Thermaltake Chaser MK-1

The Thermaltake Chaser MK-1 reminds us of a Transformer so we've nicknamed our sample "Bluestreak." Given its highly aggressive appearance, we suspect most of you will either love it or hate it. Although I'm fond of Lian-Li's elegant and subtle styling, I have a soft spot for cases like the Chaser MK-1 too.

The Chaser MK-1 appeals to me in a similar way that Cooler Master's HAF series does. Perhaps after stomaching that neon green Nvidia edition HAF X I've grown desensitized to outrageous looking cases. Whatever the situation, I can tolerate the Chaser MK-1, and even appreciate its design.

Regardless of its looks, there's no denying the Chaser MK-1's massive array of features make it an attractive prospect at $160. Weighing 27.1lb (12.3kg) and measuring 237mm wide, 582mm long and 568mm tall, the Chaser MK-1 is 21% lighter than the BitFenix Colossus despite being roughly the same size.

As we said, the Chaser MK-1 resembles a Transformer to us. Its façade has vast disarray of lines that blend plastic and mesh together, and its baby blue removable 5.25" drive bay covers are the first thing to catch your eye. Despite its incredibly busy design and unusually colored accents, everything seems to work on some level.

On top of the case, you'll find a number of buttons and the I/O panel split in half by a hard drive dock. The left side features two audio jacks and four buttons for the fan LED, fan speed (low and high) as well as the reset button.

The opposite side has a pair of USB 3.0 ports (which connect using an internal header), two USB 2.0 ports and an eSATA connector. In the middle of all that is a damn cool power light that surrounds the equally impressive power button.

The icing on the cake is Thermaltake's integrated BlacX Docking Station, which lets you transfer large volumes of data without opening your case or using a dedicated external enclosure. The hot-swappable dock supports any 2.5" or 3.5" SATA drive. Behind that is more honeycomb mesh with baby blue highlights.