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The Cubitek M4 has numerous strong points despite the rather quirky front panel design. The all black interior of the case will look good with whatever components you choose to install inside. We also really like the idea of having a Mini-USB cable installed into the top of the case to charge your devices or to connect up external hard drives and other devices with ease.
Even though the provision for cable management is pretty bad, we can't think of another case at this price price point that is much better. If you're careful, though, it's possible to achieve a reasonably tidy build providing you set aside some extra time for cable management. We would advise using a modular power supply so you don't have to tidy away excess cables.
There isn't a huge amount of room to work with inside the case so a little more time is needed for the building phase. There is plenty of room for graphics cards (up to 400mm in length) providing you remove the top section of the hard drive bay. There is also room for power supplies up to 220mm in length. There isn't a huge amount of headroom for CPU coolers – only 150mm – which could cause some compatibility issues. Our Thermaltake Contac 29 BP cooler just fitted with the side panel in place so larger coolers may well cause a problem.
Overall there isn't a lot that we can find wrong with the Cubitek M4 except for the rather unusual front panel design. It isn't currently on sale in the UK but it is available from CaseKing in Germany for just under €50, translating into a UK cost of around £40-45. At this price there are a number of other good cases available like the Antec 100 and Silverstone PS03 which offer very similar features with more neutral designs and will probably be favored by most people. But for those who like the dramatic ‘in your face' design of the M4, it is certainly worth considering.
Pros:
- Painted Black Throughout
- Mini/Micro-USB Charging Cable
- Good Value
Cons:
- Ugly Design
- A lot of competition at this price point
KitGuru says: A well featured case for the price
Clearly im weird because I actually like the appearance. Many cases at this price are VERY boring.
That is one weird looking design. its certainly eye catching, but im not sold on it.
I was looking at another of their cases with a cool tatto in the window. This doesnt appeal to me. its too cluttered looking. I am glad Zardon didn’t review it however, he seems to like weird looking things, like that Antec Dark Fleet 85.
For the price many of the issues can be overlooked. THe front panel is one of the ugliest looking things ive seen in recent years.
It looks like our bin in the kitchen ! seriously !
dearie me. that is one ugly son of a bitch
Ah come on, its not that bad, at least they are trying to do something different
Some parts of it I like, such as the top panel. insides are ok, and compromises will happen due to price point with routing etc.
That front section, man, im not sure what to think about that. its like someone went nuts with the CAD program.
No one can get a good case at this price. no one else can do it. silverstone thermaltake, all crap at this price point. its just not possible. people who buy this wont care how it looks, it will go under a desk and house a low end system. just the way it is.
Kudos to them for trying to make it stand out. it certainly does.
@ Jon: Well … even the cheapy users like their system “stylisher” than this. So for us folks who prefer raw power (eg. i5-2400, 16 GB RAM, Asus Mobo, 24/7-certified HDD + SSD) over good looks, this is the ideal bargain 😉
So far, this case has been one of the better ones I had during the last 20 years (aside of the regrettably quite thin steel), esp. thanks to the fact that it actually is one of the quietest systems I ever had (even compared to my T61). Other cases that I thought of using were eg. the Chieftec DF-02B-B or its big brother, the Chieftect CH-09B-B. But both weren’t available when I went on the intarwebs for ordering my system components, so the Cubitek “Tank” case was the winner 😉
@ Mr. Henry Butt:
The post says on page 3: “Unfortunately, the side panels are secured by normal screws rather than thumbscrews (…)” – this is wrong. Either you got the “developer / PR kit”, or Cubitek listened to your complaints; whatever the case, my case clearly has panels which are secured by (black tinted) THUMBSCREWS.
cu, w0lf.