Final Thoughts
Pricing
At just £25 from OCUK the Xigmatek Mach is a very budget friendly product, but the phrase “you get what you pay for” rings true in many aspects of this chassis. If budget is an issue, there’s little, if anything, better for the same money.
Overview
Working with the Xigmatek Mach netted some interesting conclusions for me, as the final build does look pretty neat and tidy, but it’s certainly worth considering the negative sides of a chassis in this price range before you dash out to buy one.
The metal panels on this chassis are quite thin and as such, they’re easily deformed and dented. The thin metal is going to do nothing for noisy components either, so if you’re using a GPU with a particularly noisy cooler design, you’re going to know about it. The plastics are quite thin and cheap too, there’s always that risk that if you accidentally kicked it, you may break it.
Cooling isn’t the greatest, so a high-end system like the one we built today may not be the ideal target specifications for this chassis. Airflow from the front is pretty limited and while there’s a single 120mm fan in the back, you may want to invest in at least one extra fan to help with airflow – dependent on the type of system you install.
If you want tough build quality, thicker panels, better cooling and everything else, you’ll have to pay around £40+ for your chassis and while that sounds easily done to many of you, that’s simply not an option for all. I wouldn’t go out and buy this for myself, but if someone was in a pinch and they asked me to build them a system on a tight budget, it’ll certainly be something to consider.
Pros
- Very cost effective
- Cable routing space (although limited)
- Loads of storage bays
- Fits long GPU
- Dual USB 3.0 ports
Cons
- Build quality isn’t great
- Not a lot of cooling potential
“Not the greatest chassis in the world, but certainly one of the most budget friendly. While it doesn’t dazzle with build quality, it’s still capable of housing a rig and it may be appealing to system integrators and resellers who are trying to keep costs to a minimum.”
Thank you Overclockers for providing us with this information.
