Final Thoughts
I have to say I am extremely impressed with this case. It seems as though Thermaltake has really listened to its customers and done all of the right things with the Urban T81. Being part of the Urban Series you are going to get a sleek case and the T81 is no exception to that. It has a very subtle, but sleek design. The front brushed aluminum door makes it so there are no drives messing up that sleek look of the case.
The T81 is more than capable of handling pretty much any piece of hardware you throw it at it. It is a full tower case so you do have support for ATX and E-ATX motherboards, eight hard drives, two optical drives, and long graphics cards and power supplies. As I said this is a builders case and Thermaltake has really taken that to heart with the modular drive system. This allows you to completely remove all of the storage from the case and move the hard drive cages to whichever configuration you would like. It really does give you a lot of options.
When it comes to cooling Thermaltake does include three 200 mm (2 front, 1 top) fans and a 140 mm exhaust fan. That should be more than enough to keep your system cool, but of course you can add quite a lot more fans if you wish. One thing that I really did not mention too much was the radiator support. This case can support some pretty extreme watercooling configurations, check out the graph below to see what I mean.
Another great feature of this case is the dual-swing door design. This not only looks cool, but makes it extremely easy to get in inside your case. Not only that the lock on the door gives you an extra level of security. Installation in this case is a snap and I did not encounter any issues at all when installing my system.
At the end of the day this is one of the better cases that I have seen lately, from the build quality to the features. If you are looking for a sleek full tower case this should be at the top of your list. Right now you can pick up the Urban T81 at my favorite online retailer for $168, which is a great price. Overall ThinkComputers gives the Thermaltake Urban T81 Full Tower Case a 10 out of 10 score and our Recommended Award.
Pros:
– Sleek design
– Dual-swing door design
– Modular storage system
– 4 included fans
– Lots of room for watercooling
– Easy installation
Cons:
– Would have liked to see tie-downs on the back of the motherboard tray
I’ve said it before (on other review sites), and I’ll say it again; while it’s very informative – and welcomed – to see the maximum size radiator that will fit inside a particular chassis, it would be even more helpful if manufacturers would state the maximum thickness a radiator could be in a chassis.
For example; this chassis can have a 420 mm (3 x 140 mm) radiator in the roof or in the front, but what is the thickest radiator that can be installed above the motherboard. If the thickest radiator that will fit is going to be a slim rad (like the AIO’s), then I’ll be looking somewhere else; but if this chassis will house a standard 64 mm radiator (e.g. EKWB XTX series, or XSPC RX series, Alphacool’s UT60 series), then I might consider it.
Secondly; what is the clearance like behind the motherboard, is there enough room for the 24 pin power cable without having to force the back panel on (forcing the panel to bulge).
Little things like these can make or break a deal for me, and is why they’re questions that need answers.
Brechan thanks for your comments. This case will infact fit a 64mm radiator up top. Here is a detailed diagram for watercooling in the top of the case: http://bit.ly/UELaA8.
When it comes to the back of the motherboard tray if you use the metal cable organizers you will have no problem closing the back side panel at all. Hope that helps!