Cooler Master Elite 130 - Mini-ITX Computer Case with Mesh Front Panel and Water Cooling Support

Pros: This was a nice box. I have never setup a ITX case and its kind of a pain to get used to but I always like a challenge. It has some nice options and is made well. No sharp edges and it works well. Price was good and shipping was fast.

Cons: I wish there was a cover for the power supply for people who want to use alternative for power supply Like the Pico or such. Not worth losing a egg over.

Pros: - pretty easy install for a small case. - I got a cooler master 120M siedon water cooler to use in this and it installed just fine except I needed to add an extension to the fan cable to reach the motherboard. - case is well thought out and will handle quite a bit of equipment for such a small space.

Cons: - directions are convoluted. I found a couple reviews on the case with pictures that helped show proper placement of the disk drives. - There isn't much room for an air cooler. You can get away with a stock cooler or low profile. Water coolers will work fine. - The feet are plastic and the case slides pretty easy. It would be nice if they switched to rubber feet instead.

Overall Review: - If installing you need to remove the front fan to install a water cooler, I used a screw driver to push the pins on the back of the fan which then come out very easy. - If you plan to use a water cooler, keep in mind that it will take up about 1.5" of space where a video card will go. - If you can afford it, get a modular power supply otherwise you'll be cramming a lot of extra power supply cables in the unit that do nothing. - Overall, I'm pleased. Matching this case with a water cooler gives you a nice silent setup with a small footprint.

Pros: Well constructed with good airflow and plenty of room to work with. Semi-modular

Cons: HDD/DVD drive cage riveted in.

Overall Review: When I first bought this case, it was for a HTPC. Nothing too fancy, just a mobo, ram, the H60v2 AIO, Corsair T-Series 550W PS, and a NVME HDD (EVO 960). Despite its size, I had plenty of room to put in everything with lots of room to spare. A month later, I decided to build a brand new gaming PC. I looked at a couple of M-ITX cases but ultimately decided to use this case once again. I'll note the important parts of the build due to their size: 1. EVGA GeForce 1080ti FTW3 (300mm in length) 2. Corsair R Series 850W PS (longer in length than the T Series) 3. Corsair H80i v2 120mm double thick radiator with 2 fans. Unlike the HTPC build, I needed to take advantage of the modular parts, mainly the case fans, 80mm and 120mm, can be removed for easier installation. Removing the PSU mount in the back made it easy to put the PSU in once everything was installed. The HDD/DVD cage, however, is where I dock an egg off this case. As it is riveted in, it was not as easy to remove. Not sure why they decided to go with rivets when everything else could be removed with a Philips? Anyhow, just got my power drill and punched thosed rivets out. So I got all those components in with little issue (plenty of space to work with). There's plenty of space left too once everything was installed. Even with both fans attached to the AIO, I feel like I could put in a SSD with the space left at the bottom where one is intended to go. Airflow is pretty good too. With the room temperature at 22.8C, Corsair Link reports the cpu package (i7-8700k) idles at 29C and the 1080ti idles at 43C, and the AIO reports it's at 27.4C (I never turn off my computer so coolant should be near the CPU temp). At same room temperature under load, I've yet to see the cpu go above 60C and the 1080ti go above 75C. Also note I don't overclock. Hope these temperature reads helps those thinking about using this as a gaming case. TLDR: Docked 1 egg because I had to drill out some rivets to make room. Solid case with plenty of room to use full size ATX components such as video card and ATX PSU as well as H80i v2. Good airflow in case keeps temperature at decent level.

Pros: The layout is perfect for a mITX system. I'm using an embedded board with a CPU power draw of less than 10W, so I took out the fan. All the sheet metal and plastic is a matte black, even the bag of included fasteners are all black, except the brass standoffs for the mobo, nice touch. I barely read the instructions, except for the rubber SSD mounts. This thing can take a combination of 4 drives - HDD and SSD. I'm using 1 of each. The goal for this case is a media center, and even the cooler master switch is pretty understated - no neon on this bit of kit, very classy. Tons of cooling via the perforated metal, not that I really need it. No sharp edges in the case, never felt in danger of giving blood trying to put it together.

Cons: A little box on the back for the PSU. If the case was just a cube all around, it would be really cool. But this is a style point, not functionality related. I can't dock an egg for such a minor thing. The case screws were really tight, I think someone powder coated the holes, but I worked them out with a driver so no big.

Overall Review: Definitely recommend. I think I'm not the target audience, I can see a portable game rig with this case. One weird thing is the USB ports are upside-down so my media center IR dongle looks wrong. But again, for regular devices or cables this is a non-issue. I am happy to get away from the mid-tower for this build and really like the style and value.

Pros: Form factor, power supply compatibility, aesthetics, price, build quality. design (well thought out layout)

Cons: None

Overall Review: This case looks great. It's compact and all my hardware fits in perfectly with a reasonable amount of airflow. It's sturdy and will look great with many different applications i.e. office, gaming, media etc... Interestingly, I wanted to build a nearly silent PC. I have done that with a 520 watt Seasonic fan-less PSU, four Noctua fans (two on side over fan-less graphics card @ 80mm; run at various RPMS depending on CPU temps. They both share a single header through split adapter that comes with fans), one on processor @ 92mm and one drawing air in case up front @ 120mm (120 mm fan running off Molex connector; fan is silent version, runs a constant rpm and not tied into fan header on mobo; provides adequate air intake gaming/intensive or light use), 4130T intel i3 processor (30 TDP), Noctua NH-L9i CPU cooler, Fanless Power Color R9 270 graphics card (I had to order from overseas since Newegg doesn't carry it), Two SSDs (Samsung 840 and Vertex 3 @ 250GB) and ASRock B85M-ITX motherboard. The Asrock motherboard bios is critical for allowing me to control the fan RPMs (1 on processor and 2 by 80mm over graphics card; also pull hot air from case) at various RPMs at different CPU temps. This is the only motherboard I'm aware of that does this. Previously I had an EVGA stinger motherboard, but you can only pick set RPMs to run system fans once you exit the bios. This allows me to run the Noctua fans at near silence and spin up to a low whir sound when gaming. I only mounted one SSD up on top rack above PSU, it does not give off much heat. I did not mount the other SSD above the graphics card because it gives off too much heat out the top half of the case (does not affect PSU cooling). I placed the other SSD below fan in front section of case. The PSU and processor run surprisingly cool with this configuration. My point in mentioning all of this? The fan, GPU and PSU are all laid out in ideal places with this case. The airflow is such that I can run fan-less components and be able to place low running RPM fans at critical airflow points, which allows me to run a cool system with fan-less components.

Pros: Chose this case for it's compact size and good looks. I do like the back finish. One LED at the front is not too distracting. Installed a Ryzen 2400G with Stealth cooler. The Stealth cooler that comes with the 2400G fits fine, leaving about 1" space between the PSU and cooler. PSU temps are decent at 28-35 degrees C at no load. During Blender testing, my temps sat around 60-72 degrees C. This case will fit regular size PSUs no problem. No need for an SFX compact PSU. For a compact case, it's fairly easy to work in. Ability to add an optical drive if needed. 2 front USB 3.0 ports.

Cons: The room between the PSU and motherboard is too tight for any kind of decent sized CPU fan/heatsink. I had an unused Wraith Spire cooler from a Ryzen 2700 that I built in another PC laying around. Obviously this would offer better cooling than the Stealth. Unfortunately, while the Spire fit, there was only about 1/8" between the top of the cooler and the PSU. No room for air to move, so CPU temps soared. Had no choice but to take that out the Spire and use the Stealth cooler. You will need a modular PSU, as there is not a lot of room for extra cables without impacting cooling.

Overall Review: Do wish the case offered the choice of installing the motherboard at the front or back. That would allow a taller cooler to be used at the front.

Pros: Well built. Solid. Easy access from almost all sides. A lot of room to put your MB in place despite its small size. Room for a full ATX power supply as well as room for multiple 3.5 HDD and 2.5 HDD/SDD although they do hang off the side and top of the case, which for me, was a little strange.

Cons: The case leads for the lights, power and reset buttons are well marked as what they are but they are NOT marked with + - polarization. Not sure if that really matters but for me connecting those to the MB was iffy but luckily I got it right the first time. YAY!

Overall Review: This case is a SMALL case. So know what you are getting into. This was my first computer build in years so I was a little nervous doing this again. So, if you do not like tight spaces, this case is not for you. And, for beginning builders, make sure you put as much together and plug as many things in as possible before installing your power supply. You need to remove the power supply to have room to change out most parts and reconnect leads to the MB for the most part. Not really a con but something to consider.

Pros: Well built and spacious case. Lots of room inside for big hands and full size PSU/GPU Great cooling options if that is a concern. Had plenty of ties downs and screws for various install options. Great cooling options for high power builds.

Cons: The power button is a little hard to see in a dark area, find by feel. I opted to use three 2.5 drives and no DVD, so the build is light to the point that it moves before the power button will depress....third world problem for sure.

Overall Review: I was originally using a Lian Li case for this build but after heat issues opted to pick this up on sale. I was so impressed with the cooling capacity that I went with a bigger proc (i5-4690) and still see low 60C temps on the stock fan under full load.