After various medium-sized to huge airflow monsters, Themaltake is now completely revamping the smaller cases in its portfolio. The TR100 is intended to follow in the footsteps of its larger siblings and offer plenty of performance at an acceptable price. Read the test to find out whether the implementation has been successful.
After what felt like the ninety-eighth white NZXT case, I was actually really happy when I was offered the small Thermaltake case for testing. Since the introduction of the Ceres series (and the very good Tough fans in my opinion), I’ve been paying a lot more attention to this manufacturer than I have in recent years. Thermaltake is actually a manufacturer steeped in history and if you’ve been around for a while like me, you’ll certainly remember the bright orange fans and classic cases like the Armor series or the legendary Kandalf Big Tower. It had really been on my mind that I simply hadn’t managed to finally take a look at the almost forgotten small case for health and professional reasons. Especially as the “little black one” was also an ideal candidate for the new photo corner (work in progress!) – some of the photos actually turned out quite well, in my opinion. But enough preamble, let’s finally get to the TR100.
With a volume of a good 20 liters, the TR100 is certainly not the most compact ITX case and is more likely to be found in the realm of the noble bolides such as the Fractal Design Era 2, which (at least considering the introductory price) is also positioned 1-2 classes above Thermaltake’s latest addition. Separate fan slots in the base or front are sacrificed for the sake of ample space for cable management and convenient installation, but you still don’t have to worry about heat build-up – at least when using actively cooled components. But more on that later, let’s first unpack the small tower together.
Unboxing
The outer box comes in the typical Thermaltake design.
As the packaging and padding material do not deviate from the industry standard either, I will spare you the pile of garbage and show you the bare facts. Here is the good piece:
The front suggests more airflow than it actually offers. If you look closely, you can see that not even half of the total area is really permeable. However, this should not bother us any further, as this opening only plays a subordinate role in the supply of fresh air.
The side panel offers significantly more potential and the presence of dust filters can also be seen directly in the large-mesh perforation.
On the back, we find the opening for the I/O shield of the mainboard, three expansion slots and lots of perforated metal.
The base is also almost completely perforated, but has no fan mounts.
An eye for detail: The extremely compact front I/O offers all the necessary options. 2x USB 3.2 type A, 1x USB 3.2 type C, a 3.5mm combo jack, power and reset switch and LEDs for operating status and HDD activity.
The side panels are equipped with full-surface magnetic dust filters on both sides.
The lids themselves are also held in place by magnets and I can spoil directly – even if the cable routes are not completely clean, the magnets are strong enough to prevent the side panel from being pressed open by any rigid cables (or AIO hoses).
An unexpectedly large box with (assembly) accessories immediately catches the eye, as does the modular design of the GPU bracket.
The cover of the TR100 can be completely removed by loosening a single screw.
The same applies to the floor:
What’s more, the knurled screw used also makes the heart of the common PC nerd beat faster: the screws are equipped with a spring mechanism and cannot fall off. Cool!
In the lid of the case we also find an AIO or fan tray, which can accommodate either two 120 or 140mm fans or a 240/280mm AIO.
The base frame of the TR100 is firmly riveted. With regard to the rivets, Thermaltake now also uses the flat/modern design that Fractal Design and NZXT have been using for a while.
Next, let’s take a look at the panel for the 5.25″ bay. What? 5.25″ bay?! Yes, but unfortunately it cannot be used for optical drives.
The bezel can be replaced by the optional display, which is already being replaced in various current Thermaltake cases:
Once the cover is removed, the lower section of the front panel can also be easily removed:
However, as the magnetic dust filter is located inside the housing anyway, simply removing the front is more of a nice extra.
Next, let’s take a look at the two chambers of the TR100. First a look at the generous GPU area including the variable holder on the base. We will of course take a closer look at this later during assembly!
The main chamber contains the mainboard and power supply unit.
The power supply bracket can even be removed for easier installation of the power supply unit.
And last but not least, the included (mounting) accessories including PCIe riser cable:
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