Thermaltake The Tower 200 – World Exclusive First Review

We took a close look at Thermaltake's The Tower 200 at Computex 2023 and were mightily impressed with what we saw. This compact chassis supports a huge graphics card and also puts the emphasis on airflow, rather than glass and RGB lighting. To top things off KitGuru has a World's First Exclusive review.

Timestamps

00:00 Start
00:30 Tower Options
01:13 Tower 200
02:02 Removing the panels / up close
03:17 GPU support / Micro ATX ?
04:13 A look at two boards – Q&A
07:22 Mini ITX into the Tower 200
08:48 Micro ATX into the Tower 200
10:25 Storage capabilities / LCD Panel
12:10 Another TT delivery / something a bit unusual.
15:46 The TT PSU for the build – install
17:40 LCD Screen accessory install
18:20 The TT Cooler install
20:24 Case reassembly
20:47 Thermal and acoustic noise tests
22:23 Leo’s Closing Thoughts

In our video we show a number of Thermaltake products – here are links to those items

• The Tower 200 Snow Mini Chassis HERE
• LCD Panel Kit for The Tower 200 Snow HERE
• TOUGHLIQUID 280 ARGB Sync All-In-One Liquid Cooler HERE
• TOUGHFAN 14 Pro High Static Pressure PC Cooling Fan (2-Fan Pack) HERE
• TOUGHPOWER GF A3 Gold 1200W – TT Premium Edition HERE
• TOUGHRAM XG RGB D5 Memory DDR5 6200MT/s 32GB (16GB x2) white HERE

Main features (from Thermaltake's website)

Tiny but Mighty
As a new addition to The Tower series, The Tower 200 Snow has the same contours as its predecessors, allowing for an unobstructed view of the system components. The Tower 200 Snow can accommodate a 4090 GPU, a standard-size power supply up to 220mm, and a 280mm radiator for optimal performance. In addition to the two pre-installed fans, one 140mm at the top and one 140mm at the rear, you can also mount a 120/140mm fan on top of the power cover. These features allow for easy integration of the latest PC hardware without compromising on the building experience, making The Tower 200 Snow an excellent choice for those looking to expand their hardware capabilities.

4090 GPU Fits in Perfectly!
The Tower 200 Snow Case is fully equipped to accommodate all of your essential components, including the latest high-performance graphics cards such as the 4090 GPU. Besides, it can support graphics cards up to 380mm in length, providing you with the flexibility to choose the best graphics card for your needs. Rest assured that The Tower 200 Snow Case has got you covered, no matter what GPU you decide to use.

Classic Vertical Body Design
The Tower 200 Snow retains the iconic contours of its predecessors, with a vertical body design that allows the chassis to have a smaller footprint, providing flexibility and minimizing obstructions to your gaming and workspace.

Supports up to a 280mm Radiator on the Right
Despite its small size, The Tower 200 Snow delivers exceptional cooling performance without any compromise. It supports up to a 280mm radiator on the right side, which effectively reduces the temperature inside the chassis and maintains optimal system performance.

Specification:

• Motherboard support: Mini-ITX
• Power supply support: ATX.
• Expansion slots: 3
• Included fans: 1x 140mm CT140 top exhaust, 1x 140mm rear exhaust (CT140 1,500rpm)
• Fan mounts: 2x 120mm/140mm right side, 2x 120/140mm rear, 1x 120mm/140mm power cover, 1x 120mm/140mm top.
• Radiator mounts: 240mm/280mm right side, 120mm/140mm top.
• 5.25-inch optical drive bays: None.
• Internal drive bays: 2x 3.5-inch/2.5-inch, 2x 2.5-inch.
• Front I/O ports: 2x USB 3.0 Type-A, 1x USB 3.2 Type-C, audio.
• Dimensions: 500mm H x 280mm D x 300mm W.

Testing

To put this case through its cooling paces we will be using a test system consisting of an Intel Core i9-11900K, RTX 4080 and an SSD. This system allows us to produce a substantial amount of heat and effectively test the Thermaltake The Tower 200‘s cooling capabilities.

Test System:

• Processor: Intel Core i9-11900K
• CPU Cooler: Thermaltake ToughLiquid 280 ARGB Sync
• Motherboard: MSI MAG B560M Mortar WiFi
• Memory: 16GB Thermaltake ToughRAM RGB Racing Green DDR4-3600
• Graphics card: Gigabyte RTX 4080 Gaming OC 16GB
• Power supply: Thermaltake ToughPower GF3 A3 1200W Gold
• SSD: Kingston KC2500 M.2 NVMe
• OS: Windows 11

The Tower 200 has a great many mesh panels that promise decent airflow and happily this was borne out in our thermal testing as the cooling performance is very satisfactory. As you will hear in our video, when the fans run fast the noise levels can get overwhelming so you will need to balance noise against cooling.

Closing Thoughts

We are pleased to report that our positive first impressions of The Tower 200 have ended up as our final verdict, without any nasty surprises during the review process.

The biggest oddity we discovered is the way this Mini-ITX chassis can actually accommodate a Micro-ATX motherboard. We consider this this to be a positive point as it increases your choice of hardware significantly and likely reduces cost. It would come as no surprise to us if Thermaltake launches The Tower 300 or 400 in the nearish future.

The other point to consider is the support for an enormous graphics card. It is surprisingly easy to install the hardware and the design of The Tower 200 ensures excellent cooling. On the other hand if you decide to use a more modest GPU the case is supplied with banking plates that keep the interior looking fine.

When you build with a small GPU in a large case the finished PC always looks a bit peculiar and we were impressed that The Tower 200 solves this conundrum.

You can buy the Thermaltake The Tower 200 for £109.99 HERE.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

Pros:

• Heavily perforated for air flow and fully filtered.
• Tool-free panel removal.
• Three shades of green are coming, along with White and Black at launch.
• Supports a full length graphics card.

Cons:

• Rear I/O connections on the top are slightly awkward.
• The cable for the rear fan requires careful routing.
• CPU socket cut-out in motherboard tray is out of place.
• The Tower 200 is advertised as Mini-ITX but actually supports Micro-ATX.

KitGuru says: Thermaltake's The Tower 200 shows you can build a high end gaming PC in a compact chassis.

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