Thermaltake Spedo Advance Chassis

 

The Thermaltake Spedo Advance chassis is an interesting beast, and to be honest it grows on me further every day. Probably the standout feature of the Spedo on first impressions is the inclusion of the 230mm fan on the side panel. For those of you who paid attention to the specifications listed on the first page, you’d know that the Spedo actually has two of these 230mm fans included, but I’ll show you the second one in a little more detail shortly. If you look carefully at the side mounted 230mm fan, you will see a series of small vented louvres that the air is going to have to be drawn through. It will be interesting to see if this inhibits the fans performance during the testing phase of the review. 

 

 

The other side panel of the Spedo Advance also features additional mesh to facilitate better breathing capability. For those who prefer to ‘mod’ their side panels, you may be a little restricted as to what else you can include on these ones without reducing the structural integrity of the panels. The side panels fit onto the chassis courtesy of an ‘open hinge’ design and are very easy to remove/put back on. The side panels are then secured in place by two thumbscrews on the rear edge. However, the panels don’t seem to fit as ‘flush’ as they should because there is a considerable amount of rattle in each panel.

 

 

Moving around to the rear of the Thermaltake Spedo Advance we can see the inclusion of 2 x 120mm cooling fans that work in an exhaust capacity. Thermaltake has also seen fit to make the Spedo Advance chassis water-cooling friendly by adding two pre-cut holes that will accommodate 1/2″ ID tubing. Interestingly, Thermaltake has also placed the housing for the power supply at the bottom of the chassis. There are also seven expansion bay slots should you have a motherboard that will take advantage of this amount.

 

On the top of the Thermaltake Spedo Advance we can see the front panel connectivity of the chasssis. There are: two USB ports; one eSATA port; one microphone socket and a headphone socket. One the side of the front bezel, Thermaltake has included the necessary power and reset buttons. The buttons feel of a very good quality and only require a light touch to operate.

 

 

The top cover of the Thermaltake Spedo Advance features louvred vents to increase the entry of cool air into the chassis. It is also designed to be removable, and pressing the two clips visible in the lower (left) image facilitates the removal. Voila – there’s the other 230mm cooling fan

 

 

The Thermaltake Spedo Advance also features retractable case feet. The image below shows them in their retracted position, but gently swinging them out 90 degrees see’s them lock into position providing additional stability for the chassis itself.

 

 

Let’s head over the page to have a closer look at the internals of the Thermaltake Spedo Advance chassis…