MSI has quietly started to sell its MAG Pano M100R PZ cases, with retail listings now live in Taiwan. EXPReview also spotted the black and white (option) cases with fish tank wraparound transparent style and back plug motherboard support for sale in China, at JD.com. Looking at the overseas prices, US customers should expect to pay about $100 for these new PC cases.
Cases using the fish tank style are also sometimes referred to as '270-degree glass window' style cases, and appear to be a trending design. MSI’s promo images make it easy to understand the appeal of such a case, packed with suitably color-coordinated components (see top image). The MSI MAG Pano M100R PZ is available in black or white, and to get you started MSI has kitted out both with four ARGB fans and a controller.
Looks aren’t everything, and under the skin the MAG Pano M100R PZ cases have some worthwhile practical touches. Probably the most important design feature here is hinted at in the name – ‘PZ’. Yes, this is a Project Zero case, and it is compatible with back-plug motherboards from MSI and other brands. These motherboards facilitate easy clean builds, with all the messy cabling easy to hide behind the motherboard tray.
The specs say that the case offers support for “M-ATX (Back-connect supported) / ITX.” People interested in full-size ATX builds with backplug or not will have to look elsewhere. Whatever kind of motherboard you put in, MSI has left 33mm of cable management space behind the tray to hide the wiring.
The next modern key spec we want to draw attention to is the graphics card support as standard. This system can fit up to 390mm graphics cards, and we are now more sure than ever that preventing GPU sag is extremely important. So many of the best graphics cards are both bulky and heavy.
Other things about the MSI MAG Pano M100R PZ case we’d like to highlight include the included four ARGB fans (3 front, 1 back) and fan controller, plus an easy access USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C connector among the front I/O section.
This is a pretty roomy case for Micro-ATX at 440 x 235 x 405mm / 17.32 x 9.25 x 15.94 inches, so the decent max compatibility figures aren’t a surprise. Full specs can be seen in the datasheet below.
MSI distributors are selling this case in Taiwan now at TWD$3,190 (white) and TWD$2,990 (black), which is about USD$100. We don’t have launch details or pricing for Western markets at the time of writing.
The trend for making desktop PC cases more like fish tanks has been noted previously. At Computex earlier in the year, we saw Lian Li dipping its toes in this design, Hyte might be one of the leaders of this trend, and MSI also showed off a MAG Vampiric Project Zero with a 270-degree panoramic glass window – alongside its suitably equipped motherboards.
A few weeks ago we were the guests of Cooler Master and were told by product managers there that fish tank cases are a growth trend they see for 2024, in addition to new cases being compatible with back plug motherboards. It looks like MSI has got in early with its MAG Pano M100R PZ case release.
