Cooler Master K280 Case Review - Gaming Chassis made for the Budget Conscious

Introduction

Cooler Master shouldn't be a foreign name to anyone who plays with computer hardware. Cooler Master have been manufacturing great computer cases for many years now and definitely have more experience as compared to the other new competitors in the market. Today, we take a look at the Cooler Master K280 Budget Gaming Case and let you determine whether the case is really as good as it sounds for those who are really on a tight budget.

First Look

Judging from the box of the Cooler Master K280, one would conceive an idea that it would be a low quality made-in-china case that probably cost less than SGD$30. Don't let the first look of it deceive you. Inside the brown card-box is a  beautifully designed mid tower case made for gamers.

Accessories

Core Features

USB 3.0 Support

Tool-less in Mind

5.25" Tool-less Design

3.5" Tool-less Design

Thumb Screws for easy opening of case

Cooler Master K280 is made to meet the bare minimum requirements of a suitable gaming case. Although all the bays are made to be tool-less, the accessories included does not allow it to be fully tool-less. We were able to easily install 2 hard drives and an optical drive with the accessories provided, but screws will be needed to install anything more than that.

 3.5" Bay Support

Front 3.5" Bay

Front Intake Fan Support

Front 120mm Intake Fan

 A front 120mm fan can be found pre-installed in the case, pulling cool air in from the front of the case. This makes a whole lot of sense because the case is usually facing outwards, and the front will rarely be blocked by anything, reducing airflow into the case. Placed strategically before the hard drives, the 120mm fan effectively cools the hard drives as well, increasing the stability and reliability of the hard drives and the overall system unit.

 7 Expansion Slots

Like most ATX sized mid tower cases, the Cooler Master K280 has 7 Expansion slots at the back. However, it is a shame that Cooler Master did not include any more thumb screws to make the Back expansion slot tool-less. A few thumb screws for a mass manufacturing company should not be a lot of additional cost right?

Design and Overview

Left Side of K280

 Found on the left side of the K280 is another fan grill for installation of a optional 120mm fan. It is highly recommended that a 120mm fan be placed here to cool the graphics card directly by cold air intake, especially with graphic cards which heats up easily. The side panel is convex, probably allowing unusually tall CPU coolers to be placed within the case for even better CPU Cooling.

Front of K280

 The front of K280 is particularly attractive. Borrowing the design concept of the HAF 922, which is a high end gaming mid tower case, it brings the K280 to a whole new aesthetic level. Such designs have never been found on budget cases before and is probably one of the main reasons system builders are willing to buy this chassis to house their high-end components.

Right of K280

 If you're wondering why the right side panel of the K280 is convex as well, allow me to explain the ingenuity  of this design. System Builder's skill level can be determined by the way they do cable management. Budget cases usually do not have any cable management features built within. The convex design allows cables to be easily hidden at the back of the case, improving the airflow at the motherboard area and thus, a cooler computer. Moreover, a system looks better with the cables tucked away and well organized.

Back of K280

 The K280 supports ATX Power Supplies of any length. Additionally, a 120mm grill is found at the back of the case for system builders to include an option exhaust fan. It is highly recommended that a additional fan is placed there for optimal airflow within the case.

Internal of K280

A number of advantages can be seen when first looking into the case. The K280 has a huge hole in the middle. This allows the easy removal and installation of any 3rd party CPU coolers. Simply remove both side panels of the case and the CPU backplate can be removed. Besides that, there are cable management holes built into the case. Cables coming out from the Power Supply can go through the hole right next to the Power Supply, right to the back of the motherboard tray and then back to the motherboard area again with the motherboard side holes(as shown). A SSD can also be installed at the bottom of the case with its mounting holes pre-drilled.

Conclusion

The Cooler Master K280 is a budget mid tower chassis with features found in expensive high end chassis. However, probably due to cost limitation for the production of the case, numerous limitations are also found. Some examples include - limited number of tool-less accessories, limited number of places to put fans. However, the high-end features found in the budget case outweighs these limitations. It's the first time we're seeing such a well aesthetically designed mid tower. The case will be able to win system builder's heart as it is technically designed with them in mind. Huge hole at the motherboard tray at CPU area for easily installation of CPU cooler and most definitely cable management features are what sets this chassis apart from any other cases of the same class.

Cooler Master K280 retails at SGD$59 and is available at most shops in Sim Lim Square which sells System components.

Specifications

Available Color	Full Midnight Black
Materials	SGCC, HIPS Plastic, Mesh front bezel
Dimension (W x H x D)	219 x 429 x 480mm / 8.6 x 16.9 x 18.9 inch
Net Weight	4.4 kg / 9.7 lbs
M/B Type	Micro-ATX, ATX
5.25" Drive Bays	3 (exposed)
3.5" Drive Bays	1 (exposed), 6 (hidden)
2.5" Drive Bays	1 (hidden)
I/O Panel	USB 3.0 x 1 (internal), USB 2.0 x 1, Mic x1, Audio x 1 (supports AC97 / HD audio)
Expansion Slots	7
Cooling System	Front: 120mm fan x 1 Rear: 120mm fan x 1 (optional) Side: 120mm fan x 1 (optional)
Power Supply Type	PS2
Maximum Compatibility	VGA card length: 315mm / 12.4 inch CPU cooler height: 162mm / 6.4 inch