Gadgetory

hey this is Dimitri with Haruka Knox and welcome to another video review so as we continue to explore the world of mini ITX and closures it is becoming more clear that people want to go towards that form factor to save space but most importantly the potential for enthusiasts great gaming systems without compromise coolermaster has been very impressive with their n series the tries to merge functionality with space efficiency so today we're taking a look at their elite lineup that takes a stab at small form factor enclosures with that exact same focus the elite 130 is the latest addition that rings in at just $50 that makes this an extremely competitive enclosure with a pretty small footprint as well both left and right side panels are ventilated unfortunately without a dust filter while the top where your power supply will intake cool air has an integrated mesh at the back we can see a power supply bracket which is an awesome addition for compatibility with longer power supplies and standard ITX seen here with two PCI slots the front of the case we have an optical drive slot 2 USB 3 in the audio jacks along with PR buttons and a single USB 2.0 jack on the right side the panel is removable with that brushed aluminum plastic that looks quite elegant plus an integrated dust filter is there now I don't know why they didn't use the same for the top or the sides a 120mm fan intake is included but I'd recommend swapping it for something more powerful for better cooling at the bottom we find small case feet for stability and a few mounting holes for the drives removing the case cover and taking a closer look at the dust filter it is removable for cleaning but I do question the effectiveness of it considering how large the openings are and I really wish cooler master took dust proofing more seriously especially on the sides for your graphics card intake now one thing to mention is how compact and sturdy this 130 is without panel there is absolutely no flex no cringing metal sound so the steel frame is perfectly robust now given the form factor cooling is usually a big challenge so we have a single front intake and aside eighty millimeter fan that sits on the bracket and set for intake and you can rotate it for exhaust or remove it if needed the bracket on the left is actually meant for drives but it will support a 120mm fan in case you'd want to utilize that and now the challenge within these compact spaces is storage the optical drive cage incorporates two and a half and three and a half drive mounts just in case you don't care for the optical drive it utilizes a rubber grommet system for mounting on each side of the drive and corresponding holes to secure drives in place it also supports a single mechanical drive with the same mounting and also a hidden SSD placement at the bottom of the optical slot so that's very considerate the drive bracket on the side of the case can utilize either an SSD or a three and a half inch drive again using the same rubber grommet system and we also have more drive placement on the floor so drive capacity in this case is pretty great now with the three and a half inch drive installed at the bottom it does not interfere with your graphics card so there is no compatibility issues however connecting all the SATA cables to the bottom there was quite difficult considering how close it is to the side drive bracket and starting with the assembly the power supply bracket is an excellent feature but because it is mounted on top of your motherboard motherboard goes first on our unit one of the whole stuff where the standoffs didn't have any thread so I couldn't mount the standoff into the case instead I secured it to the motherboard so it doesn't bend at the corner and this is actually quite common occurence based on other user experience so I would love to see a tighter quality control and starting with the initial cable work the side fan bracket may become of an issue depending on the motherboard layout and an opening on the left side of the bracket would allow cleaner routing as otherwise it's just on the way there isn't much for cable management some cable tie mounts at the bottom and so you will have to maneuver your cables away from your front intake now I'm very impressed with GPU compatibility as 12 inch cards are supported no problem so this certainly has gaming potential because the power supply placement CPU coolers are limited to three inches but this really is meant for or 120-millimeter all-in-one water coolers to be mounted at the front and while there is that slight cable mess you can tuck everything to the side leaving a pretty clear airflow tunnel for the internals and getting our GPU installed and the system has a lot of potential for a mobile and machine or steam box I had some trouble fitting the power cables because the graphics card is taller than standard but I managed to make it work I initially wanted to remove the optical drive but realized it is riveted at the front so that's something to keep in mind and with the system assembled the Elite 130 is an impressive little case that was straightforward to work in and fits the criteria for a performance mini ITX enclosure with no power supply or graphics card restrictions it has pretty decent drive capacity while utilizing an optical drive to its full potential plus the just $50.00 this is almost a no-brainer considering competing cases go for almost twice the price however I would like to see more emphasis on dust proofing the enclosure not just in the front but on the sides and the proper dust filter for the top also a modified side fan bracket for cleaning cable management would be appreciated but still the elite 130 is a strong candidate within the rest of offerings that doesn't sacrifice functionality and really focus on enthusiast potential and deserves damn good value a word now I still think we need to see more emphasis on space efficiency and internal layout so I'm really excited to see what Coolermaster will bring out next now between the elite 130 Corsair 250 d the note 3 or 4 from fractal and beat phoenix prodigy or phenom what is your favorite case and why as always leave your comments down below don't forget to subscribe and we'll see you guys in the next one