Thermaltake View 71 Tempered Glass Edition Case Review

The View 71 is very similar to the View 31 when it comes to cooling.  The front of the case supports 120mm and 140mm fans.  Thermaltake includes two 140mm Riing fans from the factory which is enough for most aircooling installations.

Per the usual the intake fans are located behind the front bezel and blow across the internal hard drive cage whereas the exhaust fan is located in the traditional location at the back of the case near the I/O panel.

All of the fans are slot mounted meaning that you can reposition them as needed which is nice for those radiators that might have an oversized tank or are just oddly sized in general.

Cooling in a case with tempered glass has always been a point of contention with armchair enthusiasts and several reviewer out there like “rile them up” [cause: attention].   Every case has a purpose and when you try to put a case in a situation where it doesn’t belong you’re going to have a bad time. 

For instance “silent” cases are designed to minimize noise emissions and limit external fan exposure.  “high performance” cases are designed to maximize airflow and open up external fan access.  There is some middle ground between them but, for the most part the definition is really clear.

So what kind of case is the Thermaltake View 71 Tempered Glass Edition?  Well, it is a performance case with glass side panels.

The front and top of the case feature some rather deep “steps” that space the glass panels away from the bezel to improve cooling.  This can be clearly seen when looking at the case from the side.  From that vantage point you will see two distinct steps.

The first is a rubber spacer to protect the glass and keep it from rattling.  The second step split across two parts of the bezel.

Towards the middle of the glass you’ll find about an inch gap between the glass and the bezel which is then extended even further once you consider the distance between the bezel and fan filter.

Overall this was done to increase airflow and also prevent fan noise by moving the blades away from anything solid.

The fan filters found on the View 71 slide into the back of the bezel and can be popped out for cleaning.  Something that you may not notice about the View 71 is just how big and yet small the case is.  Most of the extended height is from the tall bezel pieces used to space the glass away from the case. 

Case construction is quite good.  Typically you will see cases with lighting holes to help reduce weight however, all of the panels are solid with multiple rivets in each of the corners for added strength.