Rosewill Thor V2 XL-ATX Full Tower Case Review

Final Thoughts & Conclusions

Rosewill has produced a second revision of their Thor XL-ATX Full Tower case for gamers, and like the first one; it hasn’t failed to impress me once again. The Thor v2 comes at $129.99 with Free Shipping at the time of writing, which definitely makes it one heck of a good value.

At the same time, I have to wonder why a v2 was made; as this case isn’t much of a version 2. The changes that were made feel minor to me and it almost doesn’t seem to be enough to warrant a version 2.

Still, while this is a good case, a few things are holding it back from being “Editors Choice” material, as the Thor v2 still uses Pass-through cables on the USB 3.0 connections instead of an internal header or an adapter, which makes it incredibly annoying to use. Like wise, they don’t include a USB 3.0 Cable to USB 2.0 internal header adapter; which would have been great for older system. Considering it retains backwards compatibility with AC’97 Audio, I don’t see why they couldn’t do this change.

On the bright side, all of the good points of the Thor are back in full force with this v2 design as well. Like wise, they did improve the quality check, as the fan controller functioned this time. Even though it only lowers the fans down to 7v; they’re already incredibly quiet at stock so there’s no real need to adjust them or to turn them down as low as 5v.

On another positive note; Rosewill did clean up the paint-job as this Thor has fewer bright spots in the coating on it, compared to my original Thor. I didn’t find this to be an issue before hand, but it was noticeable with the two cases sitting next to each other. So again, that’s an area where quality check was improved.

Still, at the end of the day, I’m left with the question as to “why” this product was actually made? I think, if Rosewill wants to really do true version 2 on this case they’ll have to do a number of re-designs that could almost make it a Thor 2.0 or something. Still, this is, in no way, a bad case.

Rosewill actually answered our email about changes to the case and had this to say:

1. A Redesigned Front Panel: In response to increasing needs for SuperSpeed USB 3.0, an extra USB 3.0 port was added in Thor V2 to assist users.
2. PCI Slot Thumb Screws: The
   PCI Slot tool less kit was great in Thor, however, it was not
   compatible with a few expansion cards. Rosewill now includes thumbscrews
   to hold down the cards.
3. Enhanced Frame Strength: The Motherboard tray and rear panel were made stronger to make the case more sturdy and solid.
4. Shipping Improvements: Improved mechanism to prevent plastic panels from being damaged during transportation.

As for the changes to the Motherboard plate and rear panel; I never felt like the original Thor was flimsy or wobbly before. So you can take that as you will. Increasing structural integrity at this point is definitely a solid addition in my eyes, as the case itself uses these points as major support sections for the cases weight.

All in all, this is a solid case with some good features; unfortunately in the past few months a few cases have come out to raise the bar and Rosewill didn’t do such a great job of revising this case to be modern. I think if they implemented some better fan filters to make them easier to remove, included an internal USB 3.0 header, & ditched the top panel fin design; we’d have an easy “Editors Choice” award style case. Still, with the excellent value this case has to offer, as well as just the down right roomy interior to work in and well designed features; I’m going to give this case the Legit Reviews – Value Award.

Legit Bottom Line: Rosewill Thor’s v2 present an excellent value and plenty of features designed for the target audience, but almost feels like it could use yet another revision to be at the cutting edge of modern case design.