Thermaltake Element Q ITX Chassis - Finished Product and Conclusion

Finished Result:

The Thermaltake Element Q looks pretty slick out of the box but once you drop your favorite hardware inside, you can ruin the sleek look if you're not careful.  While the DVDRW drive doesn't look to bad, the card reader makes it look a bit cheap.  Of course you can buy a fancier card reader, but it would have been nice if a basic card reader was included under the covered USB2.0/Audio area.  It still looks passable, but it lacks some of the slick HTPC look that we were hoping to show off.

Front Installed

The rear of the case looks almost as good as the front as the tight little PSU looks pretty decent and it complements the rear I/O of the ASRock A330ION motherboard.  There isn't a lot of extra room, but you could still install a card like an 8800GT, or even an HD4770.

Rear Installed

Front Closed

Conclusion:

There are not a lot of choices when it comes to ITX cases that offer room for system expansion.  Many ITX cases focus on super small size and therefore cannot utilize full-sized Optical Drives, card readers or multiple hard drives.  The Element Q from Thermaltake allows you to install your favorite Blu-Ray burner, a pair of 3.5" hard drives, or a single HDD and another 3.5" device.  It also gives you room to install a full-sized graphics card to boot.  It may not be the absolute sleekest case on the market, but when priced under $80, it is a choice that deserves some serious consideration.  At the end of the day, there is really nothing bad to say about the Element Q.  Check it out if you're building an ITX system in the near future.

Pros:

• Full-sized 5.25" bay for full-sized drives
• Two 3.5" devices/drives supported
• Well balanced design
• 200W PSU is more than adequate for almost any ITX solution
  

Cons:

• PCI slot only accepts single-slot GPUs
• Card reader would be nice under the front door
  

I'd like to thank Thermaltake for firing over the Element Q for us to take a look at.  It's a nice ITX case that will stand out and stand up for a long time.  If you have any questions or comments, please post them in the forum at the "Comments" link below.