14 DAY TRIAL // One thing that almost all PC cases have in common, unless they are of the now rarely used flat desktop variety, is that they are always taller than they are wide and deep. So Thermaltake decided to shake things up with the Armor A30i.
In truth, this isn't the first super-short but high-end and spacious case that Thermaltake releases, and indeed there are other companies that sell such things.
Still, even miniature LAN party PC cases are usually taller than wider, but that's not the case here.
Indeed, the newcomer seems to be almost as tall as it is wide. Some would call these cubic measurements, but the depth (side length) makes the product qualify more as a rectangular chassis.
Armor A30i measures 291 x 456 x 266 mm / 11.45 x 17.59 x 10.47 inches, but it should be noted that the rear is taller than the front, which is why the illusion of equal length between the height and width is produced.
There are two 5.25-inch bays available (one for an optical drive and one for, say, a fan controller), two 2.5-inch bays, one 3.5/2.5-inch bay and a secondary 3.5-inch HDD cage (two more 3.5/2.5-inch drives).
Add to that the 200 mm top exhaust fan, two 60 mm exhaust fans and the 90 mm front intake spinner and you have all the bases covered. All that's left is to actually buy a micro ATX motherboard and shove it in there, along with all the best graphics cards, CPU/APU, storage drives and memory modules.
Mini-ITX mainboards are supported as well of course, but they won't open doors for the same high performance potential as micro ATX.
Sure, only ATX and larger boards can actually allow for multi-GPU setups and other enthusiast configurations, but micro-ATX can be used just fine for powerful gaming systems. After all, it only takes one high-end video board like AMD's Radeon R9 290X, and a comparable CPU, to make an overpowered gaming computer.
Sadly, the black/ red-black case made of ABS plastic and steel (5.9 kilograms / 13 pounds) hasn't been given a price.