Cooler Master Masterbox 5t Chassis Review

A Closer Look – Exterior

The design of the 5t is certainly unique, with a matte black finish and bright red highlights, it’s certainly not subtle and makes quite a statement. It keeps a few design hints that tie it to chassis like the Maker series, though, with the sloping front panel looking similar to some of the more expensive Cooler Master cases. There’s a huge and very clear plastic side panel window too, which is perfect for showing off your system’s hardware.

The right side panel is nothing fancy, just a solid black panel, but it’s surprisingly heavy and quite thick, which is always a nice bonus; both side panels are held in place by two thumb screws at the rear of the chassis.

The front panel is really slick, with a glossy front section that has a simple Cooler Master logo towards the bottom. Running the full height of the panel, two red highlights over the front ventilation and plenty of funky angles to keep things looking interesting. The indirect airflow design on the front panel will help reduce unwanted noise from the front fans, which is awesome.

Around the back, everything’s pretty standard, with a rear 120mm fan mount, motherboard I/O expansion slots, and the PSU cutout towards the bottom, giving us all the basics we need.

The top panel is certainly interesting, with a big red square highlight, not sure how I feel about that design choice, it does stand out quite a bit. The red part is actually a magnetic dust cover, so you can easily lift it off, clean it, mount a fan in the top, etc.

Built into the top panel is a large recess that forms the carry handle. Strangely, it’s pushed to the front so it’s not going to be well-balanced, but Cooler Master say it’ll hold 30KG with ease, and that’s more than enough to pick it up with one hand and your monitor in the other when loading your gear for LAN party.

The front panel is nicely equipped, with dual USB 3.0, the usual audio jacks, power controls, and as a nice little treat, a two way fan speed controller (low/high).

On the bottom, you’ll find two full-width stands that give the 5t excellent stability, and there’s also a slide out and washable dust filter for the PSU, helping keep its airflow nice and clean.