Thermaltake Versa N21 Case Review

Outside the Thermaltake N21 Mid-tower Case

The front of this case is classic and very respectable considering the 60 USD price tag. The color matching is great and the added translucent panels give the case the curb appeal that normally cost more to achieve. The front window is darkly smoked and the ventilation on the bottom are just for looks but overall this case is really a nice looking case in this Reviewer opinion.

The front facing view is striking with the plastic chrome line down the center of the case. The light and dark contrasts with the shapes of the rounded bottom to the straight lines on the side gives it a very artistic appeal that you rarely find in the simple square box type build. The downside of this is that not everyone will like the designs with artistically rounded lines but I think cases with imagination are great and I really fell for this design when I was considering my next build.

Doors are sometimes hated in the case community but since not many people use CD Drives or Floppies the doors on this Thermaltake Versa N21 could be permanently kept closed. Inside there is a knockout placement for a 5 1/4 drive or controller and a 3 1/2 in drive or controller placement if you so desire but with the motherboards of today having PWM fans and USB 3.0 the need for these bays are slowly fading and this case is well aware of this by only providing 1 of each to use if any.

The bottom of the front panel shows the darkly smoked cover on the front. This allows any internal light to accent the build but the inside

The bottom of the case is plain and simple with a smaller than usual filtered airway that allows the Power supply input of air if you choose to mount the power supply fan down. For this build since it is an air cooled unit I will be building with the power supply fan facing up to keep dust down and to exhaust heat generated by the large video card that I will be using.

The back panel has a protruding feature that gives extra clearance to the wiring is that is sure to populate the side behind the motherboard. This is unavoidable but not all case companies will do this for the budget design cases but for the Versa N21 it is not only generous but well planned out and has a great look as well. The vents at the top of the case can be inlets, outlets or just heat escapes for the build. While they look small the amount of air that can pass through those vents are plenty for the airflow of a dual 120 fan setup and also keeps the dust accumulation to a minimum.

Something else that you rarely see in the budget style cases is the rubber blanks that cover the unused USB or Audio in/out jacks. The panel is well designed and marked but in the white on white theme of the case the letters can barely be seen but by seeing it at an angle in the light of day. In this picture, you really have to work to see them but they are there. Overall the case controls look great and have a design that matches the theme of the case perfectly.

The full view of the top shows that the artistically themed front carries over to the top of the case with a smoked window at the top as well. The downside of this window is the inner structure of the window adds an unsightly mesh effect that takes away from the overall finished build but I will be DREMELING those out to allow full view of the inner workings of the case from both the front and the top smoked windows. The chrome accent stops at the windows on both the front and the top but that will be taken care of during my mod with this case.

Another shot of the top window at an artistic angle shows the inner mesh that I was speaking of and the side ventilation that allows air in or out depending on the whims of the builder. These windows added to the appeal of this case to me and I really like the way that the extra windows add class to the overall theme of the case.

This window follows the theme for the Versa N21 by having a boxy triangular effect. This window is smoked too but not as dark as the front or the top of the case. The feet at the bottom also match the look of the build and are held in by four compression couplings per foot. The black accent at the top also adds a classic appeal to the overall look of the case.

Finally, the side window protrudes slightly from the side panel. mostly to give more room to a full 160 mm air cooling solution that I will be using in the future build. For now, I will be using the OEM Cooler that came with my processor since I am not overclocking and the newer Skylake processors don’t use as much wattage as the older processors used so, cooling should be a breeze with air in this case with enough ventilation.