Hardware Bistro

Product: Element Q
Manufacturer: Thermaltake
Supplied by: Thermaltake
Price: 80USD/RM274
Launch Date: Sep 2009

 

Without any hesitation, netbook is one of the hottest products in computer industry currently with its greater portability; exp like Dell mini10v, HP 1169, Samsung N310, Sony W125. This is same for desktop where the Mini-ITX chassis is being expanded as well for modern living so today let us have a quick look on Thermaltake Element Q.

 

Company Profile

Started from the passion for the DIY (Do It Yourself) concepts and the desires to realize the goal of "Ideas are originated from humanity; Realizing ideas is our belief." Thermaltake Technology was established in January, 1999 and has been market to the world with "Thermaltake" brand name ever since.

Thermaltake became the number one choice for PC DIY enthusiast worldwide with its innovatively breakthrough product designs. The concept of "Quality", "Performance", and "Reliability" have been incorporated into the design of Thermaltake PC Chassis, Cooler and Power Supply to assure the components meet the highest standard.

 

Features

- Quintessence - Typical small form factor, Mini-ITX chassis
- Qute - Cute, small size which require minimum spacing.
- Quiet - Energy saving platform with fan-less design.
- Built-in 200W SFX power supply
- Front I/O ports for easy access
- Compatible with Intel Atom platform
- Don't settle for less. Element Q supports full-size 5.25" ODD

 

Specifications

Package & Contents

 

We were a bit shocked when we received the Thermaltake Element Q as it is much smaller that we have expected. Thermaltake Element Q was packed inside a small box in vertical mode; maybe for freight benefit purpose. Anyway Thermaltake Element Q is secured safely inside the box with some standard foams and plastic bag for avoiding scratches and waterproof.

 

In term of accessories, Thermaltake Element Q doesn't come with any fancy stuff but some basic accessories like a power cord, user's manual, foot stand, HDD guide rails, speaker, cable tie and some installation screws. 3 years warranty is provided for Thermaltake Element Q which is more than enough to test out the PSU reliability. 

 

A Closer Look: Thermaltake Element Q

Without any further delay, now let us reveal this hot product to you which will be one of the ideal modern living gadgets. Thermaltake Element Q is not the first mini-ITX chassis they have launched, in fact LANBOX Lite and LanBox are the earlier products but they are focused in gaming sector. Basically there are two models available for Thermaltake Element Q; VL52021N2U (non-APFC PSU) and VL52021N2E (APFC PSU).

 

As we mentioned before, Thermaltake Element Q is a mini-ITX chassis which is only suitable with mini-ITX board such Intel Atom all-in-one motherboard or Nvidia ION; something like a netbook but it is for desktop. The overall weight and dimension of Thermaltake Element Q are only 2.7kg and 330 x 220 x 130 mm (D x W x H). The whole Thermaltake Element Q is fully painted in black but the red line at the front panel makes it outstanding.

 

Although Thermaltake Element Q is a mini-ITX chassis but it is still fully equipped with what it supposes to have such as 1 x 5.25 optical drive panel, 1 x 3.5 floppy drive panel, power & reset buttons & LEDs and front I/O ports. All these front I/O ports are hidden by a 3.5" push-panel where it comes with 2 USB ports and 2 HD audio jacks.

 

In order to open up the top panel of Thermaltake Element Q for hardware installation, few screws has to be removed at the rear of the case. This single panel of Thermaltake Element Q looks much nicer and elegant as the edges are greatly reduced. Some ventilation holes are populated around the left & right panels for better air circulation.

 

Thermaltake Element Q is built by standard SGCC material but we still prefer an aluminum version for matching its profile; small & elegant. Anyway the structure of Thermaltake Element Q is pretty simple but it is definitely rock solid with its well design. No special copper screw holder is required for motherboard installation but it is good to have some insulators to isolate the motherboard and chassis.

 

The front panel of Thermaltake Element Q has to be removed out for ODD installation and a shorter drive is much preferable due to space constraint. HDD guide rails are only required for 2nd HDD which will be installed near the CPU area (will be shown in later chapter). Nevertheless Thermaltake Element Q is a mini-ITX case but it still can support 1 x full height PCI card.

 

Something important for such mini-ITX chassis is the PSU where it is highly recommended to get all-one-in mini-ITX chassis with PSU as it is not easy to look for such rare PSU in the market; furthermore Thermaltake Element Q comes with 220W active PFC PSU. For motherboard installation, the PSU has to be removed out first and it cannot come with tall heatsink/cooler else there will be compatibility issue,.

 

The cables of Thermaltake Element Q is exactly identical with standard ATX case where it includes front USB connector, front HD audio jacks, power & reset switches and power & hdd LEDs. All these case cables are not sleeved but there with proper cable routing then there will be no air circulation issue else it will be the deadly problem for such tiny case.

 

Unlike other mini-ITX chassis, Thermaltake Element Q is already pre-bundled with a 220W PSU and our sample here is an active PFC PSU which comes with higher power efficiency. The PSU is an auto switching PSU which is mainly designed for Atom platform hence a single +12V rail; 15A is more than enough for such low power consumption system. The 80mm cooling fan of this PSU is also acted as the CPU cooling fan by sucking out the hot air from the case.

 

For the PSU connector of Thermaltake Element Q, it comes with 1 x 20+4-pin ATX connector, 1 x 4-pin ATX connector, 1 x FDD connector, 2 x SATA and 2 x Molex connectors. All these PSU cables are not sleeved but it is not a real big deal if these cables are properly routed. The black plastic holder of the PSU is used for gaining additional support on the Thermaltake Element Q chassis besides the four screws.

 

Installation, Testing & Performance

 

Now let us proceed with the hardware installation of Thermaltake Element Q. As we mentioned before, Thermaltake Element Q can support up to 2 HDDs where the HDD can be either installed on the left panel or inside the HDD cage. Anyway we believe a single HDD will be enough to serve most of the users with the current huge HDD capacity; 1.5TB is only cost ~100USD. 

 

Since most of the mini-ITX boards doesn't support IDE drive so please ensure only SATA HDD & ODD are used and if possible a shorter ODD is preferable to free up the inner spacing as much as possible. So far we didn't encounter any major hardware issue with Thermaltake Element Q and the whole installation process should only take up only 20-30 minutes for an average person.

 

Test Bed

Processor: Intel Atom processor 230
Motherboard: Intel Desktop Board D945GCLF
Memory: Kingston HyperX 4GB DDR2 8500
Hard Drive: 250GB 7200RPM 8MB Seagate
Casing: Thermaltake Element Q
Router: TRENDnet TEW-639GR
Optical Drive: HLDS DVD RW +/-
Monitor: Dell 22" Wide Screen LCD
Speaker: Edifier R501
Mouse: SteelSeries Ikari Laser
Mouse Pad: SteelSeries QcK+
HeadSet: SteelSeries 3H
Operating System: Microsoft XP Pro SP2/Vista Home Premium
Ambient Temperature: 27 Degree Celsius

 

For a case review, the most important parameter to justify its performance is the cooling efficiency and we are going to do the same for Thermaltake Element Q. Intel Atom is not a power hungry processor but due to the space constraint of Thermaltake Element Q, the full load of the processor reaches ~70°C and 40°C for system temperature. All these readings can be further improved by some simple modification such as adding a 40mm cooling fan near the CPU area or just places the Thermaltake Element Q at a better air circulation area. One disadvantage of Thermaltake Element Q is the noise where the PSU fan emits quite audible noise but it is still acceptable unless you are sitting too near with it.

 

Verdicts

Overall we are quite satisfied with Thermaltake Element Q in term of design, performance although there are some minor weaknesses but it is still considered pretty good for such newly launched product; we strongly believe Thermaltake will continue working on it to improve the upcoming revision. With 80USD for such mini-ITX chassis + 220W PSU, Thermaltake Element Q isn't that expensive by considering it is still pretty new in the market but it definitely will be another upcoming star just like netbook.

 

Pros: 

+ Small & light weight
+ Support std hardware except the board
+ Simple installation
+ Pre-bundled 220W APFC PSU
+ Front I/O ports
+ Ideal for Intel Atom platform

Cons:

- Compatibility issue can't be avoided
- Noisy PSU fan
- Airflow can be further improved

 

Thanks to Thermaltake for providing this sample for us to review.

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