Cooler Master Elite 100 Case Review

[nextpage title=”Introduction”]

The Cooler Master Elite 100 is a slim case supporting microATX and mini ITX motherboards that can be attached to the back of your video monitor, coming with an internal 150 W power supply (which we tested). Let’s take a look at it.

In Figures 1 and 2, you have an overall look at the case. The first thing you will note is how slim it is, at only 2.7” (69.6 mm) high, making it a nice option if you want a small and slim case for building a small form factor (SFF) computer (e.g., a home theater PC, HTPC). In fact, you can attach it behind your LCD video monitor or on any wall, using a bracket that comes with the product, as we will show you in the next page; this way you computer won’t take any space at all on your working area.

Figure 1: Cooler Master Elite 100 case

Figure 2: Cooler Master Elite 100 case

The Elite 100 comes with two USB 2.0 ports on its front panel and, due to its reduced height, it only accepts slim optical drives, i.e. drives originally projected for laptop computers. The price of slim optical drives dropped a lot in the past months, making it comparable to regular optical drives. Optionally the Elite 100 can come with a memory card reader in the area below the optical drive.

Figure 3: Front panel

The rear panel of the Elite 100 can be seen in Figure 4: the case doesn’t have any expansion slot, which is the main reason it is so small. Therefore, you will have to use a motherboard with integrated video and won’t be able to install a “real” video card, meaning that you can’t build a gaming system in this case (there are some microATX and mini ITX cases on the market that allow you to do that).

Figure 4: Rear panel

[nextpage title=”The Video Monitor/Wall Bracket”]

In Figure 5, you can see the bracket that comes with the product, allowing you to install it behind an LCD video monitor, a wall or even hidden under your desk. This bracket is also known as VESA bracket; VESA, the Video Electronics Standards Association, is the organization that standardized the location and size of the holes for mounting brackets available on the back of LCD video monitors.

Figure 5: VESA bracket

In Figure 6, you can see the Elite 100 installed behind a video monitor. The case has holes for you to install the bracket on its top panel and on its bottom panel, and the holes that should be used depends on how you want to install the case: if using the top holes, the bracket is installed perpendicular to the case front panel, while when using the bottom holes the bracket is installed in parallel to the case front panel.

Figure 6: The Elite 100 case installed behind a video monitor (option 1)

Figure 7: The Elite 100 case installed behind a video monitor (option 2)

[nextpage title=”Inside the Elite 100″]

In Figure 8, we have an overall look at the internals of the Cooler Master Elite 100 case. It comes with a Flex ATX 150 W power supply already installed, and it doesn’t come with any extra or fancy features.

Figure 8: Overall look

The disk drive bay supports a slim optical drive, as already mentioned, and one of the highlights of this case is the fact that it comes with the SATA and power adapter that is necessary to install this kind of drive on regular desktop computers.

The number of hard drives and SSD units this case accepts will depend on the size of the motherboard you use. When using a microATX motherboard, the case supports two 2.5” hard drives or SSD units, but not 3.5” hard drives. When using a mini ITX motherboard, the case supports one 3.5” hard drive and one 2.5” hard drive or SSD unit, or three 2.5” hard drives or SSD units.

Figure 9: Disk drive bays

In Figure 10, you can see the accessories that come with the Elite 100.

Figure 10: Accessories

[nextpage title=”The Power Supply”]

The Elite 100 comes with a Flex ATX 150 W power supply, part number RS-150-FSGA-J3, which is manufactured by FSP (it looks like it is a relabeled FSP150-50LE unit). It features active PFC.

Figure 11: Cooler Master RS-150-FSGA-J3 power supply

Figure 12: Cooler Master RS-150-FSGA-J3 power supply

The pow
er supply comes with the following cables:

• Main motherboard cable with a 20/24-pin connector, 15.75” (40 cm) long
• One cable with one ATX12V connector, 15.4” (39 cm) long
• One cable with two SATA power connectors, 8.3” (21 cm) to the first connector, 5.9” (15 cm) between connectors
• One cable with two standard peripheral power connectors and one floppy disk drive power connector, 7.9” (20 cm) to the first connector, 7.9” (20 cm) between connectors

Figure 13: Cables

Figure 14: Power supply label

In Figure 15, you have an overall look inside the power supply.

Figure 15: Inside the Cooler Master RS-150-FSGA-J3 power supply

Let’s now talk about the performance of this power supply.[nextpage title=”The Power Supply Performance”]

We conducted several tests with this power supply, as described in the article, Hardware Secrets Power Supply Test Methodology.

We tested this power supply with five different load patterns (50 W, 75 W, 100 W, 125 W, and 150 W), watching the behavior of the reviewed unit under each load. In the table below, we list the load patterns we used and the results for each load.

If you add all the powers listed for each test, you may find a different value than what is posted under “Total” below. Since each output can have a slight variation (e.g., the +5 V output working at +5.10 V), the actual total amount of power being delivered is slightly different than the calculated value. In the “Total” row, we are using the real amount of power being delivered, as measured by our load tester.

The +12VA and +12VB inputs listed below are the two +12 V independent inputs from our load tester. During our tests, the +12VA and +12VB input were connected to the power supply single +12 V rail (the ATX12V connector was installed on the +12VB input of our load tester).

Input	Test 1	Test 2	Test 3	Test 4	Test 5
+12VA	1.5 A (18 W)	2.5 A (30 W)	3.5 A (42 W)	4 A (48 W)	5 A (60 W)
+12VB	1.5 A (18 W)	2.5 A (30 W)	3.5 A (42 W)	4 A (48 W)	5 A (60 W)
+5V	1 A (5 W)	1 A (5 W)	1 A (5 W)	2 A (10 W)	2 A (10 W)
+3.3 V	1 A (3.3 W)	1 A (3.3 W)	1 A (3.3 W)	2 A (6.6 W)	2 A (6.6 W)
+5VSB	1 A (5 W)	1 A (5 W)	1 A (5 W)	1.5 A (7.5 W)	2 A (10 W)
-12 V	0.3 A (3.6 W)	0.3 A (3.6 W)	0.3 A (3.6 W)	0.3 A (3.6 W)	0.3 A (3.6 W)
Total	52.3 W	75.6 W	98.7 W	121.2 W	146.3 W
% Max Load	34.9%	50.4%	65.8%	80.8%	97.5%
Room Temp.	29.8° C	30.5° C	31.3° C	32.2° C	32.8° C
PSU Temp.	31.3° C	32.2° C	33.1° C	34.4° C	34.6° C
Voltage Regulation	Pass	Pass	Pass	Pass	Pass
Ripple and Noise	Pass	Pass	Pass	Pass	Pass
AC Power	66.7 W	93.0 W	119.9 W	148.1 W	179.7 W
Efficiency	78.4%	81.3%	82.3%	81.8%	81.4%
AC Voltage	114.4 V	113.6 V	113.4 V	113.1 V	112.7 V
Power Factor	0.989	0.994	0.991	0.990	0.990
Final Result	Pass	Pass	Pass	Pass	Pass

The Cooler Master RS-150-FSGA-J3 can really deliver its labeled wattage.

Efficiency was above 80% only when we pulled between 75 W and 150 W from it.

Voltage regulation was excellent, with all voltages within 3% of their nominal values (except for the -12 V output, which stayed inside its allowed range). The ATX12V specification allows voltages to be up to 5% from their nominal values (10% for the -12 V output). Therefore this power supply presents voltages closer to their nominal values than necessary all the time.

Noise and ripple levels were always low. Below you can see the results for the power supply outputs during test number five. The maximum allowed is 120 mV for the +12 V and -12 V outputs, and 50 mV for the +5 V, +3.3 V, and +5VSB outputs. All values are peak-to-peak figures.

Figure 16: +12VA input from load tester during test five at 146.3 W (37.4 mV)

Figure 17: +12VB input from load tester during test five at 146.3 W (37.6 mV)

Figure 18: +5V rail during test five at 146.3 W (18.6 mV)

Figure 19: +3.3 V rail during test five at 146.3 W (18.4 mV)

[nextpage title=”Main Specifications”]

The main specs for the Cooler Master Elite 100 case include:

• Style: Small form factor (SFF)
• Application: microATX and mini ITX
• Power supply: 150 W (Cooler Master RS-150-FSGA-J3)
• Available colors: Black
• Material: Steel
• Dimensions: 2.74 x 10.32 x 12.52 inches (69.6 x 262 x 318 mm) (H x W x D)
• Net weight: 5 lbs (2.4 kg)
• Net weight (with bracket): 5.5 lbs (2.6 kg)
• Gross weight: 7 lbs (3.2 kg)
• Bays: One external 5.25” slim bay, two internal 2.5” bays when using a microATX motherboard, two internal 2.5” bays and one internal 3.5”/2.5” bay when using a min
  i ITX motherboard
• Expansion slots: None
• Maximum CPU cooler height: NA
• Fans: None
• Optional fans: None
• Extra features: VESA bracket
• More Information: https://www.coolermaster-usa.com
• Average Price in the US*: USD 70.00

* Researched at Newegg.com on the day we published this review.

[nextpage title=”Conclusions”]

The Cooler Master Elite 100 is an interesting option if you are looking for a small, slim case to hide your computer somewhere. Since it only has one fan (the power supply fan), you can also build a very quiet PC. It certainly lacks features when compared to regular cases, but it fits its goals.

Strong Points

• Fair price
• Can be attached behind LCD video monitors
• Supports 2.5” hard drives or SSDs
• Comes with 150 W power supply
• Good option for slim, quiet PCs

Weak Points

• Doesn’t support expansion cards
• No support for 3.5” hard drives when a microATX motherboard is used
• Power supply isn’t 80 Plus-certified