Overall and Final Verdict
So now that I have spent a little more time with the new Cooler Master Masterbox 5 I can finally put together a full opinion. First off, I think the whole Masterbox name is a little confusing once you remember that Cooler Master also has the Mastercase line. Not only is Mastercase a better name, but having both end with a 5 can cause confusion. I would almost prefer one to be Mastercase and the other line be Budgetcase or something that better reflects the products location in the product lineup.
That said I was extremely impressed with the Masterbox 5 the entire time I worked with it. I love the blacked out design that also includes a tinted side panel window. The ability to customize your SSD and hard drive mounting locations was nice and I hope in the future they have SSD mounts available. I know Cooler Master will also be selling a case with an additional mount for a little more as well. If you don’t end up showing off your SSDs you have room to pack in a full custom water cooling kit into the small case. I was also really impressed with how simple doing clean wiring was in the case. The cover for the power supply hid a lot of my wiring and the inch gap between the motherboard tray and the back of the case helped as well
Really my only complaints are small nitpicks. Rubber grommets in the wiring holes could help clean things up even more, I know they would add to the cost but maybe having the option to pick them up as a customization option would be very cool. Also, the lack of 5.25″ device support is going to be a sticking point for some people. Personally, I’m happy to drop that and gain the room for water cooling and wide motherboards, but I know a few people still aren’t willing to ditch their DVD drives just yet.
The best part about the Masterbox 5 though is that it’s a price point case. At Just under $70 it should fit in most low budget PC budgets. More importantly, it doesn’t feel like they skimped or tried to save money anywhere. The steel casing isn’t thin, they didn’t cut out features, and frankly you normally have to spend more money than this to be able to have clean wiring and room to fit high-end builds but the Masterbox 5 fits the bill.
Live Pricing: HERE
