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The Thermaltake Armor A60 has proven to be an exceptional chassis during our testing and what has amazed us more than anything is that this product is in my opinion worth more than the £60 inc vat asking price. Let's recap the major points across the review for those too lazy to read it all.
Firstly, the paint work is first class and it belies the budget pricing. I expected some slightly miscoloured or patchy sections internally, or even some sharp filing on a few of the metal edges. I found none at all and I spent considerable time analysing the surfaces.
The fans are really high quality and while Thermaltake have been over enthusiastic about their rated dbA output, they are what I would consider to be high quality units. You also get three of them with the purchase, 2x 120mm and 1x 200mm. Taking an educated guess I calculate the 120mm fans are worth £5-6 each and the 200mm around £10. Lets even it out and say £20 for the included fans. Remember this isn't a £120 case, this is basically one third of the asking price on fans alone. They haven't skimped either as all the fans have removable dust filters included, as standard. Even the PSU vent has a removable dust filter.
Internally, the system is well finished and designed. The three fans work in a classic, traditional push/pull airflow methodology and you have room to add 4 more. We added one to the side panel and we were able to cool a GTX480 to almost the same standard as a Silverstone Raven 02.
Connectivity is excellent, you have ports for everything, eSATA, headphones, USB 2.0 and even USB 3.0. There is a side button to remove a primary hard drive and you can add plenty more into the spacious drive area.
Acoustically the case is superb, we measured 32db in a test environment and we were also pleased to record a complete lack of vibration problems … dampening issues are sometimes associated with a less expensive product, but this isn't something the Armor A60 suffers from. You aren't required to find a screwdriver either as it is a tool-less design throughout.
So realistically what flaws could we document? The only thing I could really say would be the drive bay locking trays. These feel really cheap and nasty and I hope in a later revision they improve the quality of the material. I would also like to see a side panel case fan as standard but I am sure this would raise the price a little.
KitGuru says: That really is all we can say, this has to be the best chassis in its price range, bar none.
Discuss in our forums or just leave a quick comment below.
holy shit batman, thats a hell of a price for a very very nice looking case. who the hell would pay £300 for a case anymore?
Hey I was just about to log off for the day and then this pops up. Thermaltake really are becoming a quality company. I never rated them years ago, but recently, the frio, their PSU reviewed here, the Contac 29. and this? great products.
Shall be ordering this when it comes out next month, thats a cert.
damn, I wasnt expecting this to be good. what a crap slogan for a case, but as an overall product it is pretty much awesome.
Not sure I like the front of it, but thats a REALLY small point considering.
out in august? shall be looking for this one, havent seen any other reviews anywhere, nice scoopage 🙂
Its hard to fault products at this price. you expect rough edges, or something wrong, but it seems to be well rounded. cant see anything missing as such. I agree, maybe the side panel fan, but its hard to justify it being a bad point, maybe if they charged 100 quid it might be an issue.
£60 for this? are they kidding me. thats a bloody good price. I was expecting a decent case from thermaltake, but they have 3 good fans? and no glowing shit all over it. I like.
Gotta hand it to Thermaltake lately, they are producing some quality products in all areas. I always liked their branded fans, really good long term products as they dont often fail. 20cm fan as standard is a hell of a deal. I paid 25 bucks for a 20cm fan last year. thats a good portion of the asking price of this case alone.
I went into this thinking it was going to be shit. saw 9/10 and thought Zardon was maybe being generous. after reading it all, seeing the attention to detail on all the areas. and the three fans as standard. As well as paintwork and internal design. its actually 10/10 I think. a 980x in it, overclocked? the noctua austrian sandwich cooler costs the same as this case !
wow KitGuru gets all the hardware really early. and you are just opened. big fan over here, the reviews are so detailed and im learning things about systems as I read your reviews. keep up the fantastic reviews KG, I love this site.
Another stunning review from Z. fab product from Thermaltake, I will bookmark this and remember to buy one for my brother next month.
Long gone are the thermaltake cases of the past. 40 crap case fans, lights everywhere. and crappily made side doors that vibrate.
This is stripped down, quality, but I dont like the side panel idea of the drive etc. thats more a server thing and we dont need that. it also ruins the look of the door.
Great review, thanks.