Conclusion
Pricing
As of January 15, the Thermaltake Armor Revo Gene mid tower case was available at TigerDirect.com for $129.99. The cooler was also available from other retailers such as Amazon.com for $104.14.
Courtesy of Thermaltake
Conclusion
Before continuing with our final weigh-in on the Armor Revo Gene, we would like to take this opportunity to give our friends at Thermaltake a hearty “Thank You” for giving us the opportunity to review the Armor Revo Gene mid tower case. Being a case modder for for many years, I tend towards the larger cases because of the room and configurability that the full tower cases offer. Thermaltake integrated many of the features normally offered in those full tower cases into the Armor Revo Gene. The case offers fan filter over every fan mount, as well as mounting room for up to six total case fans (three of which are included by default). The case finish and color are pristine with a scratch resistant flat black powder coating finish for the win. All metal surfaces are coated instead of just the outer surfaces – even the inside of the case panels and underneath the motherboard tray are coated. Many manufacturers will only coat the outside of the case to save money. Additionally, removable drive cages suited for both 3.5″ and 2.5″ drives are included with all necessary hardware and full tool-less 5.25″ drive bays. The external port support is some of the best I’ve seen, with both USB 2.0 and 3.0 integrated ports as well as a hard drive hot-swap bay that can accommodate either 2.5″ or 3.5 drives. I not very partial to the blue and black coloration (like the red and black look better), but that is personal preference. However, the breathing effect for the power LED is a nice touch. Other additional features to note are the rubber grommets included for all case fan mounting locations, the rubber grommet covers for the motherboard tray cable routing holes, and the over-sized and fully rotational case feet.
My issues with the case stem from its lack of configurability for water cooling solutions. The case wants to be used and abused, but the fact that you can only fit a single 120 or 140mm radiator in the case in place of the rear fan works against this statement. With modifications, you could fit all sorts of water cooling radiators and other apparatus into the case. However, you’d be better served in going with a different case. The expansion card assembly seemed odd to me from a security standpoint – you don’t want to give potential thieves easy external access to the expansion card thumbscrews. The last point of contention is concerning the aluminum front bezels, I just don’t get it. They are more of an annoyance to me and actually detract from the case’s utility.
Strengths
- Sleek flat black power coated surfaces
- Included case fans – 1 x 140mm and 2 x 200mm
- Available external port support
- Inclusion of externally accessible hot-swap drive bay
- Fan filters
- Case power breathing effects
- Internal cable routing spacing
- Rubber grommets for case fans and cable routing holes
- Large case feet with full 360 degrees of rotation
Weaknesses
- Lack of tool-less hard drive trays
- Inability to top mount water cooling radiator
- External accessibility of expansion card slots and thumbscrews
- Aluminum front bezels
There is a small typo in
There is a small typo in paragraph under the photo where you have installed a mini-ITX board and it reads:”With a micro-ITX form factor board, the amount of free space seems to overwhelm the board.” I believe there is no such form factor that exists. Its either micro-ATX or mini-ITX. please correct it.
Thank you for pointing this
Thank you for pointing this out. This has been corrected…
sb 3.0 x 2
should be usb 3.0
sb 3.0 x 2
should be usb 3.0 x 2 ?
Fixed, thanks for the heads
Fixed, thanks for the heads up…
What kind of manufacturer
What kind of manufacturer puts out transparent hdds?
Western Digital released
Western Digital released several of their Raptor drives with clear windows on top of them…
hi man you made an excellent
hi man you made an excellent review, but i need your help. I bought this case in january and i want to put the side fan in the case, in the specs appear than the fan must be 200x200x30 so i got a 200mm thermaltake thunderblade led blue fan but it doesnt fit in the holes of the side of the case, when i read the box of the fan appear than it can be used in the front or the top of the cases, so i want to know if maybe the coolermaster 200mm megaflow can be used or wich reference fits well in the space of the side fan. Thanks. Juan C.
i want to knw why is my
i want to knw why is my breaathing light on my case not lighting up…? on my armor revo gene
I have this case and the
I have this case and the front panel audio is not working. Also 3 more people with this case have the same problem. Don’t really know why they came faulty from the manufacturer.