The Cooler Master MasterBox NR600 ATX Mid-Tower, is an attractive case at an even more attractive price point, but is it worth your consideration? The NR600 case from Cooler Master has been on sale here in Canada for a few days now for CAD 59.99 on both New Egg and Amazon, which is an amazing price when you consider all the features packed into this case. I bought it on Amazon for the free shipping and the 5 dollar coupon code, so my price after tax was only CAD 62.00.
This case, in my opinion, is about the best you can get in terms of value and flexibility. If you’re a data hoarder or need lots of drive storage for work or your extensive Steam library, the NR600 is pretty tough to beat at any price. Cooler Master has packed in slots for up to four three and a half-inch drive bays and up to five two and a half-inch drive bays, and this comes standard, no weird ‘sold separately’ optional drive sleds, you see with other case manufacturers.
The Cooler Master, Master Box NR600 is a great option to consider whether you’re a first-time builder or a work from home developer who needs tons of storage, or you just want to keep your PC components as cool as possible.
Cooler Master MasterBox NR600 Key Features
- Optimal Thermal Performance – Full mesh front panel and ventilated top panel for high thermal performance.
- Flush Tempered Glass Side Panel Design – Fastened by thumbscrews on the rear panel, keeps the surface flush and unobstructed.
- Graphics Card Support Up To 410mm – Generous clearance space to support the latest graphics cards.
- Headset Jack – The single 4 pole headset jack features both audio and microphone capabilities simultaneously.
- Cable Management – High quality, longer length rubber grommets and generous clearance behind the motherboard.
Cooler Master MasterBox NR600 Specifications
| MODEL NUMBER | MCB-NR600-KGNN-S00 |
| EXTERIOR COLOR | Black |
| MATERIALS – BODY | Steel, Plastic |
| MATERIALS – SIDE PANEL | Tempered Glass |
| DIMENSIONS (L X W X H) | 478 (L) x 209 (W) x 473 (H) mm |
| MOTHERBOARD SUPPORT | ATX, Micro ATX, Mini ITX |
| EXPANSION SLOTS | 7 |
| 5.25″ DRIVE BAYS | 0 |
| 3.5″ DRIVE BAYS | 4 |
| 2.5″ DRIVE BAYS | 5 |
| I/O PANEL | 2x USB 3.0, 1x 3.5mm Headset Jack (Audio+Mic) |
| PRE-INSTALLED FANS – FRONT | 1x 120mm |
| PRE-INSTALLED FANS – REAR | 1x 120mm |
| FAN SUPPORT – FRONT | 2x 140mm, 3x 120mm |
| FAN SUPPORT – TOP | 2x 140mm, 2x 120mm |
| FAN SUPPORT – REAR | 1x 120mm |
| RADIATOR SUPPORT – FRONT | 360mm, 280mm, 240mm, 140mm, 120mm |
| RADIATOR SUPPORT – TOP | 120 / 240mm (35mm max motherboard component height) |
| RADIATOR SUPPORT – REAR | 120mm |
| CLEARANCE – CPU COOLER | 166mm/6.54″ |
| CLEARANCE – PSU | 180mm |
| CLEARANCE – GFX | 410mm/16.1″ |
| CABLE ROUTING – BEHIND MOTHERBOARD TRAY | 20-28mm / 0.78-1.10″ |
| DUST FILTERS | Top, Bottom |
| POWER SUPPLY SUPPORT | Bottom mount, ATX |
Cable Management
The back of the Cooler Master MasterBox NR600 is quite spacious. You shouldn’t have much issue tucking all the cables away neatly. The power supply bay area is a bit tight. If you have a longer power supply, it may be a tight fit, however, I found it roomy enough, for both the PSU and all its cables. The cutouts for cable routing were placed well and were large enough to run all my cables, and Cooler Master has included rubber grommets which is a welcome addition given the price point of this case. There are no fancy Velcro straps to tidy up your cables and no fancy cable covers, but this case isn’t about frills.
What this case does have is the standard fair of cutouts where you’d want them, and a nice deep channel to tuck your cables away, and plenty of tie-down locations to make use of the included zip ties. Overall, running the cables in the NR600 was a pleasant experience.
Cooling
Cooler Master has made the MasterBox NR600 a cooling beast. You’ll want to pick up a couple of extra fans, if you don’t already have some laying around to take full advantage of its cooling potential. It does come with 2 3-pin 120mil fans, but you really should consider adding a couple more, one more at least, and place it at the front of the case at the top as an intake fan. I had some laying around so I placed fans in all three slots at the front, two at the top of the case, and left one of the two included fans at the rear of the case.
With a full compliment of fans, the NR600 with its completely mesh front panel, has the potential to keep even the most powerful of PC’s nice and frosty. My Ryzen 7 3800x and Radeon RX 5700 XT have never been happier.
Cleaning
Keeping the NR600 clean should be a straight forward task. The front mesh panel can be wiped off to remove dust, and since it doubles as the filter there isn’t much more to it than that. The front panel also comes off easily if you need to do more intensive cleaning.
One way Cooler Master saved on the production cost of this case was to use the old school piece of mesh for the power supply intake filter. These are a bit annoying to remove and put back on but I guess they had to cut corners some where to keep the price down. Overall not a huge deal.
The top of the case also has a magnetic dust filter that you can remove for cleaning. Overall the NR600 should be fairly simple to keep clean.
Front I/O
The front of the NR600 has a power button trimmed in white defused light, which looks nice. There’s a reset switch, two USB 3.0 ports, and a combo headset/mic 4-pole plug for your cans. The layout is simple, but it looks nice, and the power and reset switch both have a nice tactile feel to them.
My Experience with the Cooler Master MasterBox NR600
Overall I would say I’m quite pleased with the NR600. It was nice to build in, with its roomy back compartment, and spacious basement. The storage options in the NR600 are a huge bonus. The amount of included storage options seems to have shrunk more and more over the years, and you normally have to go much higher-end to get this much storage space or buy a case with a old-school design. With the NR600, you get the best of both worlds without compromise.
Storage
The NR600 provides a ton of storage options in a sleek modern case; that also has massive cooling potential. This budget-friendly case is something you can grow in, and you won’t feel like you need to upgrade down the road. If you need a lot of storage space, it doesn’t get better than the NR600. This amount of storage space is hard to beat, even at the high-end.
On the topic of storage: I love the solution that Cooler Masters toolless design for securing your storage drives. The three-bay cage in the basement is pretty standard, however, the drive slots that are located on the back of the case and the slots sitting on top of the basement are genius. There are pegs you screw into the bottom of your hard drive and rubber grommets you place in the slots where you want your hard drive to go. Then you simply push the hard drive down so the pegs slide into the grommets. This design should eliminate vibrations and makes installing drives a breeze. It’s a very slick and cool addition to a budget case like this. Kudos to Cooler Master.
Aesthetics
Aesthetic-wise, the Cooler Master NR600 is, in my opinion, a beautiful case. Maybe it’s my age, or perhaps my short attention span, but I am mostly over the RGB fad. The NR600 is a clean, sleek-looking case with its minimal yet eye-catching design; it’s a welcome addition to my workspace.
I’m also a fan of how they implemented the tempered glass side panel. The slide and lock system with the two thumbscrews at the back is implemented well. The side panel is heavier than I had expected. That extra weight is due to the metal that’s used to secure the panel at the top and bottom of the case.
Looks are subjective. One man’s wench is another man’s beauty queen. For me, though, given the expand-ability of the NR600, the incredible airflow, roominess, and design quality, this case is one I plan on keeping long term. I love it!
