Overall and Final Verdict
Overall, going into checking out the Thermaltake Core P3 TG Pro I did have a good idea of what to expect because I have had a lot of experience with the older and smaller Core P1. The Core P3 TG Pro is a full ATX-sized model and the new Pro edition has made a few significant changes that address some of the issues I had with the original generation and also updates the front I/O to modern standards, aka adding in a Type-C connection. One of the big changes for the Core P3 TG Pro is the new foot design which is an issue I had with the old design. The new setup functionally is more stable and looks better. It still feels a little out of place to me, so while it is a big improvement there is still room for it to be better. The Core P3 TG Pro has a lot more customization as well. Flexibility and support for water cooling has always been a big feature of the Core P cases, but the Core P3 TG Pro comes with proper pump/reservoir mounting and has room for two 3 fan radiators which is more than enough cooling to handle both a CPU and video card. The new front fan panel changes the styling of the Core P3 TG Pro a lot as well once you get a few good looking RGB fans installed like the Swafans that Thermaltake sent over. But even beyond that when building in the Core P3 TG Pro you have to decide if you want your video card horizontal or vertical, same with the power supply, and you can move the front fans up to the top if you prefer as well. The only thing missing is detaching the front I/O and letting you orientate the case in any direction you want. The vertical GPU mount is a great option to see and with the open design I think it is going to look the best, but the Core P3 TG Pro doesn’t come with the PCIe riser cable so you will have to plan on picking that up ahead of time if that is your plan with the case. The same goes for the fans, it doesn’t come with any fans at all so you will have to plan on getting fans for your setup. I don’t consider that one to be a downside though, this is the type of case where I am going to want all of my fans to match, if it came with a few basic fans they would just get tossed to the side.
Having the front/top fan panel helps a lot with airflow, which might sound weird for an open-air case. But that combined with the open-air design is enough to keep things running cool. I was also really happy with how much space you have in the “interior” which is just the space behind the motherboard to the back panel. If anything there was more room than needed. You have room for multiple SSDs back there as well as the wall mount bracket and even with those in the way wiring wasn’t an issue at all.
The Core P3 TG Pro does have a few downsides, some of them will be obvious but a few might be a surprise. The biggest one to me is that the case comes flat-packed. This is great for saving room when shipping or storing, but NOTHING comes put together. You have a whole build getting the case together before you build IN the case. Even the point where things like the grommets that protect the tempered glass don’t come installed in the glass. Putting everything together with the screws being unlabeled was frustrating as well, some are easy to find but there were a few that I had no idea what I needed and felt like I was guessing. A few being individually bagged and labeled would go a very long way in making putting the case together and building in it easier. Altogether, it is a heavy case and if you build a custom water cooling loop it will be even heavier. Then of course all of the normal open-air case issues are still there. The tempered glass side panel helps a lot in protecting things. But dust is still going to be an issue to a point, but it is also easy to deal with because it is open air as well. The big one for me comes up if you have kids or sometimes cats that like to get into things. Especially with the new front panel fans being completely exposed. System noise as a whole is always a little louder in an open system as well.
Overall, I am still a big fan of the Core P lineup, and the new changes for the Core P3 TG Pro are welcomed. Some of the downsides to the case design will just always be a thing, fixing some of the issues would mean taking away the cool exposed design. But there is still room for improvement. Overall this isn’t the type of case you are getting unless you want something unique but also aren’t looking to break the bank. At $159.99 the Core P3 TG Pro isn’t cheap but it is in line with a lot of the other ATX cases but the design is a complete departure and unique compared to the standard O11 knockoff and offers complete customization. You can even hang it on the wall.
Live Pricing: HERE
