Bigger and Better! Cooler Master Qube 540 PC Case Review
Meet the QUBE 540
They made it bigger and cheaper! Meet the Cooler Master QUBE 540
We loved Cooler Master’s Qube 500 PC case (review here) when it launched in 2023, but it was undeniable that it had its flaws. Airflow was an area for improvement, and some customers disliked its flat-packed, “built it yourself” nature. These are the areas that Cooler Master has targeted with their new QUBE 540. An affordable, customisable case with stronger airflow characteristics.
Gone is Cooler Master’s flat-packed design. This is a standard case that ships in a standard box. This design reduces costs by removing redundant panels from the original QUBE 500. Somehow, Cooler Master has made its new 540 case larger and more affordable than its predecessor. It’s rare that a manufacturer can do both.
Pricing
Sadly, the QUBE 540 isn’t available at any UK retailers right now. That said, Newegg lists the case with a price tag of £65, which matches what Cooler Master told us. Overall, this is a very affordable PC case, moreso than its predecessor, the QUBE 500.
Radiator/fan support
The PSU mounts inside the 540 are movable. Users can install their PSU at the front or the bottom of the case. With a bottom-mounted PSU, this case supports only Mini ITX and Micro ATX motherboards. With a front-mounted PSU, motherboards up to ATX are supported.
Fan support depends on your case’s PSU layout. The top of the case supports up to three 120mm fans or two 140mm fans, and liquid-cooling radiators up to 360mm or 280mm in size. Additionally, the case supports up to a 280mm liquid cooling radiator or two 140mm or 120mm fans at the front or bottom (depending on where your PSU is). Pre-installed inside this case is a single rear-mounted 120mm fan. This fan is black and doesn’t feature RGB lighting.
3D Printed Customisability
Cooler Master has embraced 3D Printing and has released official STEP models for the Qube 540 and many of its components. This makes it easy for owners of this case to customise their cases using custom parts. If you search for “Qube 540” in Printables, you can already see a large number of mods for the PC case. This includes “under Desk” mounts, headphone holders, display platforms, custom front panels, an HDD extension for NAS/homelab builders, and more. Someone was even crazy enough to turn the case into a Prusa Mini 3D printer enclosure. Impressive work from the 3D printing community.
With 3D printing, the modding options for this PC case are virtually unlimited. If you can think it and model it, you can probably print it and make it a reality. Props to Cooler Master for officially supporting this 3D printing community like this.
