The MasterBox MB520 from Cooler Master, checks a lot of boxes that you may be looking for when shopping for a new PC case at a great price but is it worth your hard-earned?
Like that mullet, I thought, made me look cool in high school. The Cooler Master MasterBox MB520 RGB is all business in the front and party in the back. Unlike my glorious mullet, the MasterBox MB520 won’t hinder your chances of getting a date to prom.
I recently put a build together in the MasterBox MB520, and I enjoyed working in this case. It has plenty of room for my somewhat large hands. The layout was nice, with cutouts everywhere you would want them. The 4 included fans were quiet and seemed to move a decent amount of air. The front panel had a large enough gap between the mirrored plastic and the fans. Also, the mesh gap on either side was wide enough to allow for plenty of air to be pulled in by the fans. Let’s take a look at the specs from Cooler Master.
MasterBox MB520 RGB Specs
Model Number MCB-B520-KGNN-RGB Available Color(s) Black Materials Steel, Tempered Glass, Plastic Dimensions (LxWxH) 496(L) x 218(W) x 468(H)mm Motherboard Support ATX, Micro ATX, Mini ITX Expansion Slots 7 2.5" / 3.5" Drive Bays (combo) 2 2.5" Drive Bays 4 (Max.6) I/O Panel 2x USB 3.0, Audio In & Out (supports HD audio) RGB Control RGB controller included, 1 to3 RGB splitter cable included Pre-installed Fans - Front 3x 120mm RGB Fan Pre-installed Fans - Rear 1x 120mm (Black) Fan Support - Front 3x 120mm, 2x 140mm Fan Support - Top 2x 120mm, 2x 140mm Fan Support - Rear 1x 120mm Radiator Support - Front 120mm, 140mm, 240mm, 280mm, 360mm Radiator Support - Top 120mm, 240mm Radiator Support - Rear 120mm Clearance - CPU Cooler 165mm Clearance - GFX 410mm/16.1" Clearance - PSU 180mm/7.1" Cable Routing - Behind Motherboard Tray 19-27mm / 0.74-1.06" Dust Filters Front, Bottom, Top Power Supply Support Bottom mount, ATX Series MasterBox Series Size Mid Tower
Cooling
The MasterBox MB520 has plenty of cooling potential with 3 120mm RGB fans at the front and 1 blacked out 120mm fan in the rear included. It also has support for up to a 360mm radiator in the front and up to a 240mm radiator at the top of the case. Like I was saying earlier about the front of the case, they left enough space for the front fans to breathe and intake plenty of air to keep the case cool. The front fans also come with a 3-way splitter for the RGB cables and the option to control them using the reset button if your motherboard does not support RGB. They also daisy-chained the front fans with the option to power them from your PSU if your motherboard does not have enough fan headers.
Tempered Glass
The tempered glass side panel was well designed, with captive thumb screws for easy removal. The case also has a lip at the bottom side to rest the tempered glass panel while you screw in the top two thumbscrews. The lip also removes the need for bottom thumbscrews, so you have fewer screws to deal with, as seen in the image below.
Interior Design
The layout of the Cooler Master MasterBox MB520 RGB case is well thought out with cutouts everywhere you would want them, including a cutout for the extra GPU power connector in the PSU shroud. They also left enough space in the PSU shroud for a 360mm Radiator in the front if you are going that route.
There is also plenty of room for cable management. The PC build I built using this case used a non-modular power supply, and there was plenty of room to tuck the extra cables away.
Dust is also not a concern as there are dust filters at the front, bottom, and top of the case. One note is that the front filters don’t come off, but the front panel is easily removed to clean the filters.
The power and reset buttons have a nice tactile feel to them. They don’t feel cheap and crunchy like some case buttons.
Front I/O
The Front I/O of the MB520 includes 2 USB 3.0, Audio and Mic jacks, a power button, and a reset button. Pretty standard for this price point, and it has a clean, sharp look, which I am a fan of. Hopefully, in the not too far future, we start seeing case manufacturers, including a USB Type C port on the front I/O.
Final Thoughts On The Cooler Master MasterBox MB520 RGB
Overall the Cooler Master MasterBox MB520 is a great case at a great price point. The build I did was for a gaming PC, and it had no issues keeping things cool for extended periods. At the time of writing this, the case is on sale at New Egg for $104.99CAD with a $10.00 rebate. A great price considering all the boxes this case checks.
If a cool mini ITX case is something you’re considering, check out my review of the LIAN LI TU150. It’s coming to the Canadian market on September 23rd, 2019.
