Although many CPU chips today consume less power (there fore generate less heat) compared to earlier chips such as Intel’s Net-Burst design Pentium 4, multiple core designs such as Intel’s Core 2 Quad QX6800 draws up to 130W of power. In addition to that, graphic cards such as the GeForce 8800GTX / Ultra or Radeon 2900XT generates so much heat (average 90'C Stock) that under full load the stock air-cooling generates noise akin to vacuum cleaners. To address this ever growing need for cooling high-end systems, Kandalf LCS by ThermalTake is a system designed to give complete liquid cooling solution to not only the CPU but also GPU and motherboard board.

Model	VD4000BWS
Case Type	Super Tower
Side Panel	Transparent Window
Net Weight	21.92 kg
Dimension	540.0 mm x 220.0 mm x 640.0 mm
Cooling System	Rear (exhaust) : 120x120x25mm blue LED fan, 1300rpm, 17dBA; 92x92x25mm, 1800rpm, 19dBA Top (exhaust) : 92x92x25mm, 1800rpm, 19dBA
Drive Bays - Front accessible	9 x 5.25" 2 x 3.5"
Drive Bays - Internal	6 x 3.5"
Material	Chassis: 1.0mm SECC Front door: Aluminum
Color	Black
Expansion Slots	7
Motherboards	Micro ATX, ATX, Extend ATX, BTX
PSU	Standard ATX PSII
I/O Ports	USB 2.0 x 2, IEEE 1394 x 1, Audio & Speaker ports
BTX Upgrade Kit	SRM/Rear plate(option: A9358)
Liquid Cooling System	All-in-one waterblock: For Intel BTX platform, P4 775 and AMD K8 Performance radiator: (A) Dimension of radiator: H 407 x W 120 x D 35 mm (B) Three 1300RPM 120mm fans P500 liquid pump: Power DC 12V liquid pump (500L/hr) Reservoir: Contains 350 c.c. of liquid capacity, easy to refill Water tube: Transparent UV tube (3/8") & industrial-grade rubber tube.
Container Load	20'-172,40'-361,40'HQ-412

The model we received for review is the VD4000BWS (black with window) and the only other variant is VD4000SWA (silver with window), both of them feature an SECC steel chassis with brushed-aluminum front panel covers. The chassis comes with standard ATX board support and can be converted to BTX by using the optional kit (P/N:A9358).

The size of the Kandalf is similar to other Full-ATX tower cases such as the popular ThermalTake Armor and stands at 21.2 inches. It is longer than most cases due to the placement of the radiator at the front of the chassis. The 360mm tall aluminum radiator is equipped with three quiet 120mm fans (each rated 17dBA @ 1300rpm) and sits neatly inside the front panel cover. Each fan has its own power connector so some, or all of the fans can be disabled for silent cooling if desired. The middle fan behind the Kandalf badge has four blue LED lights as seen in the picture. The brushed-metal look of the aluminum front cover is very well made and looks impressive from every perspective. It gives it a medieval feeling right off the bat, perfect for anyone looking to get a matching system for games like Oblivion or Lord of The Rings Online. (Kandalf / Gandalf ?) The only negative thing about the front panel cover is that the two piece design does not mate neatly upon closing unless negotiated by both hands. This is caused by the smaller of the two going a few degrees further inside and unable to magnetically snap to the larger one. It is not a major issue but a minor cosmetic annoyance to those who demand perfection on their computer cases.

The access panel comes with only one window, but panel rigidity is increased by splitting it into three clear panels, still giving a good view of the colorful system inside. The access panel also has quick release tabs and a key lock. The other side cover however, is full metal with no locks and is about one 10mm from the motherboard mounting plate to make room for tidy cable routing. Instead of the usual polished shiny paint, the panels have bumpy textured paint which fits in perfectly with the brushed-aluminum front, completing the medieval look. The chassis stands on four plastic feet with rubber heels for easy lifting and placement. However, due to the massive weight of the fully equipped system (60lb on test system with everything installed) it may leave scratches on the desk if lifted improperly.

USB 2.0, Firewire, and audio in/out ports are located on the top of the unit concealed by a plastic cover. The plastic cover feels fragile and cheap compared to the rest of the case. It also won't stay up open on its own. This is undoubtedly the Achilles’ heel of this fine looking case. Hopefully most people won't notice it if it’s left unopened.

The Kandalf case has four pre-drilled holes in the back with rubber rings for an additional upgraded radiator or external water-pump, not that the included radiator is insufficient. This however would let the user place the water-pump outside the case to free up space inside for longer graphic cards and other expansion cards. (SLI? Anyone?)

Inside the Kandalf case there is approximately 13 inches of length (great for long cards like the GeForce 8800 Ultra) and 14 inches in height for motherboard and expansion cards. Although that's a lot of space, placing the water-pump and coolant tank inside the case as suggested by the manual prevents installation of longer cards (more than 9.5 inches in length) other than the primary graphic card. Not that many people would have need for two GeForce 8800Ultra in SLI mode.

The Kandalf case has ten tool-free 5.25" bays with a dust filter on the front of the case, one is taken by the power switch/LED with a free 3.5" slot, and another is reserved for routing coolant tubes and has a bushing for protecting the tubes. The rest of the 5.25" bays can also be converted to 3.5" bays if so desired. A stash box included with the case can fit into any of the 5.25" bays and provide convenient storage for CD/DVD, Flash cards, USB drives, etc,. One great thing about these bays is that if the 3.5" drive going into the power switch/LED slot has a cable too short to reach the bottom of the case, it can be moved into any of the lower slots to give it reach. It is a very useful feature since many motherboards have USB and Firewire slots at the bottom and most card reader drives have cables too short for such a tall case.

Inside the case there are two 92mm fans (19dBA @ 1800rpm) and one LED-lit 120mm fan (17dBA @ 1300rpm). One 92mm fan sits behind the second hard-drive cage on top of the case and provides direct cooling to the hard drives, which is ideal for faster and hotter drives. The other 92mm fan is located on the ceiling of the case behind the USB panel. The 120mm fan is located right behind the CPU socket. Its location inside the case would change depending on the ATX or BTX motherboard. One downside of these fans is that even though they are large and quiet there are no speed sensor pins to control the their speed. Not that it’s very hard to replace them, but it would have been better to include 3-pin fans with speed control.

ThermalTake designed the Kandalf hard drive bays and power supply placement so that there would be less interference with expansion cards and coolant tubes inside the case. There are two hard drive cages and each can hold three drives. The front drive cage can be placed anywhere at the front or removed for clearance. Instead of storing hard drives, the front 3.5" drive cage can also be equipped with a 120mm fan to cool the graphics cards and motherboard chipset. The top cage is also removable and sits at the top of the board for better placement so that hard drive and longer expansion cards are not fighting for space. This also makes the addition and removal of hard drives much less painful than many other case designs.

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