Introduction

Gladiator 600 is an inexpensive case from Cooler Master, coming with a suggested price of USD 60 in the US (you can find it for only USD 50 at Newegg.com). Is it a good choice? Let’s see.

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Figure 1: Cooler Master Gladiator 600 case.

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Figure 2: Cooler Master Gladiator 600 case.

The left side panel is meshed allowing you to install two 120 mm or 140 mm fans there (they don’t come with the case).

The front panel does not come with a door. Gladiator 600 has five external 5 ¼” bays (one external 3 ½” bay is available through an adapter) with meshed covers featuring dust filters.

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Figure 3: Front panel.

This case comes with two USB ports, which are distant from each other, allowing you to install two “fat” USB devices at the same time, and one eSATA port, which is a really nice addition and a feature not usually found on cases from this price range. These ports plus the audio jacks are located on the front panel.

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Figure 4: Connectors.

Introduction (Cont’d)

The front panel features a 120 mm fan (1,200 rpm, 19 dBA) that glows blue when turned on. On the front panel there is a switch (with a light bulb icon on it) where you can turn on or off the LED’s from this fan. This fan comes with a small three-pin connector and a standard peripheral power connector adapter, so you can either connect it directly on the power supply on directly on your motherboard to monitor its speed.

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Figure 5: Front fan.

Gladiator 600 comes with a 140 mm fan (no word on speed, noise or airflow) installed on its top panel, coming with a small three-pin connector and a standard peripheral power connector adapter, so you can either connect it directly on the power supply on directly on your motherboard to monitor its speed.

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Figure 6: Top panel.

In Figure 7, you can see the rear panel from Gladiator 600. The power supply is installed on the bottom of the case, a feature that is usually only available on more expensive cases. There is a place for installing an optional 120-, 92- or 80 mm fan. Since this case costs only USD 60 we can’t complain that the rear fan is not included. The slot covers are not meshed, but the reviewed case has a mesh above the expansion slots to improve airflow. As you can see, the rear panel and the interior from this case are not painted in black.

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Figure 7: Rear panel.

The right panel features a tab for installing a padlock or a warranty seal, if you want to restrict people from opening the case.

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Figure 8: Tab for installing a padlock or warranty seal.

Now let’s take a look inside Gladiator 600 from Cooler Master.

Inside Gladiator 600

Both panels are fastened to the case using thumbscrews, which is excellent. In Figure 9 we have an overall look from inside Gladiator 600. As you can see, the interior isn’t painted. This first thing that caught our attention was the presence of a big hole on the motherboard tray to give you access to the CPU cooler back plate, allowing you to replace your CPU cooler with a more powerful model without the need of removing the motherboard from the chassis. There are also another two holes (one on the top part and the other on the bottom part) that are used for routing cables behind the tray, with the tray featuring 14 cable holders.

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Figure 9: Overall look.

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Figure 10: A view from behind the motherboard tray.

Daughter boards are fastened to the case using individual plastic screwless mechanisms.

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Figure 11: Rear and top panels viewed from inside the case.

Since the power supply goes on the bottom part of the case, Gladiator 600 has a mesh to match the power supply bottom fan. This mesh is covered by a dust filter (see Figure 12) but this filter is not easy to remove. Whenever you want to wash it you need to remove the power supply and then remove four screws.

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Figure 12: Filter for the power supply fan.

The Disk Drive Bays

This case has five external 5 ¼” bays and five internal 3 ½” bays for hard disk drives. They all use screwless mechanisms to hold disk drives. The mechanisms used on the 5 ¼” bays are based on a plastic latch that simply needs to be slid and locked to hold the drive in place, as shown in Figure 14.

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Figure 13: Drive bays.

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Figure 14: Mechanism for holding 5 ¼” devices.

The mechanisms used with the hard disk drives are different. You need to install two rulers to the hard disk drive and then slide the drive in the bay.

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Figure 15: Mechanism for holding hard drives.

Gladiator 600 comes with a 5 ¼”-to-3 ½” adapter that allows you to convert any 5 ¼” bay in a 3 ½” bay. This adapter allows the installation of external 3 ½” devices like floppy disk drives and memory card readers and also the installation of hard disk drives, since the adapter has the necessary holes for installing hard drives. This way you can have up to six hard drives on Gladiator 600.

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Figure 16: 5 ¼”-to-3 ½” adapter.

In Figure 17, you can see all accessories that come with this case.

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Figure 17: Accessories.

Main Specifications

Cooler Master Gladiator 600 case main specs include:

• Style: Mid-tower
• Application: ATX and smaller form factors derived from this one.
• Material: Zinc-coated steel (SECC).
• Power supply required: Doesn’t come with the product.
• Available colors: Black.
• Side panel: Meshed.
• Dimensions: 17 1/8” x 8” x 18 7/8” (43.5 cm x 20.2 cm x 48.0 cm) (H x W x D).
• Net weight: 16.0 lbs (7.2 kg)
• Gross weight: 19.5 lbs (8.8 kg)
• Bays: Five external 5 ¼” bays and five internal 3 ½” bays. One extra internal/external 3 ½” bay converted from one of the 5 ¼” bays.
• Expansion slots: Seven.
• Fans: One 120 mm on the front (blue with on/off switch for the LED’s, 1,200 rpm, 19 dBA) and one 140 mm fan on the top.
• Optional fans: Two 120- or 140 mm fans on the left panel and one 80-, 92- or 120 mm fan on the rear panel.
• More Information: http://www.coolermaster-usa.com
• MSRP in the US: USD 60.00
• Average price in the US*: USD 50.00

* Researched at Newegg.com on the day we published this review.

Conclusions

Cooler Master Gladiator 600 is a mid-tower case targeted to the user that wants an inexpensive good-quality mid-tower case with a good selection of features. Here is a summary of what we found about this product.

Strong Points

• Meshed bay covers.
• Dust filters on the front panel.
• Hole in the motherboard tray for accessing the backplate of the CPU cooler.
• Holes for routing cables on the motherboard tray.
• eSATA port.
• The two USB ports are far away from each other allowing you to install two “fat” USB devices at the same time.
• No sharp edges where you could cut yourself while building your PC.
• Good number of hard disk drive bays (five or six, if the 5 ¼”-to-3 ½” adapter is used).
• Individual screwless mechanisms for fastening daughter boards.
• Screwless mechanisms for fastening the disk drives.
• Outstanding cost/benefit ratio.

Weak Points

• Slot covers could be meshed.
• Dust filter for the power supply fan is hard to remove and clean after the PC is built.
• No noise absorbing mechanisms for the hard disk drives.

We think this is a terrific product for the user that is on a budget and is looking for a good mid-tower case. Costing only USD 50 at Newegg.com, this product is a no-brainer. We could complain that it doesn’t come with a rear fan, but at USD 50 this is hardly a “defect.” If you buy this case we highly suggest you to buy and install the rear fan, which should be mounted in exhaustion mode, i.e., blowing air from inside the case to the outside.