Why you can trust Tom's Hardware Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.
Hardware Installation & Test Configuration
The 5PM includes extra standoffs for actually fully truly real EATX motherboards (not required for those inch-over-ATX things), along with individually packed screws and cable ties.
Front panel cables include a split power LED lead, USB 2.0, USB 3.0, and HD Audio.
There’s even enough room behind the 5PM’s cable cover to install those fake EATX boards, and removing the cable cover reveals additional standoff holes for real EATX boards.
Photographing a case with fans this bright requires either high ambient lighting and short exposure or optimal photographic timing. In other words, I shot this while the system was shutting down to extend the exposure to unlit seconds, thereby obscuring lighting blow-out.
The biggest differences between the 5PM from mean:it and the Cullinan from Rosewill are the types of fan hub, the fan controller style, and the mounting of fans. Rosewill specified its fans to be placed behind the chassis front panel, while mean:it put them between the front of the chassis and the glass outer facia. So, we’ll be including the Rosewill Cullinan in our mean:it 5PM analysis. The Corsair Crystal 460X and Vivo CASE-V08 set the upper and lower budget levels in today’s comparison.
Comparison Cases
Test Configuration
| Drivers & Settings | |
| Chipset | Intel INF 9.4.2.1019 |
| CPU | 4.2GHz (42x 100MHz) @ 1.2V Core |
| Motherboard | Firmware 17.8 (02/10/2015) |
| RAM | XMP CAS 16 Defaults (1.2V) |
| Graphics | Maximum Fan for Thermal Tests | Nvidia GeForce 347.52 |
MORE: Best Cases
MORE: All Case Content
Microsoft preparing Lunar Lake Surface and Surface Pro laptops for 1Q25, says report – new Surface Laptop Studio and an 11-inch Surface also on the horizon
Camouflage eSports monitors launched by JAPANNEXT – but you probably won't see them in stores
Zero-day Windows NTLM hash vulnerability gets patched by third-party — credentials can be hijacked by merely viewing a malicious file in File Explorer
