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Okay, where to start. How about this: If you're considering a PC case, and this one works for your needs (size/style/support), BUY THIS CASE!
Wow! This case is our very first full 5 star review. This would get a bonus star, if I was one for flouting the system.
As far as pros, the major points are so much I had to overflow them into the cons column! Never have I ever done that before. And the few cons I can say about this are so very minor that they're not worth taking any points away. But I'm getting ahead of myself. We have to start where we always start, with the box. Where else would we start?
We get to the box before we can even see what's inside of it. From the outside we've got some pretty detailed line art of the case's angled view on one side, and the top down view on the other. One side also has all the relevant specs such as cooler clearance, GPU support, etc. As always, great to see. Neverminding the fact that Amazon put a big sticker over much of this information, letting potential buyers in a retail front see the specs is a great plus! Opening up the box we see a very thick and sturdy double lined cardboard. The inside has the cheaper white styrofoam, but it's thicker than we've seen in recent models, so even though it's cheaper it does provide more protection. Would maybe trust shipping an assembled system in this box if it wasn't filled with heavy compontents. A couple other notes is just... the name. TG3. It's so unassuming and uninspired. And, right under the name, the tagline for this model is "Shine With Ture Performance"... we think they meant "True Performance". So... a typo. Not the best first impression.
Taking the case out it does feel heavier than most mid tower cases. So maybe that is what warrants the extra thick styrofoam.
Starting our tour as normal with the outside of the case. First front facing impressions are pretty nice. One of the first things noticed is that the case is a bit larger than your standard "Mid Tower" PC case. It stands about 10% taller and 10% wider than your average case, at 465mm x 523mm x 239mm (or 18.3in x 20.6in x 9.4in). For comparison, the average PC case dimensions in this category are approximately 457mm x 457mm x 203mm (or 18in x 18in x 8in), so it's noticably larger.
We also see inside the case to the titanium grey basement that fills about 60% of the bottom of the case, and the 4 ARGB fans. The style may not be everyone's taste, but that's where unique color combinations and such stand out more. More on these things later. First I wanted to get a closer look at the glass panels and the frame of the case itself.
And here's where the extreme quality of this case really starts to shine!
The glass panel is a nice sturdy thickness and features completely toolless removal. Both the front and side glass panels come off easily with a bit of force and pressure. They're held to each other by a green bit of tape at the top corner, so make sure to remove this or cut it before trying to remove the panels.
After removing them, I noticed that the entire top of the case was just... suspended in the air. Only supported by the rear and back side. I took the front glass panel and laid it on top as a control, staying perfectly flat and level. The top of the case still felt very firm. We've seen fishtank cases before without a support in the front corner and rarely are they very stable and sturdy with both front and side panels removed. This one felt pretty solid.
Here we took a video and made a looping animation out of it. I press down right on the corner, very hard. Notice how my fingers turn very red from the pressure. Notice how the entire back end of the case starts to lift up off of the surface I'm working on. The corner was biting into my fingers and fighting me. I was pressing down very hard. And even with that much pressure on a point of the case with no support at all... I managed to get around a quarter inch of flex out of it. Maybe. And as soon as I relented, it sprang back into proper shape instantly and without any noticeable warping.
This case is strong. Durable. Made of thick, reliable steel. Genuinely surprised at the robustness of this case. For reference, this is about double the strength and durability we've seen on significantly more expensive cases with no corner support on their front edge, such as the NZXT H9 Flow and the Thermaltake View 380 and more. Even though those cases are more expensive, sometimes significantly so, this one is stronger.
As of now, first hands-on impressions are extremely high. Despite the box typo not giving much confidence, we're going into this blind and liking what we see!
If we continue our tour to the back of the case, we see a few good notes. First off, the PCIe and rear IO cutouts are inset. What this means from a practical experience is that building in this case is going to be easy! Inset cutouts give the user much more room to work while installing the motherboard, connecting power and fans, and much more! It may not seem like half an inch does much, but not having to squeeze your fingers against the rear of the case while screwing in a screw or attaching the CPU power makes the experience a breeze.
Also back here we can see the rear exhaust, despite coming with a 120mm ARGB fan, supports 140mm options. The PCIe slot covers are fully removable and replacable (not breakaway), and the power supply basement supports both orientations so a wider variety of power supplies will be compatible. Overall, it's the perfect representation of a PC rear end. On the back side panel, not much to report. Pretty plain, with a flat panel with a large filtered vertical ventilation area for the front side intake. Not flashy, but functional, for the side of the case rarely seen. The dust filtration in the rear is part of the metal, not a separate removable filter.
Continuing our external tour, we next look to the top. The top, again, isn't so flashy but is functional. The entire top panel is full of very long plastic channels running front to back. Underneath we can see diamond supporting braces, the mesh ventillation, and support for top-mounted fans or radiators. This entire panel is one solid plastic piece, and comes off with a firm grip and upwards pull. Underneath we find our first consideration for budget; the mesh layer is the cheap plastic kind, melted together into the plastic of the top panel. This means you'll never be able to properly remove this mesh filter to fully, thoroughly clean it. Minor, since the top should be exhaust, but worth noting.
The bottom shows a rather high quality removable mesh filter for the power supply. Again, the plastic frame is melded to the plastic mesh, but this is more standard and acceptable on the bottom of the PC where it will never be seen. The rest of the bottom is adequately space to allow airflow for the power supply.
Our last stop on the tour of the outside is the front IO.
On the left we have the power button. A larger rectangle with a triangle power LED centered within it. The triangle, I'm sure, is reminiscent of Montech's triangular logo. The button has a firm click and very little travel. The next button over is a much smaller button. Originally this button is connected to the ARGB hub (more on that soon), but can be moved to the reset header on the motherboard without issue. Next is a combo audio port. While we prefer split ports in general, this one is at least high quality and will support headphones for both stereo sound and mic support. Up next are two USB Type-A ports. Black plastic for aesthetic purposes, these are indeed wired into the USB 3.2 Gen 1 header, so they get the full 5GB/s speed. And finally, the USB Type-C, which is wired into the Gen 2 header for 10GB/s speed. Overall, it's a really good front IO. Biggest consideration is the very low button placement means it'll be good on a desk, but not a good choice for someone who prefers their PC under the desk.
Right behind the front IO is the manual, carefully taped down so it doesn't bang around during shipping and cause any damage. Let's open it up and get it out.
The manual itself is really nice, with highly detailed instructions for disassembly, assembly, and carefully lists all the support this case provides. Again, nothing flashy, but functional, in a good way. We especially like the written identifications for every major step, as many use pictograms only and that can leave some users, especially first time builders, confused if things don't match their hardware. This is a good way to do it.
Coming around to the back and we find the accessories. We really love the plastic sorted boxes like how Lian Li does it, but this is a close second. Everything within the bag was sorted and labelled, such as "PSU * 8" or "MB/SSD * 20". This helps new users know which screws go where.
In addition to all the necessary screws, we get a few replacement plastic retaining clips, cable ties, velcro straps, extra standoffs, and even a high quality microfiber glass cleaning cloth.
Overall, not the best, but much more and higher quality accessories package than we usuallly see ont eh budget market.
While we're in the back, let's look at that ARGB hub that came included and pre-installed.
This hub has 3 connections into it already. These match up with the one rear exhaust fan, the 3 front side intake fans, and the integrated ARGB strip on the basement cover, respectively. Also coming into it is the "LED SW" header from the front IO mentioned earlier. The bottom looks like the circuitry would support up to 3 more 5050 headers, but nothing is connected here. Off the left we have SATA power connector, as well as a 5050 out header to connect to the motherboard. If your motherboard supports it, we would 100% recommend using this. When the system is on, press and hold the LED/Reset button on the case for about 3 seconds. All the connected ARGB should flash, then connect to the motherboard instead of the onboard controller. This gives you much more options and lets you sync everything together, if you're using other ARGB options. This will also let you disconnect the LED SW header and attach that to the motherboard to use as a reset button instead.
Let's next take a closer look at the fans. First for the intake fans. While it looks like 3 x 120mm fans at a glance, it is really 1 x 360mm fans. These 3 fans are all part of one assembly, using one PWM cable, one ARGB cable, and only 4 screws holding it in. They're reverse bladed to keep the grate at the rear where it's not seen as much. Really, I genuinely thought this would be big sticking point. Oftentimes when PC cases, especially cases in the budget market, use novel fan solutions, the mounting support only supports that. It is cheaper to make and manufacture. It is more streamlined to implement. It's a good way to stay on budget, while removing some of the end user's versatility and longevity of the product. You do that, and 4 years later a fan is failing? Too bad, better throw the whole case away. Especially in this case where all 3 fans are "one fan".
But no! Turn it around to the rear and you'll see that the mounting solution is set up to support 3 x 120mm fans anyway! Not only does the screw mounts support it, but there's even cabling passthroughs to support those fans. It was planned ahead to take extra expense in manufacturing just to support the user many years down the line after they are using this case. You love to see it! So while it's a bit more expensive to manufacture this way, it does give the end user a better solution in the inevitable future when a fan begins to fail. Really, top notch here. You can also see how the 3-in-1 fan solution is wired up, straight down the middle, which is unusual but not bad in any way. The front side is the only place that only supports 120mm fans, as everywhere else can support 140mm just fine.
Finally, the rear exhaust fan is holding no surprises. Just a standard ARGB 120mm fan here. It can only be mounted in the "closer to the glass" orientation, so even though this case supports a 140mm exhaust it doesn't support different orientations of 120mm, like we've seen on other examples. The top, which doesn't have any fans pre-installed, supports up to 3 120mm or up to 3 140mm. For radiator support, officially it supports up to 120mm on rear, 360mm on top, and up to 240mm on front side intake. Though as we've seen in the past, you can usually squeeze a bit larger radiators in there if you are willing to risk it.
If we look a bit lower around the back, all of the front IO cables are routed through a hidden chamber into the basement, giving the minimum amount of disruption to cable management possible. All of the included cables are wired in a way to provide maximum integration with any cable management style. The basement itself also has felt runners for the power supply to not be scratched or cause scratches when installed, and plenty of ventilation around and space for PSU cables.
Building in this case was a very nice experience. Many cable routing options and tie downs everywhere makes sure cable management can be handled in a variety of ways. The extra space in the basement can accommodate extra long cables or extensions without issue. The rear-connect support for the motherboard tray is nice to have. Even if we don't typically build with or recommend these boards, more versatility is almost never a bad thing. Biggest negative we found back here was drive support. In such a large case we would like to see more support for SATA drives. Unfortunately this case only officially supports up to 2, one SSD in slot one and one HDD or SSD in slot 2. That's it. Though we would like to see it put to more use in general, we recognize that complaining too heavily about this is like complaining about no disc drive support in 2010. Most people don't use it or want it, and would prefer resources spent elsewhere.
The final word is, as always, the cost. This PC's cost is a little nebulous. When we ordered it, day one it was available for sale on Amazon, it was listed at $60. At $60, this is an insane value. Get it, don't even think twice! At the time of writing this review, the list price is $75. Even at $75, it still deserves a 5 star review. Genuinely, we'd say this is a 5 star case at under $80. Drop it to 4.5 star at $90 and maybe 4 stars at $100. It does have a great number of features we love, very strong and durable, and well thought out. But there are notable areas where they did, noticeably, go budget. That's not bad, it's a budget case. But keep that in mind. We would still recommend buying this case at $100, though maybe with less enthusiasm. But at either the outrageous $60 price we paid or the more reasonable $75 price we see now, it's definitely worth getting either way.
There are no major issues with this case. It supports few drives despite having lots of space. That's really about it. Design is subjective, and if you don't like it, you don't like it. But the biggest things are understandable considerations for budget, such as cheaper dust filtering or only a good, not great, accessories package. It's still a very good value. Extremely easy to build in, good cable management, very versatile support, and fantastic design and thought went into it.
If you're interested in buying one for yourself or learning more from the official listing, you can read all about the more technical specs or order your own on Amazon here.
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