First Look: Master’s Coolest MasterFrame Cases Take PC Building to Bare Metal

LAS VEGAS—First shown at CES 2025 (though technically announced in December 2024), Cooler Master’s latest line of computer cases, the MasterFrame, lets you tamper with preconceived notions about what belongs inside (and outside) your desktop box. Case makers are constantly looking for new ways to make their cases stand out—and be more customizable, as the demand for custom layouts is high—and Cooler Master is taking a few steps here to enable a free-form construction scale.

In the demo I saw at CES, you can strip the MasterFrame to the bare frame—just the rails that make up the outline of the box—and mount from there. I got a first look at it last week in Las Vegas. it SEEMS promising, but it is clear that work remains to be done. It will all depend on parts availability and how the case handles its internal modularity.

Trying to get into the frame

A MasterFrame complete computer case, built with a PC in it, looks a lot like your typical high-end computer case. The unique aspects of this case are all in the build experience and design under the skin. Cooler Master showed at CES three versions of the MasterFrame computer case, named MasterFrame 400, 600 and 800, defined by different form factors.

(Credit: Mark Stetson)

The MasterFrame 400 is a Mini-ITX model, the MasterFrame 600 is an ATX model, and the MasterFrame 800 is Extended-ATX (EATX). All three will ship with an aluminum frame, along with a full set of external panels and enough internal brackets/parts to build a basic PC. (Two other models, the MasterFrame 300 and MasterFrame 500, will ship with steel instead of aluminum, but it’s unclear which shapes they’ll complement.) The first of these cases to hit the market will be the MasterFrame 600 , with prices set to start at $199.99 in the US, or around $250 elsewhere. Cooler Master does not have a set sale date at this time.

The way these cases look out of the box is just a starting state, as you can tinker a bit with the internal structure before you start installing your components. The entire interior is structured through a series of crossed rails, which, in theory, can be rearranged. You can see a hint of the rails behind the pole module in this photo; Cooler Master didn’t have them out and ready to play with…

(Credit: Mark Stetson)

On the rails, for example, the motherboard mounting tray is placed, and the pillar modules are mounted. How this will work, however, with rear panel I/O is unclear; any such change would require rearranging the modules or a modular back panel. How repositioning the PSU would work is also up in the air. (I didn’t see any of those pieces in the suite, just the bare frame.)

(Credit: Mark Stetson)

One thing me I DO Know that you’ll have some flexibility: Chassis fans can be 120mm or 140mm, and you adjust the spacing between the fan mounting rails to suit. (Larger MasterFrame cases look the same can to have room for bigger fans, though, maybe even 180mm. Maybe Cooler Master will fix this before launch.)

(Credit: Mark Stetson)

Beyond the adjustable interior, Cooler Master says it will sell alternate, interchangeable exterior panels for each model. Around the perimeter of each side are a bunch of magnets to hold the side panels, along with holes to attach rail mounts.

(Credit: Mark Stetson)

The magnets should work with new panels coming from the company, but here’s the bottom line: What will Cooler Master produce and what will it actually stock, given three different case sizes? Here will be the success or failure of this initiative.

These panels are the thing…

The main differentiator with the MasterFrame will ultimately be the availability of those modular panels, and I’m a bit skeptical, at least for now, of how this will all work. Cooler Master showed off a number of prototype front faces and side panels, including some gorgeously textured glass (one reminded us of a shower stall in a 1970s house), a slate (it looked like a hands-down winner), and excellent panels in wood or wood veneer.

(Credit: Mark Stetson)

The point is that assembling a wide variety of panels and faces in different materials and colors, given the three initial case sizes, seems like a huge and risky undertaking. (The MasterFrame may not get off the ground without enough accessories to popularize it, and vice versa.) I hope Cooler Master will solicit input from its user community and produce sides and parts based on popularity-voting or request. After all, case pages are not the type of custom part that lends itself to customization or in-house printing via STL files. I could see the initiative withering on the vine if the company produced a bunch of variants that didn’t sell, or vice versa, didn’t FAIRLY variants.

(Credit: Mark Stetson)

Of the existing panels that will ship with the stock MasterFrame, Cooler Master noted that the default top panel is actually split into a vent section and an I/O port section. A Cooler Master representative noted that it is possible to position the port module at the front or back of the top of the case, or at the top or bottom of the front of the case. (The depth and height dimensions are the same, so the panels can be swapped.) This is a nice bit of flexibility out of the box.

(Credit: Mark Stetson)

Stay tuned to PCMag for our eventual MasterFrame review. Here’s hoping it will be accompanied by at least a small selection of interchangeable parts at launch. The likely framework, at least, for a winner is here.

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About John Burek

Executive Editor and Director of PC Labs

I’ve been a technology journalist for more than 30 years, and I’ve covered just about every type of computer hardware—from the 386SX to 64-core processors—in my long tenure as an editor, writer, and advice columnist. For almost a quarter of a century, I worked at the foundation, the giant Computer buyer magazine (and later, its digital counterpart), known as the PC buyer’s phone book and every mailman’s nemesis. I was Computer buyers editor-in-chief for the past nine years, after which most of its digital content was folded into PCMag.com. I also served, briefly, as editor-in-chief of the well-known hardcore tech site Tom’s Hardware.

During that time, I’ve built and destroyed enough desktop computers to outfit a city block’s worth of Internet cafes. Under race conditions, I’ve built computers from board-boot-up in less than 5 minutes.

In my early career, I worked as an editor of science fiction books and as an editor of “Dummies” style computer guides for Brady Books (now, BradyGames). I am a lifelong New Yorker, a graduate of New York University’s journalism program, and a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

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About Michael Justin Allen Sexton

Analyst

For as long as I can remember, I’ve had a love for all things tech, fueled in part by a love of gaming. I started working on computers owned by close family members and relatives when I was about 10 years old. I have always sought to learn as much as possible about any PC computer, leading to a thorough grasp of all things tech today. In my role at PCMag, I really enjoy the opportunity to share what I know.

I wrote for the popular tech site Tom’s Hardware for three years before joining PCMag in 2018. In that time, I’ve reviewed desktops, PC cases and motherboards as a freelancer, while also producing deals content for the site and its sibling ExtremeTech. Now, as a full-time PCMag analyst, I’m focusing on reviewing processors and graphics cards while I dabble in all things PC-related.

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