Cooler Master MasterBox Q300L Micro-ATX Tower with Magnetic Design Dust Filter, Transparent Acrylic Side Panel, Adjustable I/O & Fully Ventilated Airflow

So first I'd like to state that this review is specifically for the Q300L model. Amazon does this annoying thing where they mix all the reviews of all the models together and I can't stand it so I'm just stating the model flat out.I just built my 10 year old nephew’s PC using this case and I have to say that I was very surprised at how much I loved building in this case. Originally I bought the Compucase HEC HX300 case for 30$ from Newegg and I was just frustrated at the lack of air flow from that case. It only had room for one fan which was the back exhaust and that's it. It didn't even have holes for the power supply's intake fan! It was my fault for not researching enough and buying something so cheap. Then I did a little research and came across this case. It is only 50$ but has everything I want. I've seen PC builders on youtube build with this case and they all had great things to say.So the first thing I like about this case is obviously how much airflow it allows. It's an interesting design because there are holes all over the top, all over the bottom, and all over the front and you can install 4 fans if you wanted to (2 up top, 2 in front, 2 in bottom) in addition to the included exhaust fan at the back making it support up to 5 fans! Now with all those holes you might be thinking this is going to be an ugly case but as you'll see in the pictures this is not the case (pun intended) and it has very sleek looking dust filters to cover the top, front, and it’s not obvious from the picture but it has a filter on the bottom as well. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the filter is magnetic which made removing them to install my fans a breeze (pun intended). I also imagine cleaning them when they get dirty will also be very simple. You can simple remove them and just rinse with water. One tip when installing fans is that since there’s air holes all over, they actually made a very small indentation around the holes that you should screw in your fans. These “guides” are hard to notice but if you look closely you’ll see them. They have space for 140mm and 120mm fans depending on whatever you want. Air is able to easily flow through the filter so my air flow issues were resolved!The case also looks very nice in my opinion. I have the black model just because that’s what my nephew wanted but in review videos I’ve seen, the white one looks very nice as well. Cable management at the back is pretty good too and the case comes with a lot of zip ties. The filters I mention above are also very aesthetically pleasing. The power button, 2 USB ports, headphone jack, and speaker jack are on the side which I don’t mind. The interesting thing is that this IO panel can be unscrewed and moved to the other side which is nice. The clear side panel is acrylic but it’s a 50$ case so it’s fine. It doesn’t look bad at all. There’s also room in the cable management area for a 3.5” hard drive and 2 SSD’s inside the main area which is very good.Overall the case was pretty simple to build in. It’s designed very well to maximize airflow while looking great. I think this is an excellent case especially for the price. If you’re in the market for a cheap but good PC case, then you my friends have stumbled on a cheap but GREAT PC case. I would highly recommend this case and am willing to do even more expensive builds with this case in the future.One final note I’ll add, I built my nephew’s pc with a Ryzen 5 1600 processor and RX 480 gpu reference model targeting 1080p gaming and the heat in my old case with that one exhaust fan was reaching around 87 degrees C. After I added two intake fans in the front and one exhaust fan in the top along with the back exhaust fan that comes with this case my temperatures went down into the mid 70’s while gaming which is great. If you want looks as well as functionality for a great price, go with this case.

I feel like this case doesn't get enough love, because while the upgrades over the original are minor and the styling is a little outdated, it's still a great refinement over its predecessor. It's my go to case for pre-builds currently because when it comes to new and average users who aren't the most well versed in pcs it makes it easy for these types of users to approach their builds without feeling overwhelmed while offering all the features you'd expect from a newer case. The case is compact and doesn't take up much space. The front gives you easy access to all your components including the power supply and cables. You're given quality dust filters. You actually get a usb c port on the top which is hard to find around this price range. The rear is spacious and makes cable management easy. The overall construction is very solid and doesn't feel cheap or flimsy. The tempered glass panel is a very welcomed addition over the acrylic it originally came with. The pcie slots are screw in and not irreplaceable pop offs. It checks most boxes and is extremely easy to build in even if you are new to this hobby. As a starter case and even for experienced users I think the Q300L V2 still manages to stand out.

AIRFLOW: The airflow in this case is superb, and it has versatile fan support and placement for both 120 and 140mm fans, especially for how compact it is. I do have one gripe: for some reason, the designated holes for mounting 120mm fans are smaller than the rest of the holes on the case and too small for the common mounting screw for case fans. This means you will either need to mount the fans in slightly off-center positions using the neighboring airflow holes, or you will have to use a 3/16" (5mm) drill bit to widen the holes enough to place the mounting screws. This is not an issue if you use 140mm fans - only the 120mm mounting holes are smaller.CABLE MANAGEMENT: This case comes with ample holes through which to pass cables to the motherboard, which allows one to easily achieve a clean interior aesthetic (good cable management also contributes to higher airflow). There are ample brackets all over the rear of the case for zip ties, which is a huge plus, and well-needed; because the bottom of the case is completely open, there is no convenient space to hide unused cables. You will have to use tight cable management, especially if you have a non-modular power supply.AESTHETICS: I love the compact size of this case and its plain yet sleek look. The ample holes for cable management makes hiding cables easy for a clean interior. The only thing I wish Cooler Master would change would be to close off the bottom of the case in order to hide the PSU. It looks a bit awkward just bulkily sitting there in an otherwise-empty bottom. Hiding the PSU would be especially helpful for the White Q300L because most budget and midrange PSUs are black and stand out in the white case.Cooler Master could cover the bottom while lowering the front section of said cover in order to maintain z-height with a fan installed. They could perforate the portion of the cover with the fan and make room for a single, optional hard drive bay (aka cable storage zone) at the bottom-front of the case. This would cut airflow slightly, but there's already plenty to be had, and it would improve this case's aesthetics and functionality.The acrylic front cover is flimsy and cheap, but I'm not complaining on a $40 case. I would rather they keep the cheap cover than upgrade it and charge us $5 more. The dust filters are cool-looking; people who see my build have no suspicion that this is a budget case.CONCLUSION: This is a very affordable case that is compact and high-airflow with no major issues. Just make sure to have a lot of zipties and perhaps a drill on hand in order to make the most out of it!

Simply put, the title says it all. This is a pretty robust and cost-effective mATX compatible case that can pretty easily store some larger hardware. Cable management is not the most comfortable if your cables are shorter than expected, but with it being a small form factor, that's probably the worst case scenario. The case is a bit larger than it looks on the screen, though, so fitting it in a compact spot is going to require some thought, but at least the airflow is respectably good and can be improved with some extra fan installations.