Introduction

When Coolermaster's Centurion case appeared last year, it quickly gained favour with both system builders and modders alike. System builders liked it for its out-of-the-box stylish looks, and with the absence of a side panel window, it meant that it looked equally good regardless of the choice and/or tidyness of internal components. Modders also realised that the minimal concessions to the cult of over the top premodding meant that the Centurion was a blank canvass the could work their personal magic on.

With their new Centurion 2 case, Coolermaster have clearly used the old "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" adage, as changes between this new revision and the existing model are few and far between. As the original Centurion model was a good case, the fact that the Centurion 2 model has had only a subtle facelift is actually a good thing.

If you're already familiar with the original Centurion case, you may not need to know any more than the changes are limited to a minor front panel revision (two angular vents rather than two oval inlets), the side panels are removed by sliding upwards (not backwards), and the single plastic thumbscrew has been replaced with a more robust metal item.

If you haven't already seen a Coolermaster Centurion case, read on to see why I rate its younger sibling as a great buy.

Packaging

The Coolermaster Centurion case arrived in a stout, double layer corrugated cardboard box, with the case itself conventionally packaged in a plastic bag and two expanded polystyrene formers. Despite one corner of the box showing some evidence that it had been dropped as some point between leaving Coolermaster and getting to me, the case arrived in perfect condition.

The box, like most recent cases, is printed in full colour, with the front, back and top showing off the inlet section of the front panel. The sides of the box are somewhat more informative, one showing a threequarter view of the whole case, and the other listing some of the case's specifications and features.

Specifications

Gleaned from both the box, and personal observation, the specifications of the Coolermaster Centurion 2 case are not substantially different from any other midi tower case, although the provision of front panel IEEE 1394 is a welcome bonus (assuming you've got both a motherboard capable of supporting it, and at least one device that uses it), and the aluminium front panel and drive bay covers are something of a surprise at this price point.

• Size: 425mm (16.75") deep x 196mm (7.75") wide x 472mm (18.5") high


• Weight: 6.8kg (15lbs)


• Form factor: standard ATX


• 4x 5.25" drive bays


• 2x exposed 3.5" drive bays


• 2x hidden 3.5" drive bays


• Front panel: 2x USB + 1x IEEE 1394 ports, mic & headphone sockets


• Construction: Aluminium front panel & drive bay covers, steel chassis.

Around the Outside

Having removed the Centurion 2 from its packaging, it was time for a thorough exploration of the outside of the case.

The front panel and drive bay covers are made from aluminium and painted satin black. The finish is of a good quality, though evidence of the brush finished metal underneath is apparent upon close inspection. From the photo below, you might think that some of the drive bay covers are not finished the same, however this is due to slight misalignments causing the camera flash to react slightly differently on the various angles - in daylight and under artificial light though, no difference in finish is evident.

The external drive bays are arranged conventionally enough, with the four 5.25" bays taking up most of the top half of the panel. Almost immediately below are the two external 3.5" drive bays, which unlike a lot of PC cases, are arranged centrally. Below that is a fine mesh backed air intake. Arranged vertically along the middle of the intake are a power button, power on LED, HD indicator LED (both blue) and a reset button. Lastly, two USB ports, mic & headphone sockets and a single IEEE 1394 port are arranged in a line near the bottom of the panel.

Moving on to the sides of the case, it's pleasing to see that they're both completely plain - a huge benefit to anyone who doesn't want to show off their components, or wants to cut their own window. I definitely fall into the latter camp - I like side panel windows, but I want to choose what size/shape they are, and not be forced into living with the riveted on, rectangular ugliness that a lot of manufactures seem to think we want.

Something I don't like though is the mismatch in colour between the front panel and the side and top panels. This isn't a trick of the light: although the side panels are a fairly pleasant shade ("graphite" would describe it best), it's nothing like what I'd expect from a case sold as being black.

Moving on to the back panel, compromises that you'd expect from a low priced case start to become apparent. Firstly, the motherboard I/O (input/output) shield is pretty nasty, being pressed from the same sheet of steel as the back panel, and attached to it by 4 small bridges. It seems to have suffered from some stress during pressing, resulting in having the option of having the panel bent slightly inwards or outwards - flat just isn't an option.

When it came to installing a motherboard, I found that the slots for the USB connectors were still covered. I suppose I should have checked they were open before putting the board in, but I've never had to, before.

Secondly, the AGP/PCI expansion slot covers are of a similar type - a pressing that must be fatigued out in order to use the slot. Obviously, once you've done this, there's no going back. These aren't really fair criticisms for a case at this price point though - I've seen equally cheap & nasty provision on cases costing a lot more. It should also be remembered that a lot of motherboards come with their own I/O shield, and of course a lot of the slots will be taken up with your expansion cards.

Something that is a problem, however, is the nature of the built in fan grille. When most cases today have provision for two 80mm exhaust fans or a single 120mm fan, the Centurion 2's space for a single 80mm fan is below par, but when you look at how restrictive the grille is, airflow has to be something of a worry.

The final thing to mention on the back panel is the box-like appendage over the left hand edge of the expansion slots, the purpose of which is not readily apparent. As a security measure (as has been suggested by some other sources) it makes no sense, and the truth is somewhat more prosaic - it's a cheap cosmetic fix that allows the back panel to be made as cheaply as possible. If you look at the back panel of a more heavyweight case (an Antec tower {and all it's clones} would be a good example) the pressing is quite deep, and the panel itself is made out of several parts. The Centurion 2's back panel however is almost flat, which means thinner steel can be used, and has only one part (not counting the "box". Clever cost saving like this means there's more in the production budget for the panels that are seen most.

Taking a look at the underside of the case, we can see that it's pretty straightforward: four basic plastic feet, and a rectangular embossing providing some bracing.

On the Inside

Coolermaster describe the way the case panels are removed as unique ... and it may be, I can't remember ever having a case that opened up in exactly this way. To get the side panels off the Centurion 2, the top panel has to be removed first, by unscrewing a single metal thumbscrew & sliding the panel backwards. The side panels can then be slid upwards and off the case.

I'm not really sure this is a big deal, but this arrangement does mean the side panels are perfectly flat - there's no need for any sort of handle /depression in the visible portion of the panel, the job being done instead by an angled pressing that is hidden when the top panel is in place.

Something that I can get more enthusiastic about is the standard of the panel fit - all three panels slide on and off very easily, with none of the snagging usually apparent on cases at this price point (and some more expensive cases too).

With the panels removed, you can see that the interior of the case is in the ubiquitous zinc coated steel pressings. All edges are nicely rolled/folded, minimising the risk of cuts & scrapes at installation time, and the case as a whole feels sturdy.

The interior is of unremarkable design, with the exception perhaps of some openings on the motherboard support panel that are extremely useful when is comes to hiding cables. I didn't go to any great lengths to tidy the cables during component installation, merely tucking any excess/unwanted wiring through a handy gap & cable tying it to the back of the motherboard panel.

Looking at the front of the case, the drive cages are something of a mixed bag. The four 5.25" drive bays are indifferent - inspection shows that one side is integral with the motherboard support panel, whereas the top half of the other side is a continuation of the cross brace, the lower half being a separate pressing. You've got to admire Coolermaster's ingenuity here - this is a clever bit of design that reduces the number of parts (and therefore the cost) without impinging on the structure of the case, but in my opinion, appearance got the raw end of the compromise here.

The left cross brace almost completely hides the side of the PSU, and I have to say I was a little concerned about how tight the space between the cross brace and the top of the motherboard. The PSU I used (a Q-Tec 550W Dual Fan) is a standard ATX form factor model, but it was a very close fit requiring some downward pressure to install.

The 3.5" drive cage has to be the most ugly I have ever seen, though it does seem solid enough. It is removable, but given the number and accessibility of the screws required to remove it, I didn't bother. This was no problem though - fitting the drives is simple one side, and as long as you don't drop the screw, the slots on the motherboard support panel makes it easy on the far side too.

If the drive cages are indifferent and/or ugly, the drive bay covers are something else entirely. Made from aluminium & finished to the same standard as the front panel, they are each held in place by one screw on each side of the drive cages, and are some of the best made bay covers I've yet to see on a case of any price.

Cables for the USB and IEEE 1394 ports, mic & headphone sockets, HDD and power LEDs, power and reset switches exit the front fascia close to the bottom of the case. Although they weren't unsecured during transit, I doubt if this contributed to one of the speaker wires becoming detached - if is was ever attached, it must have been by the world's driest joint. I wasn't impressed with having to get a soldering iron out to fix this.

Another wiring problem arose with the USB connector - there was no way it was going to mate up to my motherboard. Multiple single pin connectors may be fiddly, but at least on cases that have them you're not left in the situation where you can't use the front panel USB connectors.

Also lurking near the bottom of the case was a bag of bits, including a very brief instruction manual, a bag of standoffs & sundry screws, a Coolermaster case badge (interesting, as there's no 1" square recess to fix it to on the case), and a single expansion slot cover.

The instruction manual is practically useless (for example, the diagram relating to fitting the PSU and motherboard shows the case, PSU, motherboard ... and three big arrows), but many of the fine pitch screws are finished in black. Although they'll be hidden away, it's a nice touch.

With processor thermal outputs climbing ever higher, ventilation is a big issue in case design. With provision for just one 80mm exhaust fan on the back panel (through a very restrictive built in grille) and a single 80mm inlet fan fitted to the front panel, I suspect the Centurion 2 just won't cut the mustard.

It's easy enough to add additional fans to the side panel, and a top panel mounted blowhole is a possibility, but it's not something you really want to have consider before you install your components.

Temps & Airflow

Having kept data on the CPU and "system" temperatures with the same hardware (a Gigabyte GA-7IXEH fitted with an AMD Duron 800 CPU, running a Thermaltake Volcano 7+ set on "low"), in different cases, I was able to determine the impact the single 80mm fan in the Centurion 2 case was having on temperatures, although some allowance does need to be made for the slightly higher ambient temperature this time around.

After running the CPU at 100% load (Folding@Home) for 90 minutes, I was pleasantly surprised by the results: the Centurion 2 manages to turn in results far better than the Silverline Desktop case (with it's stock 60mm fans), and is not far off the results of the results produced by my carefully tuned Chieftec tower case.

However, the explanation for this might well be that the noise produced by the Centurion 2's single fan is equal to the four in that case. Coolermaster make no claims about the fan, but my educated guess would be 32dB(A) - not too loud at all, but it's a particularly high pitched, unpleasant noise.

I still have a worry about the airflow in the case though - despite it being better than I expected, I'm concerned that a more modern CPU would cause temperatures a lot higher. The obvious answer would be to install another fan in the back panel, to start with at least.

Conclusion

Overall, Coolermaster have produced an excellent case here: despite some minor problems (not least of which is the suspect airflow), the Centurion 2 gives you a stylish looking rig, even if your skill level isn't much beyond being able to buy black CD/DVD and floppy drives.

Ironically, the results from the excellent cable management features are totally hidden by the windowless sidepanel. I'd call that "ripe for modding".

Plus:

• Excellent internal cable management features


• Side panel mounting method means the side panels are totally flat


• Probably the best drive bay covers in the world


• Excellent panel fit


• Quality front panel


• Good price

Minus:

• Horrible motherboard I/O shield


• Ugly 3.5" drive cage


• Whiny fan


• Side panels don't match the front


• Can see unpainted steel through the front grille.


• USB connector not compatible with all motherboards


• Tight PSU fit

Taking into account the Centurion 2's typical £38 selling price, I'd have to give it a 7.5 out of 10 rating.