Chieftec Pro Cube CI-02B-OP Case Review




/ 3 years ago

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How Much Does it Cost?

As with many things these days, the Chieftec Pro Cube CI-02B-OP Case stock is a little scattered around. I’ve seen the Chieftec Pro Cube CI-02B-OP as low as £60, but not from any of our preferred retailers. It’s currently showing a price of £78.84 on Amazon, but it’s also out of stock, so I suspect it’s mean to be cheaper than that. Personally, I think somewhere in the middle feels right, and if you can get it on the good side of £70, you’re getting a fair deal, so shop around.

Overview

When it comes to smaller form factor cases like this, I think brands like Silverstone and Raijintek have run the market for a long time. However, after today, it’s clear that Chieftec has an exceptionally competitive product on its hands. It may lack a cool product name, or RGB or some trick metallic paint, but I still think it has a lot of appeal.

Practicality Over Style

This case feels very focused, and it’s clear that a lot of thought has gone into its design. It maintains a more compact form factor yet still manages to house a staggering number of features for its size. It’s one of the few modern cases out there that offers a 5.25″ bay and, even more so, a 3.5″ bay. Furthermore, it’s micro-ATX, and that class of motherboard is becoming rarer, so it’s not often we see cases in this form factor; double rarity points for Chieftec!

There’s a lot of HDD/SSD mounts in this case too, so if you’re planning on building something with a lot of storage, but you don’t want to take up a lot of space, it’s ticking all the right boxes.

Performance

Airflow is excellent on this case, with a large mesh front panel and dust filter. Furthermore, there’s a dust filter for the PSU intake on the bottom of the case. Plus, there’s a huge dust filter on the top of the case and a fourth one on the left side panel. There are no fans, though, but for me, I’d want to install a few Noctua’s I have kicking around the office. On the other hand, stock fans would be something I’d have to pay for only to remove and put to one side, so this is a win for me. Either way, keep that in mind; you’ll want at least 2 x 120/140mm fans for this case.

Folding

Thumbscrews hold on the side panels, so that’s easy enough to get into. However, the addition of the hinged top/front panels is awesome. If you’re dealing with a component that’s proving tricky to install, having that extra elbow room is a huge advantage.

Should I Buy One?

If you need a system small enough to sit up on your desk but still house lots of storage, an optical drive, a card reader, a powerful motherboard, and a full ATX PSU, then you’re going to love what the Chieftec Pro Cube CI-02B-OP Case has to offer. It may not have a cool product name or particularly flashy styling, but it’s smart, easy to use, and full of great features that make it more than worthy of your attention.

Chieftec Pro Cube CI-02B-OP Case

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