[nextpage title=”Introduction”]
Centurion 534 is the latest case in the Centurion series from Cooler Master. While its front panel is aluminum made, the rest of the case is made of zinc-coated steel (a.k.a. SECC). It is a good intermediate solution for those without the budget to go straight to an all-aluminum case. We took a look at this new release by Cooler Master.
Figure 1: Cooler Master Centurion 534 case.
As you can see in Figure 1, Centurion 534 has a very conservative design. What is different on it is the position of its frontal air intakes, located at the junction of the front of the case with its side.
This product is available in two colors: black (the one you see on our pictures) and silver.
Centurion 534 is a 5-bay ATX case (five 5 ¼” bays, one 3 ½” bay plus three internal 3 ½” bays). One the case frontal panel you will find one mic input, one headphone output, two USB ports and, what is really cool, one FireWire port, traditionally a not so common feature (funny enough all cases we’ve taken a look recently had this feature, so we can say that adding this port is the current trend among the case manufacturers).
Figure 2: Cooler Master Centurion 534 case front panel.
In Figure 3, you can see the back of Centurion 534. It has seven slots for installing expansion boards and a place for installing a 120 mm fan (which doesn’t come with the case). It also doesn’t come with a power supply.
Figure 3: Cooler Master Centurion 534 case, back view.
It has a duct on its side panel, following Intel specification for newer Pentium 4-based PCs.
Opening this case is very easy, as it uses thumbscrews, i.e., you don’t need a screwdriver to open it.
[nextpage title=”Inside Centurion 534″]
You can see how Centurion looks inside in Figure 5.
Figure 5: Centurion 534 from inside.
It has seven screwless slots for expansion boards, meaning that you can install daughterboards without needing to use a screwdriver, see Figure 6.
Figure 6: Plastic clips are used to hold expansion boards.
As we mentioned earlier, this case doesn’t come with a power supply and also doesn’t come with its back 120 mm fan.
Figure 7: No power supply and no back fan.
It comes, however, with a frontal 120 mm fan that glows blue when the system is turned on. This fan helps cooling hard disk drive installed in the two internal 3 ½” bays installed right in front of it.
[nextpage title=”Main Specifications”]
Centurion 534 case main specs include:
- Application: ATX and smaller form factors derived from this one.
- Material: Aluminum front panel, zinc-coated steel (a.k.a. SECC) chassis.
- Power supply: Doesn’t come with the case.
- Available colors: Silver and black.
- Size: 17.13” x 7.95” x 18.90” (43.5 cm x 20.2 cm x 48 cm) (H x W x D).
- Weight: 22 lbs (10 Kg)
- Bays: Five 5 ¼” bays and one 3 ½” bay plus three 3 ½” internal bays.
- Expansion slots: Seven.
- Fans: One 120 mm fan at the front panel cooling two of the 3 ½” internal bays, which glows blue when the system is turned on.
- Extra features: None.
- More Information: https://www.coolermaster-usa.com
- Average price in the US*: USD 69.00.
* Researched on Shopping.com on the day we published this First Look article.
[nextpage title=”Conclusions”]
Since Centurion 534 from Cooler Master is a hybrid product where its front panel is aluminum made but its interior is still made of steel. Because of that, its main advantage is its price: it costs below USD 70 while all-aluminum cases start at USD 100. We think this is a great intermediate product for those that want a better quality case but don’t have the money to go for an all-aluminum solution.
Also don’t expect any fancy feature on this case. It doesn’t come with a power supply and it also doesn’t come with a back 120 mm fan, which is present on all all-aluminum cases we’ve taken a look.
But of course it provides a far better look (and quality) than steel cases with plastic front panels.
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