Cooler Master Elite 330

[Computer-Ed]

While the focus on cases tends to go to the higher end enclosures, the truth is most of us are not able to get review samples or afford to spend a lot of money on the case. In fact in the real world when we build a PC we must make compromises to keep the cost of the system down and the case is one of the areas that is most compromised. At just $40 from Newegg, the Cooler Master Elite 330 is right in line with what most of us would consider a good price for a computer case.

The Elite 330 has a pleasant appearance and lists some excellent features:

-Tool-Free mechanical design for quick assembly and maintenance

-Meshed front panel design provides the superior airflow and maximum cooling performance

-Built-in washable front air filter

-120mm fans in the front and rear to give your PC the best ventilation while maintain silent cooling solution

-Solid construction makes the chassis durable and sturdy

The case does not come with a PSU but at this cost any PSU included would not be of a quality most would want.

The Elite 330 is a typical mid-tower design in size and offers good bay selection, 4 5.25" bays as well as 5 HD bays and 1 3.5" bay. A second 3.5" bay is taken up with the front IO panel.

Speaking of the front, the entire front of the case is covered with a metal screen material allowing for excellent front air flow. The side of the case offers the thermal advantage CPU vent system that is standard now on many cases, the rear has the opening for the 120mm exhaust fan and the PSU is top mount.

Okay enough of the outside for now, lets open this puppy up.

The case does offer toolless setup and I typically would ding a case for this, I have yet to find a tooless I really liked, until now.

The drive mounting system is a two pin system with a center locking device. The way this works is you turn the lock so it is vertical and pull the locking device out of the case. Insert the drive and then put the two pins on the lock into the screw holes. Turn the lock to horizontal and that's it, the drive is locked in nice and tight. It really was hassle free.

The card rail system however did not leave me with the warm fuzzies that I got from the drive mounting. Basically the bar lifts and you mount your cards. The system worked okay but I would not trust it in transit like I do the trusty old screw system.

As stated in the features this case comes with a full mesh front to improve air flow, the features list a washable filter. Have you ever seen those Carfax commercials where they are listing a car and they word the listing to hide the flaws? Well obviously the folks at Cooler Master have, they might have helped write them. The grill front has a foam like material behind it that is the air filter they mention, it is indeed washable, however removing it is a CHORE. Now I do not mean difficult, I mean HARD WORK.

Essentially you have to bend up the tabs that hold the grill work to the frame of the case and then remove the filter in the case of the bay covers. In the case of the front panel you have to remove the panel, lift the tabs and the remove the grill to pull the filter out and PRAY you do not tear it. To say this is a serious design flaw is an understatement.

First we have the issue that you do not have one or two filters to clean but a total of potential 6 or 7. Next the grill work is made of very cheap metal and the bending of the tabs will cause them to break, TRUST ME. On the two lower sections of the front panel things get worse as putting the sections back in is not as easy as you might think since the tabs do not bend straight.

Now in case you did not read between the lines the solid construction feature is another one of those Carfax wordings. In fairness to Cooler Master the actual case itself is about as sturdy as most in this price range. That means do not put any weight on it but it will hold up to typical use okay. Putting in the I/O plate on the back is a test I use for the level of construction, if the frame gives from the pushing I consider the structure a bit weak. I have to apply equal pressure to the frame as I put in the shield to ensure the frame did not bend.

The case does come with one low speed, generic 120mm fan in the back and there is a place to mount an 80/92/120 in the front. I like seeing the setup done to accommodate the full size range. This adds to the fact that the drive bay is inline thus you can keep your drives cool and have solid air flow. The CPU vent begs for the use of a top down cooler such as the Thermaltake VX. The side window vent for the GPU cooling is large and will accommodate a 80mm fan if you wanted to add one. (Possibly a 92 mm as well) While it is not designed to do this, it is large enough you could use the vent holes for mounting if you really needed the extra cooling.

Considering some of my comments you might think I will be really ragging on this case, you would be wrong. I just built a media server for a friend using this case to keep his cost down. We chose it because of the Cooler Master name and the look has the simple elegance I love in cases for move visibile locations. The large HD mounting area meant we could mount is two 500 gig drives with a lot of room between them for good air flow. We put a SilenX 120 fan in the front and the drives run nice and cool. The CPU vent works perfect with his stock Intel cooler on his Core2 and the case does have excellent air flow.

For all the hassles I had with the case I would say if you know the issues before going in this is a solid low cost case. The cooling to me is a big deal, many budget cases only have fair cooling at best, this one does a great job. The case does look nice and offers a fair amount of room to work in. I will suggest the first thing you do is REMOVE the filter material. Try to do it without removing the grill work if you can. The filter will work well, I have no doubt of that but it will quickly clog the front of the case.

I guess you could remove the entire front and wash it out, there is no electronics in the front grill. But that would mean removing the front from your case for a few hours to let the front dry out before putting it back on. I have not had the case long enough to test but I except to find that the front grill will work as it does in the Nine Hundred and be a pseudo filter than can be wiped off.

If you are looking for a budget case and are willing to take the time to deal with the filter, this is a good case for the money.

All pictures are taken from the Cooler Master web site.

[[Dr. V]]

Very nice review m8.

[stinger608]

That was great Ed!!!!



As a matter of fact, I have a customer looking to build a mild system for one of his children, and this should work out to be a low cost solution for him

Thanks for the heads up on this case Ed

[Yellowhello]

Very nice review, Ed. Might consider it for a budget build.

[garetjax]

The PCI card locking system used on this enclosure is the same one that is used on the Enermax Uber Chakra case I reviewed earlier this month. Suffice to say, I am not too crazy with this kind of mechanism to hold cards in. Regardless, it's still a nice looking, well-priced box for those looking for budget builds. Thanks for the review, Ed.

[Computer-Ed]

Thanks for the kind words guys. The only really serious flaw for me in the whole case was that silly filter system. That however can be fixed.

[Hitman]

Why didn't you use your own pictures of the case? Anyone can go on the CM website and look at the stock pictures. To me Pictures are the most important part of the review. Most people don't even read the article, they just look at the pictures to see if it has the features they want. I would like to see detailed pictures of that case I can't find anywhere else. Remember the old saying a Picture is worth a 1000 words, this rings true these days with so many people buying parts on the internet, the first time they lay eyes on the product is when UPS Santa drops it off at their door. Give the reader a view of the case they can't get anywhere else. You could write a Pulitzer Prize winning article, but if you're pictures suck it doesn't really matter what you write. Pictures are what makes the article.

[Computer-Ed]

right now it is because my digital camera is with my daughter ata retreat and will not be back for another 2 weeks ..

[Hitman]

Originally Posted by Computer-Ed

right now it is because my digital camera is with my daughter ata retreat and will not be back for another 2 weeks ..

Just my 2 cents.