Legit Reviews

 

The Cooler Master Elite 430 is a great little case offering screw-less drive bays, black interior, a bottom-mount power supply, expandability up to six 120mm case fans and support for the largest of video cards and CPU coolers, among many other great features. Available as low as $39.99, what more can you possibly ask of the Cooler Master Elite 430?

I can't really knock this case on any of its very minor flaws, as the punch-out expansion covers and liquid cooling pass-throughs strictly save money for Cooler Master and keep the cases price down. Again, the case could stand to be an inch or two taller, but adding that much metal would just add to weight and cost which is really not worth the extra effort. The third and final problem I had with the case was the dust filter for the top fans; not having the filter would save in build costs and they serve no purpose anyway.

The best features of the Elite 430 have to be its superbly simple aesthetics and super-low weight of 10.3lbs. We have all had at least one case which you almost throw your back out every time you try to lift. Take the BitFenix Colossus we recently looked at for example, weighing in at 60lbs empty, that is not your average LAN chassis. Every case of every size does have its purpose, from HTPCs to modded LAN rigs and command centers; every size, shape and color has a reason for being. The Elite 430 was still under 24lbs completely assembled with both side panels on, which is about what my Thermaltake Armor A90 is empty. Going back to the general aesthetics this case is extremely versatile, from at-work PCs to family systems and everyday rigs the Elite 430 is as neutral as they come.

Coming back to the spectacular price, I would have never guessed I could get a case of this quality for such a low price. But it is true, the Cooler Master Elite 430 has every feature I would want allowing the biggest video cards and CPU coolers and its great simple look for $40! There really is no other chassis I could find for a better price with this feature set. Period.

Legit Bottom Line: The Cooler Master Elite 430 provides some of the best features of higher end cases at less than half cost; what more could you ask? Its $39.99 price tag makes the Elite 430 one of the best value cases on the market with a clean appearance and unmatched feature set at its price point.