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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

Due to the asymmetric design and sheer weight involved, the looming chassis leans very slightly to one side, and wobbles at the merest nudge. Plus, the dust filter over the vent at the front of the main enclosure was hung lazily from tiny hooks and kept falling off during installation.

We also found the Level 10's cooling performance to be uninspiring. Our test system - which consisted of an Intel Core i7-920 overclocked to 3.6GHz, an Asus P6T SE motherboard and ATI Radeon HD 5970 graphics card - pushed the processor to a peak temperature of 91 degrees, with the GPU hitting 85 degrees in similar tests.

While it's not an unsafe temperature on paper, it's a bit too close to the maximum operating temperature of 100 degrees for our liking, indicating that the tiny vents and two fans perhaps aren't pushing a huge amount of air across the main components. With Intel's Core i7 chips proven to overclock to 4GHz and beyond, and this kind of case appealing primarily to the Ultimate PC crowd, it's not an overly impressive performance.

And, while the Level 10 may include a few nods to system builders, it's still not the easiest case to work with. Routing cables through the convoluted layout is tricky: wires emerge from the PSU, disappear behind the motherboard and then re-emerge through a multitude of holes that line up with the numerous enclosures. We also found some standard SATA cables and power connectors from the PSU weren't long enough to reach the components, so you might have to order extra-long leads.

The final nail in the Thermaltake's coffin is its £442 exc VAT price. Other best-selling chassis, such as the Antec Nine Hundred Two or Cooler Master Sileo, may not have the panache of the Level 10, but they're easier to work with and cost less than £80. Even the best top-end gaming cases will leave you with change from £150 before VAT.

The Thermaltake Level 10 hardly bears comparison to any normal case, though. The manufacturer deserves rich praise for daring to team up with BMW and produce something far beyond the imagination of any other case we've seen. As a concept chassis it's undeniably brilliant. But up close and personal its monumental stature, awkward design and eye-watering price mean it's better left on the drawing board.

NOTE: This case was provided by Mesh as part of its Mesh 7 system (hence the branding). The full review will be online shortly.

Author: Mike Jennings

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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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