STAS install

Front-Back Panels Joined	STAS Installation Closeup

• At this point the Cross Struts need to be installed. Earlier in the build the STAS screws were left slightly loose due to the installation of these cross-pieces.  Simply insert the component inside the corner of the front and back panels. The loose screws allow the panels to move slightly in order to get this cross-bar installed.

• Once the Cross Struts are installed, again using the STAS screws then it is time to move around the frame tightening all the screws (sixteen in total) DO this ONLY when sure of all the positions of the parts are correct. The next task to make the base unit a little more secure, the 6/32 screws need to be installed.

Location of 6/32 Screws

• Now that the framework is completed, it is time to sit back and review the frame as a whole. This is a great opportunity to ‘think ahead’ and to plan (if applicable) where the lighting will be installed.

Case Angle 1	Angle 2	Angle 3	Angle 4

• At this point the motherboard trays will need to be installed in order to ascertain where all the electronics and water cooling pumps, tubing and blocks should be placed. To do this the brass motherboard stand offs need to be screwed onto the trays. It is worth noting that there are two trays on this particular model due to it being able to contain two fully equipped computers inside of one case. When installing the motherboard trays, make sure that they are secured by using four thumbscrews at the rear of the case and the additional screw inside to stabilize the system board tray.
  

Motherboard Tray	Motherboard Standoffs	Tray Installed

Motherboard Screws	Motherboard Tray Safety Latch

• With the basic framework completed, now it’s time to install either the castors or the acrylic feet. It is worth the extra investment of the feet if you plan to put the case on top of a desk (to cut down on the build up of dust).  Using the casters when the case in on a desk  could result in a chance your chassis could inadvertently roll off the desk. This prototype did not come with the required screws, so some improvising was needed in order to install the UV acrylic feet.

• As stated earlier, one should think about where the lighting would be placed in the chassis.  This time, twelve inch UV lighting was actually placed within the frame itself.  The trick to doing lighting is that when viewed at a certain angle, the source of the light should not be seen.  What you should see is where the light strikes a component. To do this, the inverters were placed at the aluminium rear panel and wire clamps installed into the framework.

Wire Clamps	Wire Clamps Installed	Inverter Installation

• Throughout this build, all the cables have been sleeved to give the system a neater experience. Now that the framework and the lighting have been installed, it is time to start thinking about the placement of the water cooling parts. The next procedure is to build the 5.25 inch bays. This can be achieved by installing four STAS screws and simply screwing the three pieces that make up the drive bays together. Then simply insert the completed bays into the front panel (when installed).

• Normally at this point all the electronics would be installed, however for this build guide/review, the acrylic panels will be installed in order to demonstrate the MountainMods case.

Acrylic Section

Once again throughout this build, care must be taken not to scratch the acrylic.  Make sure all sharp sharp objects are placed well away from the panels and only used when needed.

• The screws needed to install the Acrylic panels are the black hexagonal or the alen-key type as some reffer them.  The first panel that needs to be installed is the front panel so the default power on/reset switches, the power-on switch, and hard drive activity LED can be installed.  Also the THERMOCHILL PA 140.3 radiator needs to be mounted at this time. To attach the front panel into the front aluminium frame, simply insert a Black Hexagonal Screw (BHS) into the hole, after aligning it with the corresponding screw hole in the framework. Note: simply insert the BHS screw and with a few twists of the alan key, simply twist until it is one third of the way in. This allows you to position the rest of the panel and align the corresponding holes up accordingly. Once all BHS screws are in the right postion for the selected panel then simply work your way around the panel and tighten up the screws.
  

Black Hexagonol Screws (BHS)	BHS Install with Alan-Key	Side Panel Installation

Once the front panel has been completed then fit the drive bays using the same ‘BHS’ screws and the enclosed nuts.  Simply tighten the bolts by gently placing the nut on the inside of the case, inserting the screw through the drive bays and the acrylic front panel, then into the retaining washer and nut. Once this is done, hold the nut using a pair of pliers and use the alan-key to tighten the bolt. Of course on a full build, titems like the DVD writers and fan controllers would be added first. Repeat the procedure outlined above with the rest of the bolts to hold the drive bays securely.  Here there are two matrix Orbitals installed for reference. The masking tape is used to cover the screens in order to prevent damage.

• At this point, the radiators normally would be installed before any other panels.  However, due to the nature of this build guide it will not be completed until later. A note on the panels: though they are acrylic (smokey grey version) they also have an unusual lustre (a shine) to them which really adds to the overall case effect. Once the front panel is installed to the front aluminium frame, you can tell that there is no need to purchase FAN grills as these are built in (this is an optional extra and is worth the extra price).  It is advisable to install the power/reset switches in addtion to that of the LED’s needed at thi point. To install these, simply take off the retaining nut and insert the components into the holes of the case. Once done, screw on the nut again so in essence the front acrylic panel is between the switch and the nut.
  

Power On Switch	Reset Button	Switches Installed

• The next step is to install the rest of the side panels. The side panels themselves come with a brown backing paper which must  be peeled off before use.

Top Panel	Top Panel Paper Off	Top Panel Paper Clear

• Repeat the process that was done on the front panel for the side panels and the top panel, eventually you will be rewarded with a spectacular case such as this:

Case Angle 1	Angle 2	Angle 3

Case Angle 4	Angle 5	Shiny Top Panel

Thoughts on the case so far

 

The chassis has been very easy to build, so much so that a nine year old child could build the framework without much supervision. The only real issue being that the frame work needs to be micro adjusted in order to line up the holes correctly with the acrylic panels. Whilst working on this case build, it was apparent that the acrylic panels tend to attract dust motes like a magnet. In the final version of this case, a cloth and/or a dust sheet needs to be bundled. Note that the front panel configuration is only ONE of many choices available and are selectable within the Mountain Mods main web site. However, one could not help but feel the framework being a little flimsy until the acrylic panels are attached. However, this could simply be the product of an aluminium frame, which is a good thing due to the weight. However, when the acrylic panels are added then the weight of this case becomes a monster! Having mentioned the weight issue of acrylic, this is not the type of case you would tote around to a LAN party! This is the type of case you show off to your friends and let them stand back with awe!

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Electronics and Water Cooling Assembly

 

To truly test the case and review how well it is designed, it’s necessary to install the electronics and water cooling components. One can not give an objective and reliable viewpoint of a chassis until this has been done. So in this respect gilgameshreviews has set a first.

To begin this mammoth task all the acrylic panels will need to be stripped off, except the front section. Of course, in a real life build these acrylic panels would not have been assembled anyway due to the electronics and cooling needing to be installed.

• Once the front panel is installed, install either the default power switches, or in this case the customised Vendel buttons. The wiring of these is rather straight forward. Two of the leads eventually lead (pardon the pun) to the power on section of the system board, the other to the power LED. Simply repeat for the reset and Hard Drive activity light. The actual installation of the switches is exactly the same as the defualt ones.

Switch Angle 1	Switch Angle 2

• This section is dedicated to the installation of the THERMOCHILL PA140.3 radiator. There are two ways of mounting this radiator. The first is to mount the fans onto the radiator then the other side of the fans to the chassis. This is achieved by using case-to-fan and then fan-to-radiator screws. The second type is by using a straight through screw called a case-to-radiator bolt. The screw type needed is determined if an ‘open’ or ‘closed’ cornered fan is used.
  

Case Position	Thermochill PA 120.3/140.3 Compared	Thermochill PA 140.3 Radiator/ Side View

• Once the radiator and the front case switches are installed then the electronics can be added, this is a temporary measure in order to determine exactly where the tubing will be placed, and the lengths of tubing needed. Once cut and measured then the elctronics can be removed in order to install the water cooling.
  

Electronics and Water Cooling Installation

Below is an image of all the major components used in this build. Due to time constraints a single water cooling loop shall be installed, cooling the CPU only. Once again, it is with thanks to www.Specialtech.co.uk whom provided the water cooling parts and to DFI for providing the system board.  All electronics can be obtained from aria.co.uk

• Note – A good idea before installing the electronics would be to cover the front acrylic panel with masking tape to prevent any damage or scratches. It would not be a good idea to scratch the acrylic panels and ruin all the hard work done so far, now would it? Use only masking tape, as any other type would leave a very messy and sticky residue, spoiling the case effect.

• Install the electronics, I.E. the motherboard and graphics cards as usual, but do NOT install the hard drives yet. The reason for this will become apparent later. Note that all of the barbs used in the water cooling section are copper plated, which creates a nice interesting effect.

• Once the tubing has been cut to size REMOVE the motherboard tray containing all the major components and install the water cooling loop. Of course this is provided that at least a twelve hour leak test of the individual components has been performed!  A full water cooling guide can be found here, at www.gilgameshreviews.com/index.php

• Traditionaly with the U2UFO series of Mountain Mods cases, the hard disk drive would be installed at the front right.  However, with the  included 3.5 bay plates being designed to accommodate a 120mm fan only, the the most prudent place to install the the hard drives and indeed the pumps, would be on the back panel where there are holes for 120mm fans. However the fans do need to be installed first, into the back panel. On this build, three top of the range Noctua P12 fans were used. These are very expensive but are noted for being the best of the best in the 120mm fan range.

Noctua Box	Noctua Fan Blades Close up	Noctua Fans

• Once the noctuas are installed, then then we can begin on the water cooling section.  The reason for this is that the 3.5 inch bays screw onto an existing 120mm fan. Below shows the installation of the pumps and the hard disk drive.

Pump and HDD install	Second Angle of Pump Install

• As shown, the reservoirs have been installed onto the sides of the 5.25 inch bays. The model used are of the Swiftech MicroRes type.There is a new version of this model available, however no real difference can be discerned apart from that of the extra output barb.

• The next series of photos shows the case with all the electronics installed. Note, in this case (pardon the pun) wire management is an not really an issue,  any messy wires can be hidden between the two motherboard trays. The only requirement is that all the cables should be sleeved in black. This combined with the smokey grey panels serves to hide any errant cable.

Case Powered On	Top View Powered Off	Top View Powered On

To CPU	Side View Before Cable Tidy	Customised Power Switches

• Due to the Matrix Orbital Installation(s), there were not enough 5.25 inch bays left for mounting of the fan controllers.  The controllers themsleves were installed INSIDE of the case, so as to have a common place for ALL of the fan power cables.

Fan Controllers/ Before Cable Sleeving	Rear of Matrix Orbitals

• Nearing the completion of this section of the review the lower of the Matrix Orbitals became faulty, as such there is now a space in the final build, until a replacement arrives.

• Due to Time contraints in this review, there was not time to complete the second and third water cooling loops. However these will be  added to this article once completed.

Acrylic Reflection	Panel Diffusing Light	Full Case

Thoughts on the case

The chassis frame as previously stated is very easy to put together.  Space is not an issue with a maximum of three and possibly FOUR water cooling loops being able to be installed. The smokey grey panels are a nice touch especially coupled with any form of lighting.  Most people who ‘pimp’ their computer with all the latest lighting ‘mods’ tend to over or under do the job. With the final result either looking like a fairground attraction or looking like Tim-Henman and his gloomy looks after loosing a tennis match for England……again!  The secret with this case is to try and make the interior of the case as BRIGHT as possible, as the tinted acrylic panels dim the light to an acceptable level!   Done correctly, the final product has a classy almost sexy look.

During the installation of the PSU, extreme care must be taken as the weight of the PSU can and DOES slightly bend the aluminium back panel. This is due to the weight of the PSU and four screws not being able to take the load. A suggestion to fix this is to attach a bracket to the PSU areas to help the back panel spread the weight of the Power Supply Unit out.  Also, if the lowest PSU slot is being used, inserting a little foam padding underneath the PSU would fill the slight gap between the PSU and the bottom plate of the case.

The ability to add two or possibly three 140mm based radiators, plus a extra 120.3 is a great boon. Should this case be used for air cooling then there is room for eleven fans in total. However, this case is designed from the ground up with water cooling in mind and it would be a waste to simply purchase this case for air cooling only. Water cooling is what this case is aimed at.

---

Thermochill PA140.3 Prototype ONE Radiator

 

This Prototype was kindly obtained from Steve Verity the former owner of over-clock and Thermochill. However due to health issues he had to sell the business to Rob of Watercoolinguk and Paul from XSPC.  The sample obtained was the first prototype using the 16mm fan spacing. However due to an industry standard it was advised to change the fan spacing from  16mm to a more common 20mm format.   Thermochill has enjoyed a long time in the limelight, clearly outperforming or equalling the competition to such a degree that some of  the ‘die-hard’ water cooling enthusiasts prefer them over anything else despite the price.

Since the PA range of radiators, Thermochill’s quality and performance has consistantly improved, we hope it continues to do so. (It would also be good if the radiators continue to be made in the UK. There are many radiators out there that are made in china and are much cheaper, but in some cases are vastly inferior. Some radiator companies claim to have their products made in Europe, but are actually made in China.   Thermochill seems to have stuck to their principles through the years and constantly produces quality radiators at a competitive price.  However, one of the biggest complaints about Thermochill is the rather poor paint work on their products. So it would be interesting to see if this changes in the future.

Lastly, just like the 80mm fan version, it would be nice if the 120mm variety will be obsolete within a few years time. The king is dead, long live the king!

A few short months ago the images and sizes where posted on gilgameshreviews at gilgameshreviews.com/forums/showthread.php however below are a few more to wet your thirst.

Thermochill PA140.3 Dimensions

The final dimensions of the radiator may change slightly in part due to the shift from 16mm to 20mm fan spacing

Width	Breadth	Length

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Testing At Default Settings

 

Equipment Used:

• Core I7 CPU 920 C0 Stepping
• Corsair DDR3 1866 @9-9-9-24
• DFI Lanparty DK x58 T3eH6 Mainboard
• Liang DDC Ultra Pump (alphacool PLexitop)
• All barbs copper plated 1/2″ ID High flow
• D-Tek Fusion 1 CPU block with 1366 kit (Copper HK water cool block did not arrive on time)
• XSPC UV Blue tubing 1/2″ ID
• DangerDen Universal Northbridge Block
• Xigmatech 3x 140mm fans at 60CFM ( further testing with Sharkoon fans will be added later)
• Prime 95 using Small FFT’s
• Realtemp 3.0
• Mountain Mods Crystal Ship Case
• Akasa fan controller
• Distilled water

Initial BIOS Settings Used:

CPU Features Sub Menu
Set VR Current Limit Max………………..Disabled
Thermal Management Control………….Disabled
EIST Function………………………………Disabled
CxE Function……………………………….Disabled
Execute Disable Bit……………………….Disabled
Virtualisation Technology……………….Disabled
***** Logical Processor Setting *****
Intel HT Technology………………………Enabled
Active Processor Cores…………………..All

DRAM Timing Sub Menu
Memory Control Setting………………….Auto
Memory LowGap…………………………..1563M
DRAM Command Rate…………………….2N
CAS Latency Time (tCL)………………….9
RAS# to CAS# Delay (tRP)………………9
RAS# Precharge (tRP)……………………9
Precharge Delay (tRAS)………………….24
REF to ACT Delay (tRFC)…………………Auto
Write to Pre Delay (tWR)………………..Auto
Rank Write to Read (tWTR)…………….Auto
ACT to ACT Delay (tRRD)……………….Auto
Row Cycle Time (tRC)……………………Auto
Read CAS# Precharge (tRTP)………….Auto
Four ACT WIN Time (tFAW)……………Auto

Voltage Setting Sub Menu
O.C. Shut Down Free…………………….Enabled
CPU VID Control…………………………..Auto
Power Saving………………………………STD
Super VID…………………………………..OFF
Vcore Auto PSI…………………………….Disabled
OCP………………………………………….140A
DRAM Bus Voltage………………………..1.56
DRAM PWM Switch Frequency…………Nominal Frequency
DRAM PWM Phase Control……………..2 Phase Operation
CPU VTT Special Add……………………Auto
CPU VTT Voltage…………………………Auto
VTT PWM Switch Frequency…………..Nominal Frequency
VTT PWM Phase Control………………..2 Phase Operation
CPU PLL Voltage…………………………..1.80v
IOH/ICH 1.1v Voltage…………………….1.11v
IOH Analog Voltage……………………….1.10v
ICH 1.5 Voltage……………………………1.5v
ICH 1.05v Voltage…………………………1.05v
DIMM 1/2 DQ/DQSTB Bus VREF………..0%
DIMM 3/4 DQ/DQSTB Bus VREF………..0%
DIMM 5/6 DQ/DQSTB Bus VREF………..0%
DIMM 1/2 ADDR/CMD Bus VREF………..0%
DIMM 3/4 ADDR/CMD Bus VREF………..0%
DIMM 5/6 ADDR/CMD Bus VREF………..0%
CPU Core DQ/DQSTB Bus VREF………..0%
CPU QPI Drive Strength………………….Normal
IOH QPI Drive Strength………………….Normal

Genie Main Menu (Cont)
Exit Setup Shut Down…………………..Mode2
O.C. Fail Retry Counter…………………Enabled
O.C. Fail CMOS Reloaded………………Disabled
PPM Function……………………………..Enabled
Turbo Mode Function……………………Enabled

x 1 Core Max Turbo Ratio………………22x
x 2 Core Max Turbo Ratio………………21x
x 3Core Max Turbo Ratio……………….21x
x 4 Core Max Turbo Ratio………………21x

CPU Non-Turbo Clock Ratio……………20x

*BCLK/UCLR/QPI Controller Settings*

QPI Control Settings……………………Enabled
QPI Link Fast Mode……………………..Enabled
QPI Frequency GT/sec…………………Auto
CPU Base Clock (BCLK)……………….133
Boot Up CPU Base Clock………………Auto
PCIE Clock……………………………….100MHz
DRAM Frequency……………………….BLCK*10 1330MHZ
Uncore Frequency……………………..BLCK*22 2926MHZ

CPU Spread Spectrum………………..Disabled
PCIE Spread Spectrum……………….Disabled

Testing Method

The ambient air temperature was measured after one hour of Prime95 at 100% CPU usage. This allows for the computer and the ambient air to heat up properly. As the processor was left to cool down for 30 mintues BETWEEN runs the ambient air temperature was then taken. Aftwards a true run was used. This means that Prime 95 was again run for an hour and only then was the final result noted down. All results were then duplicated for fan speed I.E fans Full-CPU idle and Full. All results were taken from the HOTTEST core only! Ambient Air temperature on default testing was 24.5 degrees C. Also bare in mind that the CPU and Northbridge blocks are on the same loop.

CPU Idle/Fans Low	CPU Full Load/Fans Low	CPU IDLE Fans High	CPU Full Load/Fans High

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Testing Using Undervolting

 

In this session it was deemed appropriate to measure the temperature when under-volting the CPU.  The standard BIOS settings usually apply more CPU voltage than needed.  As a result the possibility of lower temperatures will need  to be investigated.

1.008 volts:

 

Genie BIOS Settings 2.66Gigahertz

CPU Features Sub Menu
Set VR Current Limit Max………………..Disabled
Thermal Management Control………….Disabled
EIST Function………………………………Disabled
CxE Function……………………………….Disabled
Execute Disable Bit……………………….Disabled
Virtualisation Technology……………….Disabled
***** Logical Processor Setting *****
Intel HT Technology………………………Enabled
Active Processor Cores…………………..All

DRAM Timing Sub Menu
Memory Control Setting………………….Auto
Memory LowGap…………………………..1563M
DRAM Command Rate…………………….2N
CAS Latency Time (tCL)………………….9
RAS# to CAS# Delay (tRP)………………9
RAS# Precharge (tRP)……………………9
Precharge Delay (tRAS)………………….24
REF to ACT Delay (tRFC)…………………Auto
Write to Pre Delay (tWR)………………..Auto
Rank Write to Read (tWTR)…………….Auto
ACT to ACT Delay (tRRD)……………….Auto
Row Cycle Time (tRC)……………………Auto
Read CAS# Precharge (tRTP)………….Auto
Four ACT WIN Time (tFAW)……………Auto

Voltage Setting Sub Menu
O.C. Shut Down Free…………………….Enabled
CPU VID Control…………………………..1.0125
Power Saving………………………………STD
Super VID…………………………………..OFF
Vcore Auto PSI…………………………….Disabled
OCP………………………………………….140A
DRAM Bus Voltage………………………..1.56
DRAM PWM Switch Frequency…………Nominal Frequency
DRAM PWM Phase Control……………..2 Phase Operation
CPU VTT Special Add……………………Auto
CPU VTT Voltage…………………………Auto
VTT PWM Switch Frequency…………..Nominal Frequency
VTT PWM Phase Control………………..2 Phase Operation
CPU PLL Voltage…………………………..1.80v
IOH/ICH 1.1v Voltage…………………….1.11v
IOH Analog Voltage……………………….1.10v
ICH 1.5 Voltage……………………………1.5v
ICH 1.05v Voltage…………………………1.05v
DIMM 1/2 DQ/DQSTB Bus VREF………..0%
DIMM 3/4 DQ/DQSTB Bus VREF………..0%
DIMM 5/6 DQ/DQSTB Bus VREF………..0%
DIMM 1/2 ADDR/CMD Bus VREF………..0%
DIMM 3/4 ADDR/CMD Bus VREF………..0%
DIMM 5/6 ADDR/CMD Bus VREF………..0%
CPU Core DQ/DQSTB Bus VREF………..0%
CPU QPI Drive Strength………………….Normal
IOH QPI Drive Strength………………….Normal

Genie Main Menu (Cont)
Exit Setup Shut Down…………………..Mode2
O.C. Fail Retry Counter…………………Enabled
O.C. Fail CMOS Reloaded………………Disabled
PPM Function……………………………..Enabled
Turbo Mode Function……………………Enabled

x 1 Core Max Turbo Ratio………………22x
x 2 Core Max Turbo Ratio………………21x
x 3Core Max Turbo Ratio……………….21x
x 4 Core Max Turbo Ratio………………21x

CPU Non-Turbo Clock Ratio……………20x

*BCLK/UCLR/QPI Controller Settings*

QPI Control Settings……………………Enabled
QPI Link Fast Mode……………………..Enabled
QPI Frequency GT/sec…………………Auto
CPU Base Clock (BCLK)……………….133
Boot Up CPU Base Clock………………Auto
PCIE Clock……………………………….100MHz
DRAM Frequency……………………….BLCK*10 1330MHZ
Uncore Frequency……………………..BLCK*22 2926MHZ

CPU Spread Spectrum………………..Disabled
PCIE Spread Spectrum……………….Disabled

Fans Low/ Cpu Idle	Fans Low/CPU Full Load	Fans High/CPU Idle	Fans High/CPU Full Load

4 Gigahertz Overclock

A 4 Ghz overclock was used to better gauge the performance of this radiator under more intensive conditions.

Genie BIOS Settings 4 Gigahertz

CPU Features Sub Menu
Set VR Current Limit Max………………..Disabled
Thermal Management Control………….Disabled
EIST Function………………………………Disabled
CxE Function……………………………….Disabled
Execute Disable Bit……………………….Disabled
Virtualisation Technology……………….Disabled
***** Logical Processor Setting *****
Intel HT Technology………………………Enabled
Active Processor Cores…………………..All

DRAM Timing Sub Menu
Memory Control Setting………………….Auto
Memory LowGap…………………………..1563M
DRAM Command Rate…………………….2N
CAS Latency Time (tCL)………………….9
RAS# to CAS# Delay (tRP)………………9
RAS# Precharge (tRP)……………………9
Precharge Delay (tRAS)………………….24
REF to ACT Delay (tRFC)…………………Auto
Write to Pre Delay (tWR)………………..Auto
Rank Write to Read (tWTR)…………….Auto
ACT to ACT Delay (tRRD)……………….Auto
Row Cycle Time (tRC)……………………Auto
Read CAS# Precharge (tRTP)………….Auto
Four ACT WIN Time (tFAW)……………Auto

Voltage Setting Sub Menu
O.C. Shut Down Free…………………….Enabled
CPU VID Control…………………………..1.3875
Power Saving………………………………STD
Super VID…………………………………..OFF
Vcore Auto PSI…………………………….Disabled
OCP………………………………………….140A
DRAM Bus Voltage………………………..1.575
DRAM PWM Switch Frequency…………Nominal Frequency
DRAM PWM Phase Control……………..2 Phase Operation
CPU VTT Special Add……………………Auto
CPU VTT Voltage…………………………1.45
VTT PWM Switch Frequency…………..Nominal Frequency
VTT PWM Phase Control………………..2 Phase Operation
CPU PLL Voltage…………………………..1.80v
IOH/ICH 1.1v Voltage…………………….1.11v
IOH Analog Voltage……………………….1.25v

ICH 1.5 Voltage……………………………1.5v
ICH 1.05v Voltage…………………………1.05v
DIMM 1/2 DQ/DQSTB Bus VREF………..0%
DIMM 3/4 DQ/DQSTB Bus VREF………..0%
DIMM 5/6 DQ/DQSTB Bus VREF………..0%
DIMM 1/2 ADDR/CMD Bus VREF………..0%
DIMM 3/4 ADDR/CMD Bus VREF………..0%
DIMM 5/6 ADDR/CMD Bus VREF………..0%
CPU Core DQ/DQSTB Bus VREF………..0%
CPU QPI Drive Strength………………….Normal
IOH QPI Drive Strength………………….Normal

Genie Main Menu (Cont)
Exit Setup Shut Down…………………..Mode2
O.C. Fail Retry Counter…………………Enabled
O.C. Fail CMOS Reloaded………………Disabled
PPM Function……………………………..Enabled
Turbo Mode Function……………………Enabled

x 1 Core Max Turbo Ratio………………22x
x 2 Core Max Turbo Ratio………………21x
x 3Core Max Turbo Ratio……………….21x
x 4 Core Max Turbo Ratio………………21x

CPU Non-Turbo Clock Ratio……………20x

*BCLK/UCLR/QPI Controller Settings*

QPI Control Settings……………………Enabled
QPI Link Fast Mode……………………..Enabled
QPI Frequency GT/sec…………………Auto
CPU Base Clock (BCLK)……………….200
Boot Up CPU Base Clock………………Auto
PCIE Clock……………………………….100MHz
DRAM Frequency……………………….BLCK*8
Uncore Frequency……………………..BLCK*16

CPU Spread Spectrum………………..Disabled
PCIE Spread Spectrum……………….Disable

 

Fans High/ CPU Idle	Fans High CPU Full Load

The temperature of 70c did seem a little high for a radiator of this size, however given the fact that the CPU block used is not designed for the core I7, then more testing needs to be carried out. This review will be appended when the new block is installed.

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Summary and Conclusion

Mountain Mods Crystal Ship:

 

An almost perfect case in every sense! The frame is well built and fits together easily. The idea that all the panels are easily replaceable is a well conceived plan. The acrylic is of very good quality and even reflects objects a little. The ‘Smokey Grey-well black’ effect has been pulled off rather well. However, there are one or two minor issues. The PSU bays need to have a better support mechanism to properly accept heavier Power Supplies without flexing the motherboard trays.  Another minor issue is that a dust sheet and/or dust cloth should be provided with this case as the acrylic panels attract dust motes like a magnet. One note about the build, all threads are of the American standard so if you are in Europe and you happen to lose any of the STAS screws during a build or a rebuild then you could potentially have a broken case until repalcement parts arrive from the USA.

 

The ability to fit four to five heavy-duty radiators is a great boon to the liquid cooling enthusiast and there is still plenty of room left over for a multitude of hard disk drives. If a user just wants to air cool, then this case is major overkill, but if you’re a water cooling enthusiast then Mountain Mods is your first stop. However, waiting for delivery on these cases is a hit and miss affair, as users have experienced a one to SIX week waiting time for delivery. So when ordering this case it would be best to do so before purchasing any other parts for a potential build.  Lastly, the sheer room for expansion and/or customization with these cases is amazing, the options are endless.! A point to remember is that this case is 18x18x24” so plenty of space is needed on your desk/floor area.

Thermochill PA140.3

Thermochill has come along way in recent years, being one of the best radiators money can buy. With sales into the thousands on a monthly basis, it’s hard not to be enthusiastic about their past performance.  Thermochill has decided to stick to the tried and tested g3/8” thread to mount the barbs, and this makes good sense.  Other companies have chosen to utilize the g1/4” thread option. Performance results on an i7 C0 stepping and the fans and the CPU block used, are about what can be expected.  With the performance results being on a par of what anyone would expect then the next issue would be that of the paintwork.  Once again the paint work is not very good. A test was carried out with a small amount of masking tape placed upon the radiator and left for a few nights. When the tape was peeled off, a certain amount of paint came away with it.  Having said that, upon investigation, the paint used is the BEST available to dissipate heat, rather than insulate the radiator, leading to a loss of performance .

Pros and Cons

Mountain Mods Crystal Ship

Pro’s

• Easy to Build (Swift Assembly)
• Light Aluminium frame
• Solid Acrylic panels
• Colour theme through out the case
• Size
• Amount of room inside of the chassis
• Amount of water cooling loops being able to fit inside
• Sheer amount of customization options available
• Able to install TWO motherboards inside of one case
• Ability to install FOUR PSU’s
• Amount of HDD mounting space
• Removable Motherboard Tray
• Can fit a PA140.3 even a future PA 140.4

Cons

• PSU’s weight needs to be better supported
  
• Delivery times (due to it being a customized case) can be long
• Case is heavy due to the acrylic panels (though the frame is light)
• American Standard threads/Screws

Thermochill PA140.3

Pro’s

• Does a good job in keeping the temperature down even at high overclocks
  
• Solid Brass/Copper design
• AT LAST standard fan spacing to match other radiators for this size
• 3/8″ inch thread barbs
• Eleven fins per inch
• Will be available in large quantities
• Mounting mechanism is straight forward
• A Solid Durable Feel to the Radiator

Cons

• Paintwork is exactly the same as previous generations of radiators

Award Section

Awards Explained: Gilgameshreviews have an easy to understand award system: There is a silver award, Editors Choice award, and the top Gold award.  The Editors choice award is where the product has scored too high to be a silver but not quite enough to be a gold. To achieve an editor’s award is a major achievement, with the gold being few and far between. To gain gold the product must be near perfect and really stand out.  Gilgameshreviews do NOT give out gold awards lightly and to get one is the finest achievement possible!

Mountain Mods Crystal Ship

MountainMods have produced an excellent product. The overall quality and attention to detail has richly deserved our prestigious gold award. Mountain Mods cases are in general a unique product, however with the acrylic side panels it has added to the overall quality and appearance. The ability to have dark acrylic and yet still keep a nice lustre is a great thing. In essence if you are sick of the off-the-shelf cases and want something unique without having to drill holes, then this is the case for you.

Thermochill PA140.3

Giving this a final rating has been a tricky one, as with the pressure of getting this review out on time, there has been no direct comparison done between the PA140.3 and the old PA120.3.  The temperatures are very good and the build quality of the prototype used for testing has been excellent. The only reason it was not given gold award is simply for the above reasons. However, due to its scores so far it has come close to winning the much coveted gold award. Further testing with different CPU blocks geared for the i7 CPU’s will more than likely result in even better performance. The use of different fans should also have an impact on temperatures. It is also believed that possibly the radiator is not performing as well as it should due to the CPU block (D-TEK Fusion 1) being used. This review will be appended and possibly the award will be changed when further testing has been carried out.

The Thermochill PA140.3 can be purchased from www.specialtech.co.uk

 

Thanks to specialtech.co.uk for their helpful testing equipment and Hokie & Lvcoyote for the editing.