Thermaltake Overseer RX-I

With desktop PC cases, as with many other technology products, little changes can make big differences. The Thermaltake Overseer RX-I , for example, is astonishingly similar in appearance to the company's Editors' Choice award?winning Chaser MK-I and Armor Revo Snow Edition, but makes a few key departures that keep it from being quite as ideal as they are for your next gaming computer build. Its slightly lower price will appeal to those for whom every penny counts, but we'd recommend shelling out just a bit more money to get a noticeable increase in usability.

Thermaltake has gotten the aesthetics of the Overseer RX-I unquestionably right. The company has applied an attractive, scaly-looking design to the ornamental edges of the all-black case, imbuing it with the stylish yet charmingly creepy vibe of the titular extraterrestrial from the Alien movies. Circular mesh on the top and front panels and just the barest hints of blue accents along the 5.25-inch bay covers make the Overseer subtly striking visually, and a partially windowed side panel with a hexagonal fan grille give the case a bit of additional enthusiast flash.

The inside of the Overseer RX-I offers pretty much everything you might need for a full-scale build and nothing you don't, just as the Chaser and Armor Revo do. A large hole cut into the motherboard tray simplifies the process of adding an aftermarket CPU cooler, five grommeted channels make for worry-free routing of cables and wires into the plentiful space beneath the motherboard (and two more on the rear panel, located below a 120mm exhaust fan, are ideal for snaking liquid cooling piping into and out of the case), and there's ample room for installing even ultra-long video cards like the AMD Radeon HD 6990 or the Nvidia GeForce GTX 690. In the drive well you'll find three 5.25-inch external bays, one 3.5-inch external bay (really a modified 5.25-inch one), and five internal 3.5-inch bays that use removable trays for holding the drives.

On the top panel of the Overseer RX-I you'll find the front-panel ports, a solid selection that includes two USB 3.0, two USB 2.0, and one eSATA, plus the usual headphone and microphone jacks. Also present there is an external bay there for loading in hot-swappable 2.5- or 3.5-inch drives, so you can add to your storage capabilities without having to first open up your computer.

In other words, the Overseer RX-I is not hurting for features. But what it lacks is the minute attention to detail that will matter to more serious DIYers. The filter for the front-panel 200mm intake fan is hourglass shaped and difficult to remove from and replace in its position on the inside of the front panel. Given how easily these filters can get choked with dust, simple removal of them for cleaning is essential, and this one is unusually frustrating. The top panel is inelegant in a different way. The cover for both the hot-swappable drive bay and the front panel ports is integrated into it, so when you take off the panel you expose them, making damage or contamination that much more likely. Worse, because the power and reset buttons are likewise on the top panel, you'll need to disconnect the wires connecting them to the main body of the case itself before you can fully remove the top panel?an annoyance that shouldn't be necessary.

It's also worth mentioning that the Overseer RX-I is a little smaller than the Chaser (21.1 by 8.7 by 22.8 inches, HWD, versus 22.4 by 9.3 by 22.9 inches). This is somewhat to be expected given the case's lower price, but you'll really notice it when you're working around the top edges of the motherboard you're using; with more than an extra inch of space in the Chaser, working in that case is more comfortable and pleasing, whereas the Overseer RX-I is more on the cramped side.

Even so, the Thermaltake Overseer RX-I is a worthy case that's ready and able to house a powerful system. But the extra perks and conveniences built into the Chaser MK-I and the Armor Revo Snow Edition help those models make the process even more enjoyable and effortless, and they're definitely worth the extra $20 or $30 or so you'll need to pay to get them. If, however, you really must draw the line at $140 for a case, the Overseer RX-1 is a fine way to go.

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/OSjvt-aVA0U/0,2817,2409162,00.asp

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