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MASTERBOX PRO 5 ARGB
Build a PC with confidence and imagination using the MasterBox Pro 5 ARGB. Its roomy interior supports up to E-ATX motherboard and makes for easy cable management. Three pre-installed ARGB fans provide beautiful lighting effects, which emit through the DarkMirror front panel stunningly.
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DARKMIRROR FRONT PANEL
The sharpened contrast of illuminated components becomes enriched through the DarkMirror front panel for a picturesque display from any angle.
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TEMPERED GLASS SIDE PANEL
Gaming hardware, cooling components, and the pure pride of the builder is shown in panoramic view through an edge-to-edge tempered glass side panel.
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ARGB LIGHTING SYSTEM
Three pre-installed ARGB fans can be managed by either the motherboard or an included controller, connected by the included splitter, to create a comprehensive ARGB lighting system.
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ARGB CONTROLLER
The small ARGB Controller is a mini-sized controller that allows your Addressable RGB such as fans and LED strips to be powered and controlled even in PC systems without an ARGB capable motherboard.
The controller comes with 14 lighting presets to make full use of the Addressable LEDs in the system and also allows to be completely switched off by long pressing its button.
It is also possible to attach any external 2-pin button to it to enables users to switch presets without having to open the system. For ease of use, Cooler Master allows the RESET button to be optionally connected to the controller and used as an external ARGB preset switch button.
Pros: - Front panel features full mesh with vented sides. This alone is a breath of fresh air (no pun intended) to see in ANY case nowadays since case manufacturers seem to be stubborn about closing off most of the front side and choking off air flow for the sake of looks. This case shows that you can have a case that looks good without compromising air flow, and Cooler Master deserves respect for showing some much needed common sense here. - Includes PSU shroud that has cutouts for cable routing and one near the front to allow radiators up to 360mm in length to be installed. I measured 75mm of clearance between the cutout and the fan mounts, so thick radiators like the 60mm ones are supported for push-only or about 45mm thick for push-pull setups; any thicker and there either won't be enough space or it will be a very tight fit. - Includes tempered glass side panel in which the bottom has a hinge that grabs the bottom side of the case and only needs 2 thumbscrews to hold it in place, both of which are captive and allow for easy removal. Very nice that it's included at this price point! - Plenty of space to work with in the main area for either AIO or custom water loops as well as for larger CPU heatsinks, including the Dark Rock Pro 4 from be quiet! (able to fit with about 2mm to spare). The same holds true for larger graphics cards. - Backside behind the motherboard tray has about 3/4" of clearance which is plenty for cable routing in most builds. - Lots of cable tie points in the back to assist with cable management. - Includes magnetic dust filter on the top which is easily removable. - Top fan mounts are offset towards the left to help minimize clearance issues with the motherboard. Supported fan sizes are either 120mm or 140mm. 240mm radiators are specifically supported, but it looks like there's just enough space to squeeze in a 280mm radiator as well (NOTE: I have not confirmed this). - 4 fans are included, 3 of which are RGB (12v type) and they all run silent. They also come pre-connected to a 3-way RGB splitter and can hook up to either a 12v RGB header on the motherboard or a SATA-powered RGB controller that's included with the case. - The 3.5" drive cage uses trays that have a latch that, when opened, stretch just enough to insert a hard drive and can then be snapped into place. Very simple and effective tool-less design. - Includes mounting points for up to 4 2.5" drives (2 on top of the PSU shroud and 2 behind the motherboard tray). Note that only 1 SSD mounting tray is included for the top of the shroud, however. - Small thumbscrews are included for the 2 SSD mounts behind the motherboard tray that work by simply screwing them into the drive and then inserting them into designated rubber standoffs, allowing for simple drive swaps without the need for a tray. Unusual design choice but one that's very clever and effective that I would like to see used in other cases.
Cons: - There are clearance issues in the basement area when mounting the PSU, so take note when putting in a larger unit. This is made worse by both the PSU shroud and HDD drive cage being riveted into place and thus not easily removed. If you're using a modular PSU, make sure you have all the cables you'll need connected into the PSU beforehand. - The fans running quiet come at the expense of barely pushing any air, even at full speed. Based on what I could find for the specs for the front RGB fans, the rated air flow is in the low 40's (CFM of 42.7 +/- 10%); the rear non-RGB fan seems to have the same air flow. For reference, I compared these with cheap Rosewill fans that came with some old cases that I have, and I could definitely notice a difference. They also have a faint buzzing noise that I haven't heard in other fans, even cheap ones. - The RGB implementation for the front fans is just awful. They each show a pale or otherwise inaccurate version of whatever color you set for them, thus clashing with any other RGB components within your build. It looks especially bad when set to white. You can very clearly see the RGB colors being mixed poorly which makes the lighting look like colorful vomit. This combined with poor air flow diminishes the value proposition this case would otherwise have. - The back cover panel is the slide-in type that has to be level on the top and bottom sides when inserting it back into place. This means your cable management can't have any serious bulges, or else putting the panel back on will be a chore. - No cable grommets included, making hiding cable clutter more challenging. - The motherboard stand-off screws are NOT pre-installed for this case. Not a big deal since a tool is included to address it, but it's still tedious enough that it's better for it to be avoided whenever possible. - The top dust filter tends to move out of place very easily whenever touching it, usually when inserting or removing the side panels or whenever the case itself is moved around. Not too big a deal, but it can get annoying after a while during troubleshooting. - Only 2 USB ports on the front panel. An additional 2 ports that are USB 2.0 would've been nice for peripherals that don't need a lot of bandwidth such as gamepads while having the 3.0 ones hooked up to storage devices.
Overall Review: The front RGB fans are my biggest gripe with this case. There's no point to it if the lighting looks bad enough to not want to use them. This combined with poor performance means spending more money to replace them with proper fans, thus diminishing the value proposition enough that you may as well spend more money on a better case. It's still worth getting whenever it's on sale ($60 or less), but not at its current MSRP ($70). Otherwise, there are better options at that price point, specifically the Phanteks P350X which comes with features that this case lacks, such as Velcro cable ties and RGB light strips that are the 5v addressable kind and work as intended. Even so, I would recommend that case over this one since it tends to go on sale for $60 as well. I got this one mainly because the other one was sold out at the time. However, this case still has features missing in the P350X such as the front panel having a proper mesh and a cutout in the PSU shroud that allows for radiators up to 360mm long to be installed. I know my criticism seems (or is) excessive for a budget case (I can only expect so much), but keep in mind that there's still plenty of competition even at this price point, specifically against the P350X. Plus, including RGB fans makes for a good selling point but not when they aren't good enough to justify it. Despite my criticism, this is still a solid case for it's price. It's just that the execution needs work, and I would love to see a future revision that properly addresses the issues I covered while keeping the ones that work. Here's to hoping that Cooler Master takes heed and does so without throwing the baby out with the bath water. NOTE: Another review mentioned "cannot mount GPU radiator to bottom fan" which I take issue with because my build using this case has an R9 Fury X with its radiator mounted at that very spot in push-pull (also did not specify the radiator's thickness; for reference, the stock Fury X's radiator is about 40mm thick). Note that the fan mounts for the bottom fan use 2-piece plastic pegs instead of screws. You remove them by poking the middle to push out the top piece and then the 2nd piece afterwards. The front RGB fans included with this case appear to be the 3-pin version of this model: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16835103235