Introduction

The art of engineering goes hand in hand with creativity and inspiration. Without creativity it is really hard to make something completely new without imitating other peoples work. Inspiration helps us to achieve a perfection in pretty much anything that we do. When it comes to designing a computer case, the same principles apply here. Today we are going to be taking a look at the newest model of computer cases by Thermaltake, Armor A90. Armor A90 has been inspired by bullet proof armor with a side of a metallic mesh. This case has been designed not to only look great but also provide a list of valuable features to computer enthusiasts. Let us take a closer look at Armor A90 and see what else it has to offer.

About the Product

Following information is taken from the Thermaltake web site.

Features

• Black “bulletproof” armor design with metal mesh elements
• Top and front blue LED-fan enhancing combat ambience
• Massive protective front door for drive access
• Bottom based PSU for optimized cooling
• Big triangular side panel window & 120mm side panel VGA cooling opening
• LC ready! 2 x liquid cooling punch out holes

Specifications

Now that we got basic information out of the way, lets take a closer look at Thermaltake's Armor A90.

Closer look

Front shot		Armor A90

The packaging of Armor A90 is rather colorful and full of the details. The over all schema of Armor A90 is bases on a mystic "defender" or "warrior" so there are some vivid images of the "hero" on the front of the packaging of Armor A90.

Detailed Information		Helpful Info

On the back of of the packaging we found some detailed information about Armor A90 features and specification. To our surprise the case is rather large but it doesn't have all the weight that you might think it has even thought its net weight around 18 LB or 8 Kg.

Cooling		SSD Support

We also found some images that describe air cooling of the case. It is important to pay attention to cooling within your case as keeping the components cool will prolong the life of the over all computer. Armor A90 offers hard drive cooling, motherboard and psu cooling. You do not need to buy any additional fans as Armor A90 comes with 3 powerful fans to move air in and out of the system. What it is important to mention here is that Armor A90 has a mount for 1 SSD hard drive yet it doesn't come with any mounting.

Out of the box		Instruction Manual

Armor A90 is neatly packed in the plastic foam and shrink wrap to keep the unit out of the accidental scratches or bangs. Armor A90 also comes with a handy user guide which came handy when installing hard drives or motherboard.

Left Side Shot		Right Side Shot

On the left side of the case we found a small triangular plastic window and space for an additional 120 mm fan. The right side of the case doesn't have any marking only the the popped out material. The quality of the case is pretty high as it is not easily scratchable as it is made from SECC material. SECC is a thin steel material which is rather light comparing to a traditional steel. This explains why this case is rather light.

Rear Shot		Front Shot

Rear and front shots are pretty much self explanatory. It is important to mention here that the power supply is designed to be stored on the bottom of the case. This greatly helps keeping the temperatures of the case to the minimum.

TT Logo		Front Bay

The only logo on Armor A90 we found was TTs. It is conveniently placed in the front bottom of the case. The whole front bezel is made from plastic. This case would definitely look better with an aluminum bezel. The front door has a small magnet which works pretty good when it comes to keeping the door closed.

Top Access Ports		Door Access Ports

Armor A90 has plenty of ports and would be considered a great lan party case. There are two USB 2.0 ports and one eSATA port on the top of the case and also two USB 2.0 ports and audio ports in the front of the case. This comes really handy at any lan party event. I really hate going to the back of the pc for ports.

Stylish Power Button		Rear fan and LC holes

Power and reset buttons of Armor A90 are rather stylish as well. Very unusual design goes hand and hand with the style of the rest of the case. On the back of the case you can find pretty much the same configuration as any other case out there. Armor A90 is a liquid cooler ready case. On the top and bottom the the back there are some water cooling holes for the radiator pipes.

PCI Slots and PSU Mount		Friendly Thumb Screws

We found a PSU mount to be on the bottom of the case. I cant stress enough that the PSU should have exhaust facing to the bottom of the case for keeping temperatures low with in the case. PSU's do get pretty hot so you want to keep the inside of your pc as cool as possible. To make life easier, Thermaltake has provided a set of thumb screws for easy access to the case.

Opened Door		5.25" Locking Mechanism

Inside of the Armor A90 looks like an opened concept case. It looks like it has enough room for pretty much anything you can throw at it. What is impressive inside of this case is the screw less design of the hard drive and 5.25". No more screwing cd drives or hard drives to the case as this nifty self locking mechanism takes care of it all in a matter of seconds.

3.5" Locking Mechanism		PSU Mount

Armor A90 has a total of 9 expansion slots. Three slots are located in the upper section of the case where you could easily install 5.25" DVD rom application. The other 6 slots are located on the bottom of the case. There is a additional slot which allows installation of SSD hard drive. As we mentioned earlier the PSU is mounted on the bottom of the case the exhaust should be facing to the bottom.

Rear Exhaust Fan		Upper Exhaust Fan

We found three fans inside of Armor A90. The rear Exhaust Fan is a 120 mm fan which is designed to push air out of the case at 1000 rpm. The top fan is also designed to push air out of the case and is a 200 mm fan with rotational speed of 800 rpm. This fan is a color fan so it will be lit light blue while operation.

3 5.25" Slots		Front Intake Fan

The front Intake Fan is located in the bottom portion of the front. This particular fan is 120 mm and has the same rotational speed as the rear fan. All these fans are rather quiet as they produce very little sonar levels, 15-18 dBA. In addition to all of these fans you could install two more in to this system.

Motherboard Tray CPU Slot		Cable Management

Motherboard tray of Armor A90 is not removable so that is kind of disappointing however the motherboard tray has a CPU slot which makes it easy to remote and install the cpu cooler. Besides this nifty feature Armor A90 has a few cable management spots. Keeping things neat inside of the case could greatly increase the air flow with in the case.

Bottom Shot		Rubber Feet

Armor A90 sits on four rubber based legs. They are very well hidden from the naked eye but provide a great support for the whole structure.

Standard ATX Motherboard		Nice and neat

Installing a whole system was pretty easy as We have done this about 100 times with other reviews. The over all installation was pretty easy as there is plenty of room to work with. We were worried that our video card wont be able to fit in but that wasn't the case. You should have no problems installing even some of the latest video cards. Installing hard drives and cd drive was very easy. The self locking mechanism makes it very easy to install drives.

Ready to Frag

When powered on Armor A90 glows light blue. Very stylish if you ask me. Great case and a great design.

Conclusion

I really like this case as it has allot to offer to a casual and even hard core gamers. Armor A90 stands strong in the crowd and would be a great addition to any gamer. It was super easy to install the whole system and even the motherboard. The quality of this case is superb as it is made from SECC material as it is much more solid and lighter than the regular steel. Armor A90 comes with 3 stock fans and has ability to handle 2 more fans for additional air support. Besides great air flow design Armor A90 also could be used with water cooling system as it provides support for that. In addition Armor A90 is ready for SSD hard drive as it has a proper mountings for its installation. The front bezel is made from the plastic which makes the case look ok but not to the best. The only advise here would be to over look the front bezel and perhaps make make it out of steal. Over all Armor A90 has great structure and has allot of room to work with. Great case! Highly recommended!

Some pros we found:

Easy to work with.

Great finish and design.

Good stock fans.

SSD ready.

Plenty of room.

Some cons we found:

Front bezel is plastic.