So it finally happened...

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ChRoNo16

[H]ard|Gawd
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Feb 3, 2011
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After years I finally snagged a Thermaltake Xaser III off eBay!

so tell me folks, is it possible to run a more modern system in these older cases?

I currently run an i7-4790 thats liquid cooled, long story short I have been planning to dump the liquid cooler and go back to air fro a long time. the liquid cooler has just never worked well and I am unhappy, plus it is old and messed up, mounting holes are so worn from case moves they are like a hookers vag.


So any thoughts? I had also thought of building an era correct gaming rig, maybe a Athlon 64 box or something. Still have the tower for an old Zalman reserator v1 on the floor here.
 
I haven't seen one of those cases in a long time. The only issue you might have is that cable management will be a bit more difficult than in a modern "hide everything" case.
 
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That case looks just like my old Raidmax Alien case from 2002 with the Door and everything I wouldn't trust the front panel connectors but they might still work
 
Master_shake_ said:
remove all the 5.25 and 3.5 drives and make a custom front bezel and put a 3x120 rad there.
Click to expand...

No modding, I want to keep the case original.

Im less worried about cable management only because I dont use many, other than power cables for ATX/CPU its just fan cables and 2x SSD. pretty sure I can zip tie them away

My main concern is airflow
 
Thermaltake Xaser III, I knew that sounded familiar. My second computer build a Thermaltake Xaser III black with Thermaltake fan controller (My favorite fan controller). MSI 865 pe Neo2 fisr MB and Intel P4 2.8 replaced with a Intel 3.4. OCZ EL DDR PC-3500 Platinum - Dual Channel CL2 memory. ATI Radeon 9800 Pro All In Wonder gpu.

It was the beginning of my discovery of PC gaming starting with Medal of Honor Alllied Assault. It was at the time the most beautiful case. Built like a tank and the front lit up with a blue Thermaltake. Airflow with those 80mm fans was not that good. Had a hard time keeping those 2 WD74 raptors in raid 0(sys) along with 2 WD250gb in raid 0(data) cool. Like you I couldn't bring myself to mod the case so I just left the left side panel off. This was just fine because the red MSI 865pe MB had a beautiful factory lit MSI blinking chipset fan that cycled through different patterns. (still one of my favs).

Ran through the golden age of PC gaming on that box: MOHAA/SH/BO, COD/UO, COD2, Max Payne/MP2, Blackhawk Down, Rainbow 6/Ravenshield/Athena's Sword etc... Still have the complete rig fully assembled and fully functional in the original Thermaltake box. Case is still in excellent condition. Thanks for reminding me of that beautiful case and the pure joy I got out of that rig. :)
 
I had the Blue version what i remember most is it was SO HEAVY :)
think my friend still has it.
 
jeffj7 said:
I had the Blue version what i remember most is it was SO HEAVY :)
think my friend still has it.
Click to expand...

I have a couple of the plain blue chenming versions, they are a heavy case but I love them so much.

I have been searching for years and buying up all the ones I can find.
 
yJ3Ue.png
 
That's a blast from the past. I had the silver version of that case. It was a good sturdy case. Good luck with your build.:)
 
Will try and get some pics up next weekend. System came today.
Anyone got advice on finding accessories for these things?

Case has no HD mounts, no cd bay mounts.

Needs more sleeving and cable management but I ran out of time today. It did come with a nice NZXT fan controller which is cool, and something I cant identify. I cant find any info on it yet but its called a NEWQ Platinum. seems to be some sort of media player head for cd bays, but theres a 16pin ribbon cable that I dont know what it would go to and I dont have an antenna for it. so I am stumped on that.
 
ChRoNo16 said:
Will try and get some pics up next weekend. System came today.
Anyone got advice on finding accessories for these things?

Case has no HD mounts, no cd bay mounts.

Needs more sleeving and cable management but I ran out of time today. It did come with a nice NZXT fan controller which is cool, and something I cant identify. I cant find any info on it yet but its called a NEWQ Platinum. seems to be some sort of media player head for cd bays, but theres a 16pin ribbon cable that I dont know what it would go to and I dont have an antenna for it. so I am stumped on that.
Click to expand...

Here's some info on the NEWQ. I remember wanting one of these back in the day, lol.

https://hexus.net/ce/reviews/audio-visual/138-newq-platinum/
 
Oh man those were quite sexy cases and still are today. Timeless design!!

ChRoNo16 said:
Case has no HD mounts, no cd bay mounts.
come with a nice NZXT fan controller
Click to expand...
Good score. See if thermaltake had another model with similar 3.5" and 5.25" cage, various case manufacturers share HDD cage designs between some of their own models.
Or just do the above mods and make use of that useless HDD bay. Water cooling wasn't totally unheard of back then, so still period correct.
If not water, then your next mission should you choose to accept it: track down a Swiftech MCX-462!
mcx462_side.jpg

Individual screws. Always wanted to own one, it was their first product from memory.
 
I still have my mid tower Thermaltake Tsunami and full tower Thermaltake Shark. Always loved the designs on these.
20180210_115908.jpg
20180210_120101.jpg
 
ChRoNo16 said:
So any thoughts? I had also thought of building an era correct gaming rig, maybe a Athlon 64 box or something. Still have the tower for an old Zalman reserator v1 on the floor here.
Click to expand...

My Tsunami currently houses a 3Ghz S754 A64 4000+ Newark. :)
 
Man I just found one of these cases (Thermaltake Xaser) on Facebook for $40, super tempted but I just don't have the need for another case. If anyone wants to snag it:
 
ChRoNo16 said:
After years I finally snagged a Thermaltake Xaser III off eBay!

so tell me folks, is it possible to run a more modern system in these older cases?

I currently run an i7-4790 thats liquid cooled, long story short I have been planning to dump the liquid cooler and go back to air fro a long time. the liquid cooler has just never worked well and I am unhappy, plus it is old and messed up, mounting holes are so worn from case moves they are like a hookers vag.


So any thoughts? I had also thought of building an era correct gaming rig, maybe a Athlon 64 box or something. Still have the tower for an old Zalman reserator v1 on the floor here.
Click to expand...
It's still an ATX case. The biggest problem I can imagine having is that the case likely doesn't have a ton of venting as compared to a modern case. I had to look up what the Xaser III is, but it looks just like my old Antec SX1030, which was actually made by and sold under another brand - something like "Chenming" or something like that.

The problem I eventually ran into with the SX1030 was twofold. First, it only has spots for 80mm fans, and not very many of them. Second, it has a bracket for the hard drives in just the right spot to interfere with a modern ginormous graphics card.

Cable management would be an issue as well, but if you're this attached to the Chenming case design, you probably also relish the fat wad of ketchup and mustard cables hanging out in the 5.25" bays like we used to do in the old days.
 
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