I have really fallen in love with this case. In the early 2010s, I built approximately 15 PCs using the CM 690 II Advanced. I wanted to love the CM 690 III but it didn't grab me. And with the MasterBox CM694, the tempered class was a bit too much for me. This however, looks like the true successor to the CM 960 II Advanced. I have wishlisted this for my next PC build to replace my CM 690 II Advanced, a case I have used since 2011... from Intel i7-2600/Z68 (2011-2014) to i7-4790K/Z97 (2014-present).
I don't understand why every single case on the market is dead set on snatching mediocrity from the jaws of excellence. Put all the USB, etc sockets on the front, not the top. Dust is a thing. More to the point you do not have a single general-purpose external bay on this case, prohibiting people from using any of a gazillion after market panels. Extra USB slots? No. A display? No. Other kinds of sockets? No. Instead we get the docking station and microSD stuff you personally wanted. There are aftermarket solutions for these. Why would you bolt them on the case? The whole point of PCs is being configurable, not just inside, but outside too. I was happy for a brief 5 minutes and then off we go again on another trip to why-would-you-do-this land.
I think I am hypnotised with your music creations that I just sit through your videos just for that .. of course I get the PC stuff as well but heck .. ur good with everything .. master of all trades! Good one!
I bought this case based in part on this review and wanted to replace the front fans. Unfortunately since they use this shaft + pin system instead of regular screws, it's impossible to replace them with PWM 140mm fans. That's a huge oversight since you can't seem to get replacements and the holes for the fans are small enough that regular (included) case fan screws don't fit. I'm currently researching options because I really want PWM fans, but so far not much luck. I guess rubber grommets with pull-through might work if they're thin enough. The Noctua ones that come with their case fans are too fat.
I replaced the front fans. I just went to the hardware store and bought bolts that are long enough for the fans then bought matching small nuts to hold the fans in place. Not the easiest or most elegant solution but it works.
So excited about ordering this case. It has everything I was looking for in my upcoming thread ripper editing of build. Really awesome. The hot swap bays and sd card reader being integrated is going to save me a lot of money on add ins to gave a standard case that functionality
great video, thank you. some questions to be answered. The front drives can be swapped while the pc is on? The sd card reader is uhs1 or 2?. Finally my m.2 drive gets very hot and the side fan could help reduce temp. do you think the the two front fans would do the job? thank you.
The guys at my previous job at the comm. on elections would probably beg me to build on one of these just so they can request one for the office if I still worked there. We used those features quite a lot. Only addition I would've wanted to see would be durable carrying handles as we also drag the rig around a lot during election season. The memcard reader would be used for the main storage of vote counting machines, and the drive hotswap would be perfect for religious backups especially since we do it with entire drives.
The hotplug hdd bays are a really nice idea. I just wish you could have even more of them though (It looks like turning them on the side would allow for 4 or 5 of them on not that much more space needed for example) realistically if you wanted more you would go for a separate NAS instead but still the option to have even more of them would be oh so nice.
I like that the logo on front of the case doesn't have cooler master spelled on it, it's one thing I personally never liked about cooler master cases making me rather look to other options and not consider theirs.
Bought this case a few months ago. Just waiting for the Zen 3 to be in stock so I can finish up the build. Two things, I bought a Arctic Cooling Liquid Freezer II 360 AIO, I double checked to make sure this case supports 360 Rads, but would like to confirm that it fits. Also the Front Panel connector has a sata power plug attached to it, is this necessary for the front USB ports, what purpose does it serve? I thought the USB ports were powered throught the USB 3 motherboard connector? Thanks.
In case anyone reads this and is interested. This case DOES NOT fit an arctic cooling 360 AIO. I was able to BARELY make it fit with an Asus X570 Tuf Pro, but the RAD touched the vrm heatsink and I had to go to the hardware store to get supplies to make it work. Maybe 360's with smaller rads would work, but as the video states, this case is more suited for air cooling. or a 240mm rad.
Can you please do a video about cooler master cyro aio The latest video from linus tech tips is almost about this aio but the title is 'I have got a lucky ticket" it is not that helpful but your videos and hardworks are VERY GOOD so PLEASE review it
I personally don't think so, big company like CM really thinks a lot about compatibility like 3 slots for gpu even for a itx case, support for ATX psu and things like that(nr200). I don't think CM will go any smaller.
@@brandenprateek273 what you said about compatibility is true, and I agree with you. But then again, not everyone wants to buy a 3-slot card. Not everyone wants an SFF case as well. But some people do want any of those, and there's a reason why the SFF PC scene is getting more and more mainstream. What CM could do here is to be one of the first major PC-related company to dominate the SFF PC market by providing consumers with choice. They already have the NR200 and that case sold really well, and they could build on that by making a case that caters for people who wants to make truly portable PCs. Also, there are a lot of other SFF cases out there that can support 3 slot GPUs that are smaller than the NR200 i.e Ncase M1. Some smaller cases also support ATX PSUs i.e Silverstone's SG13. Of course it's almost impossible to make a case that's smaller than the NR200 and still fit both a 3 slot GPU and an ATX PSU, but that's the beauty of providing consumers with choices, isn't it?
They'd probably do an mATX version just like what Q500L was to Q300L. A Chinese manufacturer(probably CM's OEM) already released a slightly bigger mATX case(21.6 liters) with exactly the same chassis design but it fits regular mATX motherboards and ATX PSU's out of the box with vented front panel. I wouldn't be surprised if it came to market under Cooler Master next year.
@@arieltakom yeah thats where compatibility issue comes in. you can fit a 2 slot card in 2 slots but u cant fit a 3 slot card in 2 slot. Also if u notice the nr200 isnt a true SSF case in the end. they have just made the case in such a way that almost everything fits and still be small.
@@brandenprateek273 "yeah thats where compatibility issue comes in. you can fit a 2 slot card in 2 slots but u cant fit a 3 slot card in 2 slot." I'm not sure if you even read my comment or misunderstood it. The NR200 as it is, is already a great case, but some people would prefer smaller cases. CM could and should capitalize on that. Also, I'm not sure if you're actually into SFF PCs or not, but most people who wants to build in an SFF PC case will definitely build their PC around the case, not around the components i.e those who wants to build a PC in a sub-5L case such as the SGPC K39 would know that they'll need a mini-ITX GPU and a Flex-ATX PSU. Likewise, if CM were to offer a smaller case, users who would want to build in it would know the limitation of the case and will try to pick components around that limitation. "Also if u notice the nr200 isnt a true SSF case in the end. they have just made the case in such a way that almost everything fits and still be small." I'm sorry, what? The NR200 IS an SFF case as it's less than 20L in volume! But yeah, the NR200 is a really well space-optimized case. The build quality is very good considering the price, hence why it is now the go to recommended case in the SFF community. Hence why I think that CM should start capitalizing on the SFF market by introducing a smaller case.
we need more cases like these. more functions, more features, more convienence, less flash.
4:36 duude that's sweet
8:08 I really like that design
9:31 why doesn't every case have this?
15:43 dat RAM clearance
Damn fams, this is awesome. Such a great case. Keep up the hard work
The drive bay on the front panel reminds me of the old X-Dock drive bay they had on the CM Storm Trooper cases. Loved that feature!
This reminds me of my childhood pc
drive dock in the front is a great feature ! i also really like the mesh for front and top, a really nice case !
It's good company's are listening to what the customers actually want. Good video as always, nick!
Yes i agree. And lastly they make affordable stuff
I wonder if the hotswap bays can be interchanged with 5.25" bays?
Each hot swap bay has a double door to support both sizes of hdd, just like external docks.
why isn't the GPU in the top PCIE slot?
Literally answered in the video. It's a TRX40 board. It has more than 1 x16 PCIe slot.
@@GearSeekers I didn't realize that.
no glass panel, slaps some dominator ram in there anyway
why
Cool story
I haven't watched it but... Great video nick!!!! 😂
Nice!
Edit: iM fIrSt1!!!!1111!!!
I have really fallen in love with this case. In the early 2010s, I built approximately 15 PCs using the CM 690 II Advanced. I wanted to love the CM 690 III but it didn't grab me. And with the MasterBox CM694, the tempered class was a bit too much for me. This however, looks like the true successor to the CM 960 II Advanced. I have wishlisted this for my next PC build to replace my CM 690 II Advanced, a case I have used since 2011... from Intel i7-2600/Z68 (2011-2014) to i7-4790K/Z97 (2014-present).
I don't understand why every single case on the market is dead set on snatching mediocrity from the jaws of excellence. Put all the USB, etc sockets on the front, not the top. Dust is a thing. More to the point you do not have a single general-purpose external bay on this case, prohibiting people from using any of a gazillion after market panels. Extra USB slots? No. A display? No. Other kinds of sockets? No. Instead we get the docking station and microSD stuff you personally wanted. There are aftermarket solutions for these. Why would you bolt them on the case? The whole point of PCs is being configurable, not just inside, but outside too. I was happy for a brief 5 minutes and then off we go again on another trip to why-would-you-do-this land.
Thumbs up for no tempered glass. Its actually pretty hard to find anything without tempered glass these days. I get why people want it, but I don't.
Yo it's like Coolermaster heard me saying I am gonna build a pc for my dad !!
I think I am hypnotised with your music creations that I just sit through your videos just for that .. of course I get the PC stuff as well but heck .. ur good with everything .. master of all trades! Good one!
A well designed workstation case with some nifty little features. Love the slide in dock on the front. Excellent video
So when will we start our own case and company?
Thank you for review. Can you say if there is any fan hub out of the box? My mb has only 1cpu and 2 sys_fan.
oh, it's the CM 690, it was the first case I build with, good stuff.
It reminds me a lot to CM 690 case which is still a great case, I use it
I bought this case based in part on this review and wanted to replace the front fans. Unfortunately since they use this shaft + pin system instead of regular screws, it's impossible to replace them with PWM 140mm fans. That's a huge oversight since you can't seem to get replacements and the holes for the fans are small enough that regular (included) case fan screws don't fit. I'm currently researching options because I really want PWM fans, but so far not much luck. I guess rubber grommets with pull-through might work if they're thin enough. The Noctua ones that come with their case fans are too fat.
I replaced the front fans. I just went to the hardware store and bought bolts that are long enough for the fans then bought matching small nuts to hold the fans in place. Not the easiest or most elegant solution but it works.
This would make a good gaming case for us old school PC guys who where kids and or teens in the 90's, all the unicorn puke is rather annoying.
Of course! I'm currently using this for my interim editing PC case and it's keeping my 3960X and 3080 nice and cool :D
This case is huge.
sturdy construction, tons of storage compartment, some big enough to fit a grown man.
-Joey Tribbiani
HAHAHAHAHA!
🤣 Will always like a Joey quote
So excited about ordering this case. It has everything I was looking for in my upcoming thread ripper editing of build. Really awesome. The hot swap bays and sd card reader being integrated is going to save me a lot of money on add ins to gave a standard case that functionality
Great !!! Thank you ! Keep it up !
OPTICAL DRIVE SLOT please? LOL
Music is AWESOME!
great video, thank you. some questions to be answered. The front drives can be swapped while the pc is on? The sd card reader is uhs1 or 2?. Finally my m.2 drive gets very hot and the side fan could help reduce temp. do you think the the two front fans would do the job? thank you.
The guys at my previous job at the comm. on elections would probably beg me to build on one of these just so they can request one for the office if I still worked there. We used those features quite a lot. Only addition I would've wanted to see would be durable carrying handles as we also drag the rig around a lot during election season. The memcard reader would be used for the main storage of vote counting machines, and the drive hotswap would be perfect for religious backups especially since we do it with entire drives.
The hotplug hdd bays are a really nice idea. I just wish you could have even more of them though (It looks like turning them on the side would allow for 4 or 5 of them on not that much more space needed for example) realistically if you wanted more you would go for a separate NAS instead but still the option to have even more of them would be oh so nice.
I like that the logo on front of the case doesn't have cooler master spelled on it, it's one thing I personally never liked about cooler master cases making me rather look to other options and not consider theirs.
Who uses sata anymore wtf
OMG More chassis like this PLEASE...
Nice build!
Bought this case a few months ago. Just waiting for the Zen 3 to be in stock so I can finish up the build. Two things, I bought a Arctic Cooling Liquid Freezer II 360 AIO, I double checked to make sure this case supports 360 Rads, but would like to confirm that it fits. Also the Front Panel connector has a sata power plug attached to it, is this necessary for the front USB ports, what purpose does it serve? I thought the USB ports were powered throught the USB 3 motherboard connector?
Thanks.
In case anyone reads this and is interested. This case DOES NOT fit an arctic cooling 360 AIO. I was able to BARELY make it fit with an Asus X570 Tuf Pro, but the RAD touched the vrm heatsink and I had to go to the hardware store to get supplies to make it work. Maybe 360's with smaller rads would work, but as the video states, this case is more suited for air cooling. or a 240mm rad.
Wowzer!!
Wish those hotswap bays were at the top of the case so they don't mess with the nice looking front mesh
Can you please do a video about cooler master cyro aio
The latest video from linus tech tips is almost about this aio but the title is 'I have got a lucky ticket" it is not that helpful but your videos and hardworks are VERY GOOD so PLEASE review it
The TEC cooler?
This case isn't the best looking
But very functional ngl
Does SATA Docking Station work even with the pc on?
Very cool. Definitely want to consider getting one of these now
Fractal design cases destroy this in all segments
I use and R6 for my Plex server with 10 HDDs
Ok cool
I have the nr600.
Great case! 👍
YAY to SSI-EEB!
👍
I hope Nick will be rich enough to have his own PC case manufacturing company one day. He made me buy the TD500 Mesh and I couldn't be happier.
Any chance Cooler Master will make a smaller version of the NR200? Probably NR100?
I personally don't think so, big company like CM really thinks a lot about compatibility like 3 slots for gpu even for a itx case, support for ATX psu and things like that(nr200). I don't think CM will go any smaller.
@@brandenprateek273 what you said about compatibility is true, and I agree with you. But then again, not everyone wants to buy a 3-slot card. Not everyone wants an SFF case as well. But some people do want any of those, and there's a reason why the SFF PC scene is getting more and more mainstream.
What CM could do here is to be one of the first major PC-related company to dominate the SFF PC market by providing consumers with choice. They already have the NR200 and that case sold really well, and they could build on that by making a case that caters for people who wants to make truly portable PCs.
Also, there are a lot of other SFF cases out there that can support 3 slot GPUs that are smaller than the NR200 i.e Ncase M1. Some smaller cases also support ATX PSUs i.e Silverstone's SG13. Of course it's almost impossible to make a case that's smaller than the NR200 and still fit both a 3 slot GPU and an ATX PSU, but that's the beauty of providing consumers with choices, isn't it?
They'd probably do an mATX version just like what Q500L was to Q300L.
A Chinese manufacturer(probably CM's OEM) already released a slightly bigger mATX case(21.6 liters) with exactly the same chassis design but it fits regular mATX motherboards and ATX PSU's out of the box with vented front panel.
I wouldn't be surprised if it came to market under Cooler Master next year.
@@arieltakom yeah thats where compatibility issue comes in. you can fit a 2 slot card in 2 slots but u cant fit a 3 slot card in 2 slot. Also if u notice the nr200 isnt a true SSF case in the end. they have just made the case in such a way that almost everything fits and still be small.
@@brandenprateek273 "yeah thats where compatibility issue comes in. you can fit a 2 slot card in 2 slots but u cant fit a 3 slot card in 2 slot."
I'm not sure if you even read my comment or misunderstood it. The NR200 as it is, is already a great case, but some people would prefer smaller cases. CM could and should capitalize on that. Also, I'm not sure if you're actually into SFF PCs or not, but most people who wants to build in an SFF PC case will definitely build their PC around the case, not around the components i.e those who wants to build a PC in a sub-5L case such as the SGPC K39 would know that they'll need a mini-ITX GPU and a Flex-ATX PSU. Likewise, if CM were to offer a smaller case, users who would want to build in it would know the limitation of the case and will try to pick components around that limitation.
"Also if u notice the nr200 isnt a true SSF case in the end. they have just made the case in such a way that almost everything fits and still be small."
I'm sorry, what? The NR200 IS an SFF case as it's less than 20L in volume! But yeah, the NR200 is a really well space-optimized case. The build quality is very good considering the price, hence why it is now the go to recommended case in the SFF community. Hence why I think that CM should start capitalizing on the SFF market by introducing a smaller case.
First! Haha!