Thermaltake Spedo Advance Package
Jan 10th, 2009 | By Jared
Thermaltake Spedo Advance Package
Date
: 01/10/09 – 04:17:13 AM
Author
:
Category
: Cases
Page 1 : Index
Manufacturer:
Thermaltake
When it comes to computer cases, you have choices, many choices. The ATX form factor has been around for over a decade, but lucky for us case manufacturers are still hard at work with new designs and features.

One such company that has not rested on its laurels is Thermaltake, and they are visiting us again here at Overclockers Online with their latest full tower case, the Spedo Advance Package. I'll be the first to admit it's not the best name (and should not be confused with the bathing suit), but a name does not make the case. Read on to see what this full tower has to offer.
Page 2 : Package and Accessories
The Spedo Advance Package comes in a black box with a picture of the case and a Ford Mustang in the background to hint at its sports car like styling. The back of the case continues the black theme along with some highlights and features of the case.


The sides don't really contain any info other than the indication of which Spedo model is enclosed.


Once you open up the box you are greeted with a bit of a surprise. As opposed to the plastic bag that typically covers cases, the Spedo Advance Package comes covered in a cloth like bag and cushioned between two soft foam packaging inserts.


Included with the Spedo aside from the typical screws are an additional 120mm fan, 5.25′ to 3.5′ bay converter, 4/8 pin motherboard power extension, 24 pin ATX extension, hard drive relocation brackets and a 3.5′ drive bay cover.

Page 3 : Specifications and Features
I grabbed the specifications and features straight from Thermaltake's website here.
Specifications:

From the specifications we can see that the case is made entirely from 0.8mm steel which makes it rather heavy if you need to move it around.
Features:
*A.T.C.3 – Advance Thermal Chamber 3 provides maximum cooling & prevent hot air re-circulation
*C.R.M.3 – Cable Routing Management 3 eliminates cable cluster
*Independent Adjustable Fan bar
*Advance cable routing
*HDD Relocation canister
*Tool free design
*Fancool 8 – Installed up to 8 fans
*Wire-less side panel 23cm fan
*Superior air circulation design
We will of course go over these features in more detail as we tour the case.
Page 4 : Exterior
The view from the front shows that the Spedo carries out the very popular array of mesh drive bays covering the entire front for a maximum of seven 5.25′ expansion bays (the middle four are occupied by a fan). Power and reset buttons are located on the right and have the power and HD LED's integrated directly below each button. Front I/O ports are located on the top and include 2 USB, 1 eSATA, mic and headphone jacks. Styling is always subjective, but I like the styling of the Spedo. Under the mesh towards the back is a 230mm exhaust fan.


On the left side panel is another 230mm fan mounted within a small window; however, this one is for air intake. Towards the back of the small window is a small latch that holds the side panel in place once the screws are removed. Directly opposite on each side is a mesh opening that sandwiches the hard drive bays in the case to allow for air flow. Also notice the feet on the Spedo as they can be rotated out to make it more stable.


In the back you can see the twin 120mm exhaust fans and pre-cut holes for water cooling. The power supply is mounted in the bottom and each PCI slot cover is slotted for air movement. The little mechanisms to the right of these are the tool free PCI slots.

Now it's time to open it up and really see what goodies await.
Page 5 : Interior
When I first removed the side panel I expected to have to unhook the side fan. To my pleasant surprise no such cable was there, however the fan gets power from a contact point on the main case that attaches to your power supply. Similar to the front fan in the SilverStone KL02B-W I reviewed earlier, I wish more companies would adopt this feature for side mounted fans.

The most notable feature is the Advance Thermal Chamber 3 dividers. This design helps to isolate the heat of the video card from the power supply and CPU. There are four pieces that can be somewhat tricky getting in and out but really not too difficult. One piece hides a small parts tray and you'll notice two little sections that slide back to allow cables to be routed. The top most divider has plastic slots to help seal off air while allowing flexibility with motherboard components. Along the right are the tool free 5.25′ drive bay mechanism and 6 tool free hard drive holders.


There are two separate hard drive modules that contain three hard drive mounts each. These modules can be relocated to the 5.25′ drive bays using the hard drive relocation brackets. Also with the ATC chambers removed you'll notice there is a fan mount in the bottom by the power supply bay.

Nestled in the top of the case is a second 230mm fan that helps to exhaust hot air out the top of the case.

Looking into the front portion there is a mount for a 120mm fan that can be moved up and down and angled about 45 degrees to further aid in air movement where you need it. You'll also notice the slots in the motherboard tray for cable routing as well. The tool free PCI slot mechanism is easy to use, as you simply press in a small tab from the back. I am a bit disappointed that Thermaltake uses PCI slot covers that are not reusable. Once you snap them out, they are useless and have to be thrown away which is quite surprising in a case of this price point.


Moving to the right side we have what Thermaltake calls C.R.M.3 or Cable Routing Management 3. Once these 3 plastic squares are removed you can see there are several notches with cable straps for keeping all of your cables tidy and out of the way. There is also a mount for a 120mm fan behind the CPU socket of the motherboard to help keep things cool. One thing I haven't mentioned is that all of the included fans have the cables braided in a nice black sheathing to match the interior and keep things clean.


The bundle of front connectors includes your standard power switch, reset switch, HD and power LEDs, HDA and AC'97 front audio, USB and eSATA.

The front panel pulls off and reveals the seven drive bay covers that easily pop out. You can notice that even from the front there are three almost distinct pass through zones that correlate with the ATC chambers.


So we have had a good tour of the case, but the real test comes from installing and running a PC.
Page 6 : Installation
Installation was really quite simple and I'll just hit on a few of the Spedo's features.
Starting with the hard drives, each hard drive caddy has a total of four tabs that pivot. You press one end to secure the drives as it inserts a small stud into a mounting hole. I did have a slight issue getting one side inserted right as it seemed they weren't lining up correctly but eventually did get them inserted correctly.


Aside from the C.R.M.3 the back side of the motherboard tray has plenty of room to hide your cables. The C.R.M.3 just makes the backside look that much cleaner.


Once the system is installed you can see there is plenty of room.

A quick shot shows the 120mm fan installed in the adjustable fan bar. You can move this fan up and down to help the airflow in any section of the case. Now it's time to install the ATC chambers.

As you can see it effectively seals off each heat generating areas from each other. There are still slots in the side of the chamber that contains the video card that allows fresh air from the side mounted fan to enter. This also helps to further hide any wires if you maybe still had a bit of a mess though I think you almost have to work at it in the Spedo to not have it tidy.


As I stated earlier the top most divider has slotted plastic pieces for just such an occasion as I had where the memory extends a little towards the video card.

A horrible picture as I just couldn't seem to get it to show clearly – the side fan sits really close to the 120mm fan on the Thermalright Ultima90. In fact, while it's running, pushing on the side fan even a little causes it to hit.

Once powered up, the front LED fan glows red and the power LED glows a bright blue. I wish case manufacturers would transition away from the bright blue LEDs for power.

So we are installed and powered up, time to see how the Spedo Advance Package and its Advance Thermal Chambers handle the heat.
Page 7 : Testing
The following system was installed and used to gather temperatures:
CPU: Intel E8400 @ 3.6 GHz
MB: Gigabyte P35-DS3R
RAM: G.Skill 2x2GB PC2 6400 PI Black
Video: Biostar 9600GT
PSU: Ultra X3 1000W
HD: WD 250GB SATA
DVD-Rom: Lite-On 18x DVD Burner SATA
OS: Microsoft Windows XP w/ SP2
Ambient Temperature: 24-25C
Cases:
Thermaltake Spedo Advance Package
To achieve idle temperatures, I allowed the system to sit with no processes running for three hours and recorded the temperatures using Everest Ultimate. I also decided to give the ATC 3 a test and ran tests with them installed and again without them to see what effect they have on temperatures.

While there isn't any real effect on the CPU by the ATC chambers, the difference can definitely be seen in the chipset and video card. The Spedo also bests the HAF932 in temperatures across the board.
We have seen idle temps, now let's turn on some heat and see where things fall.

Things even out a bit more under load in all areas except for the chipset which the Spedo easily beats the HAF932. Again we see a difference in the GPU and chipset differences with the ATC in and out though not as large a difference with the GPU. Still I would say they are doing their job and are more than worth leaving in.
It's also important to note that I also tested things out with the fan bar positioned in each thermal chamber and saw no difference whatsoever in temperatures, so I would conclude that it isn't as useful as the ATC 3 feature.
Page 8 : Conclusion
Thermaltake has hit on a lot of good things with the Spedo, and I've learned it is not restrictive like the swimwear with a similar name. While at first I thought the ATC 3 was more of a gimmick, I found it works quite well especially with isolating heat from the GPU. The contact point for the side panel fan is a nice touch especially if you are in and out of your case often. Your options are also quite open with hard drive location; the fan bar is moveable and you don't even have to use the included fan bar if you don't want.
I really have only minor complaints which really don't detract from my feelings about the Spedo. The use of throwaway PCI slot covers bothers me in a case at this price point. While I'm sure most people have extras lying around from other cases, chances are they are not black and won't match.
I have come away from my experience with the Spedo Advance Package with a great appreciation for all the Spedo has to offer. Bold styling along with some useful features makes the Spedo Advance Package worthy of anyone's consideration.

Advantages
- Spacious
- Advance Thermal Chambers 3 – they work
- Cable management
- Good airflow
Disadvantages
- Non reusable PCI covers
- Heavy
Overclockers Online would like to thank Thermaltake for supplying the Spedo Advance Package for review.