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Cases Case recommendations? [Coolermaster Mastercase 5/Pro 5?]

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by Unicorn, 11 Feb 2016.

  1. Unicorn

    Unicorn Uniform November India

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    Is anyone using a CM Mastercase 5 or Pro 5? I have been eyeing up this case for a few months and am close to ordering it to rebuild one of my folding PCs into. The system is entirely air cooled, based on an old EVGA X58 Classified with an i7 980X CPU (running @ 4 GHz), 12GB of Corsair Vengeance RAM and a pair of GTX 970 GPUs with a very small overclock. It runs off a modular 1250W Enermax Revolution 85+ PSU and Windows 8.1 booted from a 240GB SSD. It sits under a bench and churns out ~500K PPD and I rarely have to touch it.

    At the moment it's in an old Antec 900 (which hit every branch during its fall out of the ugly tree, but is hidden under my bench and does a fantastic job of keeping the system cool and quiet) but I feel that it’s due a rebuild into a new mid/full tower case with a bit more space and better cable management options. The 900 was the closest spare case with plenty of fans in it that I had to hand when I was throwing this machine together, but it is just that; thrown together, and the time has come to build it properly in a good case.

    I do have a number of older cases lying around; there are a couple of spare Akasa full towers, Antec 300s, 302s, even some higher end cases from Lian-Li and Silverstone, but I’m in the mood for something new and the Mastercase 5 is the only thing that’s caught my eye for less than £150. I’m also open to other mid or full tower suggestions if anyone has any. Thanks in advance!
     
  2. MadGinga

    MadGinga oooh whats this do?

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    I recently moved from a lowly CM Elite 335 to a Fractal Design Define R5 and I love it.
    Simple clean lines/looks, and so easy to build in and route your cables.
    Would definitely recommend.
     
  3. johnim40

    johnim40 Minimodder

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  4. Unicorn

    Unicorn Uniform November India

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    Funnily enough that was the other one which I had considered, but I have never liked cases with a door on the front fascia. I can't say why, they just don't appeal to me and a case having a door is almost always a deal breaker for me.
     
  5. MadGinga

    MadGinga oooh whats this do?

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    Fair enough.
    If you use your optical drives/5.25" drive bays regularly, I can see a door being an issue.
    I like that the front isn't a wall of mesh and drive slots, and as I only use my drive on a infrequent basis I'm not fussed :)
     
  6. Dan848

    Dan848 What's a Dremel?

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    What I like best, easily have good cable management, and room for the [proper size] radiator for water cooling on the Pro, however it can cause problems you may have to work around [drive cage].

    What I dislike. The PSU is in a separate compartment from the rest of the case, with air supplied through holes at the bottom of the case providing cool air for the PSU. This keeps the PSU from removing warm air from the rest of the case, which reduces cooling ability.

    Here is a link to a review that contains basic information, however, it has some great points that you should consider. http://www.anandtech.com/show/9560/the-cooler-master-mastercase-5-review/4

    I use the Cooler Master HAF 922 case with an extra 200mm fan in the see-through side panel [side of case]. I do not like how difficult it is to squeeze cables behind the motherboard, there is not much room between the motherboard mount and external panel - however, cable management for good airflow is possible. The 200mm fan in the side panel blows room air directly on the motherboard, video card and CPU. There are also a few places inside the case that have semi-sharp edges that I covered with black electrical tape to make sure there was no chapping of cables, in case of movement of any kind.

    With a large size MSI GTX 980 Ti Lightning LE [that requires two 8 pin and one 6 pin cables for power] and my Intel i5 3570K @ 4.0GHz at idle, the CPU is 7 degrees C higher than ambient room temperature. The outstanding airflow with the case is why I purchased it.
     
  7. Vault-Tec

    Vault-Tec Green Plastic Watering Can

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