Cooler Master MasterBox Lite 5 Review
Category : Cases
Published by Luca Rocchi on 13.07.17
The MasterBox Lite 5 is the latest mid-tower case from Cooler Master, which offers plenty of interior space to build gaming systems. Furthermore there is also enough space for small all-in-one water coolers on the front and at the rear. Apart from that, the MasterBox Lite 5 features an elegant shape and for 50 Euro is very aggressively priced.
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Preview
Specifications
| Model: |
MasterBox Lite 5
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| Case Type: |
Mid tower |
| Dimensions: |
200 mm (W) x 454 mm (H) x 468 mm (D) |
| Material: |
Steel, ABS |
| Color: |
Black |
| Drive Bay: |
5.25": |
0 |
| 3.5": |
2 |
| 2.5": |
1 |
| Expansion
slots: |
7 |
| Form factors: |
ATX, mATX, mini-ITX |
| Cooling: |
Front: |
3x 120mm / 2x 140mm |
| Rear: |
1x 120mm (1x 120mm included) |
| Top: |
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| Bottom: |
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| Side: |
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| Watercooling |
Front: |
240mm / 280mm / 360mm |
| Rear: |
120mm |
| Top: |
/ |
| Link to the product: |
MasterBox Lite 5 |
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Features
PSU Cover
In order to hide all the cables connected to your power supply, there is a cover hiding the unit. This helps creating a neat and clean looking system. |
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Dust filters
There are washable dust filters covering all larger openings of the Cooler Master MasterBox Lite 5 case. Thanks to a quick release system they are very easy and convenient to remove. |
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Support for custom watercooling
The Cooler Master MasterBox Lite 5 is ready to be equipped with watercooling gear. If you wish to create a custom loop, there is the possibility to place two radiators in this case. One of them can measure 360mm in length and the other 120mm. Apart from that installing an all-in-one water cooler with either 240mm or 120mm radiator is no problem at all. |
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Product overview
Overview |
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The front of this case features a huge panel with mirror finish, which Cooler Master calls DarkMirror. Hidden behinds there are fan slots and a convenient dust filter. The panel is made from plastic and it comes with red profiles. If you are not a huge fan of red, you might be more than happy to know that inside the bundle there are two additional covers where one of them is black and the other white. The MasterBox Lite 5 comes with an elegant shape and since there aren't any 5.25" slots the design is pretty clean. The top part of the front has been equipped with the I/O ports: here we find two black USB 3.0 ports, audio jacks and the power/reset button. Continuing we find compatibility with ATX motherboards, although this is really not a big case. A quick look at the side panels shows they're rather simple but they still carry some weight. While the right panel doesn't offer any features, the left one comes with a huge window made from plexiglass.
The back panel is simple and you get seven PCI expansion slots, the opening for the motherboard I/O panel, a 120mm fan slot and the opening for the standard ATX power supply. The bottom of the case have been equipped with four plastic feet which ensure that the PSU gets enough fresh air to operate correctly. |
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Installation
Overview |
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The interior is simple and clean, and it features a most classic design with some features that are worth mentioning. Cooler Master decided to use a PSU cover to visually separate the cable area from the motherboard; it is not the first time that we find this change in a case and in our opinion, this system allows for cleaner cable management. The MasterBox Lite 5 is a compact gaming grade case for those who don't want to spend too much money on a chassis. Nevertheless you can equip this case with two 3.5" HDDs and one 2.5" drive, whereas all of them can be installed on tool-less sledges.
The motherboard tray is made out of solid steel, and it features a large opening behind the socket, which allows the installation of aftermarket CPU coolers without taking the motherboard out. The tray features a number of openings to create a neat cable management. Since the MasterBox Lite 5 is a budget-oriented case, it doesn't come with a vast number of features like for example rubber grommets. Between the motherboard tray and the right side panel there is enough space to hide plenty of cables. The MasterBox Lite 5 is compatible with ATX motherboards and it's also compatible with 240 or 360mm radiators.
For our test we've used an ATX motherboard and a closed loop water cooler from Cooler Master with 120mm radiator. As you can see from the pictures there are plenty of slots for the fans and radiators. The MasterBox Lite 5 is able to accommodate a CPU cooler with a maximum height of 160mm and graphics cards can measure up to 400mm in length. In other words you can install any graphics card without checking the space available. |
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Ventilation options
Overview |
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The MasterBox Lite 5 offers plenty of places for fans. Included in the delivery you will find only one 120mm fan with a 3-pin header that's already been installed at the back. In total this case offers space for three 120mm or two 140mm fans at the front and apart from that one 120mm fan can be installed at the back. If you are a fan of liquid cooled systems you'll be happy to know that the MasterBox Lite 5 has also been prepared for that type of cooling. Although this is a budget oriented case, there is a lot of space available on the inside and you'll be able to mount one 360mm or 280mm radiator at the front. |
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Temperatures
Overview |
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For testing purposes we're using an MSI Z170I Gaming Pro AC motherboard, an Intel Core i5-6600K CPU, which receives cooling through a SilentiumPC Fortis 3 HE1425 MCE cooler as well as a MSI GTX 970 Gaming 4G graphics card. To put the CPU under full load, we're running prime95 for 10 min and in the case of the GPU we use Furmark also for 10 minutes. After these ten minutes, we're going to write down the temperatures. The ambient temperature is close to 24°C. |
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All noise dampening panels installed |
Idle (°C) |
Full (°C) |
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Intel Core i5-6600K |
28 / 28 / 27 / 28 |
52 / 55 / 52 / 53 |
| MSI GTX 970 Gaming 4G |
45 |
66 |
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Less is better |
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Conclusion
Rating |
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Cooling |
Features |
Layout |
Build Quality |
Value for Money |
| Pros |
+ Good
compatibility for watercooling and aircooling |
+ Dark Mirror
+ Dust filter
+ PSU Cover |
+ Interior
space
+ Good space for cable routing |
+ High quality materials
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+ Well priced |
| Cons |
- No space on top |
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- Only one fan included in the delivery |
The Cooler Master MasterBox Lite 5 is a mid-tower PC case designed for those who don't want to spend a lot of money on a gaming rig. This entry-level gaming-grade enclosure is also compatible with all-in-one water coolers as well as large air coolers. We actually like the design, which is modern, clean and to a certain extent simple. But - for apparent reasons - design is always a matter of taste. Although the MasterBox Lite 5 is a budget-oriented mid-tower PC case, there are a few features, which can also be found on Cooler Master's MasterCase series.
On the inside there is quite a lot of space available. If you fit an ATX motherboard you can easily install a radiator in the front and one in the rear. Apart from that all drive bays have been moved to the bottom part of the case. Testing the case as delivered with one 120mm fan in the back, we found temperatures to be on a reasonable level, while the noise level was very low. Although this case features compact dimensions dealing with the cable management is an easy task. On the tray there are several openings that help with cable management. On budget-oriented PC cases, the cable management is something that's usually a bit tricky. One thing the MasterBox Lite 5 lacks are rubber grommets covering the cable management holes.
The MasterBox Lite 5 from Cooler Master is a PC case which we can definitely recommend. Apparently the case is not perfect, as we would have liked to find more than just one 120mm fan with 3-pin header in the deliver for instance. Nevertheless if you are looking for a budget-oriented mid-tower PC case, which is compatible with AiO water cooling gear, this is a very reasonable product. Building a nice and clean looking rig is very simple and straight forward with this case. The Cooler Master MasterBox Lite 5 is available on Geizhals for 50 Euro excluding shipping costs. The Cooler Master MasterBox Lite 5 earns
4 out of 5 stars.
