Thermaltake Tsunami VA3000SWA ATX Full Tower Case

The Thermaltake Tsunami Dream ATX case is a very well built and stylish case, tough and durable, the case is ideal for gamers, allows use of the Micro ATX and ATX motherboards, I have found that the case does allows for two cold cathode lights to be placed inside on the bottom of the case, the door contains two blue LED's behind the handle column, which when in low light cast a blue light over the front door panel which adds a nice touch.

the door can be locked to prevent unauthorised access, as well as the side case which is completely removable allowing access to the interior, the side case door also includes a built in alarm which can be set via BIOS to warn of unauthorized access (maybe whist playing at a LAN party).

The case is large enough to support up to four DVD-RW devices, Two floppy disk devices, and up to five HDD (Seven HDD's if placed in the floppy drive bays) devices which is a removable storage compartment, behind the front door is a 120mm fan which draws air into the pc and blasts cool air over the HDD's, their is one 92mm fan in the side case which forces air into the Processor fan and heat sink, and one 120mm fan at the top rear of the case which extracts hot air.

The front door panel has grills cut into it to allow the fan to suck some air with front door closed, the whole front fascia hinges open in the same way as the front door, allowing quick access to the back of the front fascia, makes cleaning the washable front intake filter more convenient.

The case has seven removable PCI slot covers, and includes a useful quick-lock clip, which allows you to secure your PCI device just by lifting up, inserting the card and then locking it down to clip into place. This however did not work with my ATI RADEON 2900 XT 512mb, I had to remove this feature and use old fashioned manual screws.

The case does not allow for any additional fans to be inserted which may be of a disadvantage for some users. The case also includes four retractable foot stands which can help support the case and reduce vibration, when on a hard surface.

The Floppy Disk Drive Compartment requires no tools to lock it in place, a simple flick of a latch and it will remove, the HDD compartment is also removable allowing for easier installation for a hard disk drive. (Also useful for hiding cold cathode light transformers, and cables behind).

Due to the wiring of the two front door LED's the door is restricted, so that the door can not swing open 180 Degrees (around 110 degrees) if you're interested. On top of the PC case, there is one FireWire port, two USB ports, a microphone socket and an earphone socket. These are tucked away behind a small door on the top face of the case which, is ideal for those who light their case placed onto the floor or on a low position, not ideal for those people who like to mount their case on top of their pc desk or in higher places, as you have to stand up to connect your devices, plus the fact cables are all over the top part of the PC.

Another slight problem is a ledge just below the area where the Power Supply Unit is fitted, this ledge supports the PSU, but does become a restriction when inserting a PSU, as it is non removable it has to be bent slightly to allow access or in my case I had to completely dismantle, then later re-install the top Firewire/USB port connector to allow access for the PSU. (This can cause problems for PSU with larger removable Modular connectors!) - Be careful not to force the PSU into place, and whilst installing watch carefully as in my case the ledge actual slipped inside the fan grill of the PSU nearly damaging the internal fan and components! - As for water cooling capability, I do not know a lot about this yet, but there are a few areas which can be cut out to allow access for the cooling pipes and components.

I have owned this case for around 10 months now and have found no major issues with it, I am extremely satisfied with my purchase, and only wished I had one years ago for my 2k machine, hopefully in a few years to come their will be a newer case out nearly identical to this with a few improvements as I would not hesitate to purchase again as this case exceeds my current requirements! Well worth the extra money!