One of the things Thermaltake has been good at is conjuring up some enclosure designs that spark a lot of discussion. Whether it be the once inspiring SwordM or the monolithic Level 10, we’ve all seen something from Thermaltake that we just felt compelled to take a closer look. Today we’ve got that same curiosity about the new Armor series which is quite different from what they’ve done in the past. Things have changed a lot and we think it’s for the best. Today we’ll get to see that new Armor influence in the one they call the A90 Gaming Chassis.
Features and Specifications
Designed for combat, the Armor A90 sports what Thermaltake calls a bulletproof armor design with various additions of fine mesh to the front and top of the case.
The chassis includes rear black 120mm, front blue LED 120mm, and top blue LED 120mm cooling fans. Each fan is capable of expelling about 40 cubic feet of air per minute (CFM) while generating a meager 16dBa fan noise. This should be a surprisingly quiet gaming case, excluding your loud your performance video cards. It also has the large motherboard tray cut out for mounting your favourite oversized CPU Cooler.
There must be a rash of keyboard and mice theft that we haven’t heard about. The Armor A90 takes no chances and includes a theft prevention feature so your peripherals don’t “walk off” at the next big LAN party. Â Another good deterrent is to always sit with good friends so that someone is always watching. This is a feature we first saw in the Cooler Master Storm Series cases.
Some other features include case ports for water cooled tubing and power supply dust filter. Filters are either a good thing or a bad thing depending on how easy they are to access and clean. There’s even a special drive bay for a 2.5 inch SSD.
As for pricing and availability, you should be able to find this case for around $89.99 US. There is also a version bundled with a Thermaltake Toughpower 850W modular PSU for $149.99US. Additional specifications not covered here can be found on the Armor A90 chassis product page.
What’s In The Box?
Besides the Armor A90 Chassis itself, you get an instruction manual and all the bits of hardware that you expect from most enclosures. Things like motherboard stand offs and drive screws aren’t really anything out of the ordinary. Nothing really stood out except maybe that very colorful box.
Armor A90 – Front and Center
You can see that the case boasts an appearance of being armor plated. There are plenty of abstract angles and shapes to conjure up images of a well protected system of sorts. It’s these attributes that will motivate responses from onlookers.
The front bezel starts off the case with a mesh panel door followed by more angles. The middle is nothing more than dressing while the lower vented area provides access for the air being drawn in by the internal front 120mm blue LED fan. There are some expansion and audio ports to the right as well as on top of the case.
Again, there’s more plated theme up top except where the top 120mm blue LED fan expels warm air. The longer mesh angles and top vent are just the right amount for giving the case a little character. It can be really tricky trying to find the right combination of angles and mesh to make something look good.