iStarUSA S21-20F2 Black Aluminum / Steel Tower Case Compact Stylish Mini-ITX Enclosure 200W Flex ATX

Pros: Sturdy case. The gauge of the steel is nice and thick.

Cons: --No riser card, making PCI slot useless for the most part
--LOUDEST power supply I've ever heard in a non-rackmount
--Not enough clearance on PCI slot for card insertion, a lot of exertion and bending required

Other Thoughts: Managed to file, bend, and shove one of these (N82E16817998052) into the only PCI slot. This is the only way to make the PCI slot usable because there's NO RISER CARD. This is the loudest power supply I've ever heard that's of a non-server nature. There's no reason this thing needs to scream all the time.

Pros: small, compact, screws holding it together, very strong, comes with a psu

Cons: limited airflow. No pci expansion slot. 40mm fan in the psu is obnoxiously loud. I replaces with 40x20mm sythe fan bought elsewhere and now it's almost silent. I also modded a fan hole and mounted an 80mm front intake and it works great! There is already a place to mount an 800mm in the front but the airflow is restricted by the faceplate, so I cut a hole.

Other Thoughts: These cases are great for a mobo/cpu combo with built in gpu. I use these cases with GIGABYTE GA-E350N AMD E-350D and they work great together!

Pros: Sturdy, Light, Good cooling options. Front USB. hard drive bracket works great for 2x2.5 or 1 3.5". PSU is decent.

Cons: Noisy PSU Fan, Power Light is Super Bright.

Other Thoughts: Overall a good case, could have came with some rubber feet for the bottom so it wouldn't get scratched up down there.

Pros: inexpensive deal with rebate

Cons: I bought 2 and a very noisy power supply fan negates any cost savings when you have to replace with a better, quiet power supply.

Other Thoughts: Case is not all that hot either.

Pros: None

Cons: PSU is a joke, all you can here is he PSU, NO FEET PADS, AND $79 IS WAY TO MUCH FOR THIS CASE. Istar you know better that this.

Other Thoughts: Don't buy it, and fire the guy that works for istar that bough the PSU in the first place

Pros: very small size, sturdy case, design/manufacturing deficiencies easily corrected. Low power consumption system.
I would give Gigabyte 5 eggs if they had a temp monitoring utility.

Cons: Power supply wires too long for case, power supply exhaust fan lower hole obstructed totally, restricted cooling vent holes on front face for system fan (moving the logo square closer to the edge and making slots wider and the full width for the case fan would enhance cooling air flow), Side fan eliminates use of expansion slot. Use of expansion slot eliminates side fan and probably 2nd 2.5" HDD

Other Thoughts: Bought w/Gigabyte E350N MB package. Added 2-150GB 2.5"VelociRaptors, Cooler Master 80x80x25mm system fan and 60x60x10mm side fan, 16GB Ripjaw Mem, Win7, pwr&Sata cable combo for DVD (for external connection).
Drilled out obstruction for PS cooling fan, used many zip ties to reduce power wires obstructing air flow and touching CPU fan (observed through uncovered expansion slot). In 68F ambient temp and bios viewing, max temp for sys/cpu 42/44C; observed temp after normal use required shut down and entering bios immdediately and temps were in the range of 34/36C. Side fan will be upgraded to 60x60x20 when I get around to it. The 60x60x10mm fans don't move air.

Pros: Its small, the size of the old fashioned metal lunchboxes and its built like a tank. I feel confident I could stand on this case without crushing it. Its a simple case with a straight forward design (it not like a puzzle box getting it open like some small cases are). Assuming you have a riser, it has a place for a full height card.

Cons: As all other reviews state, its loud. I have an air handler near my office and I hear it easily over that. As luck would have it I also have a window unit (AC) in my office for comparison...at 5 feet away that's enough to drown out the sound of the fan, but I'm pretty sure I could hear the fan over a window unit only 10 feet away. This is not an issue for me because of my work environment but probably will be for others.

The power light is a superbright, blue LED. If its going to be pointing at you from a home entertainment center or in your bedroom (and powered) while you sleep...this is not the case for you.

The edges are sharp, not so much that they could cut you but be careful what you put the case on because it will scratch things. I'd suggest buying some stick-on plastic feet at a hardware store.

Pros: Nice case. Like the way the hard drive is mounted on the lid cover. No problem installing a 3.5 HD.

Cons: The power supply fan is so loud, I can hear it in every room in my house, including the basement through the duct work. Like some others, after reading the reviews, I asked myself.......can it really be that loud? I took the chance, because of the "great" combo deal. I've built dozens and dozens of computers, but no power supply I've ever used came close to the loudness of this one. And that includes some real cheapos.
Since this will be a personal HTPC, I went ahead and ordered a new FSP power supply the same day I received the case. I could have invested money and time by replacing the PS fan, but I want something that I can have some confidence in.
Have to add cost of new PS to my "great" deal, but overall, still not a bad deal.

Other Thoughts: If you buy this case, be prepared to replace the fan in the existing PS, or purchase a new one, because the loudness is intolerable.

Pros: Good deal with shell shocker combo
Relatively small

Cons: PSU fan is loud and not easy to replace

Other Thoughts: I just can't believe how loud the PSU fan is!

Pros: small, cheap and with psu.

very few sharp edges.

Simple and to the point, no frills

Cons: cheap, yeah you pull it out and you can just feel the cheepness, but still pretty solid.

PSU is LOUD when loaded. the board i'm using pushes it pretty hard so it always has load.

Other Thoughts: You get what you pay for. Got two of these in a combo. pretty much got this free after rebate. So for the price its a steal, 1egg of just for the crazy loud psu.


Gigabyte GA-E350N
Crucial 4GB 1.35V RAM
OCZ 256GB Agility 4