Not part of the elite after all
Cooler Master’s Elite 431 Plus spices up its
aesthetics with the addition of a large side panel window to the usual
combination of black steel and mesh, but sadly this is the highlight of this
case. It boasts the fewest fan mounts on test, with a rear 80/90/120mm mount, a
pair of roof 120mm mounts, an 80/90/120mm mount in the floor and a single 120mm
mount to the front.
Cooler
Master Elite 431 Plus
Bafflingly, the single bundled 120mm fan is
fitted as a front intake rather than a rear or roof exhaust where it would be
much more effective, although its blue LED gives a soft glow to the Elite’s
front fascia when running.
A front panel, including a USB 3 port and a
pair of USB 2 ports, is complemented by a front-accessed hot-swap 3.5in hard
disk bay, fitted to the bottom of the three 5.25in drive mounts. While this
might be useful for those juggling many drives, it feels like an unnecessary
luxury for an affordable case.
It
boasts the fewest fan mounts on test, with a rear 80/90/120mm mount, a pair of
roof 120mm mounts, an 80/90/120mm mount in the floor and a single 120mm mount
to the front.
Inside, the Elite is rather plain and,
shockingly, it lacks any kind of cable-routeing space behind the motherboard
tray, unless you’re routeing ribbon-SATA cables or 3-pin fan wires. This leaves
you tucking PSU cables and unused wires behind or inside the 3.5in mounting
rack, which isn’t ideal, as this can obstruct airflow from the front of the
case.
While
many of the cases on test are below $75, the Elite was the only one that felt
cheap.
There’s room for seven 3.5in drives and up
to three 5.25in drives, but there are only tool-free clips for two 5.25in and
three 3.5in drives, and no mount for a 2.5in drive anywhere. We were also
disappointed to find that the expansion-slot blanking plates were fixed to the case
and need to be forcibly snapped off - a process that alarmingly bends the case
metal at the back. While many of the cases on test are below $75, the Elite was
the only one that felt cheap.
With its single 120mm cooling fan fitted
ineffectively as a front intake, we weren’t surprised to find that the Elite
delivered poor cooling out of the box. The CPU delta T of 64°C was 30 per cent
higher than the best on test, although the stock GPU delta T of 39°C was slightly
better.
With
its single 120mm cooling fan fitted ineffectively as a front intake, we weren’t
surprised to find that the Elite delivered poor cooling out of the box
Adding a pair of extra 120mm cooling fans
as a rear and roof exhaust improved matters considerably, with the CPU delta T
dropping 13°C - the biggest impact our extra fans had on any case.
Conclusion
The Cooler Master Elite 431 Plus leaves
much to be desired. A lack of cable-routeing space behind the motherboard makes
for a messy build, while it’s unable to match the stock cooling ability of
others on test, even with upgraded cooling. Other cases offer much more for the
same price.
