Outside
Before we jump inside the Masterbox 5 let’s take a look at the exterior. The overall design takes a lot from the Mastercase 5 only simpler. The Mastercase is Cooler Masters higher end model and its customization wasn’t limited to inside the case like the Masterbox 5. Its design has handles up top and the option to add a filler in between them that gives the case an angled design up top. The Masterbox 5, on the other hand, has a flat top. This is normal for a price point focused case, adding on to the top adds a lot to the cost. That said the Masterbox 5 does have the same angular front design that the Mastercase 5 has. While our sample is black they actually have it available in both black and white and I think both have a simple but good look to them. The angular front makes it more than just a standard steel box but still keeps things simple. It’s the same idea that manufacturers like Fractal have done for a long time, simple, functional, and elegant.
The left side of the Masterbox 5 is mostly filled with the smoked window. It takes up everything but a two-inch ring around the outside edge. The tinted window matches the blacked out case giving it a murdered out look while still giving you a peek inside. I think I would prefer the window to be a little shorter, specifically to cover up the hard drive trays but as you will see in the interior section, with all of the customization there isn’t any way you could make a window that hides everything without it being tiny.
The front of the Masterbox 5 angles in and then has a mesh panel that runs from top to bottom. The mesh has a honeycomb-shaped structure behind it that you can see from most angles. The design is very open leave the option to run fans all the way up the front of the case. The mesh does also have the Cooler Master logo down near the bottom in front of one of the included fans. Down along the bottom, you can pull on the front panel to pop it out to clean and to also gain access to the front of the fans. Cooler Master uses plastic push mounts to attach the fans so you can actually install fans directly from the front.
Up on the top edge of the angled front panel is the front I/O. In the center is a rectangle shaped power button. To the right of the power button, you have the headphone and microphone ports, each has a small printed icon above them. Then to the far right is a tiny reset button. On the far left is a pinhole hard drive status LED and between that and the power button are two USB 3.0 connections. Cooler Master went a little different here, the USB connections don’t have the normal blue color to them but they did print 3.0 above them to make sure everyone knows what they are. The two USB ports are also spaced out a little more than normal, enough so that you should be able to plug in two thick flash drives into them if needed. I know this has been an issue for me in the past where you can only use one if you have a thick drive plugged in.
The right side of the Masterbox 5 doesn’t have anything going on beyond the small handle to help pull the panel off and the two thumbscrews that keep it on.
Alright on the back of the Masterbox 5, the first thing that really caught my eye was the extra space over on the left. Specifically, this is the space under the motherboard and it’s much more than normal. Up above the rear, I/O is a 120mm exhaust fan. For PCI slots, the Masterbox 5 has 7 slots with one of them having a Stormguard bracket that you can wrap your peripheral cords around and secure them at LAN events. Down towards the bottom is the ATX power supply mount and tucked in down below it is a pull out fan grill.
On the bottom, there are two feet, one on the front and one on the rear. The feet have the same angular shape as the front of the case. For grip, each foot has two inch and half wide rubber feet. From this bottom view, we can also get a better look at the pull out bottom fan grill. It covered the entire intake below the power supply to help keep your power supply free from dust.
