Tecware Nexus M2 Micro-ATX Case Review
Peter Donnell / 3 years ago
Interior
Taking the side window off the hinge really does free up a lot of elbow space here. As you can see, the interior is nice and clean, with plenty of room for the Micro-ATX motherboard. The motherboard tray has the main standoffs pre-installed, and there’s both a CPU backplate mounting cut-out and some cable routing cut-outs surrounding the motherboard, ensuring a quick and easy installation.
The PSU shroud looks massive, but that’s simply because the case is designed for a smaller motherboard, but the case still handles a traditional ATX PSU.
There are some additional cable routing holes at the back, which are handy for USB headers, front I/O cables, etc. There’s also some ventilation on the top, ensuring heat doesn’t build up under the shroud.
Towards the front, there’s room for 2 x 120mm fans, and you get two pre-installed, which is nice. Not sure about radiators though, as the case is quite short, so it would sorely limit GPU length, and the PSU shroud cut-out is quite shallow too.
You might get a slim AIO in the top, but I do think it’ll conflict with most motherboards. However, a set of 120mm fans would be fine up here.
There’s a 120mm fan mount in the back, and if you were sorely set on having some liquid cooling, a 120mm AIO in the back would be your best bet in my opinion. However, the compact size, coupled with the pre-installed fans and the top ventilation, I think it’s ideal for a quiet air-cooled build anyway.
Behind the motherboard, there’s a modest amount of cable routing space. However, with the PSU shroud, you’ll be able to cram all the excess down there anyway, so that should make things a lot easier to manage.
Furthermore, there are cable tie loops dotted around, so you can strap down thicker and unwieldy cables if you need to.
There’s a handy 2.5″ drive mount here, allowing you to tuck an SSD behind the motherboard.
Plus, an additional 2 x 3.5″ bays in the bottom of the PSU shroud. Of course, these will also support 2 x 2.5″ drives too.
Finally, the PSU mounting space, which can handle up to 180mm in length, maybe 160mm if you’re using a modular unit with blocky connectors.