Cooler Master Qube 500 Flat Pack - Deep Dive Review

This case would be so much cooler, if it was a true Cube and implemented a dual chamber designe.

its only bad airflow because you crammed it. the intake fans can't get passed the gpu. this case isn't really designed to be packed like that. sff cases that are more designed for a card like that have a separate chamber for the gpu.

It’s amazing how CM screwed up the airflow with their dustfilters like a bunch of noobs.

I'm not watching this whole thing

Long story -> Short; most all (IMO all) 2 dimensional PC air filters are sub par and will clog and hinder airflow from day 1 or allow half the dust through in the best case using the little bit of dust to catch more dust. IMO if you PC is always on, it should be cleaned out completely every year if you want it to last you longer than you need it. With either a large can of compressed air, air compressor if you got one, the mini blowers work well but generally aren't strong enough to get the heavy bits

Short story -> Long; the 2D filters that flow more are will always allow dust through then completely clog. No way around it, literally. Furthermore, dust when humid WILL conduct and cause soft shorts on your components, usually will dehumidify after the boards warm up. Which is mostly why some electronics seem to have to "warm up" to start working well, because there shorting out. Quick simple test, get a multi-meter and go out to your car's battery then stick one probe on one terminal then the other on the plastic body of the battery. If you battery is slightly dusty and there's any humidity outside you will see a reading and the battery is shorting itself. That's why they sell that insolating spray for terminals. I see computers do weird things because of dust all the time

My background is freelance I.T. for small and medium businesses. Been building PC's since Highschool, first PC build was back in 2001 and build about 5 a year and was building about 10 a month at the peak. I don't solicitate, just my I.T. clients for specialized PC's and friends, family. My first PC was a Slimline Gateway Piii 733 that i got when i was 13, within a year i OC'ed it to 950Mhz by cutting a hole on the side with ducting i made to prevent air cycling inside the case.

Pro Tip; Use a $2 hardware store HVAC filter if you can fit it. FAR more capacity before clogging and FAR better filtering. Place it on top of the filter you already have as to prevent the fiberglass from running into the fan blades. You can use window screen if you don't have a filter to hold back the fiberglass. I personally used that method on plenty of PCs but on my own i designed fan grills specifically to hold the HVAC filter i cut out to fit



There should be a MASSIVE market for replacement fiberglass filters for PC's like there is for homes, huge market missing

*Don't use any "better" filter, as there far too restrictive
**If the computer is porous enough to allow air to bleed out and the PC isn't using more than 200 watts full load, i generally disconnect the intake/exhaust fans. The dust they bring in will cause more heat after a few months

I like the size but think it should be dual chamber to get the power supply out of the way. Having 2 sets of panels only blocks air as the inside should just be fan strips that you can mount for 120 or 140 mm fans or AIO's. Fine mesh Screens will also would better then just punched holes for a filter. reducing the hole size and adding more holes will help with air flow as the large holes leave to much metal between. If the mesh was like the Cooler Master HAF X all the way around with close to the same looks but No Handles and a Little higher for CPU cooler height I would have bought it but the way it is No way.

This case is perfect for a traveler gamer like me😭

PLEASE showcase some completed builds of the optional configurations suggested by Cooler Master?! Of note, the "southpaw" and "totally rad mode" would be interesting, no other channels are building the non-basic configuration.

I honestly do not know why rgb became such a popular thing.

If only it was a dual chamber with the ability to use 2x280 radiators simultaneously.

Can you fit in the same configuration a 180mm psu lenght ?

It's clear that if you have no clue how to make a good airflow it will be terrible airflow hahaha

Airflow would not be any problem if you used smaller components ?

I think vertically mounting the GPU and flipping an Air cooler 90 degrees to have it exhaust from the top might improve thermals a bit.

I get great themals and I only have one fan under the psu in front, I just think this case isnt built to have so many fans, one of two is enough to be honest, airflow is going to be all over the place.

This case has a very similar airflow profile to the NR200. I have an NR200P MAX, and setting all fans (2x top rad, 2x bottom) to exhaust decreases CPU temps while keeping GPU temps low. Mesh side panel becomes passive intake.

Bottom intake is great for the GPU, but then your only main exhaust is through the radiator, which is sucking up most of the heat from the card.

I wonder how the temps change just swapping bottom to exhaust.

still no v2 with improved dust filters...

problem that happen in my country, they only shipped this one Pre-Build and after research, we can't tear down the case because they use like lock screw or i don't know what the official name of it.

Have the airflow problem been solved??

Will there fit my RTX 4090 Palit GameRock OC?

I like the size/concept and would purchase if Cooler Master were to offer the RHS Metal panel separately (the Qube 500 replacement parts catalog is rather lean).

The processor dosn't care if it is at 66 or 57 degrees. Stop seen problems where there are none.

Eco, lol nobody cares.

Did you use a dust filter with the AIO at the top? WHY? that alone would make a huge difference.

Just built a system with this case and am very happy with it also, came from an old tower with about 50cm sitting on the floor, got this case to use on my desk with the same system and so far there isn't any noticeable termal diference from the old one. Using Ryzen 5700x on Aorus x570 atx plus Rtx 4070. Using intake fan 120m on the front below the psu and another 120mm on the radiator in the back.

my buddy says he has no issues with the airflow

I just migrated my itx sub workstation to this case. It surely was fun to build and seen many potentials.. But I cannot still understand why the PSU needs to be at the front... Since this build is ITX, I could have attached PSU at the bottom. But there was not any stable location for PSU...

Probably ok for anything below mid tier which is this sub machine with Linux installed. But I would not put anything high end here... I think the weird fan mount is there to reinforce the frame? But yeah, it is not screwed on both end... Not sure why it is there... perhaps for benchtop mode.

My setup is 5600G+7600 with Wraith cooler. So yeah, it never goes beyond 65 degrees. I think I have seen this kind of set up in OEMs..Dell gaming desktop from 2020 etc.

Ikea without the quality.

Also isn't this just InWin idea done of the cheap?

those fans are over 16 year old design and useless to, that was on my first AIO and it was worse than shock cooler. They improve the AIO's and new ones are good, but those fans shift hardly no air pressure.

I just built a PC for my daughter in this case. I mounted the PSU on the floor ( its a bit quirky and the manual doesn't show it but there is a mounting point for it) and installed two 140mm fans up front and one on bottom. Thermals are great with all the filters on. A miniATX mobo is best for the PSU on the floor but a microATX does work but there's little clearance for bottom connections. Great case. Was even able to fit my old AIO cooled 3080Ti in it.

I dont think novice users are buying this case

I'm curious if anyone has tried this case with one of the Corsair SHIFT power supplies. I'm looking into replacing my Phanteks P350X with this, for reasons; do already have a Corsair H115i 280mm AiO, and a Corsair RM1000x SHIFT with a Gigabyte Windforce RTX 4070 Super, R7 5800X.

thank you for your detailed review, you are the only one who show the flex in pc case, it's a deal breaker for me

this is in part a problem with the manual (and how the case is sent in), an is a problem that I see with this config is that no air is coming in to the CPU are so to say so the exaust fan should be changed in direction as an intake or the fans in the aio be swaped as an intake even if they are in the wrong side of the rad , and in an air cooled set up using the top as an intake with extra fans shouldn't be a problem

Thanks! I hate it. Appreciate the detailed review along with thermal info.

I like the case so what is solution buy new dust filter?

Update : case arrived with new dust filter so cold

guys the rear fan is better in position to push air inside or outside case?

I completely disagree with the bad air flow. I have gone from a cooler master h500 to this case. Installing bottom fans and side intake fans with 240mm AIO I am getting better temps from this case. The review does not explore all the options and is very one sided view. Disappointed as I really like this channel but this review could put lots of people off.

just to know... can the handle at the upper back of the box be removed for aesthetic reasons?

I've had no issues with Temps using this qube 500 from coolmaster
wanted a case more compact than my other huge case.
Ryzen 5 7600X cpu with Be Quite elite fan
4070 RTX graphic card
32gb ddr5
Asus Tuf b650 motherboard
140mm front bottom fan/ 120mm fan x2 bottom all bringing air in and back fan and one top fan at back taking air out.
cpu sits idol at 28c and around 48c gaming, no different than my bigger old case, also the holes on the filters are actually bigger holes on the qube than on my old case filters.
please note cpu temps are recorded around colder time of the year, temps will increase slightly come summer but not enough to be worried about.
Very happy with this case, was fun building it.

This seems like the perfect case for an integrated graphics build or a two fan graphics card. The larger video card looks kind of excessive in this size of case.

Hi, how low can the psu go? Can it be inatalled on the bottom so i can install a 120mm fan in front so it blows at the cpu cooler?

@Cooler Master please make Qube 500M *matx

Is it possible to mount 4 3,5" hdd when put in the horizontal config? (feet on the side panel)

Let’s be real. Customer assembly, and less packaging increase profit margins. With a sarcastic “eco friendly” bow on top.

this case is great and i'm using it for my new build. for anyone who wants one, just use a smaller 2 fan case. my zotac 2070s mini will do great in this and still leave lots of room for air to flow from the bottom up (i'm installing 2 bottom fans and one side fan underneath the psu for my setup, as well as a 280mm cpu aio up top later on)