NZXT Source 210 S210-001 Black “Aluminum Brush / Plastic” ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Pros: Price, solid build, plenty of fan options, simple, and stays fairly dust free because of the closed front panel. It's minimal looks and design.

Cons: Not very wide or tall. Don't consider doing sli or xfire, not enough space. But thats a no-brainer for mid-tower.

With a CM Hyper 212 evo i cant do a 4dimm module setup, even with the corsair low profile sticks. Maybe if you install your ram first then a heatsink.

No front panel usb 3.0 ports(not a big deal, it has 2x 2.0 ports.

The front panel headers/wires are soldered so you cant completely remove the front panel.

Other Thoughts: Get this case if your on a budget, with a single gpu setup and just need a basic rig for either gaming or normal use. The only downside is the front panel really.

Pros: Spacious, sleek design, ATX/microATX case. 6 card slots. Lots of fan space!

Cons: Not tool-free, Drive bays are a little bit tedious. Only USB 2.0 on frontplate but I'm really just splitting hairs here.

Other Thoughts: Great price for the amount of space! Perfectly fine for massive graphics card and 2-way SLI/Crossfire. A solid case for a average PC builder.

Pros: I wanted a decent case at a low price .... I got that and more. I didn't think the black interior was important ..... but I like it.

Cons: When I added and changed fans, I had to completely disasemble the computer. The top and rear fans required that the motherboard be removed. Installing two front fans with silicon rubber fasteners was a bear but doable with patience. I installed 4 Gelid fans and things are cool and quiet with a NZXT fan controller.

Other Thoughts: With a bottom mounted power supply, I don't see much use for the bottom fan opening except as a vent, even with a modular PSU. I put in 4 Gelid fans that cost more than the case .... it was worth it. I had them on hand ... the rubber fasteners make a lot of difference. With an AMD 965 125w CPU, the temps are OK .... low thirties at idle .... low 50s at max .... surprisingly having the case fans at max speed only drops the temp at max a few degress.

Pros: Case is cheap. At $20 it has a good enough set of features to be competitive, and it's a step up from the gamma with more space behind the motherboard panel, a bottom fan mount, 2 front fan mounts.

Cons: I've been a faithful NZXT owner for a long, long time. I build computers for a living, I build custom computers all the time, I never have a computer for more than 3 months as I'm always selling, rebuilding. I enjoy it. And every time, I use an NZXT case, not because I'm a fanboy, but because it's better than the competition. The HAF, the Antec, the 300R and 200R, Zalman, NZXT always had a better choice at the budget offering. I've used all the competition for clients builds, but I always used NZXT for my own personal builds. I'm not someone who says a case is great because it's what I bought, I say it's great because I've actually used all the other options

However the Source 210 is a serious let-down at $35+. It'd be awesome at $20, but not anything more. Competitive cases like the 200R have more room behind the motherboard panel. The HDD and CD bays are not removable, there is no behind-the-mobo SSD mount, and there is a lack of cable tie points behind the motherboard. The build quality is lacking compared to Zalman and Corsair cases at $35+.

You cannot put a 240/280mm radiator at the top slot as it will interfere with the motherboard, ram, VRM sinks, unless you put it on fanless. You can put it in the front if you rip out the HDD/CD bays, if you're up for that. This is similar to most mid-atx builds.

The USB ports at the front are of poor build quality.

The fans are low speed and move very little CFM relative to their dBa. This is something true of the stock case fans of any case below $150 though, at least this case is only 1 fan, whereas other cases will put 2 bad fans on their case and then charge you $10 extra for each fan (cough source 220 cough).

Again, at ~$15-25, it's a good, solid case. But when NZXT doesn't honor their rebate, or if it's priced at $35+, the case is just not worth it compared to the competition like the Corsair 200R or 300R, especially with their reduced prices at $40-50, and much higher build quality and feature sets.

Other Thoughts: I will no longer be buying NZXT. They don't ever honor their rebates, it's been over 6 months. They only responded after a month and 5 emails, and I kept quiet for another 2 months after they told me there was a backlog, but this is getting ridiculous, and I think I've been very patient and understanding. I know NZXT is a small company that offers low prices, but this is ridiculous.

On top of this, NZXT always ignores my messages to their support. Unlike Corsair, Antec, or basically any other company, they will not send you stickers if you ask, they will not respond to questions about their products, they will not respond to thank-you emails.

AVOID NZXT. They might make decent budget cases, but they never honor rebates, and their total lack of customer support or contact is atrocious. Support a company like Corsair or Antec instead, who will jump head over heels to service you and respond to you in a timely manner. It's not worth saving a couple bucks. Especially if you know you will not get those couple bucks. With recent price drops in the Corsair cases as well as a few other budget cases, there's no reason to pick NZXT anymore anyways.

Like I said, at $15-25 this is a good case. At $35+, there's far better choices.

Manufacturer Response:

Hello there!

Sorry to hear about you not receiving your rebate, however we definantly would like to help you with that, If you like to give us a direct call at 1-800-228-9395.

We are looking forward to hearing from you!

Best Regards,
NZXT Support

Pros: Lots of drive bays, comes with plenty of hardware (screws, standoffs, etc), overall decent case.

Cons: If you're building a rig with a lot of cards and fans it can get crowded rather quickly.

Other Thoughts: For the money it's a great bargain, I just wish it were a bit more roomy.

Pros: -1 x Standard Audio/Mic, 2 x USB 2.0 in the front
-cheap
-can add up to 7 fans into it

Cons: -the slots for any external cards on the PCIe can be a tight fit

Pros: Fantastic, large case. Looks really nice, modern, and subtle (I'm not one for large, glowing, red monoliths). Easily fits my large motherboard.

Cons: Weird part placement inside, so it's a bit hard to manage the cables because of this.

Other Thoughts: Really great case, especially if you like the simple design!

Pros: Payed $35 shipped. Great quality at that price. Comes with one fan. Cable routing is great. Comes with plenty screws. Only one set of fan screws. Extra fans will need screws. Each card slot has own cover and screw. Power button/hard drive led is white (no red, green or blue). Buttons have a 'cell phone power on' feel. Minimal looks (main reason I bought it, not just price). Doesn't look like a cheap transformer/fast and furious knock off. Plastic made to look like brushed aluminium. Has a place to install 2.5" drive without adapter, on bottom of case.

Cons: No real cons at this price.

Other Thoughts: Screw threading is about 80%. So, you need patience when building. Screw by hand, not power driver. Bottom of case supports filters, but doesn't come with them. Buypower uses this case with PC's they sell.

Pros: Cheap. Seems pretty sturdy.

Cons: Standoffs not already in, but it makes sense because it has so many different sized motherboard support.

The case has a key to the standoffs etched in it, it says U1-U9 is Micro ATX. My motherboard is Micro ATX. I put in U1-U9. Only 6 of the standoffs were used, the other 3 weren't used. Not sure if this is normal or not, but it's sort of deceiving that the case says U1-U9 for Micro ATX then uses 6 of them for a Micro ATX motherboard.

Other Thoughts: Pretty nice case. Lots of HDD bays along with External bays. Would recommend.

Pros: Good value for your money
Plenty of room
Very upgradeable in terms of cooling. No kidding. There's room for 7 fans: 2x 120mm front, 1x 120/140mm side, 1 x 120mm rear (included, have yet to test), 1x 120mm bottom fan.
Good wire management
Relatively light on its own
Bottom mounted PSU (gives you the advantage of keeping your PSU cooler. Almost makes cable management easier.)

Cons: None yet

Other Thoughts: The NZXT source 210 provides great value at an affordable price. This is a good case for those who want value over bells and whistles.

I purchased this on 5/29/13 but received today despite only paying for 4-7 day shipping.