Thermaltake has a fantastic concept case: Level 10

CeBIT 2009: When finally released, Thermaltake's pre-production Level 10 concept case will cost over 500 Euros and only sell in a very exclusive limited quantity, but there will be literally nothing like it on the market.

Conceptualised by BMW Group Designworks in the USA, it was then put into practice by Thermaltake who has completely eschewed the “case” part of a chassis and has gone for absolute compartmentalisation in conjunction with a stylish single column it’s all built from.

On display was a pre-production part, so even Thermaltake's Global Director of Marketing, Joseph Lin, couldn’t tell us exactly what materials were to be used and how it would be finally made. Grabbing a quick feel (of the case and not Joseph, I hope - Ed) the material felt like thick, powdercoated aluminium, so unless Thermaltake plans to have little fans everywhere (like for the hard drives) – typically this will offer solid structural integrity, but also some level of insulation (think Zalman cases).

The rear side houses the entry point and hides the cable routing for all the components, and we hope Thermaltake also provides particularly long cables too.

But in a way, that’s not what a concept case is about. Even the Lian Li PC-888 might not be to everyone’s tastes and it lacks several key features, but at least it’s different from the normal enclosures every man and its dog is making these days – the same thing applies to the Level 10.

Visually it’s a masterpiece. A piece of artwork, even. As usual the pictures don’t do it justice and having something so different is always a breath of fresh air unless you’re so ingrained in the “case must look like a fridge” mould. But whether Thermaltake can not only design it, but rigorously test it as well is something the jury is still out on. Dropping by the new Luxa-2 brand which is the high price, high quality area of Thermaltake's case portfolio, even after just a few days on the show floor a couple had damaged parts from continual pressing or opening.

All in all, we’re keen to see how this pans out, even if it is the exclusive product few can afford, because the idea might proliferate into something that fundamentally changes the case industry... in a good way.

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