External Overview
From Cooler Master:
“The Elite 430 Black was designed all-black interior coating with its main purpose in mind as such there’s plenty space for large graphics cards, no matter your brand preference. The Elite 430 Black also features plenty of cooling options and a well ventilated front mesh design to keep even the hottest system nice and cool.”
The Cooler Master Elite 430 supports many features people look for in a “gaming” case: black (inside and out), blue LED fans, side panel window, large VGA card support, bottom mounted power supply and CPU cooler cutout. All of these features are jam packed into a relatively small and extremely light (10lb) case.
A front view of the case reveals five external bays, three 5.25” and two 3.5”. On either side of the 3.5” mesh drive bays are the power/reset buttons and HDD/power LEDs. The words Cooler Master in small text reside above a fan grill built into the front bezel.
Above the three 5.25” drive bays are the easy access ports which include two USB, mic/audio jacks and small cutout which a Firewire port could be added.
Two 120mm fan grills reside towards the back of the top of the case; fans are not included.
The side panel houses an acrylic window which covers up about half of the panel. Two of the corners are cutoff at an angle to give the window a little more shape. A grate is cut into the side panel for installation of a 120mm fan.
The rear of the case also has an all black finish to it with all of the necessary rear panel features: motherboard I/O slot, fan grill, expansion slots, bottom mounted PSU, and water-cooling cutouts. Two thumbscrews secure each panel to the case.
