Cooler Master's MasterCase 5 is a favorite of ours for higher-end systems, but its $105-and-up price tag is rather spendy for budget builds. Cooler Master is making some of the MasterCase's modularity more accessible for basic builds with its MasterBox series of cases. These enclosures feature a mostly wide-open interior design that won't get in the way of large components.
The interior of the MasterBox houses a removable power supply shroud and a drive cage for two 3.5" spinners on its floor, plus a mounting area for 2.5" storage devices in front of the motherboard. Cooler Master ships the MasterBox with one 2.5" drive tray by default, but we'd expect to see extras become available from its online store with time. These drive trays can be installed in three positions in front of the motherboard or behind the motherboard tray for an extra-stealthy look.
The MasterBox can also swallow lots of cooling hardware. Builders can use air coolers as large as 6.6" (167 mm) tall. The 3.5" drive cage can be repositioned to make room for radiators as large as 360 mm in the front of the case, while the rear fan mount can accommodate a 120-mm radiator. The case has a solid top panel with no provisions for radiators. Cooler master throws in a pair of 120-mm fans to keep air moving: one at the front and one at the rear.
Cooler Master is offering the MasterBox in two finishes to start. The regular MasterBox 5 comes with a black exterior, a side-panel window, and a mesh front panel. The "DarkMirror" version of the case has a white exterior, a windowed side panel, and a translucent black plastic front panel. No matter your color choice, each case offers two USB 3.0 ports, headphone and microphone jacks, and a reset button on the front panel. Both cases are available on Newegg now for $69.99.