MSI MPG Gungnir 100
The spear that never misses flies wide of the mark
MSI’S A FAIRLY NEW name in the world of case design. It’s had a few different cases pop up every now and then over the years, but it’s never seen quite enough success to really cement itself as one of the big players. The Gungnir 100 we’re looking at today is perhaps a little insight as to why.
It’s got all the trappings of a decent mid tower; tempered-glass panel, fullsize PSU cover, decent support for liquid cooling, RGB lighting, SSD caddies, and some fairly acceptable cable management too. However, it’s let down in a few key areas.
The thing is, designing a case like this is a surprisingly difficult thing to get right. It’s a balancing act essentially between developing the design, tooling up the manufacturing process, picking the right materials, and then catering to the correct portion of the market. With a wide breadth of epic cases already available to consumers from brands with a substantial reputation behind them, cutting out your own slice of the chassis pie can be nigh on impossible—unless you’re coming to the table with something remarkably different from what the rest of the fold has to offer.
Think of it like this: if Apple launched an electric car tomorrow, similar to Tesla’s Model 3, and you had the choice to buy either, 90 percent of people would go with the Tesla. The reality is, although they’re both premium companies, Tesla has been building cars for longer—it’s ironed out the kinks, so the products it’s producing, you assume, are just at a far higher standard. However, if Apple launched a car with a 700-mile range, and could charge to full in 10 minutes, for the same price, then that percentage would drastically shift over to Apple.
Sadly in this case, the Gungnir feels very much like the first part of that analogy, but with about five percent of the quality lopped off, likely in an attempt to recoup costs from the development.
BLUNTED WEAPON
The materials used feel cheap, the steel absorbs fingerprints easily, the front panel takes up marks like it’s made of butter, and the RGB feels lackluster to say the least. The interior follows a similar trend. There’s clearly been a lot of market research done: there are some fairly decent cable-management ideas (cable bar and grommets), the PSU cover is there, and there’s some seriously impressive cooling support too, or at least mounting space. It also comes with four fans (three non-RGB front intakes, and one rear aRGB fan), along with an eight-way aRGB controller. However, the ventilation is tiny, and it doesn’t provide anywhere near what we’d consider adequate enough airflow for those intakes.
And here’s the thing: for $95, MSI’s really focusing on the wrong things. The included fans and aRGB controller are nice, and the ability to 3D print your own designs onto elements of the case is a positive, sure, but it’s not the most valuable element of case design. Quality materials and substantive airflow, balanced with a solid layout, will always win out in comparison, when there’s just nothing revolutionary or exciting to really help make it stand out from the pack. For that same $95 you could easily pick up a Corsair 4000D Airflow, or an NZXT H510i, or a Phanteks Eclipse P400A, or a Fractal Design Meshify C, all of which stand out in one way or another in contrast to the
Gungnir 100. They either have better airflow, more interesting aesthetic design decisions, better complimentary items, or a combination of all of the above.
Don’t get us wrong here, the Gungnir is a decent case. It’s good, just not exceptional. And in a market with such fierce competition, there’s just nothing standout here that really makes us step back and go, “You know what, I think MSI is onto something.” If you’re a big fan of MSI, and are willing to overlook the flaws here, then you’ll be happy, but if you’re not so transfixed on brand loyalty, you might be better off looking elsewhere for your next case.