Corsair Carbide 400C
Cooler Master MasterBox MB520 SCORE ★★★★☆ PRICE £38 (£45 inc VAT) from cclonline.com
The MB520 is the cheapest enclosure in this group, a fact reflected in its finish. The glossy plastic front panel with red accents on its air intakes looks dated, and if you want a tempered glass side window, rather than flimsy plastic, you’ll need to pay £20 more. That also includes three RGB LED fans, which still leaves it as the cheapest case in this group. It’s also sold in black, white or blue trim options.
Get hands-on and the MasterBox’s practical advantages become obvious. The front air intakes include dust filters – unlike those on the Kolink – and there’s a large magnetic dust filter on the top, too. It also has the roomiest interior here. That’s an advantage when it comes to GPU clearance: nothing else comes close to offering 410mm of space.
System builders will appreciate the heightadjustable rear fan mount, which makes it easy to fit 120mm coolers, and note that the PCI blankers can be reattached. Plus there are plenty of cablerouting holes and a large CPU cutout. Even the PSU shroud is versatile, with a hole that handles cables for vertically mounted GPUs, and there’s a wide cutaway for mounting 360mm watercooling units at the front.
You’ll find two 2.5in mounts around the rear, along with a hard disk cage with space for two disks. I’m a fan of the disk mounting bays, thanks to tool-free pins and sound-absorbing rubber, and the PSU mounts also have rubber pads to absorb vibrations.
The roof is less accommodating for watercooling. While the chassis technically supports 240mm radiators, only slim units will fit. Elsewhere, there are no features to aid cable-tidying and the routing holes don’t have rubber grommets.
Note there’s only one preinstalled fan. You can fit two 140mm or 120mm fans in the roof, and either three 120mm fans or two 140mm fans in the front. That’s fine, but the Kolink is better here.
That’s a common theme: other cases have more cooling options, better features and slicker design. However, this is a good basic option if your budget is tight.
KEY SPECS 217 x 496 x 468mm (WDH) 2 x USB 3, 2 x audio 2 x 2.5in/3.5in, 4 x 2.5in drive bays fans included: 120mm exhaust extras: front/top/bottom dust filters, cable ties, rubber SSD pads
Corsair Carbide 400C SCORE ★★★★★ ★★★★★ PRICE £79 (£95 inc VAT) from overclockers.co.uk
The Corsair is the oldest case in this group, but it’s still hugely popular. Visually, it’s not showing its age. The front is made from clean, dark steel, it sits proudly on a quartet of smart feet, while the hinged side panel opens easily with a handle. The window is made from Perspex, not tempered glass, but feels sturdy.
Two relatively wide air intakes ensure a steady flow into the system, especially when compared to the competing NZXT. The front has a bigger dust filter than any other case in this shootout, and there’s a magnetic dust filter on the roof, too. Build quality, at least on the outside, is the best in the group.
The front and rear fan mounts all have height adjustment, and Corsair includes 140mm intake and 120mm exhaust fans. Watercooling support is solid for a smaller case: radiators up to 360mm long can fit in the front and 120mm units can attach to the rear.
You can remove the hard disk cage with thumbscrews – a far easier approach than the Kolink and NZXT cases, which make you find screws on their undersides. And the cage’s sturdy hard disk bays are the best here, with large tool-free pins and sound-reducing rubber washers. This is also the only case on test to have rubber grommets on its cable-routing cutouts, which makes building neater.
A plastic caddy with room for three 2.5in drives sits at the rear of the case and drives snap in without any tools. The bays are all spring-loaded, which makes removal easier.
However, in some areas the Corsair is dated. The motherboard tray, for instance, extends beyond the PSU shroud, leaving awkward cable-routing holes rather than open space at the bottom of the chassis. There’s little room to fit watercooling units in the roof – they’ll have to be very thin. The Corsair also only supports two 140mm intake fans and it has USB 3 ports on top – not USB 3.1 like the NZXT. It’s also more cramped than the Cooler Master or Kolink.
Cast these quibbles aside, though, and you’ll find a sturdy, stylish enclosure with good features and build quality. It’s more expensive than the NZXT, but it justifies the price with greater quality – so it squeezes ahead to become our favourite mid-tower chassis.
KEY SPECS 215 x 425 x 464mm (WDH) 2 x USB 3, 2 x audio 2 x 2.5in/3.5in, 3 x 2.5in drive bays fans included: 140mm intake, 120mm exhaust extras: front/top/bottom dust filters, cable ties
“The cage’s hard disk bays are the best here, with large tool-free pins and sound-reducing rubber washers”