Accessories:

Other items included with the Thermaltake LANBOX are a plastic standoff, many screws, a 5.25" bay bracket, a cloth to clean off dust and fingerprints from the case, and a nicely illustrated installation manual.


Installation and Operation:

For the installation portion of the Thermaltake LANBOX VF1000BWS mATX Case, I installed the following components inside of it:

» Foxconn 6150K8MA-8EKRS Motherboard
» AMD A64 3200+ Processor
» Micron 2x1GB DDR400 Memory
» XFX FX5200 256MB PCI Video Card
» ATI HDTV Wonder TV Tuner Card
» LG 18X DVD-RW Optical Drive
» Seagate Barracuda 80GB 7200RPM SATA II Hard Drive
» Seagate Barracuda 500GB 7200RPM SATA II Hard Drive

The installation is pretty easy with all of the different hardware cages and trays. To attach the motherboard to the tray use the pre-installed standoffs with the included screws. For the optical drive installation use the appropriate cage (and bracket if installing in the top bay), and line the drive up in the right hole so that the optical button on the front of the case will make good contact with the eject button.


It is very easy to install hard drives with the cage, but it is not tool-less. Align the hard drive screw holes with the drive cage and use the included screws to secure the drive. For the ATX power supply, make sure you have it oriented in the correct position. If your power supply has a 120mm fan then it must be positioned at the top of the cage.


The last things to install are expansion cards into the motherboard. For this there is a small plate and screw to reveal access to the screws. Once that is off, remove a screw and slot cover and insert your card into an open slot. Then replace the small plate and screw it back down to the motherboard tray.


With everything assembled, the schematic below details the airflow through the case. The rear exhaust fans draw air in through vents on either side and the top, while the intake fan helps out by pushing filtered air in through the front.


Despite the dual 60mm exhaust fans and the one 90mm fan in the front, the case remains extremely quiet while providing sufficient cooling to the internal components.