Introduction

My plunge into Danger Den came some years ago when I was looking to tame the heat of my Opteron 170; this was back when reaching 3GHz was a feat, especially with air cooling. With the DFI I had pushing the chip, I knew I had more to give, but the cooler I had at the time just wouldn't allow for it. Searching the forums, I ran across a used water cooling kit which included a TDX CPU water block. With a bit of time and effort and some really subpar pieces of equipment, I was still greeted with much better temperatures and the ability to run benches at a new high speed of just over 3.2GHz. While the jump wasn't huge, at the time it was a measureable difference in 24/7 applications and overall system snappiness.

Since the days of old have long gone, things change, as did Danger Den's lineup of things available to cool or house your components. Originally, Danger Den had a few chassis' in their listings, like the Tower 16, 21 and 26, along with Torture Racks and Air Box cases. These are all acrylic builds that offer both the ability to show off your components as well as a sense of accomplishment in the build process. The Black-Series of chassis' is an evolution on some of the previously mentioned "Tower" cases.

I received the "Bruiser" variation of this case. The standard version is the "BiPolar" which is all clear and black acrylic pieces. For an additional fee, there are seven other versions to choose from. With a name like Bruiser, the black and blue theme is most fitting. I say we get down to business and throw the Bruiser into the ring and see where this Black-Series Tower 21 contends against our previous samples.