Cooler Master Centurion 590

 

 

 

 

Looking at the front of the case I couldn’t help but think one thing: Stacker. Nothing wrong with this of course, in fact implemented properly the design is certainly a positive thing. 10 drive bays down the front translate to 9 useable ones as the top one isn’t actually a bay, but rather it’s built into the chassis to house the power & reset switches along with the other usual front panel commodities.

 

Below the function panel there is a bay that the middle pops out of to support an internal 3.5” device, situated in just the right place to house a LCD display in this reviewers opinion. Also it’s noteworthy that even when you don’t want a 3.5” device, the bezel meshes in nicely. Cooler Master also decided to incorporate the Centurion logo onto one of the covers. The all-mesh front looks pretty and is of course going to aid with the thermals of the case. I cant help but think that it might be a dust magnet however.

 

The side of the case shows off the glossy black paint work. The right side sporting two massive fan mounts – one above the CPU and one next to the PCI slots. These support a full range of fans up to a massive 140mm. The left panel housing an 80mm grill, although the purpose of this is a little quizzical to me.

 

 

Moving around to the back of the case we get the first glimpse of the layout of the case. The PSU bay is mounted at the bottom instead of the top; a strategy that we are seeing more and more of with newer cases. Elevated above that are the traditional 7 PCI slots, and here we get the fist glimpse of the tool-less features of the case. Although at this point it’s not very revealing.

 

To the right of the PCI slots there are two grommeted holes cut to allow water-cooling tubing to pass through. While it’s a nice touch, allowing people to externally mount a radiator and still have water in a small case, the holes were only big enough for 3/8” or 10/8mm tubing. Finally we see the I/O panel and the exhaust fan mount, which like the others on the case support 80, 92 and 120mm fans (no 140mm here though).

 

The top of the case is the last port of call on the tour around the outside of the chassis. Here we see the Cooler Master name tattooed onto the front rim of the case. With two more monstrous fan mounts towards the rear of the case. Looking at these it made me wonder if a 240mm radiator could be fitted here, which is something I will be testing while installing the other hardware.

Overall the Centurion 590 is a rather good looking case. It’s got a smooth, simple look about it which works extremely well. With all its features blended in well it wouldn’t look out of place in the majority of setup’s. The only major gripe I found was that the paint was very, very easy to scratch. By simply moving the case about seemed to gain it a few extra marks each time.

On the next page we take a look at the internal layout of the case…