Customer Reviews

Cooler Master Elite Mid Tower Case, RC-310-BWN1-GP (Blue)

5 star:		(78)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Pros:

The exceedingly low price. While nice and more feature rich (read: tool-less) towers exists, they often go for double, triple and quadruple the price.

Lots of expansion slots
Side window is nice touch
HD audio support
120 mm fan slots (front, side) rather than 92 or 80 mm fan slots (larger fans move more air with fewer rotations, resulting in lower energy costs and less heat generated)

Comes with one 120 mm fan which blows around 44 CFM
Nice looking color scheme

Cons:

Not tool-less
No features for wire management
No front firewire (minor for vast majority of people)
PCI covers are attached by single use metal connector

Other:
Steel pressure pads for hard drives
Power supply slot is located on top rather than bottom
Only three fan slots, no ceiling fan slot
Due to position of hard drive slots get right angle SATA cables rather than flat SATA cables but this common in many cases today

Ending Thoughts:

Overall, I'm exceedingly pleased with this case.
Running:
Intel Core 2 Duo E7500 Processor
4 Gig DDR2
PNY VCG98GTXPXPB Geforce 9800 GTX+ 512MB PCI-Express Graphic Card
2x Western Digital 1 TB Caviar Green SATA Intellipower 32 MB Cache Bulk/OEM Desktop Hard Drive WD10EADS
Zalman CNPS9500 AT 92mm 2 Ball Cooling Fan with Heatsink
1xSilverStone FN121 Case Fan with 120mm 9 blades 26.6 Db(A) - Retail
1xCooler Master 120mm Case Fan - (R4-C2R-20AC-GP)

Running system temperature 38C on idle, 45C on load

Pros: The price of this case (currently <$40 USD) is it's best feature, but not the only one. There is a vent on the front of the case to the sides and underneath the I/O panel. They give you the option to mount a fan on the inside there, but I find it works best as a passive vent. The case looks pretty and clean and seems to be built quite sturdy. Thumb screws from the side panels are very easy to use, especially if youre like me and are constantly taking the side off and putting it back on.

Cons: It might just be me but the front of the case isn't very easy to remove. I felt that if I tried to take it off I might break it. *** This case does not come with a speaker *** (If you're new to buying cases and not sure what I mean by speaker, it's the beeping you hear when you turn your computer on or hold down too many keys on the keyboard at once). I was able to take the speaker from my old case and rig it to a little spot near the I/O panel, but if I had a fan there it wouldn't have worked. The built in rear fan seems like it doesn't do much, but I also have a 120mm on the side that is moving a lot, so it might just be that.

Over-all: Pretty, Sturdy, and cheap. Lacks a speaker, but everything else works as expected. Definitely worth the 36+4s/h I payed for it.

First off, let me say this case does have a little more style than most $39 ones. The front color trim is a nice touch, side windows are almost unheard of on cases this cheap....and it doesn't make your case LOOK like it was built on a budget of $200. But aesthetics aside, it does share a lot with other budget cases. Side panels are EXTREMELY flimsy, lots of sharp edges, and a total of ONE non-LED fan.
Sideways hard drive cage comes CLOSE to being unusable (ends way to close to side panel), I'd recommend 45 degree angle sata cables. With the translucent front trim...you'd think they would have at least sprung for a matching LED fan, instead of the stock black one.
On the bright side, it comes with PLENTY of assorted screws and risers, and all plastic parts are well protected for shipping with a peel-off film layer.
DEFINATELY not up to par with what you would expect from a CoolerMaster case....but a little more than you would expect from other bottom of the line cases.
If you are on a TIGHT budget....this is the case for you. If you have an extra $20 or so in your budget...there are way better cases for a little more.

I received my package on 01-14-2010 and to my surprise,it came well packaged.Amazon did an outstanding job of putting the main box into a larger box with ample packing materials so there was no damage at all."EXCELLENT WORK AMAZON.COM".
This computer case is well constructed and sturdy and the material was not in the least flimsy as other cases that I bought for the same money.I like the clear side and will add a cathode case lamp.I have not installed anything as yet.The only slight con is that the 3.5 hard drive cage sits facing out and is effectively blocking the 120mm front intake fan from blowing air into the case.This will not be a problem though as I will be using a Serial ATA hard drive mobile rack in one of the 5.25 bays that will allow me to use different hard drives and a backup hard drive in the 3.5 bay.
Get this case!!!!

PROS
Outstanding value at less than 40 clams, delivered.
Generally good fit and finish. Front and rear panels look especially good for an economy case.
Three-quarters size externally, but lots of room, most of it usable!
Well thought out design from an airflow standpoint. Adding a pair of 4-wire 120MM fans (Cooler Master BladeMaster 120mm PWM High Air Flow Silent Case Fan R4-BMBS-2PK-R0) helps the drives (front fan) and Sapphire Radeon HD-6770 video board (side fan) run 15C cooler.
Front panel audio has both HD & AC97 connector wiring.

CONS
Sharp edges. If meticulous about cable routing, you may need as many Band-Aids as Ty-wraps.
Front audio connectors are rough and require very high insertion force.
Both the front LEDs (Power & HDD activity) are the same color, bright BLUE.
The included motherboard mounting spacers were too short/low for my Asus M4A87TD-EVO. Added split or flat lock washers to each of the threaded mounting spacers as needed for correct height.
Good access from both sides of the case, with the side panels removed.

OTHER
This case will eventually support 16 drives, with a Thermaltake MAX-1562 6x2.5 SATA backplane in a 5.25 bay and an Adaptec 6805E 8 port SAS - x4 PCI-e raid controller.

No front panel 1394, but all that is missing is two right angle connectors and a cable (if one is handy with a fine-point soldering iron.)

Wish I had drilled a few holes for cable tie-downs and some non-standard hardware, before I started assembly.

After searching around for a good deal on a new case for my computer I stumbled upon this case. After reading the reviews it seemed a really good deal. I was not disappointed. Some of the negative comments posted by earlier reviews, namely the sharp edges and no internal speaker have been resolved my Cooler Master. All of the internal edges are now rounded so there is no chance of cutting yourself and there was a speaker that came with my case. There is plenty of room for expansion. I purchased an additional front fan and with my CPU fan, GPU fan, and back fan, it is really significantly quieter than I had expected. The clear side panel has been improved, based on previous reviews, and is quite sturdy.
The only negative point is that the case could have been about 5mm wider. My CPU fan is touching the side wall. Not pushing it out but definitely touching.
I would recommend this case to anyone as a great deal. Only one caveat - measure your CPU fan before buying this case. I was very close to having to return it.

I've been using Antec cases for years and, in all honesty, I was sick of the extras and the weight of the case itself. I was looking for something basic that would house one optical drive and 3 hard drives and I found exactly what I needed. This certainly isn't a top of the line case but it's perfect. It has the power supply on top as opposed to the bottom. My last case had the PSU on the bottom and it was a nightmare getting the cables to route where I needed them to and just created cable mess and inhibited the airflow. This case has plenty of room for drives and fans and I was able to get all of my cables bundled and tucked away looking great. I also wanted to get a case without a door as the door always breaks off within a month anyways. The instructions for the case were surprisingly helpful, probably the best I've seen yet. The assembly was pretty easy. It took me about two hours to switch all of my hardware from one PC to another but I have 2 dogs and a bird and I had a lot of cleaning to do in the process.

Plenty of space to work with.Like other revier said no aid in wire control but I used a twist tie just to get the wires out of the way of moving parts. you have to use some screws for the dvd/cd drive to set in place. has room for about 4 hard drives,4 dvd/cd drives and 1 zip drive .The tower came with one fan (u can put a 2nd one in too).but one is good for me.has plenty of holes for ventilation.

Awesome case. I had some old parts and put it in a new case and works like a charm. Lots of space. Fits atx motherboard with lots of room left. All screws fit perfectly and all connectors work well. I would definitely recommend this to anyone, especially if on a budget.

If you are looking for a basic, easy, decent looking and well built case: look no further. I had my custom computer installed within this case within thirty minutes with no hassles. There are some thin metal parts on the case so watch your fingers! Every coolermaster case that I have owned has lived up to my expectations and this case was no exception. I have been working on computers for about six years now and I highly recommend this product.