Coolermaster Centurion 530 and 531

Written by Wil Harris

July 6, 2005 | 08:39

Tags: #120mm #530 #aluminium #black #case #centurion #drive-bay #fan #praetorian #review #stealth #steel #tool-less #weight

Companies: #coolermaster

Coolermaster Centurion 530 and 531 Installation Coolermaster Centurion 530 and 531 Installation
So, how does this thing work in practice? Well, I started by removing the bottom drive bays, which requires the removal of a couple of screws from the inside of the case and a couple of screws from the bottom. Then I can say 'hello!' to an unimpeded 120mm intake.


Coolermaster Centurion 530 and 531 Installation Coolermaster Centurion 530 and 531 Installation
On the 530, the most annoying part of the whole installation is the optical drive. It's incredibly difficult to get it in, for starters - it needs to be slid in backwards unless you have the hands of a 2 year old to reach inside. Trying to line up the eject button with the button on the stealth fascia is very difficult and requires a good few minutes of trial and error and adjustment. The 531 doesn't suffer from this problem, but then doesn't have the stealthing either.


Coolermaster Centurion 530 and 531 Installation Coolermaster Centurion 530 and 531 Installation
Getting the motherboard in is easy - there's a fair amount of room there, although it's difficult not to miss the tray. However, getting the PCI cards in is a breeze, and the clips work brilliantly - for anyone who, like me, is swapping out cards very often, it's a Godsend.


Coolermaster Centurion 530 and 531 Installation Coolermaster Centurion 530 and 531 Installation
After that, it's just a case of getting the PSU in and hooking everything up. Here I come up against the problem I suspected earlier - where to put the spare PSU wires when there's no compartmentalisation in the case? The interior can go from neat to messy in one simple step - time to get a modular PSU methinks!

In use, the case is everything you'd expect. Temperatures will obviously vary depending on your components, but the dual 120mm setup is absolutely stunning in terms of a noise / performance ratio.
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