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Thermaltake View 71 PC Case Review

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After spending plenty of time using the lower end of Thermtake’s case arsenal, we thought it was time we splashed out on one of their higher-priced case options – more specifically, their Thermaltake View 71.

This case is an absolute monster. It comes offering four sides of tempered glass, a huge full-tower chassis, and a ton of features geared towards water-cooling and fan customization. It not only looks stunning, but it also performs in such a way that is nothing like other tempered glass cases in today’s market – and that’s a good thing.

In today’s article,  we’ll be putting the Thermaltake View 71 through its paces to see how it stacks up in build quality, PC assembly, value, and overall performance. We’ll see how it compares to some of the market leaders out there, and whether or not we think you should consider this as your new case purchase.

So, without further ado, let’s take a closer look at what the Thermaltake View 71 has to offer.

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Pros

  • Eight expansion slots
  • Plenty of room for both AIO coolers and water-cooling
  • Option to mount GPU vertically
  • Very attractive aesthetic with four sides of tempered glass
  • A ton of cable management options
  • Extremely strong chassis
  • Dust filters on top, bottom, and front
  • Hinged side panels

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Cons

  • Higher-end of the price spectrum
  • Weighs in at 19.3KG
  • Some screw fittings are tight
  • Issues with peg alignment down the road

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Specifications

Case TypeFull Tower
Dimensions (mm)592 x 274 x 577 (L x W x H)
MaterialsSteel, Plastic, Glass
Available ColoursBlack
White
Weight19.3 kg
Front I/O panelUSB 3.0 x 2, USB 2.0 x 2, HD audio x 1, microphone jack x 1
Expansion Slots8+2
Drive Bays2.5” x 4 or 3.5”x4 (HDD Rack)
2.5”x 6 or 3.5” x 3
Motherboard supportE-ATX, ATX, Micro-ATX, Mini-ITX
Cooling (Front/Top/Rear/Bottom)3 x 120 or 2x 140mm
3 x 120mm or 3 x 140mm
1 x 120mm or 1 x 140mm
2 x 120mm
CPU Max Height190mm
Maximum GPU length310mm with HDD rack installed
410mm without HDD rack installed
Thermaltake View 71 Cooling Capacity

What’s In The Box?

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The View 71 came in a large box that weighed 22KG. It had pictures of the case on the side and some general information on the back. Inside, the View 71 was well packaged amongst robust protectors and came with the following items:

  • Thermaltake View 71
  • Accessory Box
  • User Manual

Design

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The Outside

The first thing I noticed about this case upon unboxing was just how big it was. I mean, this thing is huge. It looks even bigger because of the gap Thermaltake left between the chassis and the glass for airflow purposes. Size aside, however, the View 71 does look pretty awesome. Like we mentioned above, this case comes with four sides of tempered glass (front, both sides, and top) and three LED fans. You can opt for an RGB fan version if that is more your style.

The tempered glass is 5mm thick and makes up a lot of the case’s weight. Having said that, thanks to nicely rounded edges and the hinged door style side panels, the overall look of the glass screams “premium.” Even the hinges have been finished in such a way that would suggest time and consideration have gone into their design. Overall, it’s hard to knock the View 71 from an aesthetic viewpoint, it looks stunning from all angles.

Front

The front is made up of numerous layers which include glass and plastic. The glass can be easily removed with four thumbscrews that feel robust and well made. The glass has been angled in either corner for design purposes and adds a nice aesthetic if truth be told.

Underneath the glass, you’ll find a plastic layer that houses the magnetic dust filter. It can be removed by pulling (with medium force) the bottom of the layer outwards. Pop this layer off and you can access the fans and dust filter. The dust filter is magnetic and is both easy to remove and clean. The fans underneath are easy to replace – if you wish to do that – as there is so much room to maneuver within this case.

The I/O ports are neither on the top or front panels, instead, being placed on an angle between the two. Each of the ports is protected with a plastic stopper which can be removed when the ports are needed. The power button is pretty large and feels nice and tactile. One thing that really annoys me with cases is the power button feeling tacky. Luckily, we didn’t experience this issue here. Oh, and it comes with a thin white LED strip around it.

Rear

Moving to the rear of this case yields a bunch of features and expansion possibilities. The View 71 offers 8+2 expansion slots, with two being reserved for vertical mounting of the GPU. The eight normal expansion slots are covered with mesh-style covers and accommodate for E-ATX motherboards and large dual GPU setups. All of which can be replaced when swapping out components – the same can be said for the two vertical slots.

Above the exhaust fan, you find the three external water-cooling holes with accompanying grommets. These are ideal if you take your water-cooling DIY to the next level. Underneath the PSU you’ll be able to remove the bottom dust filter by sliding it out.

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Side On

The side panels are made up of 5mm thick tempered glass and offer a luxurious and sleek aesthetic to this case. The panels are attached with two thumbscrews which, even though they feel decent,  have been scrutinized by a few consumers who claim that the thread starts to go after very little time. For us, we’ve found no issues with the thumbscrews or their threading but will be sure to update this post if this issue occurs.

Once the thumbscrews have been removed, the side panel is free to be swung open using the hinge system Thermaltake have implemented in the View 71. I have to say, hinged doors are an absolute must when working with tempered glass side panels. It not only looks better, but it also reduces any risk of damage via dropping. The hinges are of high-quality and the entire side panel can be removed if you wish by lifting it off the hinge.

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The Top

The top of the case offers further tempered glass and is held in place by four (arguably lesser quality) thumbscrews. There is a healthy gap between the glass and the chassis itself (similar to all the glass panels) to help and promote airflow – something we’ll touch upon shortly. If you wish to access the top mounting plate, simply remove the tempered glass and the plastic dust filter layer by pulling it upwards from the rear. Thermaltake has equipped the plastic layer with a cut-out for your hand which was a nice touch. Furthermore, the mounting plate can actually be removed by unscrewing four screws found on the top of the case. This is great if you need extra access when putting an elaborate cooling system in place.

Once you have full access to the roof of the case, you’ll easily be able to manoeuvre and install an AIO cooler up to 420mm. Once installed, everything pops back into place with little force required.

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The Inside

Inside the case, you’ll be greeted with a ton of features geared towards airflow, cable management, water-cooling, and fan configurations. But let’s start at the front.

The front of the case allows for both radiator and fan mounting, with accessibility for a variety of different fan/radiator options which include; 3 x 120mm fans/2 x 140mm fans/1 x 360mm radiator/1 x 420mm radiator. You will have to remove the front glass panel and the dust filter layer to access the front fans, but that’s all fairly straight forward to do.

Moving to the roof, as mentioned above, you have the option of using 3 x 120mm fans, 2 x 140mm fans, 1 x 360mm radiator, or 1 x 420mm radiator. Now, for those that have tried mounting numerous fans or large radiator setups before, you might be a little concerned regarding the clearance. Well, from our experience using the Thermaltake Floe Riing 360 AIO cooler, we encountered absolutely zero compatibility issues whatsoever. There was plenty of room for RAM and CPU coolers. Even installing the cables was easy – something that can get a little tight nearing the end of a build.

The base of the case allows for a PSU of up to 220mm – if you don’t plan on mounting any fans, that is. If you plan on using a smaller PSU, you have the option of fitting 2 x 120mm fans or a 240mm radiator to the base of this build. One annoyance I did find when putting this build together was that Thermaltake hadn’t fitted the PSU base supports to the case. They instead, left them in the accessories bag with the screws and cable ties. Obviously, that wasn’t an issue for us. However, for some, this might slip under the radar. Or maybe I’m being a little too critical – not sure.

The main mounting area offers optionality for Mini-ITX, M-ATX, ATX, and E-ATX as well. Pre-installed standoff screws are already set up for ATX motherboards, so you will have to re-jig them for whatever form factor motherboard you decide to opt for. Having said that, it’s a fairly straight forward process as Thermaltake labeled each standoff screw whole with the necessary form factor. To touch on cooling options again briefly, users have the option of vertically mounting an AIO cooler on the backplate of the chassis – something I haven’t seen in many cases. You also have reservoir mounting screws and other additions too. Having said that, Thermaltake has decided to pre-install the drive bays where the AIO cooler would go, meaning you can only have one or the other, not both.

In front of the motherboard, you’ll see a vertical GPU mounting rack which, again, comes pre-installed. It’s secured at the back of the case by three screws which are easily accessible if you wish to remove it. Having said that, I found the idea of a vertically mounted GPU a pretty cool one – not to mention it looked awesome as well! One thing we did notice about this feature, however, is that there is a real risk of incompatibility when using a large CPU cooler and a large GPU. So, just be aware if this is something you are considering.

Mounting options aside, the View 71 offers a ton of cable management options. Users are treated to several grommets and a bunch of cut-outs above and below the motherboard. Unfortunately, this case does not come with a PSU shroud. This means cable management is a little trickier, but still fully achievable if planned in advance.

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The Back Panel

At the back of the motherboard tray, you’ll first see the wires for the I/O panel – they’ve been loosely tied to the motherboard tray. The gap between the glass and the back of the motherboard tray is a healthy 30mm, that makes cable management a little more forgiving – especially when you bundle cables together. Cables aside, the back also offers three drive plates that accept either one 3.5″ drive or a pair of 2.5″ drives, depending on your setup. Having said that, if you plan on water-cooling your rig, you’ll have to remove the drive plates on the left-hand side.

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Finally, Thermaltake has designed the edges of the chassis with a fair bit of room for cabling. This is something you’ll certainly want to consider doing as the back is entirely see-through, obviously.

Features

Like all cases at this price point, the Thermaltake comes with a whole host of features – a lot of which we’ve already touched upon above. However, considering they’re one of the biggest selling points of a case, we’d like to outline the most important below.

Design – So, let’s just talk about the design in brief. This case looks stunning. It might be huge, but its design caters to a variety of different builds and customization options. The tempered glass adds a luxurious feel to the design, and everything inside felt well-made and sturdy. Huge thumbs up for aesthetics.

Water cooling – The guys behind the design of this case clearly wanted to allow users to utilize water-cooling in its fullest. Thanks to its huge interior, you’ll have no problem routing even the most elaborate of water-cooling setups in this build. It even has three rear water cooling grommets as well.

Fans – Fans are a must when it comes to tempered glass cases – and not just for aesthetic reasons. If you’re trying to create a strong airflow in a case that has large gaps on all sides, you’re going to need a decent fan setup. Thankfully, this case allows for that in abundance. It offers a ton of mounting areas and allows users to create the perfect cooling solution.

Easy assembly process – One of the biggest pros I can give this case is how easy it was to build in. Now, you’re probably thinking that’s obvious because of its size. Well, it’s not just the size that helped with the build assembly for this PC. The size is there to accommodate numerous customization options like water-cooling and additional radiator options. However, once that space has been taken, by said water-cooling, this case is still easy to build in. The guys at Thermaltake have given you everything you need for a smooth build process. That includes a fully modular design where almost every panel is removable, plenty of cable management cut-outs and grommets, easy to install drive trays, and a bunch of mounting areas for fans and radiators. Overall, I can’t knock the Thermaltake one bit when it comes to the assembly process.

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Our Verdict

So, we come to our verdict. It’s time to answer some of the big questions surrounding this PC case, such as; is it worth the high-end price tag? How does it compare to comparable cases like the Corsair Crystal Series 570X? Should you buy it?

Well, firstly, the Thermaltake View 71 is a case that currently retails at around $200 – that’s $10 more than the Phanteks Enthoo 719 and $20 more than the Corsair Crystal 570x – which initially sparks a little concern amongst buyers. However, when you consider the build quality, thermals, and noise levels, you soon start to see where the value lies.

The View 71, right off the bat, offers a decent drop in average CPU/GPU temps over its cheaper rivals – up to 20 degrees in some cases. Now, straight away, that should tell you all you need to know about this case. Furthermore, it’s marginally quieter than the Corsair Crystal 570x, while being slightly more audible than the Enthoo. No big deal, right?

Once you pair those stats with the build quality, aesthetics, and design features, you soon come to the conclusion that yes, this is a case that is worthy of your consideration.  Even if it does weigh the same as a small child.

Ultimately, you’ve got to look at this from a user perspective. If you’re looking for a great case for your competitive esports gaming rig that currently runs a GTX 1660 TI and a single exhaust/front fan setup, you’re probably not going to be looking at a case of this standard for your next upgrade.

However, if you’re more inclined to enthusiast-level components and you plan on designing an elaborate water-cooling loop, then this case is going to be perfect for your needs.

Thermaltake View 71 Tempered Glass RGB

Type
Full Tower
Motherboard Support
Mini-ATX, Micro-ATX, ATX, E-ATX
Dimensions (HxWxD)
592 x 274 x 577 mm
Included Fans
3 x 140mm RGB fans

Monitor & PC Product Specialist AT WEPC

Charlie Noon

Summary

Charlie has been with WePC for nearly 5 years now, becoming a senior tech writer in 2021. He started off writing monitor and TV reviews, but quickly moved into a more affiliate-based role. After finishing College, Charlie pursued his joy of PC gaming by building several PCs for his favourite game, Counter-Strike. To this day, Charlie continues to enjoy gaming and PC building inside and outside of the office.

Experience

Charlie started his career with BGFG after a long 5-year stint traveling Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. While he could have pursued a further career in the building trade, he decided to delve into the world of PC gaming and journalism. Being a keen gamer and PC builder, it was easy to transition between the two industries. After showcasing a real joy for both writing and PC building, he was moved into a more senior position, which he continues to hold to this day.

Education

Charlie completed his A levels at Culcheth College. After, he took a 5-year break to travel and work overseas.