Thermaltake View 31: Your Next Mid Tower Case?

Tempered glass and RGB have been the signature moves of every PC chassis builder for quite some time now. However with every other PC hardware upgrade and expanding, the gaming case has no choice but to succumb to the trend. Therefore just RGB and tempered glass does not suffice the consumer now. We all love better features in a case to show off our RGB build. The Thermaltake View 31 is a Mid-tower case with a premium design, plenty of features that are suitable for high-end builds and even supporting water cooling. In today’s post we will talk about it’s specs, pros and cons and some rivalries plus what the customers think of this case.

Thermaltake View 31 Specs

Thermaltake View 31 Design

Exterior

As you can see from the specs, they have included plenty of specs for high-end builds. And although the design is great, it isn’t completely splendid. To begin with, the key features of the Thermaltake View 31 can be summarized as follows. Dual tempered glass window, riser GPU support bracket with optional PCI-e riser cable, and three preinstalled patented 140mm Riing RGB LED fans plus the liquid cooling upgradability. The durable dual glass tempered panels are opaque and are a nice showcase.

It is in good compatibility with the front panel and the top panel containing the I/O board. The front panel is likely to suffer a few abrasions because of the material, whereas the glass panel won’t. This is a bit of a downfall initially. Also the rear panel flexes a bit when pushed. The top I/O panel consists of 4 USB ports, reset and power buttons, headphone and mic ports and the HDD indicator. Also the Thermaltake signature ahead of the panel. The magnetic dust filter is behind the I/O panel and under the case as well.

Interior

The interior is more intriguing and makes you venture into all sorts of possible hardware combinations for this case. For starters it has the essentials of a modern case such as rubber-grommet cable holes and a modular drive cage that can be relocated or removed according to the user’s wishes hence its flexibility. But the 3.5in trays are a bit bulky, therefore stacking them at the rear of the motherboard might not be a welcome idea by most users. The cable management points are handy and they also have configuration points for a customized water cooling loop.

You will also find two of the pre-installed 140mm RGB fans with space for another fan. However there is another downfall here, You cannot keep the PSU hidden, because the bottom isn’t segregated. The unique feature here is the embedded Riser GPU Support Bracket, which most other builders offer as an optional feature.

It helps reduce weight on the motherboard and keep the graphic card from sagging allowing a dual-slot GPU to function well. The riser cable however has to be purchased separately. We mentioned earlier that the Thermaltake View 31 is specializing for high-end builds. It supports up to a tower CPU cooler with height up to 180mm, GPU up to 420mm in length without an HDD rack.

Thermaltake View 31 fan setup is thoughtful and presents many options. The other default 140mm Riing RGB LED fan is at the rear apart from the two at the front. You can be rest assured about cooling with this case. It can host plenty of fans and even liquid cooling to suit your hardware. As an example, you can choose to have three 120mm fans at the top, two 120mm fans at the bottom, and like we mentioned before you can even remove the two 140mm fans at the front and perhaps replace them with three 120mm fans.

And if you opt for liquid cooling, the choice can be to integrate a 360mm radiator on the top or front. Another minus point is the deduction of Velcro points to neatly attach the cables and make it look clean. There is plenty of room for the cables to navigate in and out, but hiding them is a problem because of the glass panels.

Performance

Experts tested this case for cooling management using both CPU and GPU stress tests. Hexus used an Intel Core i5-3570K paired with a 2 overclocked GTX 970 in SLI configuration. CPU stress tests are carried out by executing complex tasks that utilize all the unlocked cores of the CPU for many rounds and averaging the temperatures obtained. For the GPU, the same task is carried out by playing games at high resolutions, with SLI enabled and under ultra graphic settings.

In terms of CPU temperatures the Thermaltake View 31 performed extremely well in keeping the components cool. A few cases like the Corsair Crystal Series 570X RGB and NZXT S340 Elite managed to outrank it. The GPU is more of a challenge because of the SLI. However View 31 keeps it from reaching the GPU threshold heat values. And the operational noise is very insignificant with the enclosed structure.

Pros

• -Tempered glass panels allows you to display your premium RGB build well
• -Riser GPU bracket
• -Liquid cooling upgradability
• -3 RGB fans as a default option
• -Creditable heat control making it optimum for high-end builds

Cons

• -No PSU shroud
• – Lacks USB-Type C
• – Front panel material
• – PCIe x16 riser cable is a bit expensive

Thermaltake View 31 vs 32

This is a much pondered topic and to add more value we thought of presenting this comparison, so that you can make the best choice if you are a Thermaltake fan.

Thermaltake View 32 review

I think it is immediately obvious that one of the cons of Thermaltake View 31 is covered here. Because all 4 panels are tempered glass thereby enhancing visibility of your splendid and colorful RGB build. And they are with hinges so you may swing them open to get easy access to the internal hardware.  However they still don’t have the USB-Type C here. And the CPU cooler heights are limited as opposed to the 31.

It is lighter than the 31 too. Featuring three preinstalled 120mm Riing LED RGB fans instead of 140mm fans with the same setup though. Perhaps the most significant feature here with the 32 is the tool-free installation. The included fully modular 3.5”/2.5” -compatible drive brackets minimize the troubles of installation and relocation. Something that we had with the view 31, although some might also regard it as an additional handy feature with the 31.

There are also rubber dampeners to protect the storage against any rattling. You will find a button on the top front panel to control the 5 lighting modes of Riing 12 LED RGB fans, including RGB spectrum and static colors. You can also use the software to control the fan LED and speeds. Same as the View 31, the View 32 also can be used to configure a customized fan setup.

The front panel can host up to 3 fans or a 360mm radiator for water cooling. The top panel has room to host a 240mm radiator as well. There is no Riser GPU Support Bracket as opposed to the 31. And the 32 has a PSU shroud unlike the 31. It isn’t a glamorous, ultra-premium sort of chassis, but it will get the job done for the RGB lover. Ultimately though, the choice is yours.

What The Users Are Saying

Here’s what the users are saying regarding the Thermaltake View 31.

Some users have even chosen to switch their hardware from a better case like NZXT S340 Elite to the View 31. The RGB fan layout, extremely quiet operation and the RGB controller are the features that appeased them the most. Also the good ventilation, unhindered airflow to help regulate the internal temperature and the plenty of space for water cooling and optional drives contributed to the positive review. However the front panel and the fact that installing 2.5″ SSD’s in the 3.5″ slots results in cutouts in the motherboard tray for the cables restricting plugin of the SATA cables the drives. Because the opening is too small to plug the drive in. You also have to be aware of the glass panel, for they basically fall off once unscrewed.

Nonetheless, users who are utilizing this case for extreme builds with high-end hardware are doing very well in terms of noiseless function and excellent temperature regulation. For example one user overclocked an i5 7700k until 5.2GHz with a GTX 1080 ti and 32GB RAM with 4 HDD and M.2 SSD for a boot drive. Even with this much of hardware they are not complaining about space.

What they do complain about is the PCI-E Riser Cables for the GPU support. So what they are saying is that you should not buy the Thermaltake cable as it is not so good. Instead opt for aftermarket cables after doing your research. Anyway, as a final thought, what we can state is that the Thermaltake View 31 is an elegant, well built chassis to show off your RGB because of its tempered glasses. And it has plenty of space and options for expandability. A worthy investment overall for any hardcore builder.