Hardware Review
Cooler Master Elite 310
Budget cases are sometimes overlooked in the PC chassis market. However, more often than not, budget chassis will serve its purpose compared to its higher end brethren's. The purpose of PC chassis is to house your PC components and it should provide adequate air flow to proper cool your PC parts, everything else is extra. You also don't like the tower to be a dull beige colour, you at least want it to somewhat stand out. Tonight we took a look at Cooler Master's Elite 310 mid-tower case. We would like to thank the Cooler Master team for making this review possible.
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Our sample came in a nice well protected brown Cooler Master box. The Elite 310s weight is not heavy at all, weighing at just about fifteen pounds. The front panel is made up of ABS plastic coloured in black with a blue trim accent. The Elite 310 can also house four optical drives via the four exposed 5.25" drive bays as well as one exposed 3.5" device. The power button, reset switch and the activity lights are just located at the bottom of the 3.5" drive bay at the front. There also a couple of front panel ports available, you've got your audio ports as well as two USB ports. We would've like to have seen a FireWire port and an eSATA included with the front panel for added versatility. The body of the Elite 310 is built with Steel and the side panel window is nicely shaped as well.
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Let's take a look at the interior. The overall area for the motherboard is very roomy. The Elite 310 can support both an ATX as well as a micro-ATX motherboard. Looking at the internal drive bays, it can hold six 3.5" drives and as mentioned above four 5.25" drives. For internal cooling, the Elite 310 only comes with one rear 120 mm fan. As an option, the side panel can hold one 80/90/120mm fan and the front can hold one 120 mm fan for additional cooling. Drive installations requires screws to secure the drives. We would've preferred a more robust tool less drive rails to make drive installs easier. Overall, the interiors of the Elite 310 is what we expected for a budget case.
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The Elite 310 is a very solid case. Marketed towards the budget segment, this case does the job. With its nice simple design, it's great for building your next budget PC on. Roomy interiors, very good expansion and its cooling option makes it a very good choice if you're working on a budget. We would've like to have seen a couple of extra features with the Elite 310 such as eSATA and FireWire ports on the front panel as well as a tool less drive design. Overall, the Elite 310 does its purpose. If you're looking for a budget chassis, this case will definitely fit the bill. We give the Elite 310 a score of 7 out of 10.
Pros:
Good design and aesthetics
Solid construction
Budget friendly
Cons:
Drive install not tool less
Comes with only 1 fan
Manufacturer Link:
