Thermaltake Spedo Advance Chassis

Introduction Thermaltake Spedo
 
At Computex 2008, Taipei based chassis and aftermarket cooling manufacturers’ Thermaltake exhibited their latest chassis – Spedo, which promised to revolutionise the global PC chassis market. Thermaltake’ design criterion for the Thermaltake Spedo appears to be based primarily on providing a chassis that provides excellent thermal management properties and better cable routing. Let’s see what Thermaltake has to say about their Thermaltake Spedo chassis:
 
Thermaltake as the top choice brand of PC Chassis around the world, will be exhibiting their latest innovation of the new Chassis Superlative — SPEDO! With many new features that are never seen on the market before, SPEDO has been predicted to be the next hit of the global PC Chassis Market.

Thermaltake has implemented two breakthrough designs into the new SPEDO Chassis; “A.T.C.” (Advanced Thermal Chamber) and “CRM” (Cable Routing Management). While “ATC” design provides excellent thermal-management by separating chambers for the CPU, GPUs and PSU, “CRM” offers users a neat and tidy interior with superior cable arrangement. Not to mention the excellent integration of advanced tool-free mechanism for HDD and PCI installation; bottom-placed PSU design and the adjustable fan bar; SPEDO will provide the minimized and the most enjoyable system installation experience! The hot swap design of side fan and the adjustable fan bar allow easier system maintenance, VGA/ CPU thermal management can also be easily solved by simple adjustments of the fan bar to fit with various system requirements.
Other than the structural perfection internally, the meshed exterior design of SPEDO allows the ambient air to enter unrestrictedly into the chassis. Ventilation can even be further upgraded with up to nine system fans. With the C-shaped unique styling, SPEDO will bring you the most pleasure as a true PC enthusiast both from the experiential and functional perspectives.

 
View the press release here.
 
While Thermaltake uses two acronyms to describe the predominant features of the Spedo –  Advanced Thermal Chamber (A.T.C) and Cable Routing management (CRM), these technologies are hardly new. A.T.C in its very essence is compartmentation, or breaking the chassis down and isolating the main thermal emitting components of your PC in order to reduce overall case temperatures. Fellow Taipei chassis manufacturers’ Lian Li have been using this technology for some time now.
 
CRM has also been doing the rounds quite a bit recently, with many chassis manufacturers’ opting for different approaches to the problem. Cable routing holes in motherboard trays seem to be favourite here, but Thermaltake have actually taken it one step further. And no I’m not going to spoil the surprise, you’re going to have to wait a bit longer. Unless of course you’d like to check out the teaser video that Thermaltake released!
 
 
It’s been quite a while since we had a Thermaltake chassis in at OC3D, and now that the Thermaltake Spedo is finally here let’s begin the review by taking a look at the all important specifications.
 
 
Specifications
 
VI90001W2Z
Model Name: Spedo Advance Package
Case Type: Full Tower
Dimensions (HxWxD): 536mmx232mmx610mm
Net Weight: 13.0 kg/ 28.7lb
Windows Side Panel: Transparent Window
Cable Routing Management: Yes
Advanced Thermal Chamber: Yes
Material Front bezel: Matal Mesh/ Chassis: 0.8mm SECC
Colour Exterior and Interior: Black
Cooling:
Front Intake: 140 x 140 x 25mm red LED Fan 1000RPM, 16dBA
Rear (Exhaust): Two 120 x 120 x 25mm TurboFan 1300RPM, 17dBA
Top (Exhaust): 230 x 230 x 20mm fan 800RPM, 15dBA
Bottom (Intake): 120 x 120mm fan (optional)
CPU (Exhaust): 120 x 120mm fan (Optional)
Fanbar (Intake): 120 x 120 25mm TurboFan 1300RPM, 17dBA
Side (Intake): 230 x 230 x 20mm fan 800RPM, 15dBA
Motherboard: Micro ATX, Standard ATX
Drive Bays:
5.25″ Drive Bay – 7 x 5.25″
3.5″ Drive Bay – 1 x 3.5″ (Converted from one 5.25″ drive bay)
3.5″ Drive Bay (hidden) – 6 x 3.5″
I/O Ports: USB2.0 x 2, e-SATA connector x 1, HD Audio
Expansion Slots: 7
PSU: Standard ATX PSII (Optional)
 
Interestingly, Thermaltake have two Spedo chassis’ available – the Spedo Advance Package and the Spedo. The differences between the two are: a small weight reduction in favour of the Spedo because it doesn’t come with CRM partitions;  and the Spedo loses the large 230mm fans on the roof and side-panel for 120mm and 140mm variants.
 
Let’s head over the page to check out the packaging and contents…