Cooler Master MasterBox 5t Review

Cooler Master MasterBox 5t Review

Manufacturer: Cooler Master
UK price (as reviewed): MSRP £74.99 (inc VAT)
US price (as reviewed): MSRP TBC (ex tax)

The MasterBox 5t is a new, upgraded edition of the Cooler Master's MasterBox 5. It costs £15 more in return for a host of new features. The 't' stands for Turbo, apparently, and is indicative of these upgrades as well as the new black and red colour scheme. The chassis is geared towards gamers, especially LAN goers, that want a case with an eye-catching design and solid performance. With that in mind, let's see what it offers.

The dual-tone design, whereby the front mesh, roof dust filter and motherboard tray inside are highlighted in red, certainly adds interest to a design that previously was safe but somewhat bland. Whether it works for you or not isn't for us to decide but red and black is a common combination in the gaming world.


Build quality hasn't improved over the MasterBox 5, which is to be expected as this is a small upgrade rather than a total rework. As such, the materials, tooling and most of the panels here are the same as before. The window actually arrived slightly detached from its panel, and the mesh on the front fascia didn't realign properly when replacing it – perhaps signs of a courier having a bad day more than anything else, but still things that aren't especially encouraging.

Instead, extra features are the main draw beyond the new paint job, and on the outside these come as a result of tweaked front and roof sections. The front sports a new solid and glossy section, which is quite the dust and fingerprint magnet, flanked by the two red ventilation sections, making it less porous than the original case which is nearly all mesh here. Thankfully, the vents are pre-fitted with dust filtering material, and the fascia easily pulls away for cleaning and access to the front fan mounts.

You can now install up to three 120mm fans in the front as opposed to two previously, but 140mm models are still limited to two and either way only a single 120mm fan is supplied here, in the lowest position. This is complemented by a rear 120mm exhaust – the same setup as we saw before and fairly standard for a case of this calibre.


Meanwhile, up top a reworked I/O panel gives you the usual buttons and ports but also a little slider to toggle fan speed between a high and low setting. The controller is fairly basic, only being able to control three fans, but is still a welcome addition. The ports are embedded into the top of the case's carry handle; another new feature. This allows for relatively easy and upright case transportation. It's said to support up to 30kg of weight and it certainly feels like it could – it's very secure. There are no sharp edges, so you shouldn't hurt yourself, but there is no padding or rubber to make things extra comfortable. A 140mm/120mm fan mount in the roof is also new and thankfully Cooler Master has seen fit to include an external magnetic dust filter here.

Things are all fairly normal at the back, although you do get a StormGuard PCI-E bracket in the lowest expansion slot, allowing you to weave your peripheral cables through it before locking it in place and giving you an added sense of security whenever you have to nip away from your desk at a LAN event, for example.


Lastly, there are two things of note at the bottom. One is a slide-out dust filter, which functions exactly as you'd expect without issue, and the other is an LED bar at the front giving your case a soft red underglow here. You can rotate this to change the angle of the light too.

Specifications

• Dimensions (mm) 220 x 541 x 514 (W x D x H)
  
• Material Steel, plastic
  
• Available colours Black with red
  
• Weight 7.7kg
  
• Front panel Power, reset, 2 x USB 3.0, stereo, microphone, 2-step fan controller
  
• Drive bays 2 x 3.5in/2.5in, 1 x 2.5in
  
• Form factor(s) ATX, Micro-ATX, mini-ITX
  
• Cooling 2 x 140mm or 3 x 120mm front fan mounts (1 x 120mm fan included), 1 x 120mm rear fan mount (fan included), 1 x 140mm/120mm roof fan mount (fan not included)
  
• CPU cooler clearance 167mm
  
• Maximum graphics card length 410mm
  
• Extras Removable dust filters, fan controller, rotatable front LED lighting, carry handle