ThermaltakeChaser A21

ThermaltakeChaser A21

Prior to the launch of the Chaser A21, you had four other cases in the Chaser family from which to choose, ranging from large to slightly larger. The new case has slimmed down considerably: Depending on which case in the family you’re comparing it to, the Chaser A21 shaved between 3 and 4 inches from the height and between 1 and 2 inches from the width by eliminating interior space for large liquid-cooling radiators and restricting the headroom for CPU coolers. Case depth remains very similar to that of the Chaser A31 and A41, which lets you still cram a graphics cards up to 12.6 inches long into this enclosure.

Aesthetically, the A21 looks strikingly like the A31 from the front. The plastic front panel features a bank of what appear to be seven 5.25-inch bay covers, each of which are black and blue plastic surrounding a foam-backed piece of metal mesh. There are actually three external 5.25-inch bays available, and there’s an adapter to turn one of them into an external 3.5-inch bay. The remaining front section of the case can house up to six HDDs. There’s a lone 2.5-inch SSD bay built into the bottom of the case. Five of the HDD bays and all of the 5.25-inch bays have blue and black plastic tool-less locking mechanisms.

The interior and exterior of the Chaser A21 are painted a fine textured black. A small plastic window gives you a view to the CPU. There’re numerous cooling options available with this enclosure in addition to the included 120mm blue LED exhaust fan. You can install up to three 120mm intake fans in the front, bottom, and side panels. You can also add a pair of 120mm exhaust fans to the top panel. Despite the narrower dimensions, the Chaser A21 lets you install CPU coolers that are up to 6.1 inches tall.

The Chaser A21 has a number of features that you may not expect from such an affordable case. There’s a USB 3.0 port on the front panel. The removable dust filter in the bottom panel is nice, as are vibration-minimizing rubber pads that elevate the PSU from the floor of the case. The motherboard tray features a large CPU cutout and a wide-open space behind the 3.5-inch HDD bays for stuffing cables and wires. That being said, there’s not much space behind the motherboard tray for excess cabling, so we recommend going with a modular PSU or one with cables that lack bulky ferrite chokes. Clips in the motherboard tray can help with wire routing, and there’s even a couple circular portals on the rear panel in case you want to install an external radiator.

Overall, the Chaser A21 is a compact case that can handle quite a bit of highperformance gear if you’re not afraid of small enclosed spaces. And the money you save on the enclosure can help you pay for a faster processor, better motherboard, more powerful GPU, or more memory. That’s not a bad trade-off at all.

Specs:Dimensions: 16.8 x 7.7 x 19.6 inches (HxWxD); Material: Steel; Motherboard support: ATX, mATX; Bays: 3 5.25-inch external, 1 3.5-inch external (via adapter), 6 3.5-inch internal, 1 2.5-inch internal; Fan: 120mm blue LED rear; Fans (optional): 1 120mm front, 2 120mm top,1 120mm bottom; 1 120mm left side panel; Ports: 1 USB 3.0, 1 USB 2.0, audio I/O