| Rosewill THOR V2 Full-Tower Computer Case |  |
| Reviews - Featured Reviews: Cases | ||||||||
| Written by Doug Dallam | ||||||||
| Monday, 08 August 2011 | ||||||||
Page 5 of 6
Detailed Interior FeaturesLet’s start with the PCB mount for the front panel. I’ve taken the top off and this is what the PCB mount looks like. It seems to me that you can unscrew four screws and remove the entire pcb. That’s really nice. It’s nice because my last case had one of the USB banks fail and there was no way to get into that case to fix it (or in my case, 'tard it up worse than it already was), unless you wanted to drill out rivets. Having better things to do than drill rivets on a computer case, this easy access design is refreshing.
Another aspect I didn’t much care for was the card reader or accessory port mount. It’s where in the olden days a floppy drive would mount. First, you only get one cover. Second, the mount provided didn’t match the holes on my card reader. I ended up ditching the THOR’s mount and using regular 3.5” rail mounts. The problem then was that the card reader was too far recessed to look nice (but not so far that it was unusable). This bothered me so I called up a friend who uses the Cooler Master HAF X and asked him, for comparison, if he had any trouble. You see, I had no trouble mounting the same card reader in my previous case, the Cooler Master 830. In a way, his explanation was comforting in that this isn’t a Rosewill design flaw. He reported he had the exact same problem with the HAF X and that his reader was recessed to a point he could not use the cover. He said he ended up using one of the full covers and just removing it when he needs to use his card reader. So here’s an image of the card reader mounted in the THOR V2 case. You can see it’s about 3/8" recessed. It’s not a deal breaker.
More inspiring were the steel hard drive carriages that slide in with a click and are easy to use. The drives mount sideways with the cable ends pointing to the cable storage side panel area behind the motherboard.
The drive carriages come with beefy, soft rubber dampers and mounting pins. As you can see, they mount from the bottom, which is standard. You can also see outlined the 2.5 inch mount.
Looking at the bottom of the case, outlined are the rubber power supply rests and the bottom 140/120mm fan mount.
Let’s get to some measurements. As previously mentioned, this case is roomy. How roomy? Really roomy! Let’s check it out. First of all, Rosewill’s specifications tell us that you get a full 12.99” of video card space. Remember, since the drive bays are not removable, this means you get a true 12.99” of video card space. Could Rosewill be pulling or legs here? From my measurements, they’re right on. For comparison, the GTX 295 behemoth card you see is fully 10.5” long. So yeah, you get some space.
Next, I measured the CPU cooler space. The Rosewill specifications were mute on this measurement. Booyah! From the motherboard I measured almost 7.75” to the inside of the side panel.
How about that side panel cable management? THOR V2 for the win! You get almost a full 1.125” between the motherboard tray and the side panel. I had no problems attaching the side panel with all of the cases’ cables, power supply cables, and accessory wires back there.
Whew! We did it. There you have the Rosewill THOR V2 full tower gaming case, piece by stinking piece, right? Let’s get over to the discussion chapters now and hash out what we just saw.
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Comments
I presume Xigmatek does this as well then as the first thing that hit me was how it similar it looked (internally and externally) to the Utgard. Hell, even the name follows the same theme.
Clearly improved in some ways yet possibly worse in others, not really sure if it justifies the considerably higher price though.
Good detailed review Doug, thanks for the interesting read.
That's what I get for skimming.
Thank you Steven Iglesias-Hearst
Thanks for your comments. It got the high review becasue I thought it was a well built and well thought out case. No doubt, the leaders are as you listed, and I tend to gravitate to them also--my last case was the CM Stacker 830 series. It looks to me like the THOR 2 design might have the advantage in the cable routing department, though, with more holes to run cables through. Overall, I was just impressed with its simple and very effective design.
@ KSSyu It's not a complete re-brand, although most companies re-brand at least some of the time. I think my Lite-on DVD writer is a Sony model. Rosewill is a subsidiary or New Egg, but I have no idea how much "control" Newegg has over Rosewill, if any. "Subsidiary" in business simply means some sort of interaction, ranging from full control, which requires, legally, 50% of shares in the company plus one to some sort of business agreement that does not control the sub. It is interesting though, since Newegg is a large and very successful company, it leads me to think that they would not want their name tarnished by offering products from "their" subsidiary that are inferior. Which leads me to believe, maybe, that Rosewill will continue to increase it's offerings, quality, and innovation in order to stay on the coat tails of Newegg. Maybe not?
Having said that, might I mention that the Thermaltake 230mm fans are a complete joke. Very shoddy design, really low quality plastic, and easily burn out or shift speeds even though they're getting plenty of power and aren't on a fan control or controlled by a board.
Are those 230mm fans 230x20 or 25? If they're 230x20 I'm willing to bet they just as bad as the Tt fans.........
lol
Or the Predwill XX, Rose edition.
We might see more of this in the future. The top and front just simply pull off. It also means that the top and front can be modified easily and placed on another box.
I'd be interested to see when you do measure.
But all aside the features, price, and design are fantastic - mostly all due to the selling price. I like this at it's price point just as much as I like the HAF 912 at it's price point. Hard to beat.
Yeah I was thinking the same thing. It's such a utility minded case.
...and... Doug- why would we be hatin' on the GTX295? That's a bad-ass card!! I ran a pair of 260s in SLI for a loooong time 'cuz they were so awesome! I'd still be running that SLI setup if the GTX2xx series had DX11 support.... so, no worries here... keep rockin' that 295- it's a beast!
Hatin' on my 295 because it isn't DX11 is exactly what I meant.--lol This card is one of the best ever made and it'll go down in Video Card History with the likes of the venerable 8800 Ultra and the 9800GTX2. The last time I checked comparisons, of which there weren't many, the 295 was still not beaten by any of the new cards when tested under DX10. It surely is a "beast."
I bought one today, seems like a great deal!
Doesn't say how long this lasts. I just ordered one based on this site review (among others). This is the best review on the web. Kudos to Doug on this one!
"The God of Cooling and Silence" AanadTech
##anandtech.com/show/4648/rosewill-thor-v2-the-god-of-cooling-and-silence/5
How goes the search for those fans? I only found Rosewill's $12 220x30mm and Rexus' $25 250x30 mm fans on Newegg. Why no 230x30mm? Will the 220x30mm fit and do the same job? And will the 250x30mm even fit?
I know there are tons of forums and sites out there but no one really goes into cases as well as BMR.
Thanks again :)
It will only take a bolt pattern the same as the 230/220mm sizes.
I agree. This case is just really simplistic and is a cooling dream machine.