Performance Analysis

You'd have to be slightly nuts to buy the Core P90 and limit it to housing an air-cooled PC - one half of the case is practically dedicated to water-cooling after all. Still, we test every case that comes into our lab in the same way. There were no fans included as standard, but being an open-air case, the Core P90 unsurprisingly came within spitting distance of our benchmark open test bench result, which also matches enclosed cases such as the Corsair Crystal Series 460X RGB and Thermaltake's own View 37 RGB, all of which managed a CPU delta T of 53°C. 

The GPU delta T was only 5°C off the best result at 49°C, which was again close to the View 37 RGB and actually a fair bit better than the Corsair 460X. Clearly, if you do go for an air-cooled PC (or just need time to save up for a full loop) the layout here will stand you in good stead, so the only real issue you'll have is dust - it'll need semi-regular maintenance to keep things looking fresh.

Conclusion

If you have the space for Thermaltake's Core P90, it's definitely a high-ranking contender for those that want the biggest and best in terms of showing off your hardware. It is a little ungainly in areas, but its real competition comes from Thermaltake's other Core cases, namely the Core P3 and Core P7. The former is considerably cheaper but can still house a high-end water-cooled ATX system, while the Core P7 costs around £80 more but offers a huge amount more potential for showing off with its fold-out arms. This leaves the aptly-named Core P90 in a slight middle-ground quandary. If you must have an open-air show case, though, the Core P90 still comes highly recommended and has the additional horizontal placement orientation which might tempt you away from Thermaltake's other Core cases.