INTRODUCTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   Even though once upon a time PC cases used to be just large chunks of metal (steel to be exact) nowadays thanks to their various shapes and sizes, different materials used and of course RGB illumination many look like they got right out of a sci-fi movie (or at least that's how it would look like to someone from the 80/90s). Of course having a vast amount of impressive PC cases to choose from can make things harder for some consumers which is why many choose to narrow that selection down by basing their decision on price rather than looks and features. Thermaltake is well aware of this so lately they've released several mid-towers that not only look great but also offer plenty of interior space with a good number of features and all that without having to break the bank. The View 37 RGB is among those mid-towers and that's what today's review is all about.

   The beginning of every myth and legend is about dreams and desire: the challenging, creative and combative features of Thermaltake Group create an exciting and fascinating user experience to share with everyone, while allowing users to enter a selfless state in terms of function and potential. Thermaltake Group's 3 main brands: Thermaltake, Tt eSPORTS and LUXA2 have been merchandising throughout the world, and have successfully established 6 business footholds in areas such as Europe, America, Oceania, Japan and China, with 95 regional distributors and over 4000 premium retailers. All product planning is orientated by observation of global PC peripheral market and understanding of consumer demands. Thermaltake creates direct contact opportunities with resellers and consumers by participating major global ICT exhibitions and trade shows every year, and develop innovative marketing strategies for the promotions of new products. Meanwhile, Thermaltake incorporates the composite marketing system by making branch offices and regional distributors both the distribution channel and technical support or service center to provide instant support; by maintaining close contact with end users, we manage to strengthen corporate competitiveness and create the momentum for the growth of accomplishments. With its outstanding wisdom and strength Thermaltake Group is recruiting creative talents to build a cultural brand for the enjoyment of entertainment, e-Sports, technology and lifestyle!

   Just like every other View tower before it the View 37 RGB focuses quite a bit on looks and although it doesn't feature a tempered glass side panel like some of its larger brothers still the plexi gull-wing style side panel (panoramic view) Thermaltake decided to use is equally impressive (if not more). Combine the gull-wing style plexi with its three pre-installed Riing Plus 14 140mm RGB fans (1400RPM/63.19CFM/1.53mm-H2O/27.2dBA - compatible Asus AURA Sync, Gigabyte RGB Fusion and MSI Mystic Light sync-enabled mainboards) and as expected the View 37 RGB scores very high in the looks/design department. That's not all however since the View 37 RGB also features a removable drive cage (3x3.5"), 4 vertical drive trays (4x3.5"/8x2.5"), vertical GPU mount and enough room for E-ATX sized mainboards, 8 fans (120/140mm) and/or 2 radiators (240/280/360/420mm), right side magnetic air-filter, 180mm tall CPU coolers, 220mm power supply units and 285mm long graphics cards (410mm without a radiator or fans mounted on the right).

 

 

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

We received the View 37 RGB inside a black box that has a large picture of it at the front right beneath the company logo and next to its RGB features.

 

 

Typically on the left side of the box we find the specifications table while on the right we see a product description in 12 languages.

 

 

An exposed picture of the View 37 RGB is located at the rear of the box.

 

 

The case is wrapped inside a plastic bag and placed between two thick black foam spacers.

 

 

Inside the box you will find a Riing RGB fan controller, PCI fan controller, 5 fan extension cables, 4 cable ties, system speaker, 3 plastic bags with screws and spacers, double sided tape (for the hub), installation instructions and the user manual.

 

 

THE VIEW 37 RGB EXTERIOR

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Measuring 525mm in height, 538mm in depth and 261mm in width the View 37 RGB is certainly not your average mid-tower.

 

 

The gull-wing clear left side panel looks great even though it's not made out of tempered glass.

 

 

Both sides of the fascia are perforated to allow air to enter the interior (built-in filters keep dust out).

 

 

The front of the fascia is made out of smoked plexi allowing you to see the two Riing RGB Plus 140mm intake fans.

 

 

Moving at the top of the fascia we find the I/O which includes the reset button, two USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, headphones and microphone 3.5mm ports, power and HDD activity LEDs and the power on/off button.

 

 

Using a gull-wing clear plexi may offer a panoramic view of the interior but it also means there's no top area for fans and/or a radiator (of course Thermaltake made up for that - at least partially - by having a right side mount for fans/radiator).

 

 

Removing the fascia is very easy (just pull from beneath) and here aside the two pre-installed Riing RGB Plus 14 fans we see enough space for yet another 120/140mm fan or 2x200mm fans (there's also enough room for 420/360/280/240mm radiators).

 

 

The left side panel is perforated just behind the fans/radiator mount located on the mainboard tray.

 

 

At the rear we find 8 horizontal PCI expansion slots, 2 vertical PCI expansion slots, 140mm Riing RGB Plus 14 exhaust fan and the PSU area.

 

 

A very long slid-in/out air-filter is located at the base of the View 37 RGB.

 

 

THE VIEW 37 RGB INTERIOR

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

As you can all see the interior of the View 37 RGB is extremely spacious and pretty much ready for most things you can throw at it.

 

 

The single drive cage inside the View 37 RGB has enough room for three 2.5/3.5" drives and features plastic trays.

 

 

There's enough room between the drive cage and the front to install a 35mm thick radiator (if you also remove the base of the drive cage thickness is not a problem).

 

 

As mentioned earlier the drive cage can be removed to allow installation of up to 420mm long radiators on the mainboard tray.

 

 

There are 7 rubber grommets on the mainboard try along with the usual large cutout beneath the CPU area.

 

 

All 10 PCI expansion slots are held in place with regular thumbscrews.

 

 

The vertical GPU mount is a nice touch but remember that you will need a PCIe riser cable to use it (sold extra).

 

 

You can install power supply units up to 220mm in the View 37 RGB.

 

 

A magnetic air-filter is placed on the interior of the left side panel.

 

 

Taking a look from the other side of the mainboard tray we see 4 vertical drive trays which you can use to mount either four 3.5" drives or eight 2.5" drives.

 

 

You have roughly 35mm of space for cable management purposes between the mainboard tray and the left side panel.

 

 

BUILDING THE SYSTEM

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

As always the purpose of this section is not to build a functional system but rather to showcase what you can expect from the case at hand in terms of interior space.

Since the View 37 RGB has enough room for up to E-ATX sized mainboards our regular ATX one leaves plenty of room around it.

 

 

By removing the drive cage you can mount a 240/280/360/420mm long radiator on the mainboard tray regardless of thickness (we used a 360mm long and 56mm thick one).

 

 

The same applies for the front area (here we used a 420mm long and 35mm thick radiator without having to remove the drive cage base).

 

 

Of course we can't leave out the fact that you can also use CPU air coolers up to 180mm tall.

 

 

If you use the regular PCI expansion slots and you also decide to use the right area for fans or a radiator then you are limited to cards up to 285-290mm in length. However if you decide to use the vertical GPU mount there's no such limitation (at least not unless you use the thickest radiator possible with fans).

 

 

With enough room for up to 220mm long PSU's you can use even 1.5KW units with the View 37 RGB.

 

 

NOISE LEVEL TEST

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

After giving it much thought we decided on performing noise tests with each PC Case we receive by placing our ExTech HD600 vertically ontop of each case to measure the noise levels emanating from the pre-installed fans at both 50% and 100% with the help of a fan controller (if the case doesn't have one we use our own).

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   Thanks to its gull-wing plexi side panel, three Riing RGB Plus 14 fans (which can be controlled either by the internal hub or the PCI expansion slot controller) and the vertical GPU mount the View 37 RGB is the ideal choice for people who want to have the best possible view of their RGB illuminated hardware components from the outside. Of course it goes without saying that plexi is not nearly as impressive or sturdy as tempered glass but the cost would skyrocket for the View 37 RGB if Thermaltake had used tempered glass for both the gull-wing side panel and the fascia. Interior space is also very good since you can mount up to 8 fans (120/140mm) and/or two radiators (240/280/360/420mm), seven 3.5” or eleven 2.5” drives, E-ATX sized mainboards, 410mm long graphics cards, 180mm tall CPU coolers and 220mm long power supply units.

   Currently the View 37 RGB Mid-Tower by Thermaltake retails for just USD159.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 149.08Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de) a price tag which although not as low as we’d hoped still reflects the use of materials (lack of tempered glass). Let’s not however forget that plexi has being used with PC cases for their side panels since the early 2000’s (Thermaltake was probably the very first to use it with their Xaser series) and has very little to be jealous from tempered glass in terms of looks. With that out of the way we all feel that the View 37 RGB is a very good PC case for people on relatively low budgets not only because of its rather unique looks but also because of its interior space and features and for that it gets our Golden Award.

PROS

- Overall Build Quality
- Panoramic Design (Gull-Wing Plexi Side Panel)
- Interior Space (410mm GPUs/180mm CPU Coolers/220mm PSU’s)
- Room For Up To 8 Fans (120/140mm) Or 2 Radiators (240/280/360/420mm)
- Room For Up To 7 3.5" Or 11 2.5" Drives
- 10 PCI Expansion Slots (2 Vertical)
- Right Side Magnetic Air Filter
- Removable Drive Cage
- 4 Vertical Drive Mounts
- 3 Pre-Installed 140mm Riing PLUS RGB Fans (Software Controlled)
- RGB Hub & PC Expansion Slot Controllers

CONS

- Price (For Some)
- Plexi Side Panel (Not As Sturdy As Tempered Glass)
- Lacks Top Fan/Radiator Area