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Cooler Master Elite 130 mini-ITX Computer Case Review
By David Ramsey
Manufacturer: Cooler Master, Inc.
Product Name: Elite 130
Model Number: RC-130-KKN1
UPC: 884102024221 EAN: 719512045176
Price As Tested: $49.99 (Amazon | Newegg | B&H)
Full Disclosure: Cooler Master provided the product sample used in this article.
I’ve reviewed a lot of Cooler Master cases over the years for Benchmark Reviews, and one thing that impresses me about the company is that they never stop innovating or refining. One has only to track the evolution of the Cosmos series of cases to see this writ large (very large, in the case of the Cosmos II), but what keeps my attention is the way they’ll roll smaller, incremental improvements into an existing case line. Today’s example: the Cooler Master Elite 130 mini-ITX computer case.
I’ve previously reviewed the Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced case that the 130 descends from, and it impressed me with its design and low price, making it my favorite mini-ITX computer case. If it had a weak point, it was CPU cooling: since the power supply is mounted over the motherboard, you had to use a very low-profile cooler. Depending on the motherboard in your system, you might have been limited to the stock Intel cooler.
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The Elite 130 addresses this limitation by supporting closed-loop water coolers with 120mm radiators. How did Cooler Master manage to find the space for this in a mini-ITX form factor? It’s not as if there was a lot of free space inside the Elite 120 Advanced…
Features & Specifications
| Model | RC-130-KKN1 |
| Color | Midnight Black |
| Material | Appearance: polymer front mesh panel. Case body: Steel alloy |
| Dimension | 240 x 205 x 377.5 mm / 9.4 x 8.1 x 14.9 inch |
| Weight | 3.1 kg / 6.8 lbs |
| M/B Type | Mini-ITX |
| 5.25″ Drive Bay | 1 |
| 3.5″ Drive Bay | 3 (1 from 5.25” drive bay) |
| SSD Bays | 4 (3 from 5.25″ drive bays, 1 from the side bracket) |
| I/O Panel | USB 3.0 x 2, USB 2.0 x 1, Audio In & Out |
| Expansion Slots | 2 |
| Cooling System | Front: 120mm fan x 1 (installed)Side: 80x15mm fan x 1 (installed) |
| Power Supply | Standard ATX PS2 (optional) |
| Maximum Compatibility | VGA card length: 343mm / 13.5 inch CPUcooler height: 65mm / 2.5 inchPSU length: 180mm/ 7.1 inch (w/ less cable management) 142mm / 5.6 inch (w/ full cable management) |
| Warranty | 2 years |
| UPC Code | 884102024221 |
Let’s take a look at this new case in the next section.
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