Element V comes with five external 5 ¼” bays and two 120 mm fans on the front panel. The top fan is controlled by the fan controller (900 rpm to 1,200 rpm, 35 cfm to 46.7 cfm, 17 dBA) but the lower fan must be connected directly to the power supply through a standard peripheral power connector, not featuring LED’s (1,400 rpm, 47 cfm, 17 dBA). These two fans as one would imagine are there to cool down the hard disk drives.
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Figure 5: Case with its front panel removed.
On the top panel from Element V we have a 200-mm fan, also connected to the fan controller (160-mm blades, 600 rpm to 800 rpm, 49.7 cfm to 65.3 cfm, 14 dBA) and a space for installing another 200-mm fan or a 120 mm fan.
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Figure 6: Top panel.
On the top panel we also have the buttons and connectors from the case (see Figure 7). Element V comes with one eSATA port and four USB ports, plus the standard audio jacks. The big knob from the fan controller is identical to the one found on Element G. Thru this knob you can control the speed (by rotating it) and color (by pressing it) from the top, front and side fans. You can select between red, blue and green plus two different alternating patterns. You can also turn off the lights if you want.
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Figure 7: Buttons and connectors.
The rear panel from Element V can be seen in Figure 7. We were disappointed to see that Thermaltake didn’t paint the rear panel or the interior from this case, differently from what they did with Element G and Element S.
There is a 120 mm fan on the rear panel (1,400 rpm, 50 cfm, 17 dBA), which isn’t connected to the fan controller. The slot covers are meshed, which is great to improve the internal airflow from the PC. There is a mesh above the expansion cards where you can install up to two optional 50-mm fans. Element V comes with two holes for passing hoses from liquid cooling systems that you need to break to use. This case, however, comes with plastic rings for you to install on the holes once they are opened, making your case to look nicer. Like other members from Element series, the new Element V comes with a cable holder for the mouse and keyboard cables, in order to prevent them from being stolen.
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Figure 8: Rear panel.
Now let’s take a look inside Element V.
