One of the things Thermaltake has been good at is conjuring up some enclosure designs that spark a lot of discussion. Whether it be the once inspiring SwordM or the monolithic Level 10, we’ve all seen something from Thermaltake that we just felt compelled to take a closer look. Today we’ve got that same curiosity about the new Armor series which is quite different from what they’ve done in the past. Things have changed a lot and we think it’s for the best. Today we’ll get to see that new Armor influence in the one they call the A90 Gaming Chassis.
Features and Specifications
Designed for combat, the Armor A90 sports what Thermaltake calls a bulletproof armor design with various additions of fine mesh to the front and top of the case.
The chassis includes rear black 120mm, front blue LED 120mm, and top blue LED 120mm cooling fans. Each fan is capable of expelling about 40 cubic feet of air per minute (CFM) while generating a meager 16dBa fan noise. This should be a surprisingly quiet gaming case, excluding your loud your performance video cards. It also has the large motherboard tray cut out for mounting your favourite oversized CPU Cooler.
There must be a rash of keyboard and mice theft that we haven’t heard about. The Armor A90 takes no chances and includes a theft prevention feature so your peripherals don’t “walk off” at the next big LAN party. Another good deterrent is to always sit with good friends so that someone is always watching. This is a feature we first saw in the Cooler Master Storm Series cases.
Some other features include case ports for water cooled tubing and power supply dust filter. Filters are either a good thing or a bad thing depending on how easy they are to access and clean. There’s even a special drive bay for a 2.5 inch SSD.
As for pricing and availability, you should be able to find this case for around $89.99 US. There is also a version bundled with a Thermaltake Toughpower 850W modular PSU for $149.99US. Additional specifications not covered here can be found on the Armor A90 chassis product page.
What’s In The Box?
Besides the Armor A90 Chassis itself, you get an instruction manual and all the bits of hardware that you expect from most enclosures. Things like motherboard stand offs and drive screws aren’t really anything out of the ordinary. Nothing really stood out except maybe that very colorful box.
Armor A90 – Front and Center
You can see that the case boasts an appearance of being armor plated. There are plenty of abstract angles and shapes to conjure up images of a well protected system of sorts. It’s these attributes that will motivate responses from onlookers.
The front bezel starts off the case with a mesh panel door followed by more angles. The middle is nothing more than dressing while the lower vented area provides access for the air being drawn in by the internal front 120mm blue LED fan. There are some expansion and audio ports to the right as well as on top of the case.
Again, there’s more plated theme up top except where the top 120mm blue LED fan expels warm air. The longer mesh angles and top vent are just the right amount for giving the case a little character. It can be really tricky trying to find the right combination of angles and mesh to make something look good.
Side Panels and Back
Moving to the right side, we’re greeted by four more abstract panel angles and a single small side plexiglass window. The side panel also provides extra needed venting via a vent hole located near the back of the panel. It can accommodate an optional 120mm side panel fan. We think a fan should be included by default given that so many gaming video cards get so hot and this is a gaming chassis after all.
Another thought we had is that gamers like to see more of their system. The little window seems more like it’s teasing the onlooker than actually offering a view. Perhaps a future panel revision would include turning the angles in to windows themselves. It could still provide venting as well as a better view. That would be a win!
The left side is pretty uneventful though abstract. There’s really no extra room for cable management with a large and more accommodating bulge. This would assist in hiding extra cables behind the motherboard tray. With a little extra panel depth, it could be possible to tuck a few smaller cables behind. While it could be a great addition it isn’t always a useful feature unless you have a lot of PSU cables to tidy from a non modular power supply. Most gamers and enthusiasts like modular power supplies anyways.
Inside the Armor Plated Chassis
The Armor A90 sports an all black chassis inside and out. Gamers love this particular feature as it tends to pimp your system out more. Here, we get a glimpse at the two chassis holes for running water cooling tubing and the handy little theft feature which is simply a machined cutout with a cover that secures the cables from your peripherals, preventing any kind of quick removal of your mice, keyboard, or headset. Some security is better no security, right?
Along with the sexy black polished interior, the Armor A90 features three tooless 5.25″ and six 3.5″ drive bays. The largest majority of users shouldn’t need more than this. And, if you do, perhaps it’s time to consider an external hard drive or maybe a network attached storage system to back up some of those episodes of Top Gear.
It’s nice to see the CPU cutout on the motherboard tray becoming a standard feature and the Armor A90 has it too. This standard feature continues to make case testing and CPU cooler installations very easy. We noticed that the motherboard tray already comes configured for regular ATX motherboards including the stand offs. That’s one less thing you’ll have to worry about during installation.
Thermaltake includes three cooling fans. The front 120mm blue LED fan can does a good job of pulling air in at the lowest point of the chassis. You’ll have to pull the bezel off if you want to mess with the front fan. The top 120mm blue LED and rear 120mm cooling fans are much easier to service.
That’s about it for the chassis. Let’s see how well the case handles a noisy stock retail CPU cooler and a legendary HOT nVidia 8800 Ultra!
Test System Setup
Most any computer case will properly house your computer system, but may not prove to be an ideal or efficient case in terms of cooling. For these reason, some rather hot and noisy components were used to create a brand new long term case testing solution which should give any case a run for its money.
These components are as follows…
- Processor: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition (140W)
- CPU Cooler: Stock AMD Heat Pipe Retail OEM Cooler
- Motherboard: ASUS M4A89GTD Pro/USB3 AMD 890GX Motherboard
- Memory: Patriot Memory 4GB 2000MHz ViperII DDR3 Dual Channel Memory Kit
- Graphics Card: eVGA NVidia Geforce 8800 Ultra
- Storage: Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB SATAII Hard Drive
- Power Supply: Antec Signature 850 Modular Power Supply
Our operating system of choice for all testing is of course Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit. For temperature testing, we’ve introduced an external fan controller with its own temperature probes stuck to the hard drive, CPU northbridge chipset and of course the hot GPU. The device we’re using is the Zalman ZM-MFC2 Fan Controller. Let’s install some components and get into testing.
Installation Notes
The CPU motherboard tray cut out made removing CPU coolers much easier. Nothing saves you more time than not having to remove the motherboard just to change coolers. Users will also appreciate that the inside is pretty well machined so that you won’t lose any blood during installation.
We always like to check any case’s special functions including any tooless features to make sure they work. While installation was pretty simple, the PSU tray was rather snug due to the placement of a metal tab. However, you can bend it upwards if you need a little extra room. Also, there were two chassis standoffs that level off the PSU to make securing the screws easier. These little standoffs can scratch your elite PSU’s finish if you’re not careful.
Thermal Performance Results
The Zalman ZM-MFC2 fan controller was used to monitor temperatures. It can monitor up to four different temperature probes at once. Probes were placed near the CPU, video card, hard drive, and north bridge chipset. These will help monitor internal chassis temps. Then, the system was set up to run Furmark and OCCT to really heat up the system without the case fans on for 5 minutes.
With a starting ambient temperature of 23C and an internal case temp of 45C, the fans were turned on. At this point, the case took less than a minute to clear out the unusually hot air. That’s because the fans are able to move a good amount of air in respect to the internal volume of the chassis. We then ran Furmark and OCCT for another half hour to continue to our load temperatures. Temperatures at both load and idle were more than acceptable.
Something worth considering is the addition of the optional side panel 120mm fan. Whether a Thermaltake unit or one of your own, it will manage temperatures even better throughout the case. A single quick test of our own showed a quicker overall drop in temps especially in the area of the CPU.
Noise Level Results
Any fan noise during testing was quite low. Even though the fans are rated to 16dB, we actually recorded them at 18dB at their highest point up close. The top 120mm fan is the most noticeable because it’s partially covered which tends to generate a little more vibration and air noise. However, the overall noise was about 15dB with the case all closed up. In fact, it was quite livable even sitting right next to it.
Final Thoughts
The Armor A90 is a tribute to the hardcore gamer with the elite battle sense to push forward when others quit. A champion requires maximum performance from their system at all times. And, even as temperatures rise both in battle and within your enclosure, the Armor A90 will help keep the heat and your opponent at bay.
Considering all that we’ve seen in and outside the Thermaltake Armor A90 gaming chassis, it’s a new case that offers all of the major features the standard gamer could want or need to get the job done. We would like to have seen a side panel fan in the bundle to give it great cooling performance even though it isn’t really needed. We would, however, recommend it to users living in very warm areas or if your system uses a particularly hot GPU that’s barely stable even in regular temperatures.
At a moderate $89.99US from Newegg, this places the armor plated inspiration among many other similarly priced budget gamer cases. There are some rebates floating around, but those do eventually end. Even at this price, it’s the unique case design that will call to consumers and especially gamers like a beautiful succubus. You know you want to look!
Pros
- Unique, armor plated design
- Good, yet very quiet cooling performance
- Blacked out interior
- Tooless drive bay and SSD mount
- Abstract window panel is unique
- Good quality construction overall
Cons
- PSU frame needs some bumpers to prevent scratches
Overall Rating: 8.5/10.0
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Thermaltake Armor A90 Gaming Chassis – Photo Gallery
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