If you want whiplash, watch our CM Q500L review after this one to see how not to design a case: ua-cam.com/video/F3n80GxU-Zs/v-deo.html Article: www.gamersnexus.net/hwreviews/3464-cooler-master-nr600-case-review-very-competitive-case
Can't wait for noise-normalized tests, when can we see them?! 36 dba is a great choice IMO. Is there a way to have access to a database on your website to sort and filter results? Would be nice to have that with all the alternate configs. I've been manually putting them in an excel to compare what I want lol Just a note, personally feel like focusing on stock, while the best way to compare for repeatability etc, isn't the best for your audience, who might prefer the numbers with a setup that makes most sense (minimum 2 fans in intake to line up with GPU and CPU). My biggest problem is the BQ DB900 Rev 2 that looks like it's performing well, but in reality it's at fan speeds that don't make sense for that case, where 1000-12000RPM would make way more sense if you have a quiet focused case.
When are we going to get a case designed by Gamers Nexus? That will save us, who are in the market for a new one doing so much disappointing research :)
Raidmax Alpha Lite is a great case for 50 bucks. mesh front, plexiglass window, simple design similar to Define cases, lots of fan mounts, plenty of wiring room, dust filters on top and bottom, PSU basement, CD drive... not sure why I never see it used on pc building channels like Linus or Jays2Cents.
That's actually a really good case (with three fans) and has a clean and functional design. Nice to see manufacturers, or perhaps just Coolermaster, moving back to true airflow-focused cases.
The clean minimalist look is exactly what I've been looking for in a high airflow look, none of those odd angles or bumpy panels. Also optical drive support is awesome
A little late, but for those wondering, the NR400 case does make some improvements based on the issues with this case! Similar design, but the hard drive cage at the bottom is removable and can be adjusted back or forward, as well as including a front fan! So much easier to build with!
That's how the modern case industry started: Mike Chin from SilentPCreview collaborated with Antec to make the P180, which was a legendary case in the mid-2000s. It was the case that made bottom mounted power supplies standard, along with the basement. Before that power supplies were almost always at the top. Around this time if you wanted quiet computers or decent cooling, it usually involved tin snips, Dremels, and maybe welding.
"... where I cut a hole in it and fix it." THIS is why I love your content; it's not just the thorough, detailed, quantifiable (and, therefore qualifiable) data, it's the unabashed honestly and bluntness of your statements. You are my h*ckin hero.
The HDD cage can be removed on one side as it was held in by four screws. Removing it makes it a lot easier to install the bottom case fan and longer PSUs. Though I might have gotten a newer revision of it, if the reviewed unit was actually riveted on both sides. The same might hold true for other Cooler Master cases too.
I got this case mostly because it blended the NZXT H500 aesthetic that I really love with actually good (even exceptional) airflow. The fact that it is simple without gunks of "flamboyance" and RGB plus "GAMER" designs all over sealed the deal for me.
Just inspected my NR600 for fit and finish and discovered a slight scratch on the psu shroud. No biggie, but it caused me to notice the scratch was right beside the head of a screw. Upon closer inspection, one of the walls of the HDD cage is screwed on, not riveted... at least on my case. Four screws removed and I now have about 340mm of unimpeded space for power supply and cable management. The structure of the case doesn't seem compromised at all. I guess Cooler Master watches case reviews like the rest of us. Well done!
I read a similar comment on the Amazon reviews for the NR400 (the NR600's little brother). I actually just ordered the NR400 last night and it should be here tomorrow, so I'll be able to confirm if that model also has a detachable HDD cage very soon. How do you have your fans configured? I was thinking about putting two intakes on the front, an intake on the top-front, an exhaust on the top-back, and an exhaust on the back. Probably overkill but that's OK, I have fans to spare. Do you think that top fan configuration would help or hurt temps?
@@deanhatescoffee I also have an "overkill" setup (good airflow is never overkill in my opinion)... 5 Noctua fans total. 3 120mm intake fans on the front, another 120mm exhaust on the rear, and a 140mm exhaust on the back top. I'm not sure about the intake for the front top configuration. I feel like that may cause turbulence with the front intake before it hits the cpu. Just my opinion though, I'm not an expert by any means. I really like the NR family, including the NR200, unfortunately they are hard to find up here in Canada.
5 year after this review, I bought this case. Didn't have the mentioned issues, the panel slides completely in and no failed/missing rivets. If you ask me, it's still a good deal. This review on it still stands.
Dude - your views are fucking amazing. The wife and I used to watch The Office before going to sleep, now we watch any of your reviews. They make everything feel alright with the world.
8:00, I've already given up on cases with optical drives, and opted for a good external drive. One huge plus is that I can position the drive in an easier-to-reach position.
One thing I don't like about external optical drives is that it's more challenging to reach the eject button if you're on the wrong side of the drive itself.
Thanks for you dedication to case-testing. Its a topic with 1000 possible variables that also happens to be quite important for overall thermal performance, so its really useful to have this much information about it. All of these reviews are a great help to understand what works and what does not.
@@nster3 just depends on how you're distributing your budget. A 2990WX with a GT 1030 has a legitimate use case. One would need a 360mm rad and the other would be passively cooled. For very typical builds, you're probably right, but if you're building your own system the chances of your needs being unusual is reasonably high
My NR600 came with screws in place of rivets for the PSU-side wall of the HDD cage, so I could remove it. The manual actually mentions the possibility of removing one of the screws to make the PSU installation easier. They may have made changes to the project or maybe I'm just lucky. :)
@JOHN MCCLAINE Sure looks like little boy got angry someone else has a different opinion. So everyone who doesn't agree with your personal tastes in looks is a "snob"... nice way to go through life. Gamers Nexus absolutely DESTROYED the previous CM cases in function, so if I'm a snob, you're an illiterate idiot who can't understand all the previous reviews and terrible CM cases. Would you like links to some of the previous CM cases that were rated as absolute ovens? You need to learn how reviews work son before you go around calling everyone else with a better education on the subject at hand as "snobs".
CM should include some silicone fan "screws" with the case to resolve the issue with the lower bay. Being that the cost of the Arctic F12 Value Pack comes in at around $20-25usd, I would like to see more results with more fans installed in a case. I typically use 3 intake and two exhaust in most of my builds, so that I can use lower fan speeds.
I actually bought the h500 mesh based on your review and recommendations and I am extremely satisfied. Quiet, cool and blingy. If you end up designing and/or producing a case, please ship it in Europe to. I’ll buy it even if I don’t need it 😁
@@flyingfloorboard4097 Then you might as well build one out of wood. It's fine to want airflow especially because many cases were terrible. But now all cases look the same: Metal box, plastic mesh front, tempered glass sides. It's boring. If you're at the high end performance wise the only tweaking that is left are looks and I want it to look as expensive as it was. I don't mind paying €150-€250 for a case but it should look good as well as perform well (and last at least one motherboard upgrade).
deep cool, the people who sold me a simple fan hub with the pwm shorted to ground cause they punched the pcb lopsided, yea I am not going to trust them with liquids in my computer and holy shit, a case that doesnt look like a 12$ boot sale special with a 5.25 inch bay, take my money (again) coolermaster
Funny I use a headset with a mic in line and have to use an adapter to split it. I am actually glad to know it uses that style jack, also good thermals, rubber grommets and glass side panel to avoid scratches. This case is right up my alley. Also since I would be buying rgb fans no matter what case I get, the lack of them included isn't a big deal especially at this price point. So awesome job cooler master you did well this time.
I got a TT view 71 because of your review (it was only $90 on sale for RGB version) but here I am watching this review anyway because I love the test methodology you guys use!
You know, I am finally building a new rig and I couldn't decide on a case. Then I thought, what the fuck, why am I not asking Steve? So I rewatched a few videos and here we are. My new case. Thanks guys, you're the best.
I purchased this case for $64 back in November and installed 5 Scythe Kaze Flex 120mm fans. Top and rear exhaust, triple front intake. Impressive thermals and visible airflow through the case when using smoke to test. Before this I had a Corsair 200R, which was awful for thermal performance. This is definitely one of the best buying decisions I've made building a PC. Suits my needs perfectly.
If you want a mesh front panel with a 5.25, the Phanteks Enthoo Pro M is also an option. It is in a different price point ($100), but I felt it was still worth mentioning.
@Gamers Nexus There is a case with almost the same design as NR600 although it has a filter in front of the mesh. It's called MS Industrial Cyclops V. Not sure if it's available in your area but if it's possible you should check how it compares to this one since it's around 25 bucks brand new.
The problem with the Q300L and Q500L is that the intake fans attaches directly to the front holes. If there was a distance of even 1inches between some kind of internal fan mount and the front holes, then the case would have no airflow problem.
I like it's little brother, the Coolermaster NR400... it's a MATX version of this case, with solid airflow and an optical drive bay for old-timers like us who still use optical drives.
After using this case for half a year: -The airflow is reaaaaally good on this one. I've been testing temperatures with fixed fan rpm and comparing front panel on and off. the difference in minimal, which shows it actually draws a lot of air through the front panel. -In my case there always a gap at the side between the front panel and the rest of the case (upper half). If I try to close that gap by applying pressure on the panel, then the gap moves to the bottom half. -Front-panel gets rust pretty quickly. I'm thinking on using sand paper, an anti-rust base and some black paint on it.
@@shiveringisles3509 Yes, it does filter most of the dust. I I've in an area with strong winds through the whole year so I always have my computer's filtered as a lot of dust is brought over by that wind, and this one has given me very good results. The problem is that this city has really high humidity (over 80% most of the year) so the dust absorbs that humidity and starts rusting stuff. This case is almost intact... Except for the front. It started rusting after two months. I recently used sandpaper to get all the rust off, painted it with an anti rust coating and then with a black metallic finish. Let's hope it stays that way from now on.
Gamers Nexus, you are a life saver. You are a rare find in the quality case airflow part of PC building. I would not have been able to find a safe case without you.
How tf is high end a $70 case .. what would you call a 200$ case then 😂 Although I will agree with it being short in the mid tier with other 60~120$ cases
@@why_ami_here1916 it was only a few years ago that anything in the 70_100 range was the high end. We have all been brainwashed into spending gradually more and more on cases thanks to reviews like this
@@mikesunboxing I mean, speak for yourself. I'm still rocking my HAF 912, I just like to keep up with cases so that when I do decide to get something new, I know what's good and what's what.
@@mikesunboxing Um I mean a few years back you could not have the same lights control of them ,glass and a lot of other things that you have now and that is the reason that some of the cases cost more .. A 70$case today is certainly much better that most of the 70$cases that were produced 7 years ago
With my last build I went for looks and bought the Enthoo Evolv ATX. My next build will most definitely involve a case that doesn't weigh a frigging ton and has GOOD airflow
you could just use... an external dvd drive? even a USB 2.0 port(or whatever the hell they're calling it with their constant renaming of old standards now) can do up to 60MB/s, whereas even 24x dvd's or cd's can only do roughly 32MB/s
Yay a case with a 5.25" Bay! I use mine for a drive swap rack (2.5+3.5+2*usb3). I use an external quick release USB 3 case to send drives out to the field in AV work, and when they come back the drives are often full of content I need to dump. Instead of buying extra enclosures I can swap out drives into the rotating library as needed with no hurry to ingest while we're slammed. I also still like to have a burner drive though for ingesting older media. Some software we have still likes to check for physical discs....
"I also still like to have a burner drive though for ingesting older media. Some software we have still likes to check for physical discs.... " external DVD drives work just as well as an internal one, as even USB 2.0 is nearly twice as fast as the drives.
Best looking mesh front case on the market. At first glance I thought it was another blank face case of the norm with no airflow. Too bad there are so many other let downs..
Your videos are amazingly informative! I’m considering this NR600 case and I would like some clarification. At 12:40, you said with 4 fans, it’d probably perform comparably with RL06 in GPU temp? Do you mean 4 additional fans? Because the “NR600+1 front fan” is 4 fans (3 intakes, 1 exhaust) and it’s pretty low on the list.
Agreed. Really a rough gap rn for those of us who want to enjoy lossless music as well since physical discs are often cheaper to acquire than uncompressed digital albums, yet the tech is moving past physical media.
@@meenmeen1103 Not only that, but for people such as myself who are limited on space in a 3 bedroom house with kids, the dual screen PC in my bedroom doubles as one of my TV's with a USB TV tuner, and it's nice to be able to pull out a physical disc, and watch it in bed when it's not on a streaming service I pay for already, or no one has it for streaming period like some old school Anime.
My ancient case even has 2 3.5" floppy drive slots. One is 4 USB 2 now, the other 2 USB 3. Then I used a modular cage insert to turn 2 of the 5.25 bays into a 3x HDD area. Love the modular nature of these old cases.
Much better case...I about died when watching Pauls Hardware and he pulls out the Cooler Master CM Q500L for the build. He had the front filter silkscreened with his logo, the captivated thumbscrew. Next week he gives the results of his tests....lol.
This is promising. Really like that front mesh, that's brilliant! Let's hope they keep iterating on this design and bring some more premium cases to market as well.
I added 3 Arctic Bionix A-RGB 120mm PWMs . The 1 on the back was moved at front,while BioniX crew at the back and at the top. They are protecting MSI RTX3080 12GB Gaming Z Trio . For some time and for whatever reason I was convinced it accepts TEN fans. 3 frontals , 3 top,3 bottom , 1 at the back. I was a bit pissed when I found out that is NOT the case,AFTER it was built. I am unsure how I missed it given how much priority I decided to give to the airflow. Regardless it was my top airflow choice. It was this or NR400. I picked this and with ODD option. Better to have the option and not need it,than not having and needing it .
Steve, love your content but why do you never mention radiator support in these reviews. I know you need to standardise testing and therefore use the traditional air cooled heatsink but a big concern for me when purchasing a case is always how much room is in the top and will it support a 240, 280 or 360ml AIO.
I agree, I am actually considering this case, but wonder whether the drive bay gets in the way of a 360 AIO, especially since he mentioned they couldn't even fit a screwdriver properly to install a fan in front of the drive bay. Does anyone know if it's possible? Actually, according to their website us.coolermaster.com/product/Detail/case/MasterBox-Series/masterbox-nr600.html it is possible.
I do that. The top radiator bracket mounts (2 x 140mm) on my mastercase 5 are covered by two magnetic dust filters. I get barely any dust settling on components or being drawn in by horizontal airflow through the case. The only dust that I need to clean off is on the front filters, once every 2-3 months or so, and twice a year I just clean because it’s a good habit.
Great review as always, but I prefer a non-blurry background when you're at the desk talking. The video is overall a lot blurrier with the "portrait mode", than the older ones, I like sharpness. :)
I'm about to purchase this case + 1 front 120mm as advised in the video, but how about adding 1 more fan to the top, as an exhaust, with the dust filter off? Would performance benefit even more than by just adding 1 front fan?
I'm deciding between this case and the Deepcool CL500, which appears to offer more for the money (in spite of plastic external construction). Would like to know about the temperatures. Probably good, but the NR600 is top notch.
This is by far the best airflow case in this price range if you are looking for a clean flat panel case. I also like the AeroCool Graphite as it has a glass side door panel for screwless access, but everything else is nowhere near the level of the Cooler Master NR600.
I would absolutely buy the Q500L as I like the compactness for a full ATX case. I'd just do my own mods (for example drill out all those holes and make them bigger, especially around the fan area) and add fans. But that's me, I'm willing to mess with things. I understand others are not.
Steve is right, cutting out some of the holes and the web will be better, it will give a nice big hole for the fan that could be 100% of the area of the fan. Drilling could create metal dust problems and you will still have a lot of area covered by the web. He mentioned there is only 15% free area now. Theoretically if you could drill tangential circles in the rectangular pattern you could get up to about 80% free area ((1-pi/16)x100 if you want precision.) I doubt if you can get more than 55% to 60% in practice.
@@jamesthomson8659 well drilling would be done on a new empty case, then finished and cleaned. As I said, particularly around with a fans go. Making the area where the fans are too be mounted very open, just leaving enough case to keep the filters from being sucked in towards the fan. I think it would be a fun case to experiment with, especially I just thought it was an expensive. But I'm I'm no need of a new case. I already have two spare cases. But maybe down the road it could be a project just got fun.
@@jamesthomson8659 You don't need a massive amount of open space in the front of the case, just enough for the fans to be able to pull air. Which they don't really in the center of them either so you could almost do just slash cuts into the front roughly around the edges of where your fans are that are 2-3 inches thick
My case is old as the hills - Rosewill Thor - and way back then I had a DVD drive. I've since removed it after I hadn't used it in years (the previous use was solely to install Windows) but lost the mesh insert years ago, so I bought a little drawer that fits in the optical slot. I quite like it too. I'd like to get a new case but I haven't been able to muster the strength for a full tear down and rebuild. I've got tons of fans, maybe I'll pick this case up. I'm gonna miss the side panel fans feeding my GPU cool air though. Looks like it can barely fit my NH-D15 cooler with 1mm to spare lol.
Where do I contribute to the Q500L SawzAll fund? Is it just me or all these mesh screens a bunch of BS? The smallest are too large to trap dust particles. Compare to your furnace filter, car air filter, motorcycle air filter, etc. Those trap dust and allow air flow. Thanks for the NR600 review; it will probably be my next case.
would you be able to find out who sitll has retro desktop case metal plates from the 80's an 90's that could remake them again? THAT WOULD BE A HUGE MARKET TO BANK ON!
I have an older case - Antec 1100 first gen(the one with the 200mm fan up top), and I've been looking at different cases lately that could possibly replace it, specifically a case that has support for a optical drive. This one looks pretty good along iwth the focus G. what I'd find interesting is a case that has the optical drive closer to the bottom of hte front panel instead of at the top, it would actually make sense since the drive would no longer block airflow from front fan to the rear and could actually be hidden by having psu shroud extend to cover it.
Well priced. I like the case of cleaning with the built in dust filter and lack of thumb screws on the glass making for finger prints. I like the rubber gromets and of course the great airflow. I would probably drill out that hard drive cage.
Just wondering: How much of an effect do Perforated Card Slot covers have on Case Pressure? (Whether Negative of Positive Case Pressure is being aimed for).
Do you have scientifically reproducible Testing Data or anecdote? Why crack open windows in a Twister to minimize Structural Damage? (And if case Negative Pressure, what about dust infiltration?)
@Phil Jermakian Yea, but I've got 3 intakes 2 front 1 side on a HAF 912 with a corsair H55 exhausting my CPU out the back, so I already had a ton of airflow pushing over the area, so as I said I didn't notice any difference.
2 rubber washers on each of the 2 top screws of the top front 140mm chassis fan will make it slightly point upwards, directly blowing air into the cpu cooler.
I have this case with 3x120mm Noctua Chromax blue/black fans in the front, 2x Noctua Chromax blue/black 140mm fans on top, and 1x 120mm Noctua Chromax black/blue fan in the rear. 6 total fans, 3 intake, 3 exhaust. The thermals in this case with an RTX 3080 12GB model manually overclocked and tuned, a Ryzen 5900X CPU running stock with PBO enabled and set to max, 32GB CL16 3600mhz ram (4x8GB config), and a Noctua NH-D15 Chromax Black for the cpu cooler are excellent. Using Thermal Grizzly Kryo for paste on both the CPU and GPU with this case, the previously mentioned CPU cooler, running 2x Gen 4 NVMe drives, 3x sata ssd drives, 1 HDD, with a Seasonic 850 watt 80+ platinum PSU on an Asus Prime x570 - Pro motherboard. So my case is packed full of hardware, all air cooled, all overclocked, and the thermals are super low. My CPU runs around 52-55C while gaming no matter how long, and my GPU runs right arouns 62-64C while gaming at 100% load. On Prime95 max temp/power test the CPU tops out at 72C after 30 min session. That's a 5900X using a air cooler. For the price if you put some descent quality fans in this case the thermal performance is amazing which in turn ='s better hardware performance. Same if you want to use liquid cooling. The front mesh would allow air to easily pass through a radiator which this case holds up to a 360mm on front and 240 on top. Amazing case for the price imo. The bottom HDD mount is also removeable in my case. Not sure if it's a feature they changed after this review but yea. Even with the HDD cage removed you can still fit 5 2.5 inch drives and one 3.5 inch drive in this case which is crazy. With the HDD cage you can fit another 3 more. So even with the drive cage removed you can still fit 6 sata based storage drives plus however many NVMe drives your board takes. Glass side panel looks nice and sleek. Side window shows off the build nicely but still hides the PSU and cables. Best budget case hands down for ATX form factor imo.
the odd bay, can be used for expansion modules.. i havent switched my 932 because of that.. i have a card reader, 2 odds (blu ray and burner) a hot swap bay with usb3 and a fan controller..
If you want whiplash, watch our CM Q500L review after this one to see how not to design a case: ua-cam.com/video/F3n80GxU-Zs/v-deo.html
Article: www.gamersnexus.net/hwreviews/3464-cooler-master-nr600-case-review-very-competitive-case
Can't wait for noise-normalized tests, when can we see them?! 36 dba is a great choice IMO. Is there a way to have access to a database on your website to sort and filter results? Would be nice to have that with all the alternate configs. I've been manually putting them in an excel to compare what I want lol
Just a note, personally feel like focusing on stock, while the best way to compare for repeatability etc, isn't the best for your audience, who might prefer the numbers with a setup that makes most sense (minimum 2 fans in intake to line up with GPU and CPU). My biggest problem is the BQ DB900 Rev 2 that looks like it's performing well, but in reality it's at fan speeds that don't make sense for that case, where 1000-12000RPM would make way more sense if you have a quiet focused case.
Master ,master, master ...master master !
love it !
When are we going to get a case designed by Gamers Nexus? That will save us, who are in the market for a new one doing so much disappointing research :)
I think you might have mentioned it in the video, but what did you think of the Q500L?
Raidmax Alpha Lite is a great case for 50 bucks. mesh front, plexiglass window, simple design similar to Define cases, lots of fan mounts, plenty of wiring room, dust filters on top and bottom, PSU basement, CD drive... not sure why I never see it used on pc building channels like Linus or Jays2Cents.
"I'm going to cut a hole into it and fix it" -steve burke 2019
Modifiers Nexus
I was going to ask him to do it...and now he will.
I cut 2 120mm fans on my case from 1999. Still has a 3.5 floppy. But it has high air flow. Budget turned free
Which part of the video says that?
@@BabaNamKevalamGames the first 2 minutes
That's actually a really good case (with three fans) and has a clean and functional design. Nice to see manufacturers, or perhaps just Coolermaster, moving back to true airflow-focused cases.
I still haven't seen a case that's made me want to replace my 750d airflow edition
@@NPCDCBA Oh snap. Same case.
A bit boring though. However expected at this price point.
@@CheapBastard1988 I got it for 30 quid lol
@@NPCDCBA Where? £30 is good.
The clean minimalist look is exactly what I've been looking for in a high airflow look, none of those odd angles or bumpy panels. Also optical drive support is awesome
Cooler Master - Master Box NR600 Master Product Master XD
Where's the dreams that I've been after?
i came down here to make sure this was in the comments as soon as i heard it
When you run out of in game names
Paid for with master card
Needs a Halo Master Chief edition
5.25 inch bay! That's awesome. Please remember that they're useful for more than optical drives.
But even still, Bluray drives are not dead yet! Some of us still buy physical media and use plex.
I bought a Define R6 for this reason, but I still didn't use it lol
Freedom4556 once I started running PLEX I went from one Blu-ray drive to 3 lol.
Also I have a 2 ODD bay to 3 HDD adapter for my NAS
I keep a DVD burner because I have a full tower so like... why not? Plenty of space.
My cases have those bays and I mostly use them for hot swap bays.
A little late, but for those wondering, the NR400 case does make some improvements based on the issues with this case! Similar design, but the hard drive cage at the bottom is removable and can be adjusted back or forward, as well as including a front fan! So much easier to build with!
Where did you find this info? I'm curious because I want to buy this case
@@zyleerelis9804 you can look it up, it's just the CoolerMaster NR 400, but note it's a smaller case. It's the one I was planning to use for my build.
I just built my wife a pc using the NR400 yesterday- everything you say is correct.
@@FanOWater Hope it worked out for you!
Just make your own case Steve... I'll buy it. You know what we want lol.
For a tiny company to build a case, it would cost, not joking, >$1000. That’s just how mass production and RnD work
How funny would it be if Cooler Master partnered with GN for a special edition case designed by Steve
Just look at his charts and follow his recommendations , boom you have a sub 200 dollar case that performs well.
It will have so many holes. Just make a Box without panels.
That's how the modern case industry started: Mike Chin from SilentPCreview collaborated with Antec to make the P180, which was a legendary case in the mid-2000s. It was the case that made bottom mounted power supplies standard, along with the basement. Before that power supplies were almost always at the top. Around this time if you wanted quiet computers or decent cooling, it usually involved tin snips, Dremels, and maybe welding.
I thought it said "High Hair Flow"
That too.
Sure you did
"... where I cut a hole in it and fix it."
THIS is why I love your content; it's not just the thorough, detailed, quantifiable (and, therefore qualifiable) data, it's the unabashed honestly and bluntness of your statements. You are my h*ckin hero.
Huckin
The HDD cage can be removed on one side as it was held in by four screws. Removing it makes it a lot easier to install the bottom case fan and longer PSUs.
Though I might have gotten a newer revision of it, if the reviewed unit was actually riveted on both sides. The same might hold true for other Cooler Master cases too.
3:03 Steve's excellent cover of Metalica's master of puppets.
I got this case mostly because it blended the NZXT H500 aesthetic that I really love with actually good (even exceptional) airflow. The fact that it is simple without gunks of "flamboyance" and RGB plus "GAMER" designs all over sealed the deal for me.
Just inspected my NR600 for fit and finish and discovered a slight scratch on the psu shroud. No biggie, but it caused me to notice the scratch was right beside the head of a screw. Upon closer inspection, one of the walls of the HDD cage is screwed on, not riveted... at least on my case. Four screws removed and I now have about 340mm of unimpeded space for power supply and cable management. The structure of the case doesn't seem compromised at all. I guess Cooler Master watches case reviews like the rest of us. Well done!
I read a similar comment on the Amazon reviews for the NR400 (the NR600's little brother). I actually just ordered the NR400 last night and it should be here tomorrow, so I'll be able to confirm if that model also has a detachable HDD cage very soon.
How do you have your fans configured? I was thinking about putting two intakes on the front, an intake on the top-front, an exhaust on the top-back, and an exhaust on the back. Probably overkill but that's OK, I have fans to spare. Do you think that top fan configuration would help or hurt temps?
Can confirm, the HDD bay is removable on the NR400 as well. :)
@@deanhatescoffee
I also have an "overkill" setup (good airflow is never overkill in my opinion)... 5 Noctua fans total. 3 120mm intake fans on the front, another 120mm exhaust on the rear, and a 140mm exhaust on the back top. I'm not sure about the intake for the front top configuration. I feel like that may cause turbulence with the front intake before it hits the cpu. Just my opinion though, I'm not an expert by any means. I really like the NR family, including the NR200, unfortunately they are hard to find up here in Canada.
5 year after this review, I bought this case. Didn't have the mentioned issues, the panel slides completely in and no failed/missing rivets.
If you ask me, it's still a good deal. This review on it still stands.
This case speaks to my soul, it's plain looking but practical and dependable, i'll be getting one for my new PC, thanks for the review ;)
Dude - your views are fucking amazing. The wife and I used to watch The Office before going to sleep, now we watch any of your reviews. They make everything feel alright with the world.
8:00, I've already given up on cases with optical drives, and opted for a good external drive. One huge plus is that I can position the drive in an easier-to-reach position.
One thing I don't like about external optical drives is that it's more challenging to reach the eject button if you're on the wrong side of the drive itself.
@@connormccloy9399 If the drive you have has the eject button facing the same side as the tray, it's much better. Also, you can eject in the OS.
word of the day: *master*
Nihal Uddin dude I had to replay that cause I couldn’t believe how many times he said that 😂
@@daftpunk672 their next line of products will be called the cooler master master cool box cool and quiet master edition.
where's the airflow that I've been after
@@ptose
Master,
Master,
Promised only lies.
@@supra107 laughter
Laughter
All I hear or see is laughter
Thanks for you dedication to case-testing. Its a topic with 1000 possible variables that also happens to be quite important for overall thermal performance, so its really useful to have this much information about it. All of these reviews are a great help to understand what works and what does not.
Steve achieved: Cooler Master Master Sergant Master of Cooler Sergant Master DELUXE!
SO COOL!!2
ah, the best video game ad of all time
RANK UP!
dolly-zooming onto that case, I wonder how much efforts are made to produce videos like this, thank you Steve for the hard work!!
The fact that this supports a 360mm rad and the NZXT H500 doesn't (without case modification) makes it automatically better in my book
I feel like this isn't the case for people that have the budget to have a 360mm rad
@@nster3 Aliexpress, full copper water cooling loop for less than $200 USD
@@bayanzabihiyan7465 if you go used, you can already get under 200 bucks too for a custom watercooling like me
@@bayanzabihiyan7465 yes
@@nster3 just depends on how you're distributing your budget. A 2990WX with a GT 1030 has a legitimate use case. One would need a 360mm rad and the other would be passively cooled. For very typical builds, you're probably right, but if you're building your own system the chances of your needs being unusual is reasonably high
My NR600 came with screws in place of rivets for the PSU-side wall of the HDD cage, so I could remove it. The manual actually mentions the possibility of removing one of the screws to make the PSU installation easier.
They may have made changes to the project or maybe I'm just lucky. :)
Dang, CM finally makes a case I like the function *and* look of
For me it's the reverse... look AND function. Previously, they only had good looking cases with terrible function.
@JOHN MCCLAINE Sure looks like little boy got angry someone else has a different opinion. So everyone who doesn't agree with your personal tastes in looks is a "snob"... nice way to go through life. Gamers Nexus absolutely DESTROYED the previous CM cases in function, so if I'm a snob, you're an illiterate idiot who can't understand all the previous reviews and terrible CM cases. Would you like links to some of the previous CM cases that were rated as absolute ovens? You need to learn how reviews work son before you go around calling everyone else with a better education on the subject at hand as "snobs".
CM should include some silicone fan "screws" with the case to resolve the issue with the lower bay.
Being that the cost of the Arctic F12 Value Pack comes in at around $20-25usd, I would like to see more results with more fans installed in a case. I typically use 3 intake and two exhaust in most of my builds, so that I can use lower fan speeds.
I actually bought the h500 mesh based on your review and recommendations and I am extremely satisfied. Quiet, cool and blingy. If you end up designing and/or producing a case, please ship it in Europe to. I’ll buy it even if I don’t need it 😁
Before the release of each new case; cooler master needs to invite Steve over for inspection first.
That would end up making them mad more than anything, he'd pretty much just tell them to cut the front off any case they design.
@@shawnpitman876 Yeah Steve isn't really one to grant points for looks or premium materials. As long as it has good airflow he's happy.
@@CheapBastard1988 just like me, as long as its functionally sound I will take it
@@flyingfloorboard4097 Then you might as well build one out of wood. It's fine to want airflow especially because many cases were terrible. But now all cases look the same: Metal box, plastic mesh front, tempered glass sides. It's boring. If you're at the high end performance wise the only tweaking that is left are looks and I want it to look as expensive as it was. I don't mind paying €150-€250 for a case but it should look good as well as perform well (and last at least one motherboard upgrade).
Very detailed, and helpful for people who wants to make the most use out of their money.
deep cool, the people who sold me a simple fan hub with the pwm shorted to ground cause they punched the pcb lopsided, yea I am not going to trust them with liquids in my computer
and holy shit, a case that doesnt look like a 12$ boot sale special with a 5.25 inch bay, take my money (again) coolermaster
Define R5 exists too
Funny I use a headset with a mic in line and have to use an adapter to split it. I am actually glad to know it uses that style jack, also good thermals, rubber grommets and glass side panel to avoid scratches. This case is right up my alley. Also since I would be buying rgb fans no matter what case I get, the lack of them included isn't a big deal especially at this price point. So awesome job cooler master you did well this time.
I really appreciate your attention to detail on this channel.
I got a TT view 71 because of your review (it was only $90 on sale for RGB version) but here I am watching this review anyway because I love the test methodology you guys use!
But does it smell like Reeses peanut butter cups?
You know, I am finally building a new rig and I couldn't decide on a case. Then I thought, what the fuck, why am I not asking Steve? So I rewatched a few videos and here we are. My new case. Thanks guys, you're the best.
mumbles... I'm gonna cut a hole and fix this pos, just watch you guys. It'll be sick.
I purchased this case for $64 back in November and installed 5 Scythe Kaze Flex 120mm fans. Top and rear exhaust, triple front intake. Impressive thermals and visible airflow through the case when using smoke to test. Before this I had a Corsair 200R, which was awful for thermal performance. This is definitely one of the best buying decisions I've made building a PC. Suits my needs perfectly.
If you want a mesh front panel with a 5.25, the Phanteks Enthoo Pro M is also an option. It is in a different price point ($100), but I felt it was still worth mentioning.
The improvement in production quality is amazing. Great job guys! Wow!
@Gamers Nexus There is a case with almost the same design as NR600 although it has a filter in front of the mesh. It's called MS Industrial Cyclops V. Not sure if it's available in your area but if it's possible you should check how it compares to this one since it's around 25 bucks brand new.
The problem with the Q300L and Q500L is that the intake fans attaches directly to the front holes. If there was a distance of even 1inches between some kind of internal fan mount and the front holes, then the case would have no airflow problem.
I like it's little brother, the Coolermaster NR400... it's a MATX version of this case, with solid airflow and an optical drive bay for old-timers like us who still use optical drives.
After using this case for half a year:
-The airflow is reaaaaally good on this one. I've been testing temperatures with fixed fan rpm and comparing front panel on and off. the difference in minimal, which shows it actually draws a lot of air through the front panel.
-In my case there always a gap at the side between the front panel and the rest of the case (upper half). If I try to close that gap by applying pressure on the panel, then the gap moves to the bottom half.
-Front-panel gets rust pretty quickly. I'm thinking on using sand paper, an anti-rust base and some black paint on it.
does the front mesh actually filter dust?
@@shiveringisles3509 Yes, it does filter most of the dust. I I've in an area with strong winds through the whole year so I always have my computer's filtered as a lot of dust is brought over by that wind, and this one has given me very good results.
The problem is that this city has really high humidity (over 80% most of the year) so the dust absorbs that humidity and starts rusting stuff. This case is almost intact... Except for the front. It started rusting after two months. I recently used sandpaper to get all the rust off, painted it with an anti rust coating and then with a black metallic finish. Let's hope it stays that way from now on.
I like the new shallower depth of field of Steve's set. It helps separate him from the quite busy background behind him.
Gamers Nexus, you are a life saver. You are a rare find in the quality case airflow part of PC building. I would not have been able to find a safe case without you.
Thanks for the video Steve. I am in the market for a high air flow case in the $70 to $100 market. This video helps alot.
There's also the NR400 if you want a micro ATX case with the same setup.
@@toxygen0013 yeah, at this budget nr400 is way better..
When did $70 become a budget case? Most would consider that as mid range or even high end.
A budget case is the Rainbow R1 at $25
How tf is high end a $70 case .. what would you call a 200$ case then 😂 Although I will agree with it being short in the mid tier with other 60~120$ cases
@@why_ami_here1916 it was only a few years ago that anything in the 70_100 range was the high end. We have all been brainwashed into spending gradually more and more on cases thanks to reviews like this
@@mikesunboxing I mean, speak for yourself. I'm still rocking my HAF 912, I just like to keep up with cases so that when I do decide to get something new, I know what's good and what's what.
@@mikesunboxing Um I mean a few years back you could not have the same lights control of them ,glass and a lot of other things that you have now and that is the reason that some of the cases cost more .. A 70$case today is certainly much better that most of the 70$cases that were produced 7 years ago
I don't know why, but I love these.
With my last build I went for looks and bought the Enthoo Evolv ATX. My next build will most definitely involve a case that doesn't weigh a frigging ton and has GOOD airflow
Please review the Cooler Master NR400 next
I'm glad that they're still making cases with optical drive bays. I have a ton of physical media.
you could just use... an external dvd drive? even a USB 2.0 port(or whatever the hell they're calling it with their constant renaming of old standards now) can do up to 60MB/s, whereas even 24x dvd's or cd's can only do roughly 32MB/s
Yay a case with a 5.25" Bay! I use mine for a drive swap rack (2.5+3.5+2*usb3). I use an external quick release USB 3 case to send drives out to the field in AV work, and when they come back the drives are often full of content I need to dump. Instead of buying extra enclosures I can swap out drives into the rotating library as needed with no hurry to ingest while we're slammed.
I also still like to have a burner drive though for ingesting older media. Some software we have still likes to check for physical discs....
"I also still like to have a burner drive though for ingesting older media. Some software we have still likes to check for physical discs.... " external DVD drives work just as well as an internal one, as even USB 2.0 is nearly twice as fast as the drives.
Best looking mesh front case on the market. At first glance I thought it was another blank face case of the norm with no airflow. Too bad there are so many other let downs..
I really gotta say that the image quality has improved significantly
New camera
Pft, why would I pay for more holes? That means I get less stuff!
Your videos are amazingly informative! I’m considering this NR600 case and I would like some clarification. At 12:40, you said with 4 fans, it’d probably perform comparably with RL06 in GPU temp? Do you mean 4 additional fans? Because the “NR600+1 front fan” is 4 fans (3 intakes, 1 exhaust) and it’s pretty low on the list.
Can you do a review of the Coolermaster MasterBox MB511 RGB?
Solid review as always
thank you for your honest reviews guys. Much appreciated
Definitely getting this case!
I like it. It brings multiple elements from different cases.
I'm one of those people that still builds with an DVD-RW/Blu-Ray optical drive, so this case will be on my short list when I do my next build.
Agreed. Really a rough gap rn for those of us who want to enjoy lossless music as well since physical discs are often cheaper to acquire than uncompressed digital albums, yet the tech is moving past physical media.
@@meenmeen1103 Not only that, but for people such as myself who are limited on space in a 3 bedroom house with kids, the dual screen PC in my bedroom doubles as one of my TV's with a USB TV tuner, and it's nice to be able to pull out a physical disc, and watch it in bed when it's not on a streaming service I pay for already, or no one has it for streaming period like some old school Anime.
Okay, I had to pause to comment. I genuinely LOL'd at that name you gave it Steve. A good hearty LOL at that.
5.25 bays still have a place. Hot swap drive bays, card readers, and the like all utilize that bay so it's not totally useless.
My ancient case even has 2 3.5" floppy drive slots. One is 4 USB 2 now, the other 2 USB 3. Then I used a modular cage insert to turn 2 of the 5.25 bays into a 3x HDD area. Love the modular nature of these old cases.
I'm sooo happy that I found this case. I need an optical drive bay and I hate external ones. It just wastes money and room.
videos look better! love it. keep improving.
Much better case...I about died when watching Pauls Hardware and he pulls out the Cooler Master CM Q500L for the build. He had the front filter silkscreened with his logo, the captivated thumbscrew. Next week he gives the results of his tests....lol.
This is promising. Really like that front mesh, that's brilliant!
Let's hope they keep iterating on this design and bring some more premium cases to market as well.
I added 3 Arctic Bionix A-RGB 120mm PWMs .
The 1 on the back was moved at front,while BioniX crew at the back and at the top.
They are protecting MSI RTX3080 12GB Gaming Z Trio .
For some time and for whatever reason I was convinced it accepts TEN fans.
3 frontals , 3 top,3 bottom , 1 at the back.
I was a bit pissed when I found out that is NOT the case,AFTER it was built.
I am unsure how I missed it given how much priority I decided to give to the airflow.
Regardless it was my top airflow choice.
It was this or NR400.
I picked this and with ODD option.
Better to have the option and not need it,than not having and needing it .
Where exactly was the one 120mm front fan added on to? The front-top/bottom? I assume the front stock fan was installed on the front-middle?
Front-top. Yes it was.
What was the configuration tho ? Front intake fans and back exhaust ? Maybe if you were to add another top exhaust fan you'd be set ?
Just ordered the NR400 from Amazon! Excited!
Steve, love your content but why do you never mention radiator support in these reviews. I know you need to standardise testing and therefore use the traditional air cooled heatsink but a big concern for me when purchasing a case is always how much room is in the top and will it support a 240, 280 or 360ml AIO.
I agree, I am actually considering this case, but wonder whether the drive bay gets in the way of a 360 AIO, especially since he mentioned they couldn't even fit a screwdriver properly to install a fan in front of the drive bay. Does anyone know if it's possible? Actually, according to their website us.coolermaster.com/product/Detail/case/MasterBox-Series/masterbox-nr600.html it is possible.
I was going to get this and wanted to know your opinions on it, thanks for the review!
I do think a top dust filter is a good thing, to prevent dust falling into it when it's off.
I would just seal it off.. 3 120mm fan filtered intake is good enough.. And 1 exhaust at the back
I do that. The top radiator bracket mounts (2 x 140mm) on my mastercase 5 are covered by two magnetic dust filters. I get barely any dust settling on components or being drawn in by horizontal airflow through the case. The only dust that I need to clean off is on the front filters, once every 2-3 months or so, and twice a year I just clean because it’s a good habit.
@@georgemorley1029 same here.. That seems to be best fan setup.. Easiest to clean too
Ayy, good to see CM stepping up their game.
Great review as always, but I prefer a non-blurry background when you're at the desk talking. The video is overall a lot blurrier with the "portrait mode", than the older ones, I like sharpness. :)
The NR600 amazon link is wrong it takes you to CoolerMaster MasterBox E500
The one in the description? Seems to work for us. It's landing on the NR600.
Thank you for this video it has helped me make a decision in which case to get 👍🏼👍🏼
Thank you, I was finally able to choose a case in this price range.
Thank you was looking for a case exactly like that!
It's one of the best, if not the best I've ever built in.
@@wendellsawyer4386 Agreed! It sits beside me right now and I couldn´t be happier 10/10 would recoomend
@@wendellsawyer4386 I'm considering this vs the phanteks p400a. Any recommendations?
I'm about to purchase this case + 1 front 120mm as advised in the video, but how about adding 1 more fan to the top, as an exhaust, with the dust filter off? Would performance benefit even more than by just adding 1 front fan?
I'm deciding between this case and the Deepcool CL500, which appears to offer more for the money (in spite of plastic external construction). Would like to know about the temperatures. Probably good, but the NR600 is top notch.
This is by far the best airflow case in this price range if you are looking for a clean flat panel case. I also like the AeroCool Graphite as it has a glass side door panel for screwless access, but everything else is nowhere near the level of the Cooler Master NR600.
that front panel looks really nice.
I would absolutely buy the Q500L as I like the compactness for a full ATX case. I'd just do my own mods (for example drill out all those holes and make them bigger, especially around the fan area) and add fans.
But that's me, I'm willing to mess with things. I understand others are not.
Steve is right, cutting out some of the holes and the web will be better, it will give a nice big hole for the fan that could be 100% of the area of the fan. Drilling could create metal dust problems and you will still have a lot of area covered by the web. He mentioned there is only 15% free area now. Theoretically if you could drill tangential circles in the rectangular pattern you could get up to about 80% free area ((1-pi/16)x100 if you want precision.) I doubt if you can get more than 55% to 60% in practice.
@@jamesthomson8659 well drilling would be done on a new empty case, then finished and cleaned.
As I said, particularly around with a fans go. Making the area where the fans are too be mounted very open, just leaving enough case to keep the filters from being sucked in towards the fan.
I think it would be a fun case to experiment with, especially I just thought it was an expensive. But I'm I'm no need of a new case. I already have two spare cases. But maybe down the road it could be a project just got fun.
@@jamesthomson8659 You don't need a massive amount of open space in the front of the case, just enough for the fans to be able to pull air. Which they don't really in the center of them either so you could almost do just slash cuts into the front roughly around the edges of where your fans are that are 2-3 inches thick
Could you help with a choice? Phanteks p300a or CM NR600? Taking into account the fact that I will supply 2 additional fans in case
My case is old as the hills - Rosewill Thor - and way back then I had a DVD drive. I've since removed it after I hadn't used it in years (the previous use was solely to install Windows) but lost the mesh insert years ago, so I bought a little drawer that fits in the optical slot. I quite like it too. I'd like to get a new case but I haven't been able to muster the strength for a full tear down and rebuild. I've got tons of fans, maybe I'll pick this case up. I'm gonna miss the side panel fans feeding my GPU cool air though. Looks like it can barely fit my NH-D15 cooler with 1mm to spare lol.
as a cat owner, i always filter top fan places to avoid cat hair falling into the system when cat decides to chill on top
I remove mine when in use, then put it back when I switch off.
Where do I contribute to the Q500L SawzAll fund?
Is it just me or all these mesh screens a bunch of BS? The smallest are too large to trap dust particles. Compare to your furnace filter, car air filter, motorcycle air filter, etc. Those trap dust and allow air flow.
Thanks for the NR600 review; it will probably be my next case.
would you be able to find out who sitll has retro desktop case metal plates from the 80's an 90's that could remake them again? THAT WOULD BE A HUGE MARKET TO BANK ON!
I have an older case - Antec 1100 first gen(the one with the 200mm fan up top), and I've been looking at different cases lately that could possibly replace it, specifically a case that has support for a optical drive. This one looks pretty good along iwth the focus G.
what I'd find interesting is a case that has the optical drive closer to the bottom of hte front panel instead of at the top, it would actually make sense since the drive would no longer block airflow from front fan to the rear and could actually be hidden by having psu shroud extend to cover it.
Well priced. I like the case of cleaning with the built in dust filter and lack of thumb screws on the glass making for finger prints. I like the rubber gromets and of course the great airflow. I would probably drill out that hard drive cage.
Just wondering: How much of an effect do Perforated Card Slot covers have on Case Pressure? (Whether Negative of Positive Case Pressure is being aimed for).
probably none at all. I lost the whole lot of them from my case and the thermals have never really differed.
Do you have scientifically reproducible Testing Data or anecdote? Why crack open windows in a Twister to minimize Structural Damage? (And if case Negative Pressure, what about dust infiltration?)
@Phil Jermakian Yea, but I've got 3 intakes 2 front 1 side on a HAF 912 with a corsair H55 exhausting my CPU out the back, so I already had a ton of airflow pushing over the area, so as I said I didn't notice any difference.
2 rubber washers on each of the 2 top screws of the top front 140mm chassis fan will make it slightly point upwards, directly blowing air into the cpu cooler.
Tested the Phanteks P350X? Have 2x 140mm ML Pro front intake., 2x 140mm ML Pro top intake, 1x 120mm ML Pro exhaust. Should run cool'ish?
I have this case with 3x120mm Noctua Chromax blue/black fans in the front, 2x Noctua Chromax blue/black 140mm fans on top, and 1x 120mm Noctua Chromax black/blue fan in the rear. 6 total fans, 3 intake, 3 exhaust. The thermals in this case with an RTX 3080 12GB model manually overclocked and tuned, a Ryzen 5900X CPU running stock with PBO enabled and set to max, 32GB CL16 3600mhz ram (4x8GB config), and a Noctua NH-D15 Chromax Black for the cpu cooler are excellent. Using Thermal Grizzly Kryo for paste on both the CPU and GPU with this case, the previously mentioned CPU cooler, running 2x Gen 4 NVMe drives, 3x sata ssd drives, 1 HDD, with a Seasonic 850 watt 80+ platinum PSU on an Asus Prime x570 - Pro motherboard. So my case is packed full of hardware, all air cooled, all overclocked, and the thermals are super low. My CPU runs around 52-55C while gaming no matter how long, and my GPU runs right arouns 62-64C while gaming at 100% load. On Prime95 max temp/power test the CPU tops out at 72C after 30 min session. That's a 5900X using a air cooler. For the price if you put some descent quality fans in this case the thermal performance is amazing which in turn ='s better hardware performance. Same if you want to use liquid cooling. The front mesh would allow air to easily pass through a radiator which this case holds up to a 360mm on front and 240 on top. Amazing case for the price imo. The bottom HDD mount is also removeable in my case. Not sure if it's a feature they changed after this review but yea. Even with the HDD cage removed you can still fit 5 2.5 inch drives and one 3.5 inch drive in this case which is crazy. With the HDD cage you can fit another 3 more. So even with the drive cage removed you can still fit 6 sata based storage drives plus however many NVMe drives your board takes. Glass side panel looks nice and sleek. Side window shows off the build nicely but still hides the PSU and cables. Best budget case hands down for ATX form factor imo.
So excited for the video where you fix the q500l =D
this mesh panel will be an awesome intake but will be a huge dust eater as well.
the odd bay, can be used for expansion modules.. i havent switched my 932 because of that.. i have a card reader, 2 odds (blu ray and burner) a hot swap bay with usb3 and a fan controller..
I have this case and love it!