Cooler Master MasterCase Pro 3 Review

Cooler Master MasterCase Pro 3 Review

Manufacturer: Cooler Master
UK price (as reviewed): £89.99 (inc VAT)
US price (as reviewed): $94.99 (ex tax)

With its classic tower design, a height of over 500mm, and a weight of more than 9kg, you'd be forgiven for thinking the MasterCase Pro 3 was a case designed to accommodate ATX motherboards. It is, however, only capable of containing a micro-ATX system, although the amount of hardware you can get inside it means said system could be a very powerful one. It may not win awards for a space-saving design, then, but there's plenty else going for this Cooler Master chassis.


Build quality, for starters, is strong. Plastic is used on the front and roof, but it feels solid under pressure, and the finish is nice too. The solid steel side panel is pleasingly sturdy, and even the panel sporting the massive window is far stronger than we expected. The blacked-out section of the window is also a nice touch, hiding the cables in the area beneath the PSU cover without the need for additional material. This being a MasterCase chassis, a number of upgrades are available from Cooler Master's online store, one of which is a tempered glass side panel. We were sent a sample of this, and it's definitely a nice upgrade and, thanks to its tint, would be well suited to a build that goes heavy on LEDs. The simple single locking mechanism that holds it in place is also very well thought out. That said, you'd hope it was a quality bit of kit given that it costs 50 Euros.


Back to the MasterCase Pro 3 as it comes, we find an angled front I/O panel making for easy access regardless of whether the case is put on the floor or your desk. The standard suite of connections are all clad in black for a unified aesthetic.


The front of this case has a mesh section that stretches basically its entire height and includes a single optical drive bay cover despite the absence of any optical drive bays. The mesh is pre-fitted with dust filtering material and pulls away easily for cleaning and access to the front fan area.


Similarly, the roof has a large mesh/filter section as well, and again it's easily removable, this time just sliding off towards the back and revealing the removable radiator bracket. Gaps at the front and back of the roof allow you to get a firm hold of the case when transporting it, and a solid roof cover is available from the CM Store if you want full dust protection rather than just a filter.


Cooling is handled by a pair of 140mm fans – one in the front acting as an intake and one rear exhaust. Additional space in the front and roof allows you to install a maximum of five fans for additional airflow. Molex adaptors are provided for both fans in case you don't have suitable headers spare on your motherboard.

The MasterCase Pro 3 has five expansion slots – one more than is needed for micro-ATX support. This is only two less than you'd get with an ATX mid-tower, so the size similarity isn't especially surprising. The potential benefit of this extra slot is the ability to install graphics cards in the bottom slot of your micro-ATX motherboard. Since GPU coolers are nearly always dual-slot, this means you could have an SLI or CrossFire setup with a single-slot gap between the two cards (important for airflow and to help limit throttling) provided your motherboard's PCI-E slots are properly positioned too.


Lastly, a quick look at the bottom of the case reveals that it stands on four thick rubber feet and that the PSU has its own dedicated dust filter which pulls out to the rear – the mechanism here is without issue.

Specifications

• Dimensions (mm) 235 x 467 x 505 (W x D x H)
  
• Material Steel, plastic
  
• Available colours Dark metallic grey
  
• Weight 9.1.kg
  
• Front panel Power, 2 x USB 3.0, stereo, microphone
  
• Drive bays 2 x 3.5in/2.5in, 2 x 2.5in
  
• Form factor(s) Micro-ATX, mini-ITX
  
• Cooling 2 x 140mm/120mm fan mounts (1 x 140mm fan included), 1 x 140mm/120mm rear fan mount (1 x 140mm fan included), 2 x 140mm/120mm roof fan mounts (fans not included)
  
• CPU cooler clearance 190mm
  
• Maximum graphics card length 370mm (258mm with HDD cage)
  
• Extras Removable dust filters, FreeForm modular system