We have seen discernible steps toward innovation in PC cases. While the previous year was more about RGB-fying the case, this year we saw improvements which were actually functional. It’s great that manufacturers are now creating dedicated routes or channels for the cables which translate to minimal effort while connecting components. Some manufacturers of PC cases are adding cable routes and some are using covers to hide the cables.
The other interesting improvements are fan and lighting connectors or hubs being pre-installed in many cases. Sometimes builders run out of fan headers on their motherboard and they are unable to add more fans or lighting strips. This takes care of expandability in the future. Some PC cases come with vertical graphics card mounts, however, they don’t offer better cooling, only aesthetics.
One of the best-looking cases this year was the Corsair Obsidian 500D. It sports tempered glass on three sides with RGB intake fans at the front. Two tempered glass side panels have been installed using a hinged mechanism which is convenient. Build quality is also impressive and feels premium. There’s enough space to accommodate amazing open-looped liquid cooled builds.
The 500D won by a small margin with the Fractal Design Define R6 coming close. In its default configuration, the cooling was brilliant. However, to check the full cooling capacity, we also add additional fans while maintaining a balanced pressure. This is where the Obsidian 500D shone and overtook its competitors in PC cases.
Fractal Design’s flagship, the Define R6 is built like a tank majorly made of thick steel with no compromise in build quality. It performs way above average PC cases owing to the pre-installed fans. Thermal performance on the Define R6 was really close to the Obsidian 500D in the default configuration but it lost in the full-fan capacity configuration.
Although the case misses out on the award, it still offers the best kind of features you could ask for in a case that makes assembling simpler. The modularity inside is impressive. Most of the compartments and trays can be removed based on what kind of a build you need. You get all of this at quite a competitive price compared to the other premium PC cases.
Cooler Master has been aggressively releasing PC cases over the last two years, targetting various price segments and aesthetics to appeal to everyone. This has resulted into a vast lineup of cases out of which they nominated the MasterBox MB530P for the Zero1 Awards. Without comparison, the case delivers better than average thermal performance but it wasn’t enough to take away the award.
It did perform close to the winner and the runner-up in its idle state but the case generated more heat under load. This was the case for both the CPU and graphics card stress testing runs. However, the asking price is surprisingly good. Especially, when you factor in the performance of the case along with the build quality and features.