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Thermaltake Level 10 review

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Verdict

A unique and adventurous design, but some construction flaws and the stratospheric price make it one to admire from afar

Review Date: 18 Jan 2010

Reviewed By: Mike Jennings

Price when reviewed: £442 (£519 inc VAT)

Overall Rating

Features & Design
5 stars out of 6

Value for Money
2 stars out of 6

Few computer case manufacturers would even dream of collaborating with one of the world's leading automotive firms, but Thermaltake has taken the plunge. Working with designers from BMW, the Taiwanese firm has conjured up the Level 10: initially just a concept, now a retail reality, it's simultaneously the oddest and most stunning chassis we've ever seen.

First impressions count for plenty, and the Level 10's boundary-pushing design drew gasps on arrival in the Labs. It's easy to see why: rather than a traditional ATX tower, Thermaltake and BMW have separated the component groups into individual enclosures. These boxes are attached to one side of a vertical slab of aluminium, and the layout is intended to aid airflow and PC management.

This means the motherboard - which can be an ATX or microATX model - CPU and GPU are contained in the main enclosure and the PSU sits separately above, while the optical drives are perched further forward in their own box. Each of the six hard disk bays (all of which include mounting holes for 3.5in and 2.5in disks) is contained within its own curved enclosure perpendicular to the main spine, with red lights to indicate occupation.

It's an eye-catcher, too. The wide foot curves gently upwards into the main body, and every surface is constructed from brushed aluminium that feels rock-solid. The moody black is interrupted only by a red LED strip that bisects the front and a top edges, while the sheer presence of the case - it's a mere 666mm tall and 614mm long, and weighs over 21kg empty - means it will be the focal point of any room it occupies.

Thermaltake has included several neat design touches to aid system builders. The removable motherboard tray - revealed by unlocking the rear of the chassis and sliding the door panel off - includes a handy hole for easy access to a heatsink or water-cooling block's backplate. The optical drive cover lifts off its hinges easily, which allows for drives to be slid into place unimpaired, and the PSU bracket is also detachable.

It makes a spell-binding impression, then, but our opinion of the Level 10 soon began to sour when we delved inside to build a working test system. Take the motherboard area, for instance. The enclosure snagged on the top of the front 120mm case fan unless we gently bent it aside; then once open and clear of the supportive rear fan housing, it sagged uncomfortably, too heavy for its own hinges.

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Comments

User comments

er, no!

hmm, its a box, into which bits go.

By darkhairedlord on 19 Jan 2010

I see what is going on here......

Having produced something pointless in the X6, BMW decided to help an entirely separate company to produce something equally overblown and unnecessary.

Wonder if it'll only be owned by c**ks also?!

By Waderider on 19 Jan 2010

WrongWrongWrong

Surely this is exactly the opposite of what the vast majority of users want or need.
Why not make your comment on:
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=33869
2&start=0
Perhaps PCPRO will have a little chat with Thermaltake, Mesh, and all.

By specious on 19 Jan 2010

I Like it :)

By nicomo on 19 Jan 2010

I note...

...this also has no indicators!

By rsw75 on 19 Jan 2010

Does it come with a free car :)

By anthonysjones on 19 Jan 2010

Wow. I mean, wow. The price is preposterous but... well, yes, wow.

By Josefov on 19 Jan 2010

Hmm I think it's great!

If I was building my system now I would seriously have a look at this. Not sure how you could fit water pumps etc in it though.

It's less of a box to put your PC in and more piece of well crafted furniture to put in my toy room!

By JStairmand on 19 Jan 2010

Due to disappear without trace

So it's a mis-shaped box, which performs several of the requirements of a computer case quite badly.

I suspect it is really intended as an entry for the Turner Prize, or the embodiment of Warhol's statement: "[modern] Art is what you can get away with"...

By JohnGray7581 on 20 Jan 2010

Oh dear

UGLY, VERY UGLY. Pointlessly ugly.
Pointless.

By Wilbert3 on 21 Jan 2010

What on Earth ?

Looks like a kids toy from Star wars, and I don't want any more dusting to do.

By keith217 on 21 Jan 2010

Pretty Pointless

As in pretty but pointless.

By Klobba on 21 Jan 2010

Computer in a black Blister 2/5=No!

Price - 0/5
Design - 4/5
Features - 3/5
Functionality -1/5
The colour choice makes any smart design features irrelevant.
It is bad enough working on Dark Red and Blue boards, without trying it in a Black case!

By skgiven on 21 Jan 2010

Overpriced, overrated and overblown

Exactly what BMW specialise in!

By mspritch on 21 Jan 2010

Don't think so!!!

I like the fact that they have come out of the box for the design but not at that price. If they had included a 1Kw PSU in the price then it would make it more realistic and got over some of the more specialised issues with this layout
Congratulations but try again!

By MIssingLink on 21 Jan 2010

Not for me thanks...

..but well done for attempting something different. Has a hint of slimline PS2 about it.
But the ugliest thing about it is the price.

By blueleader01 on 21 Jan 2010

Ye Gods peeps

nicely said mspritch

What planet are these people living on
they expect you so spent the best part of £700 for a case and a decent power supply you have to bend some of the bits out of the way so you can get other bits out, water cooling will be difficult at best, PSU cables May not reach componants and you are not going to have a lot of cash left to buy the IMPORTANT bits,
you would be seriously better of with the Shinobi case. Plenty of room in that one still won't take an E-atx mobo.

My own preference is the
Coolermaster ATC's 840 STILL NOT CHEAP but at only a quarter of the price (inc psu bought seperatly) much better value, water cooling if needed and a special duct on the back to fit a 120mm fan to extract air through the G/card if you want to, hard drives fit side-on so plenty of room for the G/card, i have an Nvidia GTX 580 in mine so there is a further 13cm between the end of the G/card and hard drive column also a special hole in the m/b base plate)which is also removable)for mobo mounted coolers
The Level 10 case isn't clever isn't smart looking, isn't practical finacially,and doesn't look stable standing either and at 26" high and almost half that wide where are you going to put the bloody thing.
I don't really know much about art,,,but in my opinion it isn't art it looks as though it should be part of a Jig-saw

By hanstrans3 on 11 Aug 2011

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