Cooler Master Elite 361
Nov 14th, 2012 | By ChrisTo expose the interior, removal of two thumb screws is required for each side panel. It starts to become obvious as to how compact the interior of the Elite 361 is, mainly due to the install location of the power supply. An unusual addition to this budget chassis is the punch-out in the motherboard tray, behind where the CPU would be situated. This gives easy access to installation and removal of CPU heat sinks, and considering the potential cramped quarters, it is undoubtedly appreciated.
At the rear, we again see the dual 80mm mesh for fans and the 7 I/O slots. Unfortunately there are no mesh covers along the bottom – this would be a benefit to any video cards placed in a secondary PCI-e slot, but chances are if you are running nVidia’s SLI or ATI’s Crossfire, it won’t be set up in a compact budget chassis.
Shifting our focus to the top of the chassis, we see a hidden 120mm fan. An alternate 80 or 92mm fan can be installed here, but it’s fairly certain that every user will want to take advantage of the already included 120mm fan.
Towards the front, we get a good view of what the Elite has to offer in terms of drive expansion. There is room for only one 5.25″ drive, and the power supply mounts right beside it, taking up the rest of the room. There is room for four 3.5″, with one more that can be used for external use such as a card reader, or an additional hidden hard drive.
Included in the packaging is the standard assortment of screws and cable ties to assist in installation – nothing spectacular or out of the ordinary here.
Now that we know how the interior feels like, let’s install the system and see how easy it is.