Cooler Master MasterCase H100 - Review 2021 - PCMag AU

Many mini-ITX builds in slightly larger cases can host a graphics card, while the smallest expect you to rely on integrated processor graphics.

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.

The overall look of the MasterCase H100 is reminiscent of several other cases in Cooler Master’s MasterCase product line.

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.

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.

(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.

After the cooler, you will next want to add RAM, and then any hard drives, non-M.2 SSDs, and graphics card.

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.

As for the graphics card, the MasterCase H100 can support a dual-slot card that is up to 210mm in length.

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.

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. .