The Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced is an ultra compact case with support for full sized high-end desktop components. Unlike conventional Mini-ITX cases, the Elite 120 Advanced is more affordable, quiet, efficient, and easily fits full sized ATX power supplies. It can accommodate even the largest ultra high-end graphics cards, a 5.25″ optical drive and up to 5 HDDs or SSDs. Thanks to a smart airflow system featuring 3 fans, it manages to keep the system cool and quiet. Topped off with a stylish brushed aluminum front, this is a compact case you don’t want to hide.
$ 49.99
A little refrigerator for my mobo, cpu, gpu, hard drives etc. and I have an easy fix for the annoying blue leds on the front,
What I love about it is that although not tiny by any means, it’s small enough and attractive enough to put within eyesight of my TV which I’m using as the computer’s monitor, but it also provides two case fans to add to the cpu cooler fan and power supply fan for a total of 4 fans keeping my computer cool and hopefully free of heat fatalities. The two case fans can be powered directly by the power supply, so no problem that there aren’t enough fan connectors on my motherboard. Four fans going at once isn’t silent, but the sound is pleasant to me and makes me feel like my computer is nice and refrigerated. The case fans pull air in from the front and right side of the case, while the cpu-cooler fan pulls air in from the top of the case. All that incoming air gets exhausted through the power supply out the top back of the case and I can feel a good strength wind coming from the power supply that’s not really hot either.
There are a couple of issues though. First, the rubber feet don’t grip well enough so that plugging anything into the front of the case or pushing a little too hard on the power button moves the whole computer. I fixed that with some thumb tacks behind the front feet. The other issue is even more annoying and I see it on so many new electronics – laser beam like blue led lights on the front of the case! I don’t know about you, but that’s distracting even in daylight. I’m using this on my TV as many people would do with a mini ITX computer.
At first I was fixing this by draping a neatly folded piece of toilet paper over the lights, but later realized there’s a much better way to fix it. The front panel comes off just like any other computer case I’ve seen. So, I just took the front panel off, attached yellow stickers over the annoying blue lights, put the panel back on, and Voila! Lovely soft turquoise lights instead of blue lasers. It’s wonderful and I can’t imagine why the manufacturer didn’t do something like that in the first place.
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|Half an ATX case,
To be honest the case was bigger than I was expecting, it is the same size as an ATX case sawed in half. But it’s not intended to be as small as other ITX cases. This case can fit a dual slot GPU, an Optical drive and several HDDs/SSDs. My only issue is lack of airflow options. The fans are virtually silent, but very little air is pushed. The case does have plenty of vents to passively eject hot air. I am just used to having multiple fans running to keep ambient case temps only slightly different than room temp. Store bought computers typically rely on the PSU to push out hot air, so it’s not really an issue. If you do put in a beefy GPU I would just suggest making sure it vents out the back of the case.
The full size ATX PSU support is a bonus as you get to pick your own PSU from a reliable provider, many ITX cases either require an external PSU or are of questionable quality. I’d much rather have a slightly bigger case than a smaller one with a no-name PSU that I might not be able to replace or have problems replacing it if it failed.
Yes, there are smaller ITX cases. If you want a tiny computer case as small as possible, get those. If you want an ITX case that’s smaller than an ATX case but big enough to hold a full-fledged gaming PC, or want to be able to use whatever PSU you want…get this.
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|Everything but the fan….,
The case had the right amount of space which made the install pretty quick and simple. The only issue is a missing 3rd fan (HDD fan) which I am working out with Amazon and a really loud side fan. Replace the side fan with something better and the case is Great.
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