A computer's case is the object that you see the most of in your computer. It may not directly effect performance, although it definitely regulates temperature, and anyone who's built a PC knows a troublesome case is not something fun to work within. Today we'll be looking at a new take on cases from Thermaltake, the Element S.

Here are the specifications.

Case Type Mid Tower
Material SECC
Front Bezel Material Plastic
Color Black
Side Panel Solid
Motherboard Support Micro ATX, Standard ATX
Motherboard Tray No
5.25" Drive Bay 3
Ext. 3.5" Drive Bay 0
Int. 3.5" Drive Bay 7
Expansion Slots 7
Front I/O Ports USB 2.0 x 2, eSATA & HD Audio ports
Cooling System - Front (intake) :
120 x 120 x 25 mm TurboFan, 1300 rpm, 17 dBA : 120 x 120 x 25 mm (optional)
- Rear (exhaust) :
140 x 140 x 25 mm TurboFan, 1000 rpm, 16 dBA
- Top(exhaust) :
230 x 230 x 20 mm red LED fan, 800 rpm, 15 dBA
- VGA (exhaust) :
Two 60 x 60 mm fan(optional)
Liquid Cooling Capable
No
Liquid Cooling Embedded
No
Power Supply Supported Standard ATX PSII(optional)
Power Supply Included No
Dimension (H*W*D) 21.3 x 9.1 x 19.9 in
505 x 230 x 540 mm
Net Weight 19.49 lbs
8.84 kg
Security Lock
Application
Warranty 3 Year

The Element S seems to be targeting a different market for Thermaltake, more professional crowd whether those simply building a high-end PC for work and play or the enthusiast who may not like all the fleshing lights and distraction of many cases these days.

The first thing that pops out from the case is the SECC (Sheet steel, Electrolytically coated, Cold-rolled, Commercial quality) material it is made of. There isn't the piano shine of pure aluminum but instead it is a bit more subdued look of rubber from the cold rolled steel. This also means that the outside of the case doesn't scratch as typical aluminum does. Outside of the case is as plain and standard as it gets, a grey-black color with one red stripe on the front is as far as it goes on the outside.

On top of the case feature all of the buttons for functionality including USB, Firewire, E-SATA, mic, headphone output. There's only one USB input unfortunately, two would be nice given how many USB devices are in use these days, and probably will be used more than Firewire.