Cooler Master Elite 130 Computer Case 'Mini-ITX, USB 3.0, Mesh Side Panel' RC-130-KKN1

I'll be honest. At one point I was going to send this case back. Not that I didn't like the case as it was exactly the sort of thing I was looking for. Small, compact and surprisingly roomy (although space not used to the best, me thinks).No, the reason being I couldn't get all of my components in *neatly*. Cabling is a nightmare.Anyway, I wanted to do a Mini ITX build consisting of an i7 (stock cooled), a 64Gb SSD and two 2Tb mechanical hard drives to replace my current ATX i5 second gen.When the case arrived, I did a dummy build using the SSD and PSU - and two old hard drives and the SSD - before ordering the motherboard and CPU.This was to see how elegant (or not) the cabling would be within relatively small confines.My thinking was, if the build wasn't practical, I'd send the case back and get a bigger one. I didn't want to do this as I desired a *small* unit - otherwise I may as well have stuck with my current set up and simply replaced a few components.Although the PSU was modular, I still ended up using all of the cables so a bit of a waste of time, really. If you are simply going to have a single drive and/or an SSD then use modular. Otherwise you may as well get a normal PSU. The two built-in fans use the old 4-pin molex type connectors which is a shame as they have a smaller connection on them which then goes into the molex making the wiring messy. Remember there are two of these sets of wires. I guess this is the way it has to be as there are no power supplies for the smaller types.The first build issue I found was the SSD. The best place for this is under the optical bay where there are some mounting points. However, if you place the SSD the correct way, the screws will not go into the SSD. It's as if the holes are slightly off-centre. I don't know if this is a fault with the case or the SSD. You could simply use tape or a cable tie or, as I did, place it upside down. This means that you have to invert the cables into the SSD. Not necessarily a problem - but since the main hard drive sits on the floor below the optical drive - the power cable won't quite reach as you have to twist it. The other hard drive sits vertically on the side wall so I ended up using two power cables when one could have sufficed.What this meant was that it was impossible to get cabling neat. A shame as adding a proper hard drive cage under the optical drive would have been ideal. Perhaps airflow was a problem if they did this?Anyway, when you do the build proper, cables are everywhere and cable clutter is almost inevitable unless your build is simple.The other issue for you overclockers out there is that you can't use a large CPU fan. The CPU sits right under the PSU and there simply isn't enough room. Mind you, there are coolers out there which are low-profile. I have the ARTIC Alpine 11 REV. 2 on order. I just hope it'll fit. However, the stock cooler does a reasonable job as it should.The main components in my case are:ASUS Z97i-PLUSIntel Core i7-4790KCorsair CMY8GX3M2A2400C11R Vengeance Pro Series 8GB (2x4GB)SanDisk SDSSDHII-120G-G25 120GB 2.5 inch Ultra II SATA III Internal Solid State DriveBe Quiet Pure Power L8 530W PSU2TB mechanical Drive x21 x Optical DriveAsus Nvidia GeForce GTX 760 2GB GDDR5 DirectCU II Mini Graphics Card( I recommend the 'mini' which saves a bit of space over the full-size version).Overall, the unit is reasonably quiet and sound not intrusive. There is a slight murmur coming from one of the fans but I can live with it.I suspect that the case is designed with water cooling in mind due to the lack of space available for a full-size CPU fan.Anyway, I'm glad I stuck with the case. Yes, the wiring is messy and the inside of the case is nothing I'm proud of - but it works and works well, Also, the case takes a DVD drive (not all of them do).Would I recommend the case? Absolutely! It's small, cheap and looks great. Unless you want loads of PCI components, Mini ITX is the future!

I bought this case in order to build a media centre PC and am very pleased with the result. The finish of the case is better than I expected, with no sharp edges either inside or out.There is space inside for a full sized ATX power supply, but overclockers out there should be aware that the positioning of the cage means that it overhangs the motherboard, so depending on where the CPU socket is located there is only about an inch of clearance between the top of the CPU cooler and the bottom of the power supply cage. Choose your aftermarket cooler with care!Front panel connections are good for a case of this price with one USB3 and three USB2 ports, as well as the usual microphone and headphone sockets. There is also a 5.25" bay with a lockable door if you are not intending to use it.Two case fans are included, a 120mm at the front and a smaller 60mm (ish) on the side. Both are reasonably quiet especially when turned down with motherboard software or an app like speedfan. There is space to mount another 120mm fan inside behind the HDD bays which blows over the motherboard tray, and cooler master kindly include some quick fitting plugs that do away with the need for screws and tools.For a small case building this PC was quick and easy, to the point that I took the opportunity to teach the missus and had her put it together. Having said that her little fingers probably made it a little easier!It has three 3.5" drive bays with quick release brackets, and an adapter that can sacrifice one of them for a pair of 2.5" SSD's or laptop drives. As I am not using the 5.25" bay I have added an additional 3.5" drive by suspending it in the bay with some of the missus's adjustable rubber bra straps. This also has the benefit of isolating vibrations and noise from the drive making it quieter. Thick rubber bands can also be used but I didn't have any to hand, hence the bra straps!There is room for a full sized twin slot graphics card, although as I don't have a modular PSU most of this has been taken up with excess cabling in order to get good airflow over the motherboard.System build:AMD A10-5800 PSU with built in HD7660D graphics, 4GB PC2133 Ram, 500W OCZ extreme PSU, 3 3.5" HDD's & 1 2.5" SSD. Runs windows 8 with Mediaportal front end.TL;DR A good quality low cost case with plenty of room for HDD's and full sized twin slot graphics card.

SilverStone screwed me by asking 75 EUR for a replacement PSU in my SG05 case. The case and PSU were only about £85 to begin with. So instead of doing that I thought hell, I can buy a whole new case and PSU for that price, if only I can find a Mini ITX case that is compatible with full size ATX PSUs.My choices were Fractal Designs Node 304, Lian Li PC-V352 or this Cooler Master Elite 120. Being the cheapest option by quite a long way, and having some good reviews despite being new to the market I decided to go for it. I wasn't expecting a case with a premium feel, but I have been very pleasantly surprised.There is absolutely nothing budget about the way this case looks or feels, it is in my opinion exceptional value for money. It has 2 case fans (one at the front, and one on the side at the back closest to the CPU), comes with all the screws you could need, a beeper, cable ties, enough trays and attachments for 3 HDDs, and for all those PC builders out there with hands made of paper you'll be pleased to know that the insides of the case are completely burr free. They even sprayed the inside of the case black, it looks very cool. Comparing this to my SilverStone SG05, the build quality and attention to detail on this is far better.My only gripe would be that one (or maybe both) of the fans are a little loud. I might see about replacing them in the future with something quieter. I haven't put a GPU in this yet, but it's evident that it would be a tight fit.I would give this 5 stars if the fans were quieter. For less than £40 this case comes highly recommended.