Gadgetory

the half series from Coolermaster has always received recognition when it comes to great airflow without compromise the branding truly stands behind its purpose and with quality and practical chassis so cool master is further expanding this popular line of half series cases with the introduction of this cube ATX case the half XB it's ringing in at $99 which would make it an appealing choice for mobile gamers now this rather unconventional size redefines what we are so accustomed to and this cube design has many benefits of Portability and features so let's take a look of this new case lives up to the great reputation of the half series now the exterior still maintains this industrial look with the usual integration of plastic and steel for construction now cool master is also releasing windows side panels for this case for those wanting to show off your internals and they will be sold separately and starting off with the front panel we have the main airflow intake that's crucial for cooling your internals the mesh includes a built-in dust filter and behind we have dual 120 millimeter fans and support for 140 mm fans as well now the front panel connectors include the power and reset buttons your audio ports and 2 USB 3 ports at the front we also have two hot swap trays that support both 2.5 and 3.5 inch drives and the tray itself is something unique and we haven't seen before as it is extendable so you don't have to bend the tray once putting in the drive now the system is actually quite clever and allows for the trays to be a lot sturdier and lastly we have two five and a quarter inch bays that are included with removable covers now the sides are identical and have plenty of venting holes and we also get these handles that make transporting the half XP really convenient and the top is designed for fan placement without interference with your CPU cooler however only the 200 millimeter fan is supported it would be nice for them to include the top fan along with different fan mounting options for example like your standard 120 or 140 millimeter fans at the bottom we have large case feet along with venting holes for your lower of the chassis and in the back we have an exhaust fan io area seven PCI slots a power supply bracket and 280 millimeter fan mounting options and more ventilation holes and potential water cooling cutouts and of course an external removable dust filter for your power supply sort of a standard for this chassis market now assembling the case does require a specific workflow first removing all the panels that are secured with thumb screws we get the cube skeleton now the chassis is divided into several sections to maximize the use of space in an efficient manner we have the top portion that houses your main components where the two front fans as your main cooling component while the bottom house is your power supply and all of your drives at the bottom we have two optical drives with two lists mounting the 2.5 inch drive cage supporting up to 4 SSDs and Coolermaster includes these single brackets that are first attached to the drive again no screws required which makes things a lot easier to mount so the two optional 80ml rear fans would probably be installed as intake fans to keep the downstairs fresh now on the other side the power supply is slightly raised in a platform that is covered in anti vibration foam and thanks to the bracket the users with longer power supplies are being considered we have about 190 millimetres of clearance and not only that but having that extra room as you wire your build will prevent you from kicking your cat in frustration and after installing our 1000 watt power supply we still had six centimeters of clearance and also having those hot-swap connections right in the front of the power supply it is another benefit for that additional space now you probably know a certain individual who would be ecstatic about the removable motherboard trays and that's exactly what we have here this makes assembly a lot simpler both with motherboard and cooler mount along with setting up all your wiring for the drives at the bottom now the trade has a fairly large CPU cut out along with a single cable cut out at the bottom that would help routing those front panel connections and to further a twith cable management the entire bottom of the case is covered with key technologies along with more notches on each side bar so a great commitment from Kula master on cable management and by keeping all the cable mess at the bottom compartment you minimize resistance on air flow now before installing the motherboard tray prepare your 824 and PCI Express cables to be routed into the top compartment and after everything is in place you get a clean looking build graphics cards in length of 12.5 inches are supported and will anything up to 10.5 inches you still have clearance for a potential dual radiator now CPU coolers up to 180 millimeters are supported and clearance will vary based on the fan configuration for the top panel and once everything is put together you do appreciate the hassle-free assembly and those two hot swappable trays do come in handy without the need to mess around with wiring and in case you need to replace any of the 2.5 inch drives on the side there's enough room for your hand to fit and deal with the connections so the new 1/2 X B is sort of a unique number it acts as an enthusiast enclosure with all the great features that we love including easy portability great build quality remove a motherboard tray and included power supply bracket that simplifies the assembly process we also have two hot swap base with a clever bracket great cable management that requires a specific build sequence to it and we have enthusiast hardware support along with passive airflow that directly cools your main components and lastly cooler master has always been an excellent competitor and with a release price of $99 it's a sweet spot for the half XP now the only thing I wish coolermaster would have done differently is perhaps that include 200 millimeter fan for the top and additional mounting options for the fans so the half XP serves as a great case and is well designed for what it is not everyone will find the size or shape functional but that is left for you to decide if you are in the market for feature-packed mobile-ready gaming system the half XP is an excellent option and we're giving in the hardware canucks damn good a word so I hope you guys enjoyed the view and we'll see you in the next one