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First Look At Wild New "Level 10" Concept PC Case
notthatwillsmith writes "Maximum PC just posted an exclusive hands on with Thermaltake's unique Level 10 case. This concept design features individual compartments for different components (each with dedicated cooling) all mounted on a black steel frame. The case looks like a prop from 2001, rendered in black steel instead of white plastic. It's absolutely unlike anything I've ever seen before."
but for me, and my company, ludicrous to even consider. Laptops and Desktops and Servers are all throw-away* commodities these days. I have no use for this. But wow, it's pretty.
*recycle, Manbearpig thanks you.
Sent from your iPad.
If you buy one of these suckers, you'd best make sure your girlfriend really enjoys dusting. Oh, wait a minute...this is Slashdot. Never mind.
I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
The case looks like a prop from 2001, rendered in black steel instead of white plastic. It's absolutely unlike anything I've ever seen before.
How can it look like a prop from a movie if its unlike anything you've ever seen before?
Logic failing aside,
It makes me think of what might happen if they combined the Death Star's Exterior with a PS3.
Wow, that's just incredibly gorgeous.
Did anyone notice whether or not it can handle standard motherboards?
All those nooks and crannies, I'd say it looks like the moore's law version of an english muffin. Hope your apartment is actually a fab's clean room.
Of course its like nothing you've ever seen. Its completely unnecessary. I've never seen a car with built-in centrifuge.. doesn't mean they should make one.
So basically, -1 troll/offtopic is really slashdots way of saying "I hate that you thought of something before me."
Cool? Yes. $700 cool? No.
If you look at the drive bay covers they are not perfectly aligned. For $700, you would expect Jobsian OCD attention to detail, regardless in shortcomings to the other design elements.
That's all I really need to know. It looks interesting, it might be cool, but I'll never buy one.
steveha
lf(1): it's like ls(1) but sorts filenames by extension, tersely
The guts of the Level 10: individual compartments keep components thermally isolated. And it looks wicked.
Sweet! Now my hard drives and CPU get hotter and my DVD drive stays at room temp! HOW ADVANCED!!!
Whale
The Level 10 will be available in mid-October for $700.
$700 for a case? I can buy a quad-core desktop with more RAM than I know what to do with for that much.
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
Definitely targeted at the "more money than brains" folks.
Ah the simplicity of simple easy to access slots for things.
Hey this looks cool, but that is about my budget for a whole rig, so I will stick to something functional without stupid LED glowing in my eyes.
I only look human.
My mother is a halfling and my dad is an ogre, so that makes me an Ogreling
Why this case is a bad idea :
1. $700. That would buy a whole generation of core component upgrades (CPU/video card/RAM)
2. It uses small, noisy fans rather than larger, quiet ones like this case : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811103011
3. Having a sweet looking computer case isn't going to impress anyone any more than having a sweet comic book collection. Save the money for spending things on stuff that actually (theoretically) have a chance of getting you laid, like better clothes or a nicer car.
4. You could buy a vapor chill cooler instead and overclock like mad. This case won't give you any more performance than a standard case.
In short, $700? No Wi Fi? Less space than a server case? Lame.
It's so incredible, that it is in fact bigger on the inside than it is on the outside.
Now I'll just wait for the $50 knockoff by Asus.
For $700 I'd expect at least one FW800 port on the front.
I see the bays; where's the cabinet?
Rather than a standard aluminum box, the Thermaltake Level 10 would incorporate a central pillar, with individual compartments hanging from it for the motherboard...
Now, I don't know what definition of "central pillar" they're using, but I would think that, at the very least, it would mean that components wouldn't all be mounted on one side of a giant panel that stretches from front to back and top to bottom.
It definitely looks "cool" but it also looks gigantic, heavy, and poorly balanced â" if you actually attempt to use that handle they stuck on there, I can't see how you don't cut up your shins on the razor-sharp flared base as 50 pounds of steel swings inconveniently towards you.
Can you be Even More Awesome?!
I've been a system builder since the 486DX2 66MHz days and of all the case designs I've seen come, go, and be claimed to be the next coming, the only one to ever be a perfect blend of form and function is the Mac Pro cases by Apple. I'm not even a fanboy, and most of those cases probably were never even cracked, but there is no denying them. This thing is just dumb.
http://teasphere.wordpress.com - A little spot of tea
telephone switching equipment. Seriously, an expensive design and manufacturing process and its really not that good looking.
Didn't you see the handle? It's clearly meant to be a "luggable." A full-sized computer that you can move about the house when you want. Do you want to have to fish cat 5 through all the convenient locations in your house just to take full advantage of it? Wired ethernet has its own security problems btw.
Can you be Even More Awesome?!
Don't get me wrong, I think this case looks cool and I am assuming that keeping each component separate really will cut down on the overall heat generated by the computer. However, for $700 (a little less in some cases) you could get a water or liquid cooled case from Xoxide which would, in my theorycrafting as I haven't played with this case hands on, would keep your components a lot cooler. Perhaps if this case was around the $350 range it'd be more appealing to me.
Ave Molech Setting
I suggest this be tagged onecasetorulethemall.
It looks like a computer was extruded out from a smart surface or something. The appearence is very appealing to me, very few structural parts. That must be why it is made of metal instead of plastic. Not seeing 80/120mm fan grills all over the place looks strange too. I'm skeptical about how cool it actually is... well, air cooling anyways.
http://soylentnews.org/~tibman
My case needs to go to eleven.
Evil is as eval("does");
OK I'm one of the saps that are able and willing to lay down $700 (well actually about 500 UKP) for an interestingly designed computer case as long as it's functional and well built. The only problem is that this one's looks just don't appeal to me in the way that something like the Mac Pro cases do.
Screw that. I only use cases that go up to 11.
Come play free flash games on Kongregate!
...designed in conjunction with BMW DesignWorks.
Next up, case designs by Ferrari, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, etc....
Then Ralph Lauren will do one for the bankers.
It's NOT me! It's the meds! I'm on 1000mg of Fukitol.
just like a pussy!
I would prefer something with more class, more style, more customization and a price tag that doesn't make one vomit blood.
This is going to be my next case. Wood and brass (fake brass, but close enough). Great thing about a wood case is that it is easily modifiable with simple household tools.
http://www.nmediapc.com/htpc8000.htm
One of the strengths and unfortunate weaknesses of PCs is that components are interchangable. This is a plus, since it means anyone can replace a part, but the downside is, the replacement parts may not fit the "concept" quite wel.
In this case, it appears that while there's the central stand for wire routing, I'm not sure if it comes with the requisite power supply and cables trimmed to the right length. Too much cable is OK, you can hide the slack in the tower, but more often than not, cables are just a wee bit too short.
A design like the old G4 towers where one side flips down with the motherboard exposed and all the cables running along the edge is what I envision a good case to be, but even in OEM PC designs from Dell and the like, they incorporate such "flip open" design. Unfortunately, it fails as some cable is too short, meaning it flips open a little bit, you disconnect it, open it more, disconnect the next too-short cable, etc. A real mess that spoils the nice servicability.
My one concern is that - what happens if the power supply you bought doesn't have cables that reach? You have to invest in extensions? Or is that vertical stand contain a backplane, and all you do is plug the power/sata/IDE/etc cables into it, where they will go to the right component?
mother board and components? If so, that'd be a great case to replace the boring steel box. All you need the is a cool keyboard / mouse / monitor to finish it off.
I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
This is how things used to be...
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Depends, are you making meth out of the trunk? if so it might come in handy.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
That's fine, a Honda Civic will get you from point A to point B too, but for those of us who CAN afford the best things, a Porsche 996 GT2 will do just fine, thank you very much. Same goes for this case. Sure I could cheap out and get a LIAN-LI or some other POS, but why? When you can afford the best, why would you care about the rest?
...imagine how dusty that thing will get after a week or two.
The only things jaw-dropping about this case are the price and either the noise level or the hard drive failure rate. In that small an enclosure, hard drives are going to heat up rather severely unless you move a lot of air past them, and if you do that, it's going to be loud. The laws of physics are at work here.... It's the same reason external hard drive cases are not generally recommended for continuous use.
Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
You guys still use cases? I just set mine on the desk with all the parts exposed.
It was based on a Z80 and ran CP/M, had a vertical case and a pivoting CRT attached to the side.
There is nothing new under the sun.
I appreciate the idea of compartmentalized PC cases designed
to optimize cooling and whatnot but this doesn't seem to be
that. It looks like they were going out of their way to make
something look ridiculous. Well they succeeded. Now I would
welcome more of a "server case" approach to having a Quad Core
box with 6 drives in it. This thing isn't that.
Antec makes some cases that are a more serious approach to this idea.
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
It doesn't go to 11!
No thanks. I'll take my Big Black Box of Death over this modular monstrosity any day of the week (and for half the price).
Remember, folks:
It looks nice, but I am more interested in having less, and I mean much less, wires at my desk.
Power for my sound, 2 monitors, box, external HD, external DVD, cellphone, printer, router/modem.
And then all the wires to connect the things. OK, I could loose one wire if I would go wireless. That would save me about 1m of wire.
I don't want a nice looking PC, If possible I do not want to see my PC at all.
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
Anyone remember LaCie's Joule Drive system from the 90's? Had a base case with power and drive and then a top that could come off so you could add more scsi devices. Always wanted a computer put together like this.
This case looks like someone took that idea and ran.
I drank what? -- Socrates
That is all.
At $700, this looks like an overly-expensive and inflexible gimmick to me. For instance, what happens if I want to use 2.5" disks instead of the usual 3.5" inch disks that this chassis seems to support? With some minimal modding, I could fit in more than six, but not in this case. And what's that silly handle for at the top of the chassis? I can already feel the flared bottom edge of the case bumping against my shins.
Honestly it doesn't do that much for me. I can appreciate that it's different - and probably better - than most of the cases we can choose from today but it isn't (IMO) *substantially* better. The good news though is that, at $700, when I go for a Mountain Mods on my next custom build it will seem like a *bargain* by comparison.
"The bigger the lie, the more they believe." - Det. Bunk
So does your mom, I hear.
You are welcome on my lawn.
No need to bring Star Jones into this discussion.
You are welcome on my lawn.
Great many cracks and holes. Should suit the germs in the gathering dust just fine.
I hadn't the slightest objection to his spending his time planning massacres for the bourgeoisie... (P.G. Wodehouse)
No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame.
(from his summary writing up the first ever iPod launch)
http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=01/10/23/1816257
... Does it run linux?
. .
This is true, but there is a substantial efficiency to be gained by having a well defined air-flow. Instead of having one big space like the case you linked to, this case presumably has a number of more or less laminar flow paths through each device. This makes it so that you have to spin the fans less to get the same volume of mixing.
Apple was kind of forced into doing this when they switched to the G5s, which were notoriously power hungry and ran hot. My old dual G5 would sound just sweet until you actually used it to do something, then it sounded like jet engine taking off. They kept a similar case design when they switched to intel, they have three separate compartments that each have their own cooling. In the linked image, the top, middle and bottom sections of the case are each cooled separately. One is for the processor(s), one for the video and other cards, and one for the optical drives and power supply. The result is that my new xeon doesn't sound like much at all, doing or something or not. It's actually quite a nice case design.
Gentlemen! You can't fight in here, this is the war room!
Wow, that is soooooo Stupid.....
And sooooo Awesome!!!!!!!!
I lust for one!
Will double width cards fit? Most cards are double width nowadays.
What about SLI? It seems the connectors would be blocked.
Wow, I can make my computer look like a cheesy CD tower...
This is my sig.
In Soviet Russia you get "Level 700" concept case for $10 !
I don't understand why people care what their case looks like, or why they would spend so much on one, unless it was a Lian-li case.
It's like those people who put massive spoilers and exhausts on their Honda Civics and immediately think they're Vin Diesel.
At $700 I expect 11 fans, triple-redundant power supplies, a hot-swap SATA or SAS backplane, an air shroud, intrusion detection, optional rack mount kit, and something which is at least somewhat attractive. That chassis looks like a cheap Star Wars prop.
The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50
Either "The case looks like a prop from 2001" or "It's absolutely unlike anything I've ever seen before."
Make up your mind.
C.
"Doctor, it's not the voices I hear in MY head, but the voices I hear in YOUR head that really frighten me."
"Granted, it's not hard to put together a parts list far exceeding that cost, but no gamer really needs anything that expensive."
Haven't tried running Crysis on maximum settings have you?
Shai Schticks:"You don't make peace with friends, you make peace with enemies"
Why does everyone assume fancy cars or superbikes will get you laid. When I bought my £4k superbike every person (men and women) all thought the said the same thing. The problem is if you pull up outside a crowded pub in a top class Mercedes/ Audi A4 controvertible or a superbike all that happens is 10 guys come up to have a look at it and tell you how awesome it is. Then they tell you how they'd love to own one and ask you how it drives/rides.
It's like the myth that owning a motorcyle makes you cool to the opposite sex. Honestly in 7 years of riding I've met three random girls who liked the idea. Every other woman I've met when it comes up in conversation has used this exact phrase "Thats so cool, but I could never ride a bike its too scary."
That was exactly the response I got when I bought my airplane! I can count on one hand the number of girls who were willing to go up in it (small plane = scary as hell to most people). I suspect the only real "chick magnets" are boats...generally when they're tied up at the dock, with a bottle of champaign chilling on the deck.
Luckilly when I was dating my wife she overcame her fear of small planes and was supportive of my crack^H^H^H^H^H aviation habit, and as a result we've had some awesome trips together around the US and Canada...but I digress.
The Future of Human Evolution: Autonomy
Very cool case. I wonder if it can take four NVidia Cards?
I see this discussion somewhere in a Mos Eisley Cantina.
"700???? We could almost buy our own PC for that."
"But who's gonna build the rig kid. You?"
This is the most beautiful case I've ever seen! Cases have had various compartments before.. but this has the compartments.. and forgot about the rest of the case! It's black! It's Red! It has a key! It has lights! What more could you POSSIBLY want from a case?!