NZXT Source 210 Elite review

Performance Analysis

With no fan control on offer, we simply connected the fans up via their molex connectors and ran our thermal test. CPU cooling from the Source 210 is very good, as the case achieves a delta T of 48°C, which is apparently the result NZXT cases settle on and only a fraction warmer than that of the Antec One. The two exhaust fans generate plenty of airflow, quickly evacuating the majority of heat that cares to build up around the CPU.

Even without a front or side intake fan to directly target our graphics card, GPU temperatures are still kept pretty low in the Source 210. Its GPU delta T of 47°C does exceed that of Antec's One case by 4°C, but on the whole it's a respectable result, and only just behind Xigmatek's Midgard II with its fans on full speed and its drive cage removed. Noise isn't a particular issue with the Source 210 either, as the combined noise of the fans and hardware never rises to more than an audible hum.

Conclusion

The Source 210 does the job that it sets out to do reasonably well, as it will house and effectively cool an ATX system in a chassis that's sturdy enough for its price and easy to work with. With its eight drive mounts, we could easily see it being used as the basis for a cheap storage PC. It's not without issues, however, with the omission of dust filters and SSD mounts being of primary concern. They may not be the first things a budget system builder looks for, but they're are hardly extravagant additions, and as they can be found in one form or another in numerous budget cases, their absence is hard to overlook.

If you're all about bang for you buck, then just £10 more will net you our new favourite budget case, the Xigmatek Midard II, which comes complete with variable speed fan control, numerous SSD mounts, dust filters, a hot-swap bay and so on. Otherwise, for the same price, the Antec One offers cooling that's actually better than that of the Source 210, and has a slight edge in terms of features too.