Cooler Master Maker 5 Chassis Review

Final Thoughts

Price

The Cooler Master Maker 5 will be available at major retailers very soon, and since this is the flagship of the series, it’s obviously a little more expensive than the other two. Please keep in mind that the 5 and Pro 5 prices are slightly lower than their launch price now, as this is current market prices vs Maker 5 launch price.

• Master Case 5 – £89.99 @ OCUK
• Master Case Pro 5 – £114.95 @ OCUK
• Master Case Maker 5 – £179.99 (MSRP)

Additional accessories to upgrade the 5 or the Pro 5 to the Maker, or to create your own hybrid version, as well as the price for the tempered glass window, are below and we expect more will follow soon enough; all prices as MSRP.

• Tempered Glass Side Panel – £34.99
• Top Cover Kit with Magnetic Grip – £17.99*
• Cooling Bracket – £6.99*
• Silencio FP 140 PWM with Red LED – £13.99
• Universal VGA Holder – £9.99

*Included in MasterCase Maker 5

Overview

The original Master Case was and still is a real winner, one of the best made and designed products in its class and one of my all time favorite chassis overall. The Master Case Pro 5 made things even better, offering more features, even greater component support, and a moderately improved design, and I obviously enjoyed it enough as I picked one of them up for my own personal system build in the eTeknix office. This brings us onto the Master Case Maker 5, the latest and undoubtedly greatest entry in the series so far, and for those who want all of the features Cooler Master currently offer in one neat and tidy package, it’s the perfect chassis for virtually any kind of system build.

What I really love about this is how modder friendly it is, it doesn’t matter if you’re not ready to get a Dremel out and make something unique, but the extremely modular nature means that you can build a system layout that’s overall quite unique to your build. The hard drive bays can be removed, moved, added to and more. This gives you room for a lot more storage, room for more radiators, fans, longer expansion cards and much more, it’s really up to you.

The revised top panel is certainly a welcome update, as it looks just as great with the cover on as it does with it removed. This is great for those who want a silent build, or reap the benefits of having thick radiators mounted in the top of their chassis; at least you can upgrade the chassis configuration as you upgrade your components over time, rather than simply going out to buy a new chassis to fit your needs. Extra additions certainly sweeten the deal too, such as the comprehensive fan hub configuration, with front panel lighting and fan speed controls built in, complimented further by the included red LED lighting strip, the new LED lit I/O panel and the inclusion of a very nice Silencio 140mm LED fan.

I loved how easy it is to tweak and maintain the front panel of the previous models, and while that is still the case here, the addition of the pull down and sound dampened front panel cover really pushes the design to the next level, giving the Maker a more professional look while also providing acoustic benefits to your system build; never a bad thing.

I’m really happy to see how CM are managing this new series, as the base model is a great case, make no mistake about that, but the fact that you can buy any of the parts of the premium Maker model, clip them onto your stock one and reap the benefits in impressive. Want the normal chassis with the fan controller and LED lighting features? No problem, want the Pro 5, but really dig that tempered glass window add on? Go buy it, or… OK, you get the idea here and while doing it that way isn’t going to be the best value for money, it’s the ideal that I like the most. It’s this modular and upgradable, moddable and interchangeable nature that I look forward to seeing developed further, and it’s something CM are actively putting into all their product ranges so I’m sure we’re going to be seeing a lot more exciting chassis, coolers, peripherals and much more over the coming months.

Pros

• Exceptional functionality
• Very modular design
• Master Case 5 and Master Case Pro 5 can be upgraded to Maker
• Tempered glass side panel add-on looks stunning
• Built-in lighting and fan hub
• Excellent air/water cooling support
• Additional 140mm fan included in box
• Good cable management space
• Support for long GPUs and tall CPU coolers
• Magnetic attached top panel cover and pull-down front panel door
• Noise dampening materials

Cons

• A SKU with tempered glass pre-fitted could be more cost-effective for consumers

Neutral

• More LED colours would be great
• Upgrading the previous models to Maker could prove expensive, but it’s still cheaper than buying another complete chassis

“Packed with features, extensive customisation and flawless build quality, the Maker 5 is the jewel in Cooler Masters crown. If you’re looking for a truly versatile chassis with a professional aesthetic, the Maker 5 will make a great base for your next system build.”