Thermaltake tai chi review: Thermaltake Tai-Chi review: Thermaltake Tai-Chi

While no one sees — a deep, calm breath. Then a slow exhale. Intoxicating air fills my body and then leaves it. Slow movements of the hands, similar to a dance, warm up the muscles that are stiff in a cramped car. Legs, springy-light, ready for any challenge. I am amazingly alert and fresh. The power dormant in my hands awakens, enveloping my palms in a tight cocoon. Enjoying the complete harmony of body and spirit under the astonished glances of neighbors uninitiated in the technique of Tai Chi gymnastics, I drag a twenty-kilogram box into my house. The house is obviously cramped for such hulks. After a short rest, I performed another exercise of the Tai Chi school, in the original it is called «Hug the moon.» A full breath, hands cover a huge container, lift it and release the hero from cardboard captivity. Exhalation. “Regular Tai Chi practice is an excellent method of maintaining perfect physical shape,” the encyclopedia explains. And I do not doubt the veracity of these words. nine0006

Yin and yang. Feminine and masculine principles. Day and night. It is this symbol that is the key in the design of the case. The left door, yin, is made of dark aluminum, the right one, yang, is made of light. The gentle curve of the junction of doors is food for meditation. No unnecessary details, no inscriptions, except for the modest Tai-Chi logo on half of the yang. The ventilation mesh is almost indistinguishable in the dark half. There are also no barn locks: in the closed position, the doors are held by barely noticeable magnets screwed into them from below. nine0012 I open the metal doors and see a typical five-inch high-rise building closed with stylish aluminum plugs. There are eleven such floors in the building, but five of them are occupied by settlers.

The first is the notorious Thermalteykovskaya «ashtray» with nostril handles, more precisely, a box for small things and CDs, installed at the very bottom. On the second — a panel with power buttons, reset and indicator LEDs. This panel, equipped with an air-filtering mesh, nestled at the very top. Another three floors were given to the most important tenant. This is a container for three 3.5-inch drives. This module, iCage, is equipped with a 120mm intake fan designed to cool these drives. The entrance to the huge VIP apartment is closed by one large plug with rounded slots for air passage, made in the same style as the rest of the front end. nine0006

Of course, the owner of this house has the right to place tenants at his own discretion, since there are no restrictions on imagination. You can evict any tenant you don’t like without trial or investigation. Or invite another iCage family.

It seems to me that the chief designer, having masterfully designed the front of the hull, got tired and went on vacation. And the rest of the parts were made by another master, a graduate of the Faculty of Industrial Design. See for yourself. Both the left and right sidewalls are a gigantic aluminum radiator. Body panels are stamped from 2mm sheet. The huge box, bared from top to bottom with thick vertical ribs, resembles a futuristic heater. Massive aluminum handles on top are useful (for them it is convenient to hold the giant when carrying), but only strengthen the strange association. In addition to these handles and fins, USB and FireWire connectors are located on the top panel. Audio jacks are installed there. nine0006

The left side panel is traditionally openable. For convenience, it is not removed at all, but swings open, because it is hinged. To do this, it is divided into two unequal parts. To gain access to the vital organs of the computer, you need to unscrew the long sleeve screws hiding in the gaps between the radiator fins. You won’t need to take a screwdriver out of the cabinet, as these screws are long enough to be easy to grab onto.

Wow! I didn’t expect such a surprise! As soon as I unscrewed the last fastener, the main, wide sidewall door (the one closer to the back of the case) cheerfully opened itself. She was assisted by a hydraulic servo cylinder, a local janitor. The same helpful butlers are found in cars: the trunk lid of hatchbacks opens in the same way, and with a characteristic whistle. A smaller part of the left side wall is deprived of such a service, but it will also have to be opened much less frequently. nine0006

There is a similar construction of doors of unequal size on the right sidewall, but the doormen are not attached to it either. Moreover, only a narrow part of the sidewall opens — for access to drives and drives. Service entrance, you know. And it’s more convenient for me through the front door. The cylinder whistled and let me inside. At the bottom of the case there was a box with fasteners. I did not find any instructions or drawings, but even without them everything is clear.

The box contains a lot of screws of all sizes, and this made me think that Thermaltake deliberately forgoes the use of latches and latches in the name of reliability. All devices placed on the front of the housing must be screwed on. Again, a screwdriver is not required: the heads of the screws are large, they are knurled — we twist them with our hands. Mounting holes are oval, which allows you to orient any device strictly horizontally, as well as adjust its position in depth. And yet, despite the screwophilia, Thermaltake did not completely abandon the latches. Expansion boards are fixed only by them. nine0006

Four wheels were found in the box along with the screws. Given the considerable weight of the aluminum giant, this is not an extra addon at all. Each «skating rink» is equipped with a brake. I recommend installing the wheels right away, since the body in this form is raised five centimeters above the floor, which opens the way for air through the ventilation holes on the bottom.
Enough attention has been paid to cooling issues. There are two fans in the case: I mentioned one (it is located in the iCage), the other is installed as an exhaust fan on the rear panel. Both «Carlsons» are 120 mm, low-speed (1300 rpm, 17 dBA), with blue illumination and transparent blades. The windmills are powered by four-pin Molex, supplemented with a three-pin plug to implement the tachometer function. The light from the fans makes its way through the many vents. nine0006

It is no coincidence that so many oval holes were made in the left side wall for the passage of air, covered with a mesh. Another model of the Tai Chi line, namely the VB5001SNA, is equipped with a dropsy directly at the factory, and it has a huge radiator and a CBO pump on its left side wall, and they need intensive airflow. However, no one forbids the owner of the VB5000SNA to use water cooling (not necessarily from Thermaltake, you can install any system, even a home-made one). Four hose holes on the rear panel, free space and a lot of threaded holes everywhere — there is room for an overclocker or an enthusiast to turn around. nine0006

This enclosure can also be used as a server enclosure. A working Tai Chi would look good in the office of an advanced IT company, on a beautiful pedestal. But here the buyer is waiting for a rebus. It seems that the cooling is good, and there is enough space for anything, but for some reason the specifications of the model do not support the Extended ATX form factor. In addition, the niche of the power supply is not designed to accommodate a redundant server source. Only three hard drives can be installed without purchasing «whales» and adapters for mounting drives in five-inch bays, and this confirms my guess. nine0006

It’s a shame, because an easily removable tray for the motherboard allows you to use all ATX sizes (micro-ATX in such a gym is a funny sight!) And the BTX form factor supported in every possible way by Thermaltake in all its forms. In the latter case, you will have to buy a BTX Upgrade Kit, which consists of a rear panel of a case of a different layout and an SRM board (thermal module mount). A similar kit for Armor series cases retails for $40. The option may not come in handy: the general consensus is that BTX will not become popular in the near future, no matter how it is promoted to the masses. nine0006

But, even if we don’t count the possibility of building a BTX system as a plus, the case is interesting. Many will appreciate the design and only for the sake of it will acquire a powerful Tai Chi, without fooling themselves with overclocking. The air-cooled model, as if for such aesthetes, was created: it is noticeably cheaper and, moreover, very functional.

Tai Chi equipped with dropsy is more suitable for those who, in addition to beauty, appreciate top-end hardware and are not afraid of design work. Or he knows to whom they can be entrusted without fear. But not every enthusiast has the funds for both such a case and dropsy at once. The acquisition of the “air” VB5000SNA, and later on a powerful CBO to it, is a worthy path. nine0012 And finally, let’s talk a little about the possibilities of improving the case and its non-standard application.
It will be a lot of fun if this aluminum wardrobe ends up in the hands of a do-it-yourself extremist with a fine mental organization. There are a lot of options for non-standard use of aluminum body panels, especially in relation to the cooling system. They are ribbed, which means that their total surface area is colossal! Why not organize passive or almost passive cooling of computer components? In the right wall of the case there are three rows of holes to which heat pipes can be attached. nine0006

Alternatively, the right side wall can be used as a radiator for a dropsy. A copper tube of sufficient diameter laid in a snake, tightly pressed against the plane of the aluminum panel through thermal paste, perfectly dissipates heat. Mazur, on occasion, will tell you how to remove some very hot elements from the power supply, which, being screwed to the top panel of the box through insulating gaskets, can be perfectly cooled without any fans. Needless to say, that the fan of the feeder in such situations will become an unnecessary detail? nine0006

The case is not bad as a material for deep aesthetic experiments. The ribs of the side walls can be painted in such a way that the pattern will be different depending on what angle you look at it from. It can even be said that for complete harmony this giant lacks the right color. The monotonous texture of the side walls is depressing. I recalled a joke: «After assembly, this product should be carefully processed with a file.» And the love of refinement, whatever you say, is in the blood of Russians. nine0012 Are there any drawbacks to pathos Tai Chi? Of course, where without them. The main cant is the inconsistency with the Extended ATX form factor and inability to adapt to other server realities. But other problems are also noticeable. In such an expensive case, in my opinion, there should be no sharp edges on the details of the internal frame and on the carrying handles. The rest, including the price, is a real high-end, without discounts or compromises.

Price: $294 l Form factor: ATX, BTX l Color: silver l Power supply: none l Expansion slots: 7 pcs. l 5.25″ bays: 11 l Internal 3.5″ bays: 3 + 1 pcs. l Connectors: 2 x USB 2.0, 1 x IEEE 1394, 2 x Audio l Fans: 2 x 120 mm l Dimensions 600 x 263 x 546 mm l Weight: 17. 1 kg

Author: Sergey Kulagin

Acknowledgment: Device provided by 3Logic www.3logic.ru, 540-9136

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Subjective about Thermaltake Tai-Chi M2 and Logitech G5 / Overclockers.ua

This brief review (or, most likely, a subjective assessment) will not be devoted to overclocking, but will be devoted to items that a «hardcore» gamer (and not only) cannot do without, namely, mouse manipulators and mousepads for these mice. Yes, yes, it is they, do not be surprised, because in addition to skill and gambling passion, it is they who lead the gamer to victory.
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In this review, we’ll take a look at the Logitech G5 mouse and the Thermaltake Tai-Chi M2 mousepad, and compare the G5 with the Logitech MX510 mouse, and the Tai-Chi with a simple $1 rag mat.

So, we will start our journey into the «world of gamers» with a mat.

Thermaltake Tai-Chi M2

Don’t be surprised that this mat is from Thermaltake, a giant company that makes cooling systems, power supplies, cases, and, for some time now, mice and keyboards.
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I myself was very surprised when I came across this miracle. The rug has a sufficient size, a rough surface — unlike most other metal rugs, it is not cold to the touch and does not create discomfort when using it.

On the underside of the mat there is a special rubber coating that prevents the mat from fidgeting, then directly a plate of aluminum and a work surface made of a material reminiscent of fibertech (used in Razer carpets).
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Purely subjective, the mousepad provides a fair amount of mouse gliding, on par with Razer’s mousepads, and at a lower price point of about $28.

Logitech G5

This is not even a manipulator, but a high-tech work of art.

Laser, instead of the usual LED, with a resolution of up to 2000dpi. True, 2000 dpi is available only for OC Win2000 and higher — after all, to transfer such an amount of information, a non-standard USB polling rate is required — 500 times per second. It is also worth noting an additional cartridge for weights (for adjusting the weight of the mouse), which are included.
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The mouse sits quite confidently in the hand — it doesn’t slip, the palms don’t sweat too much (checked by playing Counter-Strike 1.6 for 6 hours). The ergonomics are just great. It is possible to switch the resolution of the mouse on the fly — from 400 to 2000 dpi. Initially, you can select three modes: 400, 800 and 2000. But with the help of the SetPoint software that comes with the mouse, you can adjust 5 «speeds» — from 400 to 2000 dpi in 50 dpi increments. This mouse also has a wireless brother — Logitech G7. The differences are only in the absence of wires (it is wireless) and the presence of batteries.
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Comparative test

Well, we will start the comparative testing with mice. The old Logitech MX 510 mouse proved to be quite good in its time, and now it does not give up its positions: well-thought-out ergonomics, smooth movement, accuracy. But, alas, she is already obsolete, despite the fact that she still has «gunpowder in the flasks.»

Subjectively, the Logitech G5 is very different from the MX series, while slightly outperforming them in terms of ergonomics, and significantly outperforming them in terms of smoothness and positioning accuracy. But the smoothness and accuracy are most striking — it’s just fantastic, I have not seen anything like this anywhere else. The mouse is ideal for both hardcore gamers who play 3D shooters and strategy lovers. But still it is more of a fighting mouse than a strategic one.
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At the same time, the MX is more suitable for all types of games — although in shooters it does not keep up with the G5 a little. On two different mats, the mouse proved to be quite worthy, although it revealed itself most of all on the Thermaltake mat, but there is one thing — it is not able to work with glass mats, which is very disappointing. Although, to each his own — after all, the test of mice is rather ambiguous and it is impossible to express mouse performance in parrots.