Cooler Master MasterBox 520 Mesh Case Review

How Much Does it Cost?

The Cooler Master MasterBox MB520 ARGB PC case is available now from many major retailers. the price seems to range from £80-125 for various configurations though, as you’ll find a tinted plastic front panel and a mesh version. Some versions have ARGB fans, and some come with RGB fans, or no fans, some even seem to have a rear fan too, so just be sure you select the correct configuration, as there are a few out there.

Overview

There are a lot of great Cooler Master cases to choose from, but I must admit, they did seem to fall into a trend of having hard plastic front panels on too many of their models, resulting in pretty crap airflow. However, the case designs and layouts were fantastic. Thankfully, Cooler Master is well aware of the growing need for more competent cooling on newer gaming hardware, so they’ve added high airflow mesh front to their most popular cases. The MB520 Mesh is a huge upgrade, with all the kick-ass style of the MB520 but with excellent airflow and dust filtering throughout.

The rest of the case is really just ticking all the right boxes. It’s a pretty generic PC gaming case design on the interior, but hey, that’s no bad thing. There’s a large PSU shroud, which we’ve pretty much come to expect these days, although it does lack a vertical cable passthrough, but that’s hardly a deal breaker. There’s great cable routing space behind the motherboard too, but it’s the addition of cable grommets that gets a thumbs up from me, as they really smarten up the build.

The included fans are of high quality, providing good airflow throughout the case, and they’re surprisingly quiet despite the more open mesh design that provides less sound dampening. There’s no rear fan pre-installed on the model I tested, but with such a vast mesh panel on the top, heat exhaust is hardly an issue here. Plus, they’re all pre-wired to the built-in PCB, meaning RGB and PWM fan control only requires you to connect a single PWM header to the motherboard, and the use of a SATA power cable.

Plus, the addition of a lift-out top panel is really cool. Sure, you could turn the case into a convertible on summer days, if you so desire. However, it really makes cleaning and maintenance a lot easier too, which is great. It also makes it easier to install fans and radiators too.

Overview

The Cooler Master MasterBox MB520 is a great PC case, with a design that makes it easy to install and maintain your hardware. Having three 120mm ARGB fans in the front not only provides great airflow, but also a pretty sweet light show and lots of customisation options too. Plus, the space on the interior will make light work of next-gen high-end graphics cards, big CPU coolers, additional fans and radiators.