Cooler Master Centurion 530 Mid-Tower Case - Articles / Reviews

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Cooler Master Centurion 530 Mid-Tower Case

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Kurtis Kronk
Brian
Cooler Master
Jul. 25, 2005

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First Looks

You may notice that the Centurion 530 looks a little familiar; if you can't figure out why, have a look at the Cooler Master Stacker. This case uses the same idea of having a perforated front panel to maximize air intake. They've also taken the idea of a front I/O port and made it even more convenient (at least for those of us who keep the PC on the floor). By placing it towards on the top towards the front of the case and at a slight angle it is easier to access the (2) USB ports, Headphone/Mic jacks, Firewire port, Power/Reset buttons, and to view the status LEDs.

Also on the front of the case you will notice two aluminum rods, which are pretty much there just for looks. Personally, I think they're sort of awkward and stupid looking, but since when do you care what I think right? I should also mention that they apparently scratch easily, because when I pulled the case from its box I soon noticed a scratch on the left one. In case you are wondering, I was able to pick up the case (even with all hardware installed) by the aluminum rods, but I definitely wouldn't recommend it.

From the front you can also see five external 5.25" bays (two of which are stealthed) and one external 3.5" bay. Towards the bottom of the front panel is a pretty sweet looking Centurion emblem. It's all reflecty and stuff, oooo.

The left panel has a CPU duct and a GPU intake, plus a stamped recession that serves as a handle. Aside from the "handle' the right panel is unremarkable.

The back of the case is pretty standard, containing a PSU-mount, I/O shield, optional rear exhaust (80, 92, or 120mm) and seven toolless PCI slots.

On the bottom of the case you will notice that there are two plain case feet towards the rear, but seemingly two missing front case feet. Upon closer inspection you will notice that the other two case feet are mounted on the bottom of the aluminum rods at the front of the case. This isn't really of any importance, but the result is that the case sits on a slight incline rather than being completely flat.

Opening the Case

The side panels are really easy to remove, especially since Cooler Master included thumbscrews - it seems that this is becoming pretty much standard. After removing the panels, I did notice that they are a little bit on the flimsy side. What I mean is that they easily flex. Whether this is important or not is up to you, but it is worth noting nevertheless.

Removing the front panel proved easy enough; all that was required was for both side panels to be removed and for four plastic tabs to be pushed outward. Once the front panel has been taken off you will have access to the front intake fan and the external drive bays. I should mention that the drive bays have the annoying twist-off steel plate things which can often times result in excruciating death, or if you're lucky just a bloody finger. You also have access to the tiny speaker which is clipped to the front of the case - I thought this was a pretty good location for the speaker, and I'm really glad they didn't put one of those big speakers on the bottom of the case.

Not satisfied, I decided to try removing the aluminum bars, which I personally think look funky. About five minutes later I realized that I had just wasted my time, because although I was successful in removing the bars, the top I/O port obviously came with it, under which there were left a few ugly holes. Apparently I wasn't supposed to do that, oh well. At least now we know that it's removable, and with a little modding you could chop the bars off and keep the I/O ports and make it look nicer. I should also mention that the aluminum thing topping off each of the bars is just glued on, which is somewhat disappointing from a quality standpoint.

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Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: First Looks / Opening the Case
Page 3: Inside the Case
Page 4: Quality Check / Conclusion

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2 User Comments

1 - Posted by Guest on August 18, 2005 - 3:28 am

I Googled this case to see if anyone else had problems with the stealthed 5-1/4 bay doors. This was the 2nd site I visited.

Mine are "post-mass-production" models and I built two comps using this case. Both cases had the problem of the drive door getting stuck halfway open. The first case I used a Sony and the second case I used a Lite-On.

Still looking for a work-around other than moving the drives down to the 3rd bay.... or yanking out the doors completely.

2 - Posted by Guest on September 12, 2005 - 1:49 am

I have this case aswell. And yes my cd drive got stuck too. But i was able to take off the front bezel of the tray and problem solved. Since its hidden i dont care that my cd drive is choppe and sc re w ed. with a 2nd 120mm fan, this a very quiet case with excellent cooling, and i have the Vantec Nexus black multi-fan controller with blue backlight that matches the front case fan's blue glow nicely and looks awesome. (Computer Power User used the same fan controller on the Centurion 5)Those rods dont bother me much either. I only wish that that the drive bay doors worked better. -Matt

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