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Case, Power Supply, Fan Reviews
  Product:     Thermaltake Xaser III VM3000A Series Skull Mid-Tower  
  Price:     $167 (CAN) / $130 (U.S) 
  Supplied By:     Xoxide Modifications
  Author:     DrMobius
  Date:     January 4th, 2004
  Rating:     star star star star star star star star

Thermaltake Xaser III VM3000A Series Skull Mid-Tower
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Thermaltake Xaser III VM3000A Series Skull Mid-Tower
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Included with the Xaser III VM3000A was a 20 page manual, a security feature sheet, 2 Thermaltake Skull stickers, a square of tape for securing the thermal probe, 4 plastic locks used to secure the front bezel, a 3-pin fan power converter, a plastic piece used to lock the right side panel to the case, and a set of keys. Installed in the top 5.25" drive bay (which is not covered when the front bezel door is closed) is a backlight illuminated Thermaltake Hardcano 10, which can be used to control the 4 included and installed case fans. The Hardcano has a backlit LCD display for displaying the temperature of your CPU as well as a front Firewire port and 2 front USB ports. The temperature readout on the Hardcano can be set to Celsius or Fahrenheit and has a range of 0ºC ~ 90ºC (32ºF ~ 194ºF) as well as programmable high and low temperature alarms.

Thermaltake Xaser III VM3000A Series Skull Mid-Tower
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Thermaltake Xaser III VM3000A Series Skull Mid-Tower
Click image for larger view
 

In following its predecessors, the Xaser III VM3000A Series Skull Mid-Tower has a plastic and aluminum layered front bezel. The front bezel itself is constructed of plastic with a swing-away door. Mounted to the plastic bezel is a red anodized piece of aluminum, and mounted to it is an "X" shaped piece of black aluminum bearing Thermaltake’s Xaser III logo. In the lower half of the front bezel is the glowing EL skull design which is covered by plastic to protect the EL lighted design. There are two light tubes mounted within the bezel door allowing the power and activity LED light to shine through, as well as ventilation slots to allow for airflow. The front ventilation on the case is a significant improvement over the last Thermaltake case MTB reviewed, the Xaser III V1000D Super Tower Case, however the layered bezel design of the Xaser series cases prevents a challenge for those who would want to further increase the ventilation for better case cooling.

Thermaltake Xaser III VM3000A Series Skull Mid-Tower
Click image for larger view
Thermaltake Xaser III VM3000A Series Skull Mid-Tower
Xaser III VM3000A power & reset buttons
 
Opening the front bezel door reveals the 6 exposed 5.25" drive bays as well as the 2 exposed 3.5" bays. The drive bay covers are constructed out of heavy plastic and drilled full of holes, possibly to further help airflow. This is the first time I have seen the drilled plastic drive bay covers on a Thermaltake case, and hopefully isn’t going to be a trend as I much prefer the solid bay covers. Also inside the front door is the oversized power button and smaller reset button. Below the power and reset buttons are the blue and red power and activity LED’s.
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