Thermaltake makes some of the best looking, and sturdiest cases on the market, and the Armor is no exception. With a thick aluminum shell finished in matte black (Or silver depending on your preference), the Thermaltake Armor is an enormous, yet beautiful enclosure. Without so much as adding a single fan or cable, the Armor is a beast, weighing in at almost 36lbs (35.8 to be precise).

Opening the small twin front doors (which look good, but bug the hell out of me) reveals the TEN 5.25" drive bays. While three of these bays are taken up by the 3.5" HDD cage, one by an external 3.5" drive cage, and one by the optional storage tray, users should have no problem at all with storage space. Users may also use the top drive bay, which includes the power/reset buttons and activity light for their external 3.5" drive.

The drive bay covers are constructed of an aluminum mesh, backed up by a plastic frame and very nice dust filters.

All ten drive bay covers include a perforated section of mesh, allowing you to add as many as four 3.5" drives. the covers are secured to the case by way of plastic tabs on either side of the cover, which easily snap into slotted spaces on the case's front. 

Those looking to show off their work will appreciate the side panel window included. some may complain that Thermaltake used very thin plexi-glass, but considering the overall weight, I can understand (plus, its a case....not soccer ball). Never fear, if you happen to break your door, Thermaltake does sell the side panel (which includes the fan and side panel window) at outlets such as Newegg.

The side panel window is well placed, showing  all of your hard work and creativity. The 25cm side panel fan  is well placed, providing full coverage to your motherboard and most of your important components (the bottom PCI slots on full ATX boards might not benefit from the fan).

The rear of the Armor shows off the 92mm and 120mm exhaust fans as well as openings for an external water cooling kit. We'll cover the 90 degree PSU alignment a little closer when we look at the interior of the case. 

The top of the Thermaltake Armor has a mesh portion for venting the warm air that typically collects in the top of cases by way of an optional 92mm fan that can be mounted to the top of the case.

Under the plastic cover on the top you'll find a pair of USB connectors, an IEEE1394 connector, and audio jacks. While nicely positioned, the cover doesn't open fully, which can be a problem depending upon the device connected (height of the device).

Like the Thermaltake Tai Chi case, the Armor includes a small utility tray that takes up the bottom 5.25" drive bay. this plastic tray is secured by screws on either side, and can be easily removed if you need the space. This tray isn't too big, but works extremely well for stashing screws, USB keys and the like.

Overall the exterior of the Thermaltake Armor is exceptional. If I had to find a flaw, it would be the aluminum doors on either side of the front....which serve no other purpose than to get in the way and mess with your optical drive (My floor is carpeted, and one of the fins constantly swings into the closed position, blocking the optical drive tray from opening, or if open, catching it behind the tray door).

How much room do you need? I easily fit two full grown cats inside the case (I kid I kid). At the top rear, you'll notice the 3 drive HDD cage, which we'll touch on later. On the base you'll see several holes, which are used to secure a water pump or the like (Like the Thermaltake Big Water 745)

At the bottom of the case, there is  a small legend which speels out which holes on the moterboard tray are for which motherboard type. Each hole is labeled with the coresponding letter for that motherboard. although each hole is labeled, make sure you line up each hole in your motherboard, as not all motherboards use every standoff labeled for that board type.

The Armor includes  probably the best "tool-less" and easy to manipulate drive retention clips I've ever seen. although several manufacturers utilize the tool-less design, these clips are extremely easy to use, and do a fantastic job of holding your hardware in place.

To insert a drive, simply squeeze the two plastic tabs together, and lift out and up. 

Lastly, line your drive up on the drive bay you wish to use, and slide it into plasce, then again squeeze the tabs together, and return them to the locked position. The drive will now be held in place.

When it comes to HDD storage, Thermaltake gives you six internal 3.5" drive bays. The first three are within the drive cage above, which does an excellent job of keeping HDD cool and quiet by providing ample space between your drives for cool air to be pushed through by the front mounted 120mm fan.

The second HDD cage is much smaller, and nowhere near as nice.....but it works, and allows for some creative case configurations or large RAID arrays. With the PSU turned at a 90 degree angle, Thermaltake mounted the second HDD cage at the top/rear of the case, above the motherboard. Cooled by a 92mm rear exhaust fan, this drive cage can easily be removed if not needed....or used for other hardware (possibly a 3.5" drive bay mounted resevior for your water cooling kit).

One issue this drive cage causes, in conjunction with the PSU being mounted at a 90 degree angle is it blocks the intake fan on many PSUs. Another issue using this as a HDD cage is cable management. Unless you have some extremely long SATA cables (or PATA), you will have a mess of cables draping over your motherboard.

If there is one thing I dislike about Thermaltake cases, its the PCI retention system. If you haven't had the "pleasure", these retention clips are some of the worst I've seen. They do a very poor job of securing drives, and the individual clips pop out rather easily, and those using multi slot video cards curse the hell out of these. However, by way of four screws on the rear of the case, you can simply remove this system and use good olw screws, which i highyl recommend......problem solved, very easily.

All in all, the interior of the Thermaltake Armor is exceptional. With any motherboard you can dream up supported, form ATX to BTX and beyond, the Armor is an enclosure to build the dreamiest of dream systems. Couple that with a very water cooling friendly design, excellent air flow, and room for anything you need, or want....and the Thermaltake Armor's interior is limited only by what system configuration you can dream up.

Section	Grade	Comments
Build Quality (Durability & Construction)	20/20	Easily one of the sturdiest cases I've ever seen Front panel I/O port (not really front, but top), is made of cheap plastic....cheesy considering the rest of the case Weighing in at almost 36 lbs, this is not a great choice for wimps
Aesthetics / Appearance	18/20	An exceptional looking case, blue LED fans are a nice touch Front "doors" are of no use, except to block optical drive tray
Internal Layout & Installation	17/20	All the room you could ever need (multiple HDD racks, W/C friendly)  Simply awful PCI retention system (we've touched on this before with Thermaltake cases). Luckily it can be removed Extra internal 3.5" drive cage is a nice touch, but poorly placed
Performance (sound & cooling)	9/10	250mm side panel fan is perfectly placed to draw cool air over both the CPU and GPU Excellent ventilation, air flow,  and spacing throughout case Top 92mm can be a problem with larger PSUs
Bundle	9/10	Everything you could possibly need....and a storage tray to boot
Warranty & Support	10/10	While Thermaltake does not have an official support forum, they do in fact have a support forum right here at HL. Their online support system  contains a handful of other options at your disposal, including an FAQ section, technical support form, and an online RMA form, among others.  The Armor is backed by a three year warranty.
Price / Value	9/10	Considering the overall quality and features, this case is a relative bargain

Our Recommendation

The Thermaltake Armor is one hell of a case. Sturdy, Stylish, and Versatile....pretty much sums it up. I picked this bad boy up to be the backbone of my personal system, and for good reason. As I am constantly assembling and disassembling my system as part of the HL test bench, I want a case thats going to hold up well to whatever I need to do, be it repetitive installations of cooling units or whatever...there's no place for a cheap case in my office. Having said that, I don't want some monstrosity sitting here staring at me everyday.

Installing a system in the Armor  was pretty simple, the exception being the PCI retention clips and installing a larger than usual PSU, which required some creative tinkering with the case wiring. The tool-less drive bay clips are also the best I've ever seen,  

My complaints are few.....most people using a case this large are doing so for a reason, most often its because they have put together a pretty extravagant system. I absolutely hate the Thermaltake tool-less PCI slot design, in my opinion its something Thermaltake should really do away with. The PCI slot issue is easily rectified, as you can simply remove the retention clips and use good, old fashioned screws (as it should be). My last complaint regards the extra internal 3.5" drive cage. Its a neat idea.....but poorly implemented. With most larger power supplies having a bottom mounted fan, the 90 degree orientation will butt this fan up against the side of the drive cage....blocking air intake. Also, unless you want more wires hanging over your motherboard, you'd better be a cable management master or have extra long cables you can route behind the motherboard.

In the end, the Thermaltake Armor is an awesome product, one that I have no hesitation recommending to anyone. It features an excellent design that maximizes cooling.....and with the versatiliy of easily adding water cooling, or storing extra HDD, the Armor is truly a jack of all trades case.

Other Reviews of Note

Its always nice to have more than one opinion on a component before you spend your hard earned money. For one, We may see something others missed, or vice versa. As with all reviews published at HardwareLogic, we'll not only give you our recommendation, but also point out some reviews from some other great sites around the web.
Hardcoreware.net
FastLaneHW.com
Bigbruin.com
Neoseeker.com
Bjorn3D.com
Bytesector.com