Thermaltake Core V21 SPCC Micro ATX Cube
-- TL;DR summary --
1) Purchase your own additional stand-offs for the motherboard. You will likely break the motherboard with the provided stand-offs. Really poorly designed case in this regard.
2) Strongly recommend NOT buying HDD's for this case. It has three trays. Buy SATA SSD's if you want to put drives into these under-sized and cramped trays.
3) No considerations made for easier cable management.
-- Full Review --
This case is barely adequate for what I need. I am using it as a micro server.
With the issue described below solved, it would be a 4 or 5 star case. Until then, I'd recommend getting a different case.
The critical mistake is the lack of properly-placed stand-offs. The standoffs are metallic wings that rise off of the metal case where the motherboard should be placed. There are not nearly enough standoffs, and they are so poorly placed that I get the feeling whoever designed this case has never constructed a PC before.
The result of poorly placed standoffs is a severe lack of structural integrity and support for the motherboard on one side. The motherboard bows and bends because of this lack of support. I've included an image from the manual that approximately shows the issue (red squares highlighting areas missing proper support). However, this image from the manual does not do it justice in understanding just how bad this lack of support is. It is lacking standoffs for two corners of the motherboard, with bizarrely placed support around this entire side of the case.
Since the motherboard was clearly warping here even without the graphics card inserted, I knew I needed some additional support for it. I screwed wrist-tight, so I knew I had not over-screwed. I quadruple checked online and in my case manual for an explanation on how to add additional support in these areas, but there just was no official option. I ended up using rubber ear bud covers (shown in the attached pictures) and placed them under the motherboard's stand-off holes in the locations where the case should have provided additional stand-offs.
This ended up being effective, and since it is rubber, there is zero worry about shorting. Also, these were located away from hot components so I am not worried about melting. Still, had I not had a small baggy of replacement ear bud pads, I would have simply returned this case because it would likely damage the motherboard. I was 100% unable to plug the CMOS and USB front panel connectors into the board until I had place several ear buds under that section of the board. Attempting to plug the USB cord, specifically, into the motherboard would have fractured the motherboard in this corner. This corner in particular has zero support, with the nearest stand-offs located halfway to the next corners of the motherboard. I also had to add additional things under the motherboard to support it while pushing these cords into the board. I removed those things afterwards.
Being a cheap case should not mean that the case is designed in a way that could easily destroy the components being put in it. Thermaltake merely needs to add two additional standoffs on the side of this case, for what would cost them 2 cents extra, and this problem is solved (making it an easy 4 out of 5 stars rather than 1 star).
There are additional, less problematic, mistakes in this case that are worth considering.
For one, the hard drive bays (3 of them) are not the standard size. They are sized to fit the smallest possible hard drives on the market. HDD's follow a standard of course, but some seem to require a little more clearance based on how they are designed. Older HDD's tend to be the slightest bit smaller and a bit thinner. I tried a 10 year old HDD and it fit just fine. But these trays are only going to fit the cheapest, smallest possible HDD's. The tray struggled to contain a new 4 TB HDD I stuck into it. It was bent outwards and did not simply slide back into the tray. I was forced to remove the tray above it, and jam it into the tray to make it work. I tried the same HDD in my full tower PC case, and it was neither a snug fit, nor a difficult install. So it's a problem with the case design.
This essentially limits me to a maximum of 2 instead of the intended 3 hard drives. Additionally, if I put another hard drive like this into the remaining slot, it will not simply fit without using large zip ties threaded through the holes in the metal tray to suspend it above the existing HDD. Essentially, it will not be in a tray at that point, but will be jury-rigged into my system. I think there is no practical way to go with a second HDD, and I instead will need to go with SATA SSDs. In fact, I strongly recommend you not buy HDD's at all for this case.
There is essentially zero consideration for cable management. There is a single, large area to direct cables down to the area of the case where the PSU is installed. There are no grommets for passing cables down from the side of the motherboard where the IO shield is. This necessitates passing the cables from the one side of the motherboard directly over top of the motherboard. It's not a huge deal, and this build is not designed with hot components, so the potential impact on airflow from substandard cable management is not a big deal. Still, the aesthetic results from my attempts at cable management are pretty underwhelming. Makes me glad I have the viewing panel side facing the wall.
That's a lot of big and small complaints. Now on to what I like!
-- What I like --
The magnetic mesh air filters on the sides, top, and bottom will be the easiest to remove, clean, and replace for any computer case that you ever buy. However, these filters are not super high quality. I accidentally bent a small corner, and the bend is permanent, even if you bend it back. The resulting crease is obvious and permanent. Be very careful with them.
Four of the sides of the cube are removable. This is both absolutely necessary and greatly appreciated. When I say absolutely necessary, I mean that the bottom panel of the case is required to be slid off to install the PSU and plug cords that you thread down to it. Without this sliding panel at the bottom, the case would be unusable. Having the left, right, and top of the case easily removable is just a nice bonus for easily installing all of your components.
That's it. That's all I like about this case. If I fully grasped all of these problems before my purchase, I absolutely would not have purchased this case, and would have bought something else, even if it was far more expensive. Because I was able to find a solid solution for the mobo standoff issues with little trouble, I decided to keep the case and run with it. Had I not had this workaround, there is essentially zero chance that I would have used this case. It would have gone right on back for a refund.
| 品牌 | Thermaltake 曜越 |
|---|---|
| 制造商 | Thermaltake USA Direct |
| 型号 | THERMALTAKE INC. |
| 商品尺寸 | 25.91 x 31.5 x 27.69 cm; 3.22 公斤 |
| 电池 | 1 未知型号 需要电池。 |
| 制造商是否已停产 | 不是 |
| 颜色 | 黑色 |
| 形状大小 | PCIe/104 |
| 屏幕尺寸 | 7.87 英寸 |
| CPU主频 | 1000 GHz |
| 瓦数 | 3600 瓦特 |
| 是否包含电池 | 不是 |
| 电池锂含量 | 3.8 克 |
| 商品重量 | 3.22 kilograms |
