Thermaltake Lanbox-Lite Computer Case/Chassis

Do you know whats better than tea-bagging your bloody opponents corpse? Seeing his face across the table while you do it.  But who really wants to go through all the effort of dragging a monster computer like the one below anywhere. Let alone to set it up and have to drag it back home in a half sleeping stupor.

With this idea in mind, we have Thermaltake’s Lanbox Lite. As the name suggests this PC case is designed specifically for LAN events.

Here is Thermaltake’s Feature list from their Site:

• Piano mirror coating
• Front panel mesh design for maximum ventilation
• Simple, low-profile, and clean designs with versatility
• A fully module chassis where all component may be removed from the body for easier installation
• High efficiency ventilation:9cm silent fan in front & dual 6cm fan in rear
• Supports Micro ATX form factor & mini ITX form factor
• Supports ATX PS2 power supply
• Dual USB2.0, IEEE1394 Firewire, HD Audio ports
• Sufficient space for settling Nvidia GeForce 8800 series graphic cards. (Installation instruction)

Thermaltake has a reputable name, let’s take a look and see if this diminutive model proves that good things come in small packages, or if it is just the runt of the litter.

Specifications:

With a three year warranty you can tell Thermaltake stands behind their products. Also, the included cooling is sufficient for a majority of small form factor systems.

Packaging:

The box is designed to impress even before you take a look at the contents.

In addition to the standard Styrofoam blocks the entire case is wrapped in a fiber bag. Thermaltake is really pulling all the stops on this one.

The two plastic ventilated sides are covered in protective film so they don’t get scratched in shipment.The case has a good weight to it. It appears to be sturdy, and the plastic windows (a common fail point for some cases) are durably mounted.

A Closer Look:

The entire case is modular, every component can be easily taken out or place in for system maintenance.

You can see the two case fans at the back of the mother board tray. the overall design of this case is to utilize a directed airflow. the side and top ventilation serve as outputs for the processor cooler, and the video card respectively.

The case is designed to handle a full assortment of accessories including two optical drives a floppy or media card reader, and even the 8000 series full sized graphics cards. It is uncommon that you find a small form factor case designed to accept a full height graphics card, trust me I looked.

Installation:

I had very specific intentions while I was drooling over this case. It is a widely held misconception that with a small form factor comes severe limitations. And that a mid or full tower case is required to get any performance. I laugh at this misconception.

Test Rig:

Motherboard: Gigabyte H55N-USB3 Mini-ITX
Disk Drive: OCZ Agilty II SSD
Ram: 4gb Patriot Sector 5 Viper II
Operating System: Windows 7 Ultimate
Processor: Intel I5-750 2.6ghz Quad core
PSU: OCZ ModXStream modular 700 watt
GPU: Sparkle GTX 480+

Gigabytes release of the Mini-ITX spawned some very interesting debates about the capabilities and traditional roles of a “small form factor” system. The fully featured board allows me to completely take advantage of the space within this case as well as completely take advantage of my opponents assumptions.

The motherboard installation was very easy. The motherboard fit perfectly in the space provided with room to spare.

The Optical drive was also a very straightforward installation. The instruction manual had some helpful tips if your into that sort of thing…

Due to the space constraints I was forced to use the Intel stock heat sink. While this does an adequate job I will be replacing it when I find a suitable option.

The power supply mounted seamlessly into the bracket and I was able to remove it from the frame so I could easily complete the wiring.

The installation of the GTX480 proved to be a bit of a situation. The case is designed to house the entirety of the 8800GTX, which is unfortunately 9 inches long as opposed to the 10.5 ” of the GTX 480. This was easily remedied however. I simply removed the hard drive cage from the floor of the case. It allowed for the extra room the card needed to fit. Because I am using an SSD I was able to mount the drive to the secondary optical drive bay. The SSD is neither heavy, nor subject to vibration so I feel there is no danger with this option.

The other concern with putting this beast of a graphics card in such a cramped space is heat. The ventilation on this case with the included three fans is quite adequate for the intended running temperatures, however I have seen this card heat up to 130 degrees Fahrenheit. To combat this potential disaster, I installed a Thermaltake PCI slot fan. The fan removes air directly from the heat sink of the video card and helps to keep the entire case very cool.

Summary:

This is the Little brother to the Thermaltake lanbox, the primary difference is the distinct lack of a steel handle. I am pleased with the alternative because the box shape and the piano finish maintain an elegant look that would not detract from any desk or office environment. I would feel very comfortable using this box as a media center system, as the soft glow from the from 80mm case fan is not to bright. And even after an hour of gaming the noise put off from the system is well under what one would expect for it to be this low in ambient heat. The installation was very easy and I encountered no issues from design, however the case is not designed to handle the length of the Fermi series video cards. If you intend to use this system with a traditional HDD I would make specific note of the length of your video card. I am very happy with the appearance and design of this case.

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