Cooler Master NCORE 100 MAX mITX Chassis Review

TweakTown Rating: 96%

Our Verdict

Cooler Master has done a great job with the NCORE 100 MAX if you are looking for a mITX case that delivers both performance and aesthetics while including an SFX PSU and an AIO, look no further.

Pros

• Includes custom 38mm thick 120mm AIO CPU cooler and V850 SFX Gold ATX 3.0 PSU
• AIO cools very well and pre-routed cables
• Can accommodate large 3.9 slot GPUs and minimal footprint on the desktop
• V850 SFX ATX 3.0 PSU is underrated while performing at 80 Plus Platinum levels

Cons

• Very premium price at first glance
• Side panels are a bit confusing
• V850 SFX ATX 3.0 PSU loud under full load

Should you buy it?

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Buy at Newegg for $335.99 USD

Buy at Newegg for $511.98 CAD

Introduction

Today, I have the NCORE 100 MAX for review from Cooler Master. The MAX edition of cases from Cooler Master includes a PSU and an AIO cooler, mind you, all pre-wired and installed, so the end-user can build that much easier. The NCORE 100 MAX is priced at almost $400. It can be a hard pill to swallow at first glance, but there is certainly more than meets the eye in this case. Let's take a look.

Best Deals: Cooler Master NCORE 100 MAX mITX Chassis

	Today	7 days ago	30 days ago
	-	-	$331.64 USD	Buy
	$335.99 USD	$335.99 USD	$334.99 USD	Buy
	-	-	$331.64 USD	Buy
	$511.98 CAD	-	$516.98 CAD	Buy
	-	-	$331.64 USD	Buy
	-	-	$331.64 USD	Buy
* Prices last scanned 2/9/2026 at 4:40 pm CST - prices may be inaccurate. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. We earn affiliate commission from any Newegg or PCCG sales.

Packaging

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The NCORE 100 MAX packaging shows the usual Cooler Master artwork with a picture of the product. It also states the integrated AIO cooling and PSU. The model we have today is the Dark Grey model.

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The backside of the packaging shows all the specifications of the NCORE 100 MAX with a blown-out product image.

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Cooler Master has done a great job packaging the NCORE 100 MAX for added protection while in transit. Black, soft, dense packing foam and a plastic bag ensure everything arrives pristine.

Outside the Cooler Master NCORE 100 MAX mITX Case

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Now, with the NCORE 100 MAX removed from all the packing materials, it shows this Mini-ITX case's tall stance, yet it has a very small desktop footprint.

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The machined aluminum side panels have a wide ventilation pattern that allows fresh air to be drawn in from almost any angle.

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The rear of the NCORE 100 MAX, again, has the same ventilation pattern as the other panel. However, it has a cutout for the Mini-ITX motherboard I/O as well as a power input.

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The color of the ventilated side panels is more of a gunmetal finish, with the other color option being bronze.

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The underside of the NCORE 100 MAX shows the front I/O cables and the horizontal GPU mount.

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The front I/O section of the NCORE 100 MAX has a good number of connectivity options, starting with two USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A ports, a single USB 3.2 Gen2 x 2 Type-C port, a combo microphone/headset 3.5mm jack, and lastly, the Cooler Master logo on the side that lights up and acts as the power button.

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The top section of the NCORE 100 MAX has a removable mesh panel, which can be replaced with a taller panel in expanded mode.

Inside the Cooler Master NCORE 100 MAX mITX Case

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The inside of one of the side panels shows a mesh dust filter held in place with plastic tabs. Note that the mesh is not as fine, allowing some dust to pass through to the inside of the system.

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Once inside, a 240mm PCIe 4.0 riser cable is pre-installed.

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A single Sickleflow 120mm fan is installed at the top rear of the NCORE 100 MAX. This PWM fan runs at 650-1800 RPM at 12V with .37A.

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Cooler Master has included their V850 SFX Gold ATX 3.0 PSU, which also comes pre-installed.

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Pre-routed, individually sleeved cables of custom length are also installed. Nice touch, Cooler Master.

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Cooler Master has included a 90-degree 12VHPWR connector for the NVIDIA RTX 3000 and 4000 series of GPUs; however, it is limited to only 450 watts.

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The custom Master Liquid 120mm AIO is pre-installed at the top of the NCORE 100 MAX. It includes a 38mm thick radiator and a 120mm PWM Sickleflow fan running up to 2400 RPM.

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The side profile of the 120mm Master Liquid AIO shows a 38mm radiator thickness.

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The pump/CPU block of the Master Liquid 120mm AIO supports the latest Intel i9 and AMD Ryzen 9 CPUs on their respective sockets.

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Cooler Master has included other cables inside this black accessory box and an additional mesh top panel for the expansion mode.

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Included inside the black accessory box, alongside the additional cables, zip ties, and screws, is mounting hardware for the 120mm Master Liquid AIO, as well as a 2-gram tube of Cooler Master's Cyrofuze thermal paste.

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All the accessories listed are included on the back of the black accessory box. Nice.

Test System, Installation, and Finished Product

• Motherboard: B650I AORUS Ultra(AMD B650) - Buy from Amazon
• CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7900 - Buy from Amazon
• Cooler: Cooler Master 120mm Master Liquid Custom 38mm Thick AIO
• Thermal Interface Material: Thermal Hero NEO 2g - Buy from Amazon
• Memory: Patriot Viper Venom RGB DDR5-5600 32GB - Buy from Amazon
• Storage: Kingston Fury Renegade 1TB Gen4 PCIe x4 NVMe M.2 SSD - Buy from Amazon
• Case: Cooler Master NCORE 100 MAX mITX case - Buy from Amazon
• Power Supply: Cooler Master V850 Gold SFX ATX 3.0 PSU - Buy from Amazon
• OS: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro Build 22621 - Buy from Amazon
• Software: AIDA64 Engineer 6.8.6300, HWiNFO64 v7.68-5300, TechPowerUp GPU-Z v2.57.0,and CPU-Z 2.09.0.x64

Final Thoughts

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With the completed build inside the Cooler Master NCORE 100 MAX, I can safely say the building process was quite simple with the pre-installed PSU and AIO. The only odd thing is how the side panels are attached and detached. Once getting the hang of that process, things went smoother. The V850 SFX PSU that Cooler Master has included with the NCORE 100 MAX was loud when fully stressed out under load, but that can be expected from such a small unit with a small fan. The to-length cables aided in not having too much excess cabling bunched up while being individually sleeved, which brings a more premium look and feel.

The custom 38mm thick 120mm Master Liquid AIO, on the other hand, did a great job cooling the test CPU, an AMD Ryzen 9 7900, which did maintain a clock frequency of 4.4GHz throughout the majority of the stress test (screenshot shows 0.00GHz, odd error).

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Testing the NCORE 100 MAX once all the testing hardware was installed, with an AMD Ryzen 9 7900, a 65-watt CPU, on the B650I AORUS Ultra mITX motherboard. Again, cooling it was the custom Cooler Master Master Liquid 120mm 38mm thick AIO CPU cooler, which, to my surprise, kept the Ryzen 9 7900 at a chilly average temperature of 64.6C. The Ryzen 9 7900 did boost to over 4.4ghz most of the time, pulling about 90 watts. The Zotac RTX 3090, with its triple fan array, drew about 337 watts, with a max temp of 75C. The ambient room temperature was 19C.

All testing was completed using Aida64 Engineer's System Stability Test version v7.00.6700 for over 13 hours; the ambient room temperature was 19C. Other monitoring software used was HWiNFO64 v7.68-5300, TechPowerUp GPU-Z v2.57.0, and CPU-Z 2.09.0.x64.

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While not leaving much room for storage, a single 2.5" SSD or HDD is supported on the floor just below the PCIe x16 slot. I used this space for additional cable storage.

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Moving over to the PSU testing side, the V850 SFX ATX 3.0 PSU in testing did very well in the efficiency department. Running the typical system load at 50% of 850 watts is 425. Power limiting the Zotac RTX 3090 to 75% resulted in a 260-watt power draw. The AMD Ryzen 9 7900 CPU drew the same wattage as it did in the previous test, which was around 90 watts. Adding in about 45 watts for the rest of the system makes for a total of 395 watts. Calculating the V850 SFX's efficiency nets a 92.9% rating within the 80 Plus standards, cementing its 80 Plus Gold rating despite being able to perform at 80 Plus Platinum levels.

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In closing, Cooler Master's NCORE 100 MAX is a fantastic mITX case with the additions of the custom 120MM AIO and its V850 SFX ATX 3.0 PSU. Remember the days when PSUs were included with instances where you bought them? I do. But those PSUs usually were of junk quality and were replaced rather quickly. How many of them included CPU coolers? I can safely say none of them did. Oh, the times have changed.

Now, for a price point of around $400, you get the V850 SFX ATX 3.0 PSU that goes for around $150 by itself, and then there's the 120mm AIO being a custom 38mm thick version of the Master Liquid 120L, I would say the NCORE 100 MAX is quite worth it once you break down all the included hardware.

The mITX case market could be more stable. Some users like having options for super high-end cases, while others prefer more value-based options. Some users like performance before anything else, while some prefer an mITX case with aesthetics in mind. That said, the NCORE 100 MAX hits all of those key features in an all-in-one package that users can appreciate.