I’ll say it like it is, The Cooler Master Elite 310 is not the case you’re going to be selecting for your next powerful gaming rig. However, it still a solid case that would be suitable for a budget build or if you’re going for something less flashy. The one we received was the model with the white chassis and the pink front plate. So this model may be a great one to go with if you’re looking for something for the lady in your life, or the guys who enjoy the color pink (you know who you are). Still, it should be noted that the case is also available in black, and has a fairly diverse selection of front plate coloring options. So fear not, pink is not your only choice!
After these initial observations it was time to get to work. For this build, I reused one of my old dual Athlon MP motherboards – A K7D Master 1, to be exact. There’s no particular reason for this selection other than the availability of spare parts I have. The ATX board had no problem fitting into the case and was easy to secure, though the case does not have an abundance of cable management options, so the inside is bound to be a little more constricted than some other designs in terms of airflow and available space.
To help things out a bit, I installed one of the SWiF 2’s (that’s Silent Whisper Fan 2) into the frontal intake area. The additional airflow it would provide was questionable though. With a fairly solid hard drive rack squarely behind the intake fan, I was left wondering how the airflow might be affected. Certainty the rack could have been slightly more perforated to provide a little more direct airflow to the rest of the case. It’s a small gripe, but not my only one concerning the hard drive rack.
While the card I selected (a relic, can you identify it? No cheating!) was able to easily fit within the chassis, I had to wonder if other, larger designs would have problems with the orientation of the hard drive rack. Upon measuring one of my other cards (a GTX 460); I determined that it would fit, but just barely. The problem here lies with the length of the cards and the placement/orientation of the hard drive rack.
In most gaming or enthusiast cases there is enough room to appropriately fit the large, extra-length video cards which are becoming quite common among the high-end models. However, the Cooler Master Elite 310 simply does not have enough horizontal space within the chassis. An even larger card, such as a Radeon 6950 would simply not be able to fit into this chassis without it looking like an overstuffed smart car.
In fact, it may be impossible in some cases, depending on how the power connectors on the card are oriented. If they are on the top edge of the card, you may be in business; however, if they’re on the end then you’re SOL. Fortunately, one *could* remove the hard drive rack, and instead use the 5 1/4 bays for a hard drive or two, giving the case quite a bit more room for a longer video card. But I digress, this chassis is not designed to house such behemoth cards, so if you plan on using one with your next build, I’d suggest looking at other options.
Installing the hard drive was also a tricky matter. With an older motherboard I was forced to use parallel ATA cables to connect my hard drives, as well as the old-style Molex connectors. These present a far greater cabling challenge than the standard SATA cables. It’s arguable that no one in their right mind would be using these older styles on a new build, it’s interesting to see how many of these cases fair in this www. Surprisingly, while the old parallel cables fared well, it was the old Molex connectors that prevented the hard drive from being properly mounted. This is another issue with the orientation of the hard drive rack. While there are some major benefits provided, such as the easy access, installation and removal of hard disk drives, there is also a limited about of space to install it, as limited by the width of the case.
In this scenario, the case was just barely wide enough that one could securely screw-in the drive with the connectors pushed back against the edge of the case. I am certain that the L-shaped power and data cables the newer drives would be needed to make drives fit comfortably in the amount of space provided. As it is now, the hard drives probably feel a bit like this guy:
The rest of the installation went smoothly. Though I had a hard time finding a optical drive that would match the exterior of the case, which is a very glossy white. This really wouldn’t be an issue with the other color options available for this case, but that beige drive from your old system is going to look terrible when it’s compared in contrast with the exterior color of the case. Again though, this is a minor gripe which would not be applicable when one is control of the case they are purchasing!
All in all, I found the Cooler Master Elite 310 to have a rather elegant outward appearance, while maintaining a functional interior design. This would be a great case to have for a budget build or for a no-frills desktop. However, it does have some drawbacks which may be a cause of frustration, such as the limited working room for the hard drives, or the lack of more powerful cooling options.
These are gripes from an enthusiast though, and this case is obviously not designed to compete with the high-end models. Instead, the Cooler Master Elite 310 provides a functional and sleek appearance, while maintaining a compact frame and a well-rounded set of features. For its price, it delivers a solid chassis which is well-suited for most consumer builds. While you wouldn’t catch me carting it around to the next LAN party, you’d probably see at least one of my computers housed in it; if I had a thing for pink, that is.
(If you guessed that the video card was a GeForce Ti 4400, then you were correct!)
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