Review and Build inside the ThermalTake Core X31 PC Case

Intro

It’s hard to know what a good case is by a simple picture, and so many cases may look nice but once you get them it’s nothing like what you had imagined.  I have reviewed quite a few cases, and even one from ThermalTake in the past and I was pleased when I had the opportunity to review this one, the ThermalTake Core X31.

Let’s first take a look at the features and spec’s of this one.

ThermalTake Core X31

• Motherboard Support: Mini-ITX, Micro-ATX, ATX (but actually it will support a little larger, stay tuned to find out what I mean)
• Mid Tower
• Maximum GPU Length without HDD Cage: 16.5 inches / 420mm
• Maximum GPU Length with HDD Cage: 10.9 inches / 278mm
• Maximum PSU Length without bottom fan: 8.66 inches / 220mm
• Maximum PSU Length with one bottom Fan: 7.09 inches / 180mm
• Windowed Side panel
• 8 Expansion slots
• Drive Bays:
  • 3 x 3.5in or 2.5in HD Cage
  • 3 x 3.5in or 2.5in behind motherboard tray
  • 2 x 2.5in on Power Supply Cover
  • 2 x 5.25in
    • 25in drive bays can be used for 2 x SSD’s each bay or 1 additional 3.5in drive in each bay
  • External Connections
    • 2 x USB 3.0
    • 2 x USB 2.0
    • 1 x Headphone Port
    • 1 x Microphone Port
  • Fan Mount Location and Sizes
    • Front:
      • 1 x 200mm or 2 x 140mm (1 x Included) or 2 x 120mm
    • Top:
      • 3 x 140mm or 3 x 120mm or 2 x 200mm
    • Rear:
      • 1 x 140mm (Included) or 2 x 120mm
    • Bottom:
      • 2 x 120mm or 2 x 240mm
    • Radiator Support
      • Front:
        • 1 x 360mm or 1 x 280mm
      • Top:
        • 360mm or 1 x 280mm
      • Rear:
        • 1 x 140mm or 1 x 120mm
      • Bottom:
        • 1 x 140mm or 1 x 120mm
      • 3 Year Warranty
      • Weight: 18.70lbs
      • Dimensions: H:20.10″ x W:9.80″ x D:19.50″

OK, enough with those, they might be a good reference to come back to later, but let’s see what comes inside of the box.

It has tons of options for HD’s, fans and radiators and I will go into that a little later in the review.  Let’s explore what was in the box to make sure it has everything you need for a build.

To start off with, it does come with the user’s manual which goes over what is included in the box, warranty information and some basics on how to build a PC with it, very basic of course.

And the warranty policy, which of course goes over the warranty.

Aside from those, came a bag that contained all of screws and accessories, I will break them down individually as well.

22 x Motherboard or 2.5”HDD screws

2 x Stand-Offs and 1 x Nut Setter.  The Nut Setter is such a great little tool and I will explain a little later on what it does and how handy it is.

Adhesive rubber washers for mechanical hard drives (noise reduction)

5 x Cable Ties

4 x Case fan screws

12 x 3.5HDD Screws

4 x Power Supply screws

1 x PC Speaker

That’s about it for the included accessories; now let’s get to the case itself.