Cooler Master’s MasterCase 5 was one of the my favorite cases that I reviewed last year. I awarded it a perfect 10 out of 10 score and our Editor’s Choice Award. I liked the case so much that I made it a the base case that we use for CPU cooler reviews. Cooler Master has really reinvented themselves with their MasterCase Series of cases and today they are launching the MasterCase Pro 3 case. This case is very much like the MasterCase Pro 5, but smaller only supporting MicroATX motherboards. The case still will feature that solid design we know the MasterCase Series for, the FreeForm modular system which makes relocating parts and upgrading easy, removable radiator brackets, SSD mounts, and much more. Let’s take a look at what Cooler Master’s latest case has to offer.
Special thanks to Cooler Master for providing us with the MasterCase Pro 3 Case to review.
Packaging
The MasterCase Pro 3 comes in a very nice retail box from Cooler Master. The front of the box shows a couple shots of the case and tells us about the FreeForm modular system.
Flipping the box over to the back there is an exploded view of the case showing off all the parts. There is also more information on the FreeForm modular system and the features are listed in quite a few different languages.
Opening the box up we find our accessories and users guide inside on top of the large Styrofoam that protects the case. The case actually comes very well protected, better than most cases that come our way. As far as accessories go you have all of your mounting hardware, cable ties, and two molex to 3-pin power adapters.
First Look at the MasterCase Pro 3
The MasterCase Pro 3 is almost identical to the MasterCase Pro 5, except it is a bit smaller. The official dimensions of the case are 467x 235 x 505 mm and it weighs in at 23.6 lbs being made mostly of SECC steel and plastic. One thing I’ve noticed about the MasterCase Series cases is the steel is thicker and seems better quality than most cases. The MasterCase is currently only available in the Dark Metallic Grey color.
Starting at the front of the case, towards the top you will find all of your connections and buttons. You have a centrally-located power button, smaller reset button, two USB 3.0 ports, HD audio connections, and a small hard drive activity LED.
The rest of the front of the case is all mesh, which allows for great airflow. This mesh section is very easy to remove, just pull up on it from the bottom and it will pop off. This allows you to easily clean it and do any maintenance on the fans you have installed in the front of the case. Cooler Master includes a 140 mm intake fan with this case, and you can fit a second one if you want. The front of the case also has support for water cooling radiators up to 280 mm. Both the top and front of the case has removable radiator mounts, which make it easy to install radiators or fans outside of the case.
The top of the case is very functional in that you can have your system be more silent or open it up for better cooling. By default you have a top panel with a cover on it. But you can easily remove the cover to reveal a mesh filter.
You can actually remove the top part of the case. You do this by sliding it back off of the case. This reveals the same radiator mount in the front of the case, which supports water cooling radiators up to 240 mm or two 140 mm fans. You can see that the radiator mount is held into place by thumbscrews so it is easy to remove. We can also see the handles on the top of the case a actually steel not plastic.
The MasterCase Pro 3 features a large side panel window that will allow you to show off all of your hardware. On thing that is interesting about the side panel window is that that bottom part where your power supply will be, there is actually a black piece that goes across. This gives the illusion that there is actually a full power supply cover in the case. This section of the side panel window can be remove if you don’t want to use it.
Moving around to the back of the case we can see that each side panel is held in place with thumbscrews, this will make getting inside the case easy. Towards the top of the case we have the second fan that is included with the case which is another 140 mm fan. The rear of the case will support a 120 mm fan if you wanted to swap the 140 mm out. Moving down we have our expansion slots and power supply mount at the bottom. There is a removable fan filter that slides out from the bottom of the case.
The bottom of the case has two large feet that will lift the case off the ground to provide good airflow for your power supply. The two large feet are metal and have rubber on the bottom so your system stays in place.
A Look Inside
Getting the main side panel off the case is really easy. Cooler Master has designed the panels to easily come off and be put back on. With the panel removed we can see that the interior of the case is divided into two main compartments. You can however completely remove this separator to make room for large graphics cards and other hardware.
Starting with the top part of the case you can see that we have room for motherboards up to microATX. There is a very large CPU cutout that will allow you to install aftermarket CPU coolers without having to remove your motherboard from the case. On the motherboard tray you have five cable routing holes, the two larger ones have rubber inserts installed to protect your cables. Towards the front of the new and improved click and click panel. The panel can now be completely removed and adjusted (moved over) to make room for larger radiators, extra drive cages, fan brackets and more.
Taking a look at the top fan mounts you can see there is actually an opening at the front so you if you have the top closed up air will still be able to circulate.
On the case separator there are two solid state drive mounts. These are easily removed with a single thumbscrew for out-of-case installation of your drives. There is also another large cable routing hole here, which should be perfect for routing your PCI-Express power cables.
At the bottom part of the case towards the front you have a single hard drive cage. This cage has two trays, which support both 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch hard drives. The entire hard drive cage can be removed from the case or you can move it up into the top part of the case easily. At the bottom you will also find your power supply mount, which elevates your power supply off the bottom of the case a little for optimal airflow.
Removing the back side panel from the case we can see that Cooler Master has installed nice Velcro cable ties in the case to help with cable management. As far as space behind the motherboard tray you have just under an inch of space between the motherboard tray and rear panel.
Installation
Getting your hardware installed in the MasterCase Pro 3 is quite easy. There is quite a lot of room inside to work with and the FreeForm modular system makes things simple and straight forward. Check out our installation time-lapse below.
A few things to note about installation. When you are installing your solid state drives in the center of the case you are going to want to connect your power and SATA cables to them first. If you wait till you install them inside the case it is going to be a pain to connect everything up.
If you route your EPS connector through the center cable routing hole you should be able to bring it down through the center of the case using the included Velcro straps. As you can see we have an extremely clean cable routing job here.
When your build is completed you can see on the main side of the case we have a very clean build as well, with lots of room to upgrade our system over time. With the side panel window we are able to show off our build, but I would suggest getting some RGB LED strips to really set off the inside of the case.
Final Thoughts
As I said at the beginning of this review Cooler Master has reinvented themselves with their MasterCase Series and that still definitely holds true with the MasterCase Pro 3. With the MasterCase Series Cooler Master wanted to create a quality product that was easy to build in, fit the latest hardware, and was ready for upgrades as needed. All of the cases in the MasterCase series fit this description and I really like what Cooler Master is doing here.
One of the biggest things I have to say about this case, just like the MasterCase 5 is the quality is some of the best that I’ve seen. The SECC used seems better quality and thicker than we see on most cases. All of the parts, even down to the thumbscrews seem to be better quality. The handles where you pick up the case are reinforced with steel, so even with a full system you should have no problem picking up your case this way.
The next thing is function. This is one of the easiest cases I’ve built in this year. It is just so simple and I really did not run into any issues. The SSD trays and hard drive trays are completely removable so you can install your drives outside of the case. The front and top have fan / radiator mounts that are also completely removable. You can move the hard drive cage up or even add more cages if you want. The case separator / power supply cover can be completely removed from the case to make room for larger graphics cards or water cooling gear. Cooler Master really has thought of everything with this case to make it as easy as they can for you the builder.
As far as cooling goes the case comes stock with two fans (1x 140 mm front, 1x 140 mm rear), but you can add up to three more 120 / 140 mm fans. As far as water cooling support goes the front of the case can support up to 280 mm radiators and the top can support up to 240 mm radiators. If you wanted to remove the rear fan the back of the case can fit a 140 mm radiator as well. The case has more than enough room inside for large graphics cards, tall CPU coolers, and full-size power supplies.
The MasterCase Pro 3 will be available September 6th at our favorite online retailer for $99. This is one of the most “solid” cases that I’ve reviewed this year. I mean that as far as quality and function. With that said I would like to award the Cooler Master MasterCase Pro 3 Case a 10 out of 10 score and our Editor’s Choice Award!
Pros:
– Some of the best quality we’ve seen in a case
– Easy installation
– Great cable management
– Supports large graphics cards, tall CPU coolers, and full-size PSUs
– Easily up-gradable
Cons:
– None that I found