Thermaltake Tower 900 Review

Thermaltake Tower 900 Review

Manufacturer: Thermaltake
UK price (as reviewed): £239.99 (inc VAT)
US price (as reviewed): TBC

Welcome to a super, epically niche, extreme premium, gargantuan case review. Or, if you'd prefer, a review of quite possibly the largest and heaviest case that we've ever reviewed here on bit-tech. If you're looking for a cheap case that's water-cooling friendly, or perhaps something that has a bit of room for a large air cooler, without a doubt the Thermaltake Tower 900 is not for you. In fact, even if you're looking for a premium case for kitting out with water-cooling hardware, you still probably won't be leaving this review in a few pages' time reaching for your wallet.


What Thermaltake has come up with here is nothing short of a humongous showcase that will undoubtedly join the halls of its forebears such as the Corsair Obsidian 900D, SilverStone TJ11, a number of models from the likes of Lian Li, CaseLabs and Mountain Mods too. The Tower 900 is an absolute monster, reaching to a towering 752mm tall. Unlike your average case, though, it isn't nice and slim, extending to some decidedly square dimensions of 483mm deep and 423mm wide.


That's well over 150 litres, or 40 gallons for you US folk, in volume. By comparison, the sizeable Cooler Master MasterCase Pro 5 has a volume of around 60 litres; big for an ATX tower, but nothing compared to this.


Placing the case on your desk would likely result in the need for a ladder to reach the front panel, which sits at the top of this portable air conditioning unit-esque case. The roof could certainly do with jazzing up a bit, but despite its huge bulk, the Tower 900 is actually quite attractive thanks to the extensive use of glass. There are two colours to choose from - white and black. The former may indeed be mistaken for white goods of some sort, although the black version that we're looking at here could pass as some form of hi-fi stack.


It's unbelievably heavy too, coming in at just under 25kg, which is exaggerated by its bulk. A sizeable chunk of this mass comes from three enormous tempered glass windows, which grace the front and sides of the case and are held on with large solid metal chrome-finished thumbscrews. There's also a pack of standoffs for the glass panels in the box too, allowing you to raise them out from the case. Apart from the glass, the roof and sides are made up of huge mesh panels, with the roof sporting two large filter-backed vents and pop-open vent panels on the side of the case. These release by pushing in two latches at the rear of the case up top.


Despite using enough glass to fill the windows in your average family car, the Tower 900 does have a somewhat reasonable price tag. It might not have the aluminium finish of the Lian Li PC-D888, but then at £250 it costs precisely half as much. Apart from the glass, though, things are fairly basic and classic Thermaltake, looking and feeling similar to the likes of the Thermaltake Core G3 with black steel and basic features such as removable magnetic dust filters in the base and rear and your usual front panel ports and buttons.

Specifications

• Dimensions (mm) 423 x 483 x 752 (W x D x H)
  
• Material Steel, plastic, tempered glass
  
• Available colours Black or white
  
• Weight 25.5kg
  
• Front panel Power, reset, 4 x USB 3.0, stereo, microphone
  
• Drive bays 1 x external 5.25in, 6 x 3.5in/2.5in, 2 x 2.5in
  
• Form factor(s) E-ATX. ATX, micro-ATX, mini-ITX
  
• Cooling 4 x 140mm/120mm left side fan mounts (fans not included), 4 x 140mm/120mm right side fan mounts (fans not included), 2 x 140mm/120mm roof fan mounts (2 x 140mm fans included), 2 x 140mm/120mm rear fan mounts (fans not included) 1 x 120mm rear fan mount (fan included), 2 x 140mm/120mm roof fan mounts (fans not included)
  
• CPU cooler clearance 260mm
  
• Maximum graphics card length 400mm
  
• Extras Removable dust filters, USB extension cables