If you want a very compact PC case that's more classy than blingy, Cooler Master's new NCore 100 Max could be the chassis you've been waiting for. Unveiled at the company's Computex 2023 demo suite, the NCore 100 Max is a mere 6.1 to 6.7 inches (155 to 172mm) thick with a height of just 18.9 inches (481mm) and a width of 8.3 inches (212mm) and yet it can fit an RTX 4090 CPU that's up to 14 inches (357mm) long.
We got a look at the NCore 100 Max and were blown away by the ITX chassis' tiny dimensions and attractive bronze or deep green aluminum shell. There's no wide window here and no RGB lighting at all, but you can see inside the case a bit, thanks to the large pattern of bents that adorn the anodized aluminum panels (one for each side).
| Materials | Steel, Plastic, Aluminum |
| Dimensions | 155 x 212 x 481mm (3 slots) / 172 x 212 x 481mm (4 slots) |
| Motherboard Support | ITX |
| Drive Bays | 1x 2.5-inch |
| I/O Panel | 2x USB 3.0, 1x USB 3.1 Type-C |
| Included PSU | V SFX Gold 850W ATX 3.0 |
| Pre installed Fans | 1x 120mm Silencio 4-pin, 1x 120mm Sickleflow 4-pin PWM |
| Radiator Support | 120mm with 38mm thickness (top mount) |
| Clearances | CPU Fan (47mm), GPU (357 x 180mm) |
The NCore Max 100 comes with a PSU on board in the form of an 850W SFX Gold unit and it has its own custom cooling solution for CPUs built-in with a nice thick radiator and a 2,400 rpm Silencio fan. Cooler Master claims that it has tested the cooler with a 13900K using 250 watts and saw no thermal throttling.
You can fit a GPU that requires either 3 or 4 slots. However, if you use the fourth slot, you do gain about 0.6 inches of thickness.
The tool-less design looks easy to build with, especially since the radiator and PSU come preinstalled. However, you won't have much room for customization and there's room for only a single, 2.5-inch SSD.
There's no word yet on pricing or availability for the NCore 100 Max. However, it looks like when it goes to market, it has the potential to compete with the best PC cases in the compact segment.
