The compact-to-the-max mini-ITX PC case form factor is unbeatable at what it does best. These systems allow for chassis designs far smaller than the ATX or MicroATX competition. Many mini-ITX builds in slightly larger cases can host a graphics card, while the smallest expect you to rely on integrated processor graphics. (See, for example, our review of the In Win B1.) One thing these PC cases don’t always do well, though, is cooling and cable management, as packing lots of wiring and hot components into a tight space tends to stymie airflow. There’s not much you can do about that (it’s the nature of mini-ITX), but Cooler Master had a go at alleviating the problem with its MasterCase H100, which sports a giant, RGB-glowing 200mm fan. Quite affordable as mini-ITX cases go ($69.99), it makes for a cheap-and-cheerful chassis option for a compact gaming-PC build.
The Design: Well, Aren’t You Cube?
The overall look of the MasterCase H100 is reminiscent of several other cases in Cooler Master’s MasterCase product line. The case comes in black or a multi-tone gray color scheme. Both versions have sections of black metal mesh on the top and front. The chassis isn’t quite a cube, but the dimensions approach one, at 11.9 by 8.5 by 12.3 inches (HWD). The depth is extended by a protrusion of the power supply out the back (more on that later). Discounting the protrusion, it’s 10.9 inches deep.
On the chassis top, in a recess, is a highly useful feature that we don’t often see on cases of any size: an integrated handgrip! This makes moving the case around exceptionally easy, though the case’s small size and balanced dimensions make it fairly easy to lug around even without it. Meanwhile, the aforementioned, oversize 200mm fan comes pre-installed on the case’s front. Its RGB lighting can be controlled via an included RGB controller. Optionally, you can wire up the case’s reset button to control the fan’s lights if your motherboard doesn’t work with the controller.
Given this large 200mm fan, the case appears to be a candidate for excellent cooling, but it actually may not be any better off than many competing cases, depending on what you install. Oddly enough, the MasterCase H100 has only one location where a fan can be mounted—the front face—which is already filled by the 200mm fan. (It can take a 120mm or 140mm fan in its place, though that might make for an odd look through the front mesh, which is designed for the 200mm spinner.) You can’t add fans anywhere else on the front, top, rear, or sides. The 200mm fan itself will push more air than most smaller fans, but many other mini-ITX cases support multiple fans, so it raises the question whether this single slow-rotating 200mm fan can beat out multiple fans on the competition closer to the sources of heat.
This design also is a disincentive to adding liquid cooling to the system. Technically, you can mount a single-fan radiator on the front of the case in place of the 200mm fan. (Cooler Master notes that 120mm, 140mm, and 200mm radiators are supported up here.) But then you won’t have nearly as much air flowing into the case to cool other components. It also doesn’t make a lot of sense to do this. The 200mm fan is this case’s biggest selling point, and if you’re going to remove it, you might as well just opt for a different case to start with.
The front I/O panel is set diagonally between the top and front of the case. On it is a pair of USB 3.0 Type-A ports, as well as microphone and headphone jacks. Also up here is the reset button that can work as an RGB fan-lighting cycler.
The Building Experience: A Layered, Ordered Approach
To get into the case and start building, you first need to remove the left-panel and a metal bracket underneath it that runs the full length of the case. The side panel is solid and affords no visibility to the interior…
Once that’s done, you’re left with a nice, big area to insert the motherboard. As this is a mini-ITX-specific case, you won’t be able to add any boards that are larger than this. (That is, apart from the seldom-seen mini-DTX, which Cooler Master says is supported. We didn’t have a mini-DTX board on hand to try.) We’d install any M.2 SSDs on the board before mounting it in the H100, then attach the front-panel USB, audio, and power-switch cables right after board mounting, before the case gets any more stuffed.
The MasterCase H100 is designed in such a way that most parts after the motherboard need to be installed in a very particular order. Your CPU cooler should be the next thing you install, if you didn’t install it on the motherboard before mounting the board. (You should do that, if possible.) Note that this case has one of the lowest CPU-cooler height limits that we’ve seen on a mini-ITX case to date, at just 83mm. Intel’s stock cooler will neatly fit into this space, as will some of the lower-end stock coolers that AMD provides with its CPUs, but don’t count on a tower cooler making it. Plenty of aftermarket cooling options are less than 83mm tall, but there’s just no getting around the fact that you won’t be able to attach a high-performance thermal solution to the CPU in this case. That said, some of AMD’s various Wraith coolers (Wraith Stealth and Spire, though not Wraith Max) ought to fit, and will suffice if you are going Ryzen on the CPU.
After the cooler, you will next want to add RAM, and then any hard drives, non-M.2 SSDs, and graphics card. In total, this case can hold up to four storage devices. You get mounts for two 2.5-inch drives or a single 2.5-inch drive and a 3.5-inch drive at the bottom of the case…
The other two 2.5-inch storage mounts are on that metal bracket that covers the opening to the case’s main compartment. It’s easiest to get to the storage mounts on the bottom of the case without the graphics card in place, but the metal bar that holds the other storage devices will get in the way of inserting your graphics card. The bracket and its drives, if you use that, would be one of the last things you mount. Just be careful to add things in the right order, and you shouldn’t have much trouble.
As for the graphics card, the MasterCase H100 can support a dual-slot card that is up to 210mm in length. If you swap out the 200mm fan on the front with a water cooler, this is reduced to 180mm. The PSU clearance is similar, at 210mm in length with the case fan in place, but it falls to just 160mm with a water cooler. A 3.5-inch drive can co-exist on the case bottom with a two-slot video card, but it will be close…
Cooler Master designed this case to use a full-ATX power supply, but it placed the PSU in a rather strange, albeit necessary, location. The power supply gets mounted in front of the motherboard, which is why you can’t use a cooler above 83mm in height. What’s even stranger is that the rear section of the PSU juts out the back of the chassis, making it deeper.
This PSU placement makes everything more difficult once your PSU is mounted. Connecting up all of the cables after the PSU is in place is a finger-twisting nightmare, so connect all you can (including the PSU’s own power cables to the mainboard and drives) before the PSU body goes in. There’s also next to no room for running cables behind the motherboard tray. (All you can manage is one thin layer back there before the battle of the cable bulge commences.)
As a result, excess cables just hang in the interior, blocking airflow, unless you restrain them, and there’s just not that much room for that. Given that this is an economy case, you might be thinking to pair it with a budget ATX power supply with fixed cabling, but we’d highly recommend a more premium modular ATX PSU here. You don’t want any extra cables inside the H100 than you have to have. Indeed, we’d suggest looking into M.2 SSDs laid down on the motherboard as opposed to 2.5-inch SSDs or big hard drives to keep the interior as clear as possible of wire mass.
Verdict: A Budget Winner, But Keep the Aisles Clear
Cooler Master’s MasterCase H100 succeeds in being small, affordable, and downright cute, but you may have to pay out the cash savings in acquiring exacting hardware (notably, a modular ATX PSU and maybe an M.2 drive) to keep the interior as clear as possible. The H100 ships with that large 200mm fan to help with cooling, but then it caps you at a relatively low-profile CPU cooler, allows for no extra case fans, and places the PSU and all of its cables in the perfect place to stop air from flowing through.
The PSU placement, in turn, makes wiring up the system and changing hardware an ordeal, requiring you to remove the PSU first to do much of anything inside. Take an ordered approach, and use a modest Ryzen 5 or Core i5 CPU with a stock cooler and a moderate video card, and you’ll be fine. It’s a hot deal; just don’t expect to pack this chassis to the gills with the hottest stuff.
