Thermaltake commander c31 tg review in Spanish (complete analysis)

Today we present you the review of the Thermaltake Commander C31 TG. Six are the variants of the new chassis model that Thermaltake has just launched on the market and all of them include two 200mm ARGB front fans compatible with other lighting systems. It is a chassis that is around 100 euros with a large size and interior width to work comfortably and compatibility with all types of hardware, and above all a different design.

And as always, we thank Thermaltake for giving us this chassis for our review.

Thermaltake Commander C31 TG technical characteristics

Unboxing and design

Well Thermaltake is not surprising in terms of presentation, we only have a simple large neutral cardboard box where the chassis will be inserted. Inside, two white polyethylene cork panels have been arranged in the form of a mold to hold the product well and also ensure that it is not damaged by blows.

In addition to the Thermaltake Commander C31 TG chassis, inside we find the respective user manual. And inside the chassis itself, to prevent it from getting lost, we have all the accessories necessary to carry out the assembly, consisting of:

• Screws of various sizes Grips Front fixing plate for PSU Two RGB cables for connecting fans

Precisely we highlight the presence of these two cables, which give us versatility to manage the lighting of the fans, which are factory connected to a microcontroller and are managed from a button on the I / O panel.

Well, we will start the external description of this Thermaltake Commander C31 TG PC case. In its general view, possibly what stands out the most is its original front, aggressive and completely open to the outside, and also the presence of a tempered glass panel that completely occupies the side. This chassis is available in two different colors, white, which is ours, and more traditional black.

It is of course a mid-tower chassis, although measures a little more extensive than we are used to, being 462 mm high, 507 long or deep and 233 mm wide. Precisely in the width and because it is longer than it is its good aspect ratio and the large interior space.

You can imagine the construction materials, a SPCC steel chassis of good thickness, weight and finishes, tempered glass and a PVC plastic front also of very good quality judging by the thickness and finishes.

Well, we take a closer look at the left side area of ​​the Thermaltake Commander C31 TG. In it we have a 4mm thick tempered glass panel that occupies the entire area except the plastic front itself for obvious reasons.

This panel has a completely transparent finish that allows you to perfectly see the interior area, including the fountain area. On the four sides, an opaque black frame has been arranged to hide the glass fixing rails to the chassis.

In addition, it is interesting to talk about these rails, since in this case we do not have the typical assembly with four side screws. Failing that, we have a metal frame that holds the entire glass with rear fixing thanks to two hand screws, as if it were another sheet. Personally, this system is much more aesthetic and simpler, so good work here.

The next stop is at the front, which is also quite technically interesting. We can already clearly see that it is divided into three zones, which also make up three steps with aggressive lines and simulating metallic elements. In addition, most of it is protected by a grill that is metallic and a dust filter that does not let anything in.

This filter is not removable, although the front itself is, but we will see this later, along with these two 200 mm fans that come pre-installed at the factory, and which are one of the great claims of this chassis. Aesthetically it is original, but personally I like the one that comes with the Commander C35 model, although we have not been able to access it.

We take the opportunity to go up to the upper face of Thermaltake Commander C31 TG and see what elements we have here. And undoubtedly the most visible is the enormous opening in the form of a grid that we have to allow cooling, which is also finished in a bee panel. In it, a large, medium-grain dust filter with magnetic fixation and in black color has been arranged, which contrasts with this pure white chassis. We will have capacity for both liquid cooling of up to 280 mm and fans of 120 and 140 mm.

And another differential element will be the I / O panel, which is also located in this upper area and just behind the front case. In it we can find the following elements:

• Two USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A ports Two 3.5mm mini jacks for audio and microphone Power LEDs and hard drive activity Power button RESETY button button to switch lighting animation

Yes, we have many buttons, including one RGB, but in a chassis of this price we should ask for at least two other USB 2.0 ports or a USB Type-C port, we think that at this point it is something necessary.

In the right side area we find quite a few secrets, but at least it stands out that in this case it is a SPCC steel panel in pure white and not black as we are always used to. The fixing method is exactly the same as that of the glass, using two lower and upper rails and two manual thread screws at the rear. It should be said that the plant is not included, it is from IKEA.

There is less left, and now it's time for the back area of Thermaltake Commander C31 TG. And the truth is that it is quite interesting and we need to explain a couple of things. Starting at the top, we find the typical opening for the port panel of the motherboard, and a ventilation hole without a dust filter, but with a pre-installed 120mm fan, thank you.

The middle area is interesting due to the fact that it has the capacity to mount lateral graphics cards, which also has a support rail inside, but not the riser cable, so we will need to purchase it separately. There is room for 7 horizontal and two vertical expansion slots, be careful with RTX GPUs because almost all occupy 2.5 slots. It goes without saying that the plates are not welded to the chassis.

And the lower area is intended to house, under a separate compartment, the power supply. In this case we can introduce it directly from this part, since the backplate for installation and fixing of the four screws is available independently.

And we finish with the lower part, very wide as we see due to the width of this chassis, although with an upgradeable detail. This detail is the dust filter that it brings in the air suction area of ​​the PSU, we think that its fixing is very basic, and could have been installed with a plastic panel and rails, and also with a finer grain.

In the front area we also have a die cut area that includes an adapter for mounting a 3.5 / 2.5 inch hard drive. We also have the typical opening to pull the front and remove it, and four rubberized plastic legs that leave the chassis about 20 mm off the ground.

Interior and assembly

Now it's time to go deeper into the interior area, where we are going to place the components of our PC. Surely you already know them, but we leave you here what they are:

• AMD Ryzen 2700X with Stock heatsink RTX 2060 Ventus16GB DDR4PSU Corsair AX860i

Basically, what has been a mid-high-end assembly based on Ryzen. We haven't installed any hard drives as that wouldn't make much sense either.

In addition to the side panels, we've also taken apart the front area to see these huge 200mm fans in action. And the truth is that the space we have inside is very large, thanks mainly to that front area that is intended to mount hard drives in the rear or front, where we prefer.

We also see a huge gap to be able to work on the CPU heatsink without having to uninstall the board, and the double gap in the PSU compartment. The front to leave space for the air intake and ventilation systems, and the side for mere aesthetic interest. The holes for pulling cables in this case are not protected with rubber, although they are only three and quite hidden.

In Thermaltake Commander C31 TG we will have capacity for ITX, Micro-ATX and ATX size motherboards. Therefore, we lose the capacity for E-ATX due to the side gap for hard drives. In addition, it supports ATX 200 mm power supplies, although we already say that there is much more space. Also heatsinks up to 180 mm and graphics cards up to 310 mm. Excellent capacity for high-end hardware without a doubt.

Storage space

The truth is that in this Thermaltake Commander C31 TG we have very good storage capacity, and also something different from what we are used to.

To start, we will have a total capacity of up to 5 hard drives, but of course we will have to differentiate between 2.5 ”and 3.5” drives. Well, the hard drive mounting system is based on metal plates attached to the chassis at different locations, which means we don't have the typical two-bay cabinet.

Just behind the motherboard area we will have two of these boards specially dedicated to 2.5 inch SSD drives. The fixing system is as simple as screwing the unit in with four screws and then fixing the unit to the chassis with a thumb screw. And then we will find three other larger boards that are compatible with 3.5 and 2.5 inch drives. one of them in the lower area, and two others on the side.

This makes a total of 5 2.5-inch drives, or in your case three 3.5-inch drives plus two 2.5-drives. It is not bad, and neither is its location, since avoiding the typical wardrobe we will have more space for cables and this is one of the advantages. But there are also disadvantages, such as the need to route more cables spread across the chassis, which is more annoying.

Cooling capacity

The next aspect in which Thermaltake Commander C31 TG stands out for its good performance is in terms of ventilation and capacity.

Starting with the capacity of fans we have:

• Front: 3x 120mm / 2x 140mm / 2x 200mm Top: 2x 120mm / 2x 140mm Rear: 1x 120mm

You already know that we have two 200 mm fans and one of 120 pre-installed, something extremely positive to ensure air flow without having to buy more. Despite being such a wide chassis, we lose the ability to install a 140 fan in the rear.

And continuing with the ability to install liquid cooling:

• Front: 120/140/240/280 / 360mm Top: 120/140/240 / 280mm Rear: 120mm

Of course it is a practically complete capacity, since almost all the All-In-One on the market are of these sizes. In addition, in the upper area we have plenty of space also to install one of these Liquid AIOs with their fans included. On the manufacturer's page, special reference is made to the fact that the chassis is optimized to support custom cooling systems.

The only negative aspect is that the microcontroller intended for RGB control as standard does not have PWM control, so they will always be at the maximum speed, unless we install them on the board.

Precisely the gap in the front denotes that ability to introduce large expansion vessels in the area, and it is also for this reason that the ability to install E-ATX plates is lost. Although the truth is that this hole is unsightly when we do not have anything installed, so it would not have been a bad idea to have implemented a die-cut and removable sheet to cover it a bit, or make it smaller.

In the PSU area, we also have a ventilation grille that communicates it with the main area, in this case it is not a disadvantage, since part of the air flow from the fan will pass through this area. Anyone who can get out of this area will help convection inside the chassis.

And the last thing to note is that allowing the entire disassembly front gives us great versatility to work with. In addition, the casing allows the installation of the fans outside the chassis, both 200 mm and smaller, something highly advantageous for cleaning and management.

illumination

Before moving on to assembly, it's worth taking a look at the lighting Thermaltake Commander C31 TG gives us.

The system is made up of two fans with addressable RGB lighting inside. In this case, we do not have our own chassis lighting. Well, the management method proposed by Thermaltake at the factory is a microcontroller with capacity for three addressable RGB fans and one normal fan, as we can see in the photo.

In fact, the fans do not need another extra power outlet, since it is the microcontroller itself that supplies those 12V necessary for movement. This is undoubtedly an advantage in terms of cleaning cables and interaction, since only with a button located on the chassis can we select the lighting that we like. The microcontroller must be connected to general power through a SATA interface.

The second way to do it, is to directly connect the fans to the motherboard for both power and lighting. To do this, these two adapters have been incorporated into the bundle in the form of cables. The lighting will be compatible with Asus AURA Sync, Gigabyte RGB Fusion, MSI Mystic Light and ASRock Poychrome RGB.

Installation and assembly

Well, all that remains is to install the components on the Thermaltake Commander C31 TG, so let's see the details.

The first thing we have done is insert the power supply into its compartment and fix it using the four screws and the external plate. We have more than enough space and this does not entail any inconvenience. Keep in mind that the plate will be screwed to the chassis, and in turn the source on the plate, so we must use about 8 screws.

The next thing we have done is take advantage of the fourth connector of the cassis microcontroller to connect the rear fan there, whose cable arrives perfectly and thus we save ourselves from connecting it to the motherboard. Note that we have different slots to fix the cables to the sheet through the clips, but we do not have any other advanced routing system. In this sense, yes we would have liked to have something more worked.

Finally we have thrown the cables as best we could for the different elements to be fed, thanks to the lateral holes in the plate and the upper hole for the two EPS cables necessary. Say that the compartment offers a width of about 20 mm to place cables and plenty of space underneath to hide the excess ones.

In the main part everything flows perfectly, with the cables already inserted, it only remains to place the motherboard, fix it with the 6 screws and connect the cables.

We have two sections that could improve aesthetically. The first of these is that the PCB that supports the chassis I / O panel connections is completely exposed. All cables are exposed and also exposed to break something by installing components. It would not have been a bad idea to put at least one plastic protector to cover it. The second is simply having put a decorative plate on the side gaps so that they are less visible.

In any case, there is enough space for everything, including a side GPU, although we do not have a Riser cable to install it. In addition, if we do not want this sheet to be seen, we will only have to remove it with its two screws and everything will be clearer.

Final score

Personally, I liked the aesthetics of this chassis quite a bit, combining that pure white color with black elements and the very little darkened and full-size tempered glass.

The large space it provides makes installation very simple, and the truth is that the air flow of these two huge fans is noticeable. the only small drawback is that they are somewhat noisy, as they are always at their maximum speed.

Final words and conclusion about Thermaltake Commander C31 TG

Thermaltake has opted for something different in this chassis, a design based on maximizing the interior space to house high-end hardware. Its great width and depth is combined with a very aggressive front and a huge transparent glass window. In addition, we have a total of six variants in which only the front changes, keeping everything else.

And of course another differential element is the inclusion of two pieces of 200mm ARGB fans and one rear. Connected to a controller that will allow the management of your lighting in a simple way. Of course, it offers compatibility with the most famous systems. Of course, since this controller does not have PWM control, the truth is that they make some noise. The storage capacity is not bad at all with up to 5 units, although all of them are scattered around the rear area and could perhaps complicate your connection to power.

We also recommend our guide on the best chassis on the market

As you have seen the assembly has been very clean and simple, but in a chassis of this cost, a little more work is missing in the routing of cables and the beautification of certain parts in the interior already discussed. The I / O panel offers us somewhat limited connectivity, and two USB 2.0 or a Type-C would have been necessary.

To finish, comment that this Thermaltake Commander C31 TG and its 6 variants will be available at a price of 100 euros, exactly the same in all of them. Very positive this to choose the one that you like the most. What do you think about this chassis, were you looking for something like this, or is something still missing? Your opinion in this regard would be interesting.

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGES
+ DESIGN IN TWO COLORS AND GOOD FINISHES	- LITTLE CONNECTIVITY IN THE I / O PANEL
+ TWO 200 MM FANS + ONE 120 MM	- THE MICROCONTROLLER DOES NOT PROVIDE PWM CONTROL TO FANS
+ ARGB LIGHTING + CONTROLLER + COMPATIBILITY	- SOME IMPROVABLE INTERIOR EMBELLISHMENT DETAILS
+ CAPACITY FOR ALMOST ANY HARDWARE AND REFRIGERATION
+ 6 MODELS AVAILABLE AT THE SAME PRICE

The Professional Review team gives you the gold medal and recommended product

Thermaltake Commander C31 TG

DESIGN - 90%

MATERIALS - 88%

WIRING MANAGEMENT - 85%

PRICE - 88%

88%