Verdict and Conclusion
I’m forced to admit that when I first looked at the box and saw the shields/wings/doors/jaws/aluminum plates on the front I thought “uhoh”. I am very happy to say that my fears were entirely unfounded however, the Thermaltake Armor Revo impresses throughout!
The fans and controller are excellent, you can choose between lots of airflow for very little noise and tons of airflow and still not very much noise. I love the LEDs and LED on/off button as well.
The HDD/SSD dock up top is fantastic, I love them. I doubt I’ll ever use a case without one again.
The front/top IO panel is well designed as well, you get plenty of ports and they’re set at an angle for easy access regardless of whether the case is on the floor or your desk. I personally would prefer a smaller power button, that’d help prevent pets or young kids from turning your computer off “on accident”.
The deep overhang on the rear IO panel may make it difficult to disconnect Ethernet cables on some motherboards.
The shields on the front look cool from the front, from the top or the side they look a bit silly. Or somewhat like the mouth of a crayfish/crab if you’re feeling seafoodish. They’re removable though, so this won’t make too much of a dent in the final rating.
There is lots of interior room for large parts, be they CPU coolers or GPUs, with some motherboards there is even room to run four double width GPUs!
The power connector for the door panel fan blew me away, sheer genius!
At $190 MSRP this is not a cheap case. It’s really fairly expensive, though you do get what you pay for. The black version costs $10 less in theory, if you prefer that to white. My go-to online retailer is selling both for $180, which is more appetizing than $190 though still not cheap.
To summarize the above, here are some pros:
- Good airflow and noise control with the fans at low. Excellent airflow and decently quiet on high.
- Top/front IO panel is excellent. I love the built in HDD/SSD dock.
- Side case fan power connector is fantastic.
- Lots of room for large parts.
- Best optical drive latches I’ve seen so far.
- Nice 3.5″ tray setup.
- Button controlled blue LEDs are great too.
I’ve yet to run into anything perfect, so here are some cons:
- The aluminum shields on the front look silly from some angles.
- Rear IO panel fan overhang may make disconnecting Ethernet cables tricky.
- Features cost money, $180 is a reasonable price but still makes a dent in the pocketbook.
All-in-all, I am really quite impressed with this case, it has actually managed to beat out the Overseer RX-I for the coveted “Funky Kit’s Home Use Case” position. If you have the money and like looks I highly recommend that you consider the Thermaltake Armor Revo for your next computer case. I give it a 9.6/10!
SCORE
9.6/10
