INTRODUCTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   Many people i know who either enjoy modding or just like to own something unique looking all agree that never before has the market been so vast and with so many available PC Cases for them to choose from. Of course as always in the years to come things should get even more interesting but i do agree with them since today you can find PC cases of all shapes and sizes with unique looking designs, plenty of features and pretty much in every price segment. Now it's no secret that not all PC case manufacturers out there have the ability to cover every single consumer in the market but Thermaltake is amongst the very few that thanks to their size and years of experience can and today with us we have one of their latest and most interesting mATX/mITX models the Core V21.

   The beginning of every myth and legend is about dreams and desire: the challenging, creative and combative features of Thermaltake Group create an exciting and fascinating user experience to share with everyone, while allowing users to enter a selfless state in terms of function and potential. Thermaltake Group's 3 main brands: Thermaltake, Tt eSPORTS and LUXA2 have been merchandising throughout the world, and have successfully established 6 business footholds in areas such as Europe, America, Oceania, Japan and China, with 95 regional distributors and over 4000 premium retailers. All product planning is orientated by observation of global PC peripheral market and understanding of consumer demands. Thermaltake creates direct contact opportunities with resellers and consumers by participating major global ICT exhibitions and trade shows every year, and develop innovative marketing strategies for the promotions of new products. Meanwhile, Thermaltake incorporates the composite marketing system by making branch offices and regional distributors both the distribution channel and technical support or service center to provide instant support; by maintaining close contact with end users, we manage to strengthen corporate competitiveness and create the momentum for the growth of accomplishments. With its outstanding wisdom and strength Thermaltake Group is recruiting creative talents to build a cultural brand for the enjoyment of entertainment, e-Sports, technology and lifestyle!

   How many of you remember the Core V1 mITX PC case we reviewed a while back? Well the Core V21 is an improved version not only because it has enough room for mATX/mITX mainboards and features a stackable design but also because it allows the end user to easily rearrange pretty much everything including the mainboard tray orientation (horizontally or vertically), side/top/bottom panels, drive trays/racks and the radiator/fan mounts. The Core V21 is also quite spacious since you can fit CPU coolers up to 185mm in height, graphics cards up to 350mm in length, power supply units up to 200mm long and a grant total of up to 11 fans (or 5 radiators) inside. Well we certainly do like what the Core V21 has to offer on paper but is it really as impressive as it sounds?

 

 

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We received the Core V21 inside a plain cardboard box that has a product drawing at the front, some of the main product features and the company logo.

 

 

The specifications of the Core V21 are printed on the left side of the box.

 

 

On the right side there's a quick product description printed in 12 languages.

 

 

A drawing of the Core V21 dismantled is placed at the rear.

 

 

Typically the case is placed inside a plastic bag and between two foam spacers.

 

 

The bundle is basic and includes two PSU mounts used if you decide to rearrange the mainboard tray, 7 cable ties, three small plastic bags with screws and standoffs and the user's manual.

 

 

THE CORE V21 EXTERIOR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The all-black Core V21 mATX/mITX PC Case weighs just 6.5kg and is 424mm long, 320mm wide and 336mm tall.

 

 

Most of the left side panel is taken by a clear acrylic window.

 

 

The I/O is placed on the left side as well (can also be rearranged) and includes the power on/off button, reset button, power and HDD activity LEDs and the usual microphone and headphone ports.

 

 

Just like with the V1 the curved fascia of the V21 is actually a mesh panel that allows for quite a bit of air to enter.

 

 

The Thermaltake badge is attached via a magnet and so it can be rotated as well.

 

 

As you can all see the right side panel is perforated and features a nice removable magnetic dust-filter.

 

 

The same applies for the top panel.

 

 

Turning the case around we see the rear fan spot, 5 PCI expansion slots, rubber grommet and the PSU area.

 

 

At the rear you can mount either a 120/140mm fan or a 120/140mm radiator.

 

 

The base panel has a removable dust filter and a long mesh cutout.

 

 

THE CORE V21 INTERIOR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Removing the left side panel is enough to work on the interior but things can get even easier since you can also remove the top panel (and the remaining two of course).

 

 

The first thing you'll notice once you remove the top panel are these 4 aluminum rails which can be used to mount two 280mm radiators, four 140mm fans or six 120mm fans.

 

 

Three removable 2.5" drive trays can be seen once you remove the right side panel.

 

 

In terms of quality these are nothing special but they are quite sturdy.

 

 

A rather massive 200mm fan is placed at the front and as expected you can replace it either by a 240/280mm radiator or two 120/140mm fans.

 

 

The interior of the fascia has a numbering system which is probably used to indicate the factory rollout date of the Core V21.

 

 

If you decide to change the orientation of the mainboard tray you can also move the I/O.

 

 

Three extra drive trays are placed right beneath the mainboard tray and can accommodate both 2.5" and 3.5" drives.

 

 

These are not as sturdy as the vertical removable ones but since they go into a removable drive cage they don't have to be.

 

 

The mainboard tray is actually quite larger than it needs to be and the long cutout on the right should help quite a bit with cable management.

 

 

All 5 PCI expansion slots are secured in place via normal screws and feature a nice plastic dust cap.

 

 

BUILDING THE SYSTEM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As always the purpose of this section is not to build a functional system but rather to showcase what you can expect from the case at hand in terms of interior space.

Unfortunately we had no mATX mainboards available at the time of this review but you can easily see how the Core V21 dwarfs the ASRock mainboard we use for such tests.

 

 

185mm clearance between the mainboard and the aluminum rails is plenty as you can see from the above picture.

 

 

We also used a 240mm radiator to see how it looks when attached to the top rails and it's quite amazing that you can use two of those or even two larger 280mm ones.

 

 

Even with the radiators installed there's plenty of room between them and your cards.

 

 

I'm not of a cable management guy myself but there's a lot of unused space beneath the mainboard tray.

 

 

You will need to remove the bottom panel to install the PSU but other than that we came across no issues with it.

 

 

NOISE LEVEL TEST

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After giving it much thought we decided on performing noise tests with each PC Case we receive by placing our ExTech HD600 vertically ontop of each case to measure the noise levels emanating from the pre-installed fans at both 50% and 100% with the help of a fan controller (if the case doesn't have one we use our own).

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   The Core V1 was a nice mITX case but the V21 is so much more in pretty much every single area aside the good build quality which is something both cases share. So the V21 has two very important characteristics, the ability to rearrange most of its interior and exterior and the overwhelming cooling potential. The first one may not be something many users will choose to use since the horizontal positioning of the mainboard is already ideal for the size of the V21 but the 2^nd one is certain to appeal not only to gamers and enthusiasts but even professionals since the ability to use up to 5 radiators and/or 11 fans is something we don’t see even in towers 3-4 times the size. And then there’s the stackable design, almost tool-less design, the 6 drive trays, 5 PCI expansion slots which can be used with cards up to 350mm in length, room for up to 185mm tall CPU coolers and space for up to 200mm long PSUs. Can you ask for anything more from a mATX/mITX PC Case?

   At just USD67.26 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and 68Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk) the Core V21 mATX/mITX PC Case by Thermaltake is amongst the lowest-cost models in the market. Normally of course that alone would mean very little but since we’ve already seen what one can do with the V21 it almost feels that Thermaltake placed the wrong price tag on it. Still it is what it is and since we feel that the Core V21 is the best mATX/mITX case in the market at least in terms of cooling efficiency and functionality it gets our Platinum Award.

PROS

- Size
- Mainboard/Panels Orientation
- Room For Up To 5 Radiators and/or 11 Fans
- 200mm Preinstalled Fan
- Almost Completely Tool-Less Design
- Space For 185mm Tall CPU Coolers, 350mm Long Graphics Cards and 200mm Long PSUs
- 6 Drive Trays
- Removable Dust-Filters
- 5 PCI Expansion Slots
- Stackable Design
- Price (For Some)

 

CONS

- Build Quality Could Be Better
- No Noise-Absorbing Materials (Could pose a problem with 11 fans inside)