Chieftec BX-10B-OP Micro-ATX Case Review

A Closer Look – Exterior

This is a really nice-looking case, and while it’s a bit of a stretch of the imagination, it reminds me of the PlayStation 2. The vertical black ventilation lines are very early 2000’s retro (yeah, retro, it was over 20 years ago). The left side panel is a full wall of glass, which looks superb, and there’s a black trim on the edges of it on the interior to keep things looking tidy.

The right side panel is glass too, which looks great as the case has a matching aesthetic on each side now. However, this side is much more heavily tinted, so the cables behind it won’t be so easily spotted.

The front panel looks stunning, and again, I think it looks quite retro, but there’s a little bit of ventilation running the full height of the case, which is always a good thing, but the bulk of the airflow is intended to come from the bottom and top sections of this case.

The I/O is minimal, offering up a single USB 3 Type-A port, a USB 3 Type-C port, a combination 3.5mm audio jack, and power controls.

Around the back of the case, there are a couple of screws at the top to remove the top panel, and a PSU pass-through port below that, as the PSU actually mounts towards the front of the case.

There’s a 120mm fan pre-installed, and it comes with some elongated screw holes to allow for a little bit of adjustment should you need it. Finally, since it’s mATX, it has four expansion slot covers, each fitted with a ventilated and reusable metal cover.

Up on the top, there are even more of those ventilation lines, with the top of the case supporting 2 x 120mm or 2 x 140mm fans, or alternatively, a 240mm radiator.

I’m impressed to see the bottom of the case has a full-length dust filter too, while full-width front and back feet allow for huge amounts of ventilation from the sides. The bottom of the case can support up to 3 x 120mm or 2 x 140mm fans, however, 140mm fans are only possible with the use of a mini-ITX motherboard, not mATX.