In Figure 6 you can check the front side of the case without the front panel. Only the top bay comes opened; the other bays are covered with metallic plates that must be broken off if you want to use them. There is room for a 120 mm fan on the bottom side of this panel.

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Figure 6: Front of the case.

In Figure 7, you can see the front panel connectors and buttons. At the right-hand side we have the power and reset buttons and at the left-hand side we have the hard disk activity LED. At the center, above the external 3 ½" bay, there are two USB connectors (with a good distance between them, so you can install two "fat" USB devices at the same time) and audio connectors for a headset. Thermaltalke really saved on this panel, bringing only the basic features. We really missed an eSATA port here.

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Figure 7: Front panel connectors.

In Figure 8 you can check the top panel, which has room for two 120 mm fans. This is a very good ventilation solution, because even with no fans installed the heat convection forces hot air out of the case.

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Figure 8: Top panel.

In Figure 9, you can see the bottom panel of V3 Black Edition. As you can see, this case has an air intake for the power supply here, since the power supply is installed at the bottom part of the case, and also room for the installation of another 120 mm fan. This fan is installed inside the case.

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Figure 9: Bottom panel.

In Figure 10, you can see the rear panel of V3 Black, where the position of the power supply is obvious. The rear panel and the interior of this case are painted in black, which gives it a very professional looks. V3 Black Edition comes with a 120 mm fan installed on the rear panel (1,300 rpm, 17 dBA, 50 cfm), using a three-pin power connector, allowing you to connect it to the motherboard and thus monitor its speed. This fan has blue LEDs that glow when the fan is working.

Another unusual detail for an entry-level case are the holes where you can pass the tubes of water cooling systems, right below the fan. These holes, however, have no covers.

Two slots covers (the first and the last ones) are removable, while the other ones must be broken off if you want to use the respective slot.

What we really missed on this case was some thumbscrews to hold the side panels: it uses regular screws for this function.

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Figure 10: Rear panel.

Let's now take a look inside Thermaltake V3 Black Edition.