E
xternally,theMasterCaseSL600M
doesn’tlooksignificantlydifferentto
CoolerMaster’sotherlargetower
cases,butinsideit couldn’tbelesssimilar.
Thecasefeaturesa rotatedairflowdesign,
withnofansorevenfanmountsatallinthe
frontorrearofthecase.Instead,there’sa
plethoraofbaseandroofmounts,witha pair
of200mmfansincludedasstandardand
mountedinthebase.It’sa curiousarrangement,
notleastofallbecausethehardwarehasn’talso
undergonethesamerotation.
Asa result,thechimney-effectairflow
systemwillbeatoddswiththeusualdirection
ofairflowforyourtowerheatsinkCPUcooler
andtheonewehavemountedtoourtestgear,
soif you’llbeair-coolingyoursysteminthis
case,you’llwanttopointtheCPUcooleratthe
roofinsteadoftherearofthecase.
TheMasterCaseSL600Mfeelsstrikingly
premiumwithaluminiumpanelsandhuge
temperedglasssidewindows.Inaddition,you
getUSB3.1supportanda 4-speedfan
controlleronthefrontpanel,makingit oneof
justtwocasestoofferfancontrolthismonth.
Cooler Master MasterCase
SL600M/£167inc VAT
SUPPLIER ebuyer.comRather at odds with the
airflow arrangement is a
large aluminium roof panel.
This can be removed if
you need to boost airflow,
which would be especially
important if you want to install
a radiator here, as using just
the mesh underneath would
drastically reduce resistance.
With the panel in place
there are wide gaps around
the edges, though, so some airflow
is maintained if you’d prefer to keep the
sleek aesthetics. Thankfully, as this is the
main airflow intake, the lower fans are
protected by a monster dust filter that
pulls out from the rear of the case.
Like all cases this month, the MasterCase
SL600M offers E-ATX support, but only up to
a width of 271mm and here some of the cable
routing holes will be blocked too. The PSU is
squeezed into a box at the front of the case,
which proved a bit tricky to deal with, but does a
great job of keeping everything neat and tidy.
Something we particularly liked was the
inclusion of two multi-function plates that
allow pumps, SSDs or hard disks to be
positioned in various locations in the chassis. In
total, there’s four 3.5in/2.5in storage mounts
with four dedicated 2.5in mounts too. Both
ranks of fan mounts can fit three 120mm or
two 140/200mm fans with up to 280mm
or 360mm radiators supported too.
The chimney-effect airflow arrangement
worked well with this case providing the
second-best CPU delta T on test (59°C) and the
best GPU delta (48°C), trading places with the
NZXT H700i, which offered a brilliantly low
CPU delta T. Despite this, the MasterCase
SL600M also maintained very low noise
levels, with just a few degrees added to each
result on the low fan speed setting.Conclusion
The excellent cooling certainly helps
Cooler Master to an award, and for an
understated, sleek build, it fits the bill
more than any other case here too. The
MasterCase SL600M lags behind in some
aspects of design and features compared
with similarly priced alternatives, but it still
comes highly recommended.SPEC
Dimensions (mm) 242 x 544 x 573 (W x D x H)
Material Aluminium, steel, tempered glass, plastic
Available colours Silver
Weight 13.4kg
Front panel Power, reset, 2 x USB 3,
2 x USB 2, 1 x USB 3.1 Type-C, audio jacks
Drive bays 4 x 2.5in/3.5in, 4 x 2.5in
Form factor(s) Micro-ATX, ATX, E-ATX
Cooling 3 x 120/2 x 140/200mm base fan
mounts (2 x 200mm fans included), 3 x 120/2 x
140/200mm roof fan mounts (fans not included)
CPU cooler clearance 191mm
Maximum graphics card length 318mmVERDICT
A stunning large chassis that can capably
house an air or water-cooled PC.ANODISED
ALUMINIUM
+ Great air cooling
+ Decent potential for
water cooling
+ Attractive designPIG IRON- Unique layout and
fittings can be fiddly - Lacks features
compared with
the competition - CPU cooler needs to
be mounted vertically
COOLING
28 / 30
DESIGN
23 / 30FEATURES
15 / 20
VALUE
17 / 20OVERALLSCORE
83
s mPP
CCA
P
PR
OVE
D