Thermaltake P6 TG Open Air Case Review

The Thermaltake Core P6 Tempered Glass chassis is an interesting one.  With the additions of the top, bottom right and left side panels the Core P6 finally looks like a real case but, when you look past the panels you see the same open air chassis design and many of its fundamental problems.  So, it will depend on how you look at the P6 to determine what the ultimate opinion really is.

As a casemodder the LOVE the Core P6 TG.  The chassis is one you can completely disassemble and then rebuild with all the parts you want and need.  Since everything can be removed it also makes the painting process extremely easy and without the need to drill out rivets.  I am also a fan of the multiple options available to mount radiators and fans.  This gives the builder options for their builds depending on how they plan to use it. 

For the build that will be mounted on the wall. Everything can be mounted flat and Thermaltake even has a distribution plate available to make the process of building a full DIY loop easy and full of RGB.  If the build will be on the floor you can take a more traditional approach with fans left and right and plenty of RGB in the middle.  Tempered glass is a primary feature of the P6 TG and while the glass is the reason you buy this case for the airflow mafia it comes out quickly giving an unobstructed path for air to enter each and every fan.

As a system builder I get a different vibe and comes down to functionally.   The process of building in the Core P6 is straight forward, there is plenty of cable storage, cable access and ample location for drives however I do question cooling and airflow.

The fundamental flaw is when it comes to the universal fan mounting positions and how they offer very little back pressure.  Back pressure is required for air to flow through a space and without it the air passing through a fan will often loop back out the case nearest the fan providing the flow.  This effectively short circuits airflow through the case and does nothing but provide surface area for RGB light shows.

Locations that support both fan types are prone to this as they provide gaps when smaller fans are installed and block flow when larger fans are installed.  When it comes to the Core P6 there is nothing to promote airflow “through” the chassis and no way to fix the problem.  The gaps in the glass are large enough to allow air into the case and the open bottom will promote convection as the system heats up but, that isn’t enough when it comes to modern computer hardware.  Watercooling goes a long way to keep the major heat sources cool however motherboard VRMs are often overlooked and need a little something to remain stable.

If the intent is to build a full DIY or AIO water cooling build then the P6 is a perfect case for you.  If you are more of an air cooled is the best cooled enthusiast then you might have issues with the Core P6 Tempered Glass without a few minor modifications and if it comes to that I would suggest you look elsewhere.

Perfect Canvas for DIY RGB Water Cooling
Support Large Motherboards
Horizontal or Vertical GPU support
Multi PSU Mounting
Can be Enclosed or Fully Open
Great Case for Custom System Builders
Thick Tempered Glass

Added panels don’t provide much
Case is never fully enclosed
Not good for aircooled builds
Thick tempered glass adds a lot of weight
Doesn’t include any fans
Would rather not see the PSU