Review on Ultimate Gaming Experience with Thermaltake Core G21 Tempered Glass ATX Mid Tower Case by Joe Patterson

Full disclosure: I'm an IT professional and have been building workstations since the mid 1980's. I don't build many systems anymore (only a few a year anymore), so where I used to be able to standardize for a specific make and model, these days I look pretty closely at what looks like a worthwhile buy. I think this was my first experience with a Thermaltake case. This will definitely be my last. The construction is thin and looks cheap. The edge connector blocks are very thin, bend easily and have very sharp edges. The hardware shipped with the case must include: (3) #6-32 x 6mm standoffs (6) #6-32 x 6mm screws (for PSU, PCI slot) (15) #6-32 x 5 mm screws (motherboard; 3.5" hard drive) (9) M3 x 5mm screws (2.5" hard drive) The case appears to have #6-32 threads, but the standoffs were M3. This was a real headache as trying to use an M3 screw in the #6-32 hole is no good. The male ends of the posts were #6-32, but required M3 screws to screw in. So the motherboard was finally secured with two different types of screws. Waste of time #1. Waste of time #2 was there weren't 15 screws of any kind in the box. Of course, all the screws were black and not easy to tell apart with my 58-year-old eyes. In fact, inserting the board into the case shouldn't be that much of a hassle. Serious. On the plus side, the cables and ports on the front were well labeled and solid, and the case design itself allowed for adequate ventilation (although the top vents make using the case as a flat surface in an office quite difficult). . The screwless drive mounts are decent when you expect them these days, so nothing special; the same applies to the knurled screws for the housing sides. All in all cheap Chinese junk that should be sold at half the price. I should have stayed with Antec.