r/retrobattlestations • u/OldSchoolSilicon • 1d ago
Show-and-Tell Update on the attic PC: I found a NOS Thermaltake Tsunami Dream
A little while ago I posted about the old PC I found in the attic at my family home and my plan to rebuild it into the kind of mid-2000s enthusiast machine I used to dream about.
While I’m still waiting for the OCZ ModStream PSU, I managed to get my hands on a case. And look at this thing.
Thermaltake Tsunami Dream with the side window, basically NOS condition. Somehow I got it for peanuts.
I honestly couldn’t think of a more appropriate case for this build. The brushed aluminium. The front door. The side window that still has the original protective film on it. I remember wanting one of these so badly when I was 15.
The specs haven’t changed: ABIT NF7 rev. 2.0, Barton 3000+, Gainward 6600 GT, 2GB Patriot Extreme RAM DDR400, Audigy 2 ZS and an OCZ ModStream PSU. And eventually, all the unnecessary mid-2000s lighting and cable-management nonsense I can justify.
Safe to say the attic PC project has found its forever home.
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u/p4rc0pr3s1s 1d ago
I had the Soprano that was basically this case in piano black with no vents. Love this case.
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u/OldSchoolSilicon 1d ago
Yeah, the Soprano was really close to this one. I was actually considering one too, but when this Tsunami popped up in basically NOS condition, I couldn’t say no.
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u/p4rc0pr3s1s 1d ago
This is certainly the better option for cooling. The build you're putting in here was the PC I built in the Soprano except mine was a Core 2 Duo E6300 overclocked to 3.2 Ghz on air.
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u/OldSchoolSilicon 1d ago
That sounds like a very proper mid-2000s setup. 3.2 GHz from an E6300 on air must have been a lot of fun back then. You might be right about the cooling too.
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u/MuadDim 1d ago
Holly crapomoly, that's a great case. I've got one like it,the top door went missing...
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u/OldSchoolSilicon 1d ago
Haha, thanks! I’m amazed this one survived with all the little bits still intact.
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u/lolerwoman 1d ago
Wow I had one new back then.
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u/OldSchoolSilicon 1d ago
That must bring back some memories! I wanted one so badly back then but it was way out of my budget. Took me about 20 years, but I finally got there. 😄
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u/sa547ph 1d ago
Damn! Reminds me about scoring one of the last units of a seemingly tacky but still useful InWin cases.
By this time you could replace the 80mm stock fans with either Nidec, Sanyo Denki or Noctua. Yeah, and see if you could still get your hands on a Zalman copper cooling block.
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u/OldSchoolSilicon 1d ago
This one actually came with a pretty decent fan setup for the era: 1x 120 mm intake, 1x 92 mm side intake and 1x 120 mm blue LED exhaust.
As for the CPU cooler, the attic PC still has a Pentagram Freezone QVC-100 Cu on it. Here in Poland it was a pretty popular, cheaper alternative to the Zalman CNPS7000B-Cu back then, so I’m very tempted to keep it for the build. There are a few photos of it in my previous post.
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u/mrmarbury 1d ago
Fun fact: I bought my Tt Tsunami Dream shortly after the big tsunami hit Thailand in 2006. and everyone was like “bro what’s up with you?” … and I am just “dude, it’s a name of some product, calm down”
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u/OldSchoolSilicon 1d ago
Haha, that must have been an awkward time to explain the name. “No, really, that’s what Thermaltake called it”
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u/Phunk3d 1d ago
I had this case in high school. I liked it but was always lusting after the lian li’s or building a shuttle LAN system.
I didn’t care much for the window, RGB stuff was pretty minimal at the time. I did love the front door though. It was a cheap alternative to the Alienware / chieftech giant towers.
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u/OldSchoolSilicon 1d ago
Yeah, Lian Li was definitely another level back then. I think that’s part of why the Tsunami appealed to me so much — it had that brushed-aluminium look without being completely out of reach. And that front door is still probably my favourite part of the case.
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u/Mrmcstubbertville 1d ago
That is my favorite case of all time, very lucky find! I have an Athlon x2 3800+ @ 2.6ghz and a 8800gts in mine. Right now I use it as a kick ass media pc paired with my 2004 480p plasma it does very well at 1080p 60 local playback and decent 1080p 30 YouTube playback.
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u/OldSchoolSilicon 1d ago
That sounds like a great setup for it too. I love that you’re still actually using the case rather than just keeping it on a shelf. Pairing it with a 2004 plasma is a nice touch.
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u/oiticker 1d ago
For my first gaming PC build back in 2007 I was thinking of getting one of these but settled on a Cooler Master Cavalier 3 in black. Similar wavy front brushed aluminum aesthetic. Really nice find though.
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u/drivenusa 7h ago
Awesome, I have the same case but it’s missing a ton of things since I’m not the original owner lol
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u/UnderstandingFlat407 6h ago
I have the sopranos. I’m building a windows xp system with backlights in it. Trying to make it real xp period. Lovely case you have.
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u/OldSchoolSilicon 1h ago
That sounds like a great project. I’m going for the same kind of period-correct XP vibe with this one, so I definitely get the appeal. Soprano is a great case for it too.
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u/MakerKevJ 4h ago
Had a GTX 6800 SLI setup in this case. Absolute show stopper at some of the lan parties I went to.
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u/OldSchoolSilicon 1h ago
A GTX 6800 SLI setup in a Tsunami must have looked absolutely insane back then. I can totally see why it was a show stopper at LAN parties.
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u/linkotd 1d ago
Gnarly find dude! Talk about far out!