Cooler Master MasterBox MB500 TUF Gaming Edition

Reviews
By Steven Lynch
published

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Benchmarks Results & Conclusion
FSP CMT510
FSP CMT520
Micronics Master M400

For the purposes of comparison, the FSP CMT510 and CMT520, Micronics Master M400, and NZXT 500i make up our comparison group. The cases used for comparison are of similar sizes and feature sets, and all have one (or more) tempered-glass side panels.

The temperatures on our budget quad-core Core i5-7500 processor, running at 3.8GHz, peaked at 39° C over the ambient temperature of 25° C under full load. These results are on par with the FSP CMT510 and the Micronics Master M400, and slightly higher than Cougar's Panzer G chassis. GPU temperatures were impressive as well, leveling off at 49° over the ambient temperature. These results are better than the FSP CMT510 and matched to those of the CMT520. To say thermal performance is impressive would be an understatement.

Considering the fact that this is a chassis with metal-mesh covering the two 120mm intake fans, acoustics were surprisingly good at idle, registering just 33.5dBA. Once the system was under load, the sound level jumped to 36.2dBA. These results put the MB500 TUF smack in the middle of the pack.

We determine acoustic efficiency, also referred to as "cooling-to-noise ratio," by averaging all five of our tests to determine a base value.

Let's face it, you are either going to love Asus' TUF Gaming digital military camouflage styling, or hate it. Thankfully, those who fall into the latter category, you can opt for the vanilla MasterBox MB500 and shave ten bucks off this case's already reasonably $80 price. Those who love the styling will no doubt want to pick up other TUF Gaming Alliance components for an aesthetically cohesive system build.

Overall, ASUS’ TUF Gaming Alliance is a boon for cash-strapped consumers who lack the time, tools and / or skills needed to otherwise build a durable and reliable system with a truly custom look. With these parts, if you can assemble your own system, you'll get an aesthetically consistent PC that easily stands out from big-box crowd, and also has more visual flair than most systems built with off-the-shelf parts.

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Steven Lynch
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4 Comments Comment from the forums
  • almarcy
    I am 71 and I want this new box. My friend's aunts are all dead. None ever got rich off their laptops. Sigh.
    Reply
  • dennphill
    Well, I am 72 (almost 73) and I am still wondering where the optical drive goes. (And, no, I am not also looking for where I inset the floppy dives!) Current case is a nice white Corsair Air240 - truly love the case but it was my biggest mistake listening to all those saying you just don't need an optical drive anymore - and I still judge cases relative to the Corsair cube.
    Reply
  • The Original Ralph
    take a look at the Aerocool DS Cube, for a mid-size case with an external ODD bay as well as a 3.5" external bay http://aerocool.us/ds/ds_white.html I've got one, and love it, excellent design and build execution
    Reply
  • techy1966
    So now the trend is to have TUF and gaming in everything and of coarse lets get lots of lights. Yet another useless case only 2 3.5 bays for hard drives what a pity they got all that room and have no idea how to use it. What is wrong with designers these days? I"t seems like they have next to no clue what they are doing what a waste of college and university courses and time trying to teach them how to do it right I guess there is no creativity left anywhere now days.
    Reply