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.
