Thermaltake Commander MS-I case review

[siopao1984]

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Thermaltake Commander MS-I case review by VR-Zone.com

Thermaltake is probably the manufacturer with the largest selection of computer cases available at the time of this review. Not a week ago we reviewed the unique and pricey Level 10 GT case. Today we are going to examine a much different product, the Commander MS-I case. The Commander MS-I is the exact opposite of the Level 10 GT we have reviewed before; it is a very aggressively priced product aiming at the lowest segments of the market. We will find out what the Commander MS-I can do for gamers and enthusiasts on a budget in this review.

Manufacturer’s features and specifications

• Full black coating with metal mesh appearance
• eSPORTS look front bezel
• Bottom-placed PSU design for easy installation
• Supports high-end graphic cards up to 12.5”/32cm
• Rear 120mm silent fan with blue LED
• Built-in latest USB3.0 SuperSpeed connector (for VN400A1W2N only)

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[siopao1984]

Packaging and Bundle



The Commander MS-I is supplied in a well designed, relatively small cardboard box which foretells that this case will not be as sizable as the high end cases we are used to. The artwork on the box is focused on a picture of the case itself, with a digital picture of a futuristic soldier on the background. Inside the box we found the large tower case protected by two polystyrene foam slabs and wrapped in a nylon bag.



The bundle of the Commander MS-I case makes it clear that Thermaltake did everything they could to keep the retail price of this product as low as possible. The bundle is extremely Spartan and consists of only the necessary screws, a motherboard speaker, the warranty terms card and a black and white manual.

[siopao1984]

The case exterior



Outside the box, the Thermaltake Commander MS-I is a product both surprisingly good aesthetically but also exhibits great potential for a case with such a low a retail price. It features a futuristic design of straight lines and sharp edges with a meshed faceplate and many ventilation holes where cooling fans can be installed. It is not a large case, measuring only 43cm tall and 46cm deep, therefore it should easily fit in any office.



The faceplate of the Commander MS-I case is plastic but it feels sturdy enough. Its design is the major blame of the case’s futuristic appearance. Most of the faceplate is covered by a metallic mesh, allowing fresh air to enter the case. Strangely, the mesh is not following the common honeycomb design but a pattern of rounded holes.



At the middle of the faceplate we can see the I/O interface of the Commander MS-I. The large power-on button stands out at the right side, with the smaller reset button and the power-on/disk activity LED lights right below it. Two USB 2.0 ports and the common headphone jacks can be seen at the middle of the faceplate. This case can be ordered with one USB 2.0 port and one USB 3.0 port as well, we received the two USB 2.0 version.



Thermaltake punched the top panel of the Commander MS-I case full of holes, creating a large air venting area where one or two 120mm exhaust fans can be installed at. Thermaltake insists on one top exhaust fan for some reason and has only beveled the screw holes of the one fan but the slot for the second cooling fan is available.

[eXpLoDe]

naa na pod ni sa PCX. gi post nila last week sa ilang site.

Ttake Commander MS-I USB3.0 (no psu)

thanks for the review.

[siopao1984]

The case exterior (continued)



The rear of the Commander MS-I is relatively simplistic, yet it uncovers two interesting things about the low priced case; first, the entire chassis of the Commander MS-I is black and second the power supply bay is placed at the bottom of the case, both features unlikely to find with any other similarly priced product.



The expansion card covers are all held into place with a single metallic bar held into place with a single screw. To add/remove cards, you only need to remove the screw and take out the metallic bar. You can secure cards individually using common M3 screws as well. Only the bottom and top PCI covers are reusable, which are also vented. Interestingly enough, this case also has two watercooling hose holes. There are no rubber grommets covering them and if you are planning to install hoses larger than you pinky finger you need to forcefully remove the metallic rings which doubles the diameter of the holes.



The left side panel of the Commander MS-I case is part of the overall futuristic theme, with an embossed metallic sheet and an asymmetric window panel of straight lines and sharp edges. There are ventilation holes above the expansion cards area but no fan slot.



The right side panel is not left plain either, with Thermaltake continuing their futuristic design of straight lines and sharp edges by simply embossing the metal sheet.

[siopao1984]

The case interior



The interior of the Commander MS-I case is relatively common, although Thermaltake made it all black for aesthetic purposes. The disk drives are being placed sideways, facing towards the front panel of the case. There are holes around the motherboard tray for cable routing which should prove to be very useful but there are no rubber grommets. There is a hole behind the CPU area to allow the installation of large coolers without removing the motherboard. This case allows the installation of graphics cards up to 32cm long; however such a long card will also block at least the one drive bay in line with it.



The PSU compartment can be seen at the bottom of the case, next to an optional 120mm intake cooling fan. There is a very basic dust filter over the PSU air intake area which is NOT removable; virtually, the only way to clean it is remove the PSU and blow pressurized air from the inside of the case. The PSU is being seated on a metallic stand (encircled in the picture) which is very sharp and will definitely put a scratch or two on the PSU chassis during installation.



At the rear of the case a semi-transparent black 120mm cooling fan with blue LED lighting has been installed, the only standard fan of the Commander MS-I. Interestingly, the fan’s power cable is sleeved.



Thermaltake is using simple plastic locks for drive installation; on three out of five HDD slots, on two out of three 5.25” device slots and on one out of two FDD slots. If you are planning to install more drives than these, you will end up using screws to secure the drives. An interesting observation is that if you are not planning to install any FDD drives or external 3.5” devices, you can install internal 3.5” disk drives in their slots instead.



Our ICTT system fits in the Thermaltake Commander MS-I case, although tightly. A full ATX motherboard would end right where the drives begin. Installing a very long graphic card will block the slot in line with it; which slot should be the bottom external 3.5” drive slot if you are using only one card. It is not a very roomy case, neither designed for the quick and easy removal of all components, but it certainly fits a normal ATX system inside with ease.

[siopao1984]

Test system setup and results

In order to assess the thermal performance of the case we will be using our Integrated Casing Torture Test (ICTT) system to take readings over a period of one and a half hour. All of the case fans are operating at their maximum speed during the test and both side panels are closed. The exhaust temperature probe was placed above the rear fan of the case.



The thermal performance of the Commander MS-I is unsurprising and, as anybody would expect from a case with only one quiet fan installed, nothing more than mediocre. The many ventilation holes do help but the system struggles to cope with the massive heat load that our ICTT creates after only a few minutes, resulting to considerably high system temperatures. The Commander MS-I would be able to handle the heat generation of a simple gaming system with one strong GFX card just fine but it certainly is not designed to cope with the heat generation of multi-GPU systems; at least not without installing several extra cooling fans.

The acoustics performance of the Thermaltake Commander MS-I case is exceptional, because it only has a single and quiet cooling fan which cannot generate too much noise by itself anyway. The fan of the Thermaltake Commander MS-I case generates 30.6dB(A) while running at its maximum speed, noise that it will be easily overrun by two mechanical drives or by a common GPU cooler. It should not be loud enough to bother most users but the option to reduce the speed of the fans down to half is available, at which setting the sound coming from the case fans becomes almost unnoticeable in a quiet room.

[siopao1984]

Final Words and Conclusion

Quality (30% of the total score)

Thermaltake did their best designing and manufacturing the Commander MS-I case. Although they placed a lot of their attention on the aesthetic part, the manufacturing quality is not bad considering the retail price of the product. The structure of the case itself is very well made, as is the thick plastic faceplate. On the other hand, there are no rubber grommets covering any holes and sharp edges are a common thing about this case, requiring caution while assembling the system. To summarize, the overall quality of the Commander MS-I case is what someone would have come to expect from a product retailing at such a low price.

Quality Score 8.0/10



Performance (30% of the total score)

Keeping the low retail price of the Commander MS-I case in mind, the thermal performance of this case is actually good. The Commander MS-I will be able to cope with the heat generation of an average gaming system without a problem, as long as the end user does not expect miraculous results. It also offer great expandability by having several unoccupied expansion slots for large cooling fans, allowing the user to upgrade the cooling performance of the case in the future. The single, quiet 120mm fan makes the acoustics performance of this case excellent; however that would soon change if the end user decides to install more fans in order to improve the case’s cooling.

Performance Score 8.5/10



Aesthetics (30% of the total score)

Thermaltake designed the Commander MS-I to be as aesthetically pleasing as possible in order for the case to easily sell in the low segments of the market. The futuristic design of the Commander MS-I certainly is very unique and appealing, although it will not match every environment. It would be perfect for the room of a teenager or a high-tech office/shop but its sharp, modern design would look out of place in a more classical environment.

Aesthetics Score 9.0/10



Value (10% of the total score)

The Thermaltake Commander MS-I is designed to offer the maximum possible value combined with high aesthetics and good thermal performance. With a current retail price of 60$ USD (72$ SGD) the Commander MS-I offers good value for money, although some improvements can be made around the case to increase its overall functionality and quality. If you find the futuristic design of the Commander MS-I case appealing, it is a good product for enthusiasts on a tight budget.

Value Score 8.5/10

[rejiel]

bati.an ko sa iyang side panel ug front panel....

[ffprinting]

but for me this is way much better than V3 and V4... especially in terms of cable management. daghan kalusutan ang mga wires daghan man gud slot holes ang motherboard frame holder.

pero wala gihapon nila gi-usab ang design sa top grills para sa 120mm fan.
which is a common problem to V3 and V4 users. kay dili compatible sa uban motherboards dili maka butangan ug fan sa babao kay masangko sa mobo.