Thermaltake VF1000BWS Black Aluminum Front Panel/ SECC Chassis MicroATX Desktop Computer Case

Pros: Nice design, lots of additional screws, and the great feature of all the different pieces being removable was extremely helpful in assembling! Also, great documentation and very helpful instruction manuals (if you're in to that kind of thing).

Cons: Wire management was a little tight and if I didn't have the onboard video as my primary video (i.e. having to install a card) it would have been pretty dang tight. However, this isn't worth dropping an egg because I knew I was getting a Micro ATX case when I clicked Checkout. Just an additional warning to all people on the fence with your big PSU and Video Cards: This might not be the case for you!

Other Thoughts: Core i5 build:
Ultra 600w
OCZ 4GB DDR3 1333
WD 1TB 7200
Onboard: Sound/Video

Pros: Unique, transportable, awesome. Also, much more interesting to put together than a standard case.

Cons: Kinda tight, but I expected that. No exhaust venting in the top, but I knew that beforehand too.

Other Thoughts: If the top had some mesh guard or something so that it vented a little better, I'd be so happy I might squeal.

Pros: The case fits a full size power supply and an ATI 5850 without modifications.

Light and easy to carry with the large sturdy handle.

Cons: The front of the case has way to many openings for example the large bays with enough room for a car stereo or auto dvd screen. A 3.5 inch floppy drive bay which most LAN party goers will not use.

Other Thoughts: Replace the small back fans with nice lighted fans. Add a speed controller to the fans because they are loud when up all the way.

Mount a 120 MM fan on both sides of the case so they move air faster through the vents.

Pros: Nice beautiful design, i came to the conclusion that if you plan to build a very high end MicroATX system as Corei7 and a dual 5850 or a 5870 with X-fi, something worth buying a huge-ish computer case... and being on the move... this is your case

Cons: if youre planning a small or integrated vga , go and check the slim microatx cases which are much much smaller and nicer for a slim minded cpu, like the APEX which i have used for other builds

Other Thoughts: Modular power supply is a must otherwise you are in for a fight... i fitted a 4870 no prob but a hard drive frame kind of wants to get in my way so keep in mind your video cards length

Pros: SFF. P&P.

Fits my Sapphire 5970, had to slide over the internal 3 1/2 drive bay.

Crossfire compatability - Will fit another 5970, have to do some minor modifacations to the external 3 1/2 drive bay. Will be able to when the time comes, case shall be prep'd & ready 2 go & go))))

Koolance Water Cooling - Will fit a Koolance 5 1/4 or external cooling system with cooling blocks with minor mods if any.

It will allow 2 5970's to crossfire, with a little work however:{.... Now we go to cons

Cons: No cons at all.

Seriously, I knew what I was getting myself into before I made my decision. My only worry was from other comments, it sounded like there was major mods that had to be done.

Depending on which slot you need for beastly video cards...you either have to move the internal 3 1/2 drive bay over, or do some light metal work with the external 3 1/2 drive bay, or you'll probably have to do both as in my case because I'd like to have the option of crossfiring another 5970.... Now we go to other thoughts

Other Thoughts: First high-end build ever & wanting to do more. Know what your getting yourself into when starting a build. I've been planning for a couple of years in my near 34yr life and put my orders in over the past week. I've had a couple of surprises that Newegg has been helpful with, mostly due to their comments from previous customers, I've had a lot of resources to pull from to help me along the way, I'm not kidding, I didn't have to search the internet, only time was to get detailed info concerning chipsets mostly for amd/ati on wikipedia, which is another great source for info as well.

My system:}

Sapphire 5970 2gb gpu
Athlon X3 435 2.9ghz cpu
DFI m-atx 790gx am3 pci-e 16 2.0 x2 mobo
OCZ be 8gb ddr3 1600 memory
OCZ vertex series 30gb ssd
Hitachi 1tb 7200 hdd
LG 8x bd-rom odd
Silverstone st85f-p 850w modular psu
Silverstone pp05 short psu cable set
Thermaltake vf1000bws lanbox
Samsung lcd 720p 60hz

Pros: In a moment of insanity I decided to build a pretty high end gaming system in a portable case, and I couldnt have picked a better case. My system is as powerful as I would want a gaming computer to be at the moment, and it still never runs hot. (see specs at other thoughts). All games run max settings in dx11, and cpu turbo boosts to 3.6ghz per core...still no heat issues. Very sturdy, very good air flow. Fully modular.

Cons: Bottom optical drive door was broken at one end, but luckily the case came with a mount to place an optical drive in the top drive bay.

Other Thoughts: General Specs:
Intel i-7 860 2.8ghz quad
Sapphire Radeon hd5850
4gb ddr3 1600- G.Skill Ripjaws
500gb WD Blue hdd
Gigabyte p55 mobo
730w Raidmax psu

Pros: I got this case for a high end build back in April... 08. I wanted to replace carrying a laptop around, which needed modern games be set to low, resolution knocked down 2-3 notches and a blood sacrifice to have somewhat playable framerates.

This holds a GTX280 without modification (and held a 9800GX2 back in the day).

You need to get a motherboard that has the PCIe16 slot up top, rather than most boards, having it being the second slot. Sure the HD cage needs taking out, but I wasn't planning on doing any RAIDing; I have a real dedicated server for that :).

I bought 2 80mm fans (one for backup) to keep the thing cool. Came in handy with the 9800GTX with most of the card's exhaust coming out the top. That fan was a bit loud, but I did some wire modding. While the system is audible, it doesnt sound like a jet taking off, more like a light breeze; easily masked by moderate levels of music or gunfire.

Cons: As mentioned, this is a bit on the weighty side. But then I stuffed one beast of a machine inside too.

The tail end of the graphics card where the power connectors are is covered by about an inch or so by the drive support structure. Flexible cables are a must. Or a graphics card with the connectors on the narrower end of the card.

I also advise leaving the top 5" drive bay free to stuff PSU wires/loops in.

I accedentally broke one of the clear ribs on one side. Be careful to not put any weight at all on the sides.

Other Thoughts: I have had one of the best looking setups at every LAN party since. Might put my next build in this case when I retire this one from gaming duties.

C2Q 9300
some ASUS micro ATX board that doesn't overclock
8 GB DDR2
GTX280 (formerly 9800 GX2, EVGA step up program for the win)
640GB Western Digital (WD6400AAKS, absolute best drive I have EVER owned)
Bluray ROM
Asus Xonar D2X (with the LEDs in the back)
BENQ G2400W 24" monitor (now two, both same model; yes it looks like my monitor(s) could devour the rest of the system)

Pros: Let me start out by saying that this is an amazingly thought out and well build MicroATX case - possibly the best case I have ever worked on.
First off - uses only two different kinds of screws for the entire case except for the PSU rack topside screws, but only because they need to be smaller screws so the top can slide on over them. So with the exception of these [six] screws, the whole case only needs to use thumbscrews and motherboards screws. So don't worry about losing a screw because they are standard and easy to replace (except the PSU rack screws, see Cons).
Has a sliding motherboard tray, which is excellent for when you need to install or reinstall a component or a heatsink, etc.
NO GLOSSY SURFACES!!! I hate glossy. Fingerprint-magnetic computers are not my thing, and this case hardly holds fingerprints at all.
The case is completely modular. Almost every rack or piece can be removed. The optical drive/3.5" harddrive bay, the PSU rack, the motherboard tray, and the t

Cons: BARELY fit a 9800GTX+, and I had to bend the 3.5" external port a little bit to get it to fit. And the harddrive cage had to be removed completely. There is a good amount of room towards the front of the case (between 5.25" bays and motherboard) and Thermaltake puts the HDD bay right smack dab in the middle of that space, so to fit a larger graphics card it needs to be removed. However, the little slots the harddrive cage is held in by that are left when the cage is removed are great for cable management (gives you places to strap cables to with cable ties). Also note - keep very good track of the PSU rack screws, because you do not get any replacements.
Does not fit large heatsinks - keep in mind that the power supply will sit right above the CPU and that if you want to add an aftermarket CPU cooler, it will have to be low profile, probably something 120mm (height) or less (don't take that verbatim, I haven't measured exactly).
Fans are a tad loud, but that's not a main concern.

Other Thoughts: PROS (continued):
If you have a larger graphics card and need to remove the harddrive cage - do not fear! The external 3.5" bay will fit a harddrive fine (I have a 150GB Velociraptor harddrive int here and it fits beautifully).
EXTREMELY easy to build on. Amazing design, the modular aspect helps A TON, and it is an extremely solid and (dare I say 'rugged'?) case that will definitely hold together many a LAN party. Lug this thing anywhere you want, drop it a couple times, maybe even throw it and I doubt the case will be damaged other than scratches (although I don't recommend testing this..).

To sum up:
Thermaltake has done it again! Great job.

System specs:
ASUS M4A785-M MicroATX motherboard
AMD Phenom II X3 720 (unlocked to X4 20)
8 GB OCZ DDR2 800 Platinum
EVGA 9800GTX+ graphics card
hec Raptor 500W 'Green' power supply

Don't forget - with a SLIGHT bend of the outer 3.5" bay, this case WILL fit a larger graphics card such as a 9800GTX+ or a GTX 200 series card.

Pros: This is an awesome case that is very sturdy and has an excellent design with the psu on top and hard drive space on the side. Will support a large graphics card if you remove the hard drive support on the floor. Bought two of these cases.

Cons: The dual hard drive support is a bit awkward right behind fron fan but you can use the side port to place the hdd and allow more airflow over the motherboard and out the back.

Other Thoughts: Modular psu almost a necessity since the space is tight.

Pros: Kind of a unique look. I loved this case when I first got it. It was different than most other SFF cases. It still is fairly unique although there are some copycats out there now.

Cons: It is bigger than you think and is very heavy for a case that is supposed to be easy to take to LAN parties. It is also very expensive compared to some other nice Micro-ATX cases. Despite its faily large size it is cramped inside. The one thing that really bothers me is that the optical drive bay doors are delicate. The plastic pin that holds them in place is tiny and it does not take much of a hit to break the door off at the pivots. The spring that closes them is also tiny and is easily lost if the door comes off. A replacemnt door seems to be impossible to get and therefore the case has lost much of it aesthetic appeal.

Other Thoughts: There are much better cases for one third of the price of this case and they also include a handle and are much lighter.