MSI MAG PANO 100L PZ Mid-Tower Chassis Review

TweakTown's Rating: 90%

The Bottom Line

If you are an MSI fanboy, the MAG PANO 100L PZ might be the case you have been waiting for, especially if you like the fish tank style. We think the $110 price tag is well worth it.

Pros

• Great price
• Supports back connect/reverse/Project Zero motherboards
• 270-degree tempered glass panels

Cons

• No included fans
• No included PCIe 4.0 riser cable
• Bottom magnetic dust filter is difficult to remove

Should you buy it?

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Buy at Amazon

Buy at Newegg

Introduction, Specifications, and Pricing

MSI recently sent over its new chassis, the MAG PANO 100L PZ, in white for our in-depth review. The MAG PANO 100L PZ is MSI's take on the very popular fish tank style of PC cases. Priced at a competitive $129.99, the PANO 100L PZ can currently be had for $20 off on Amazon at the time of this review. With this in mind, this would make the PANO 100L PZ a good value for those looking for this style of PC case for their next build.

So, why don't we examine the PANO 100L PZ and see if it stands out from the other fishbowl competitors?

MSI MAG PANO 100L PZ Mid-Tower Chassis

	Today	Yesterday	7 days ago	30 days ago
	$116.84	$116.84	$129.99	$129.99	Buy
	-	-	-	$129.99	Buy
* Prices last scanned on 10/13/2024 at 8:33 am CDT - prices may not be accurate, click links above for the latest price. We may earn an affiliate commission from any sales.

Packaging

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The outside of the box is traditional brown, with the case, the model number illustrated on the outside, and the MAG branding, which stands for MSI Arsenal Gaming, if anyone didn't know.

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This side of the exterior packaging shows that we have a white model and all the specifications.

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MSI has packaged the PANO 100L PZ rather well. Two black high-density foam pieces protect from damage.

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Additional cardboard supports on the top and bottom keep the packaging's shape. A clear plastic bag prevents debris from reaching the chassis.

Outside the MSI MAG PANO 100L PZ ATX Case

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After the PANO 100L PZ was removed from its cardboard shipping packaging, the protective peel on the tempered glass side panels remained intact.

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The front of the PANO 100L PZ is very angular, jutting out a little bit from the interior.

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The front I/O of the PANO 100L PZ seems relatively standard with a USB Type-C port, two USB 3.0 Type-A ports, a combination microphone and headset 4 pole 3.5mm jack, a square reset button, and a slightly larger power button.

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The rear of the PANO 100L PZ is set up like the traditional dual chamber ATX case with the PSU in the back. However, it is centrally located. A rotatable PCIe slot bracket is right below the 120mm fan mount. Don't worry. Another bracket is also in the accessories box, hidden in the rear. MSI has placed a MAG case badge in the upper left-hand corner, which, in my opinion, fits it well. Also, all the rear ventilation is very cohesive, which helps the design flow very well.

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The bottom of the PANO 100L PZ has four rubber case feet along with a full-length magnetic dust filter; one thing to note is that with a full system installed, the user must put the PANO 100L PZ to its side to remove a rear slide-out dust filter would not have this issue. The front I/O cables are also routed externally and back in for cleaner cable management.

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The top panel continues to get the angular design while providing a meshed-out top exhaust. So far, I do not see any issues getting air in and out of the PANO 100L PZ.

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Lastly, the rear side panel is completely meshed to ensure maximum airflow. This mesh side panel filter is completely magnetic, so removing it for cleaning is not an issue. The rear side panel is also held into place with two POGO pin locations on the top edge.

Inside the MSI MAG PANO 100L PZ ATX Case

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Now, looking at the business side of the PANO 100L PZ, we can see a three-tempered glass design, which slightly differs from the normal fish tank design. Water cooling support is quite good, with three 280mm or 360mm water cooling radiators at the top, side, and bottom locations. Fan support differs slightly, with up to three 120 mm or 140mm in the roof. Support for Project Zero or BTF/reverse connection motherboards is also cut into the tray.

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Once we remove the clear tempered glass side panel, which is held in place with two captive thumbscrews, we can get a better view of the vertical GPU bracket. Again, this bracket can be removed, and another traditional seven-slot PCIe bracket is included. However, no PCIe 4.0 riser cable is included; bummer.

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Now, looking at the floor, a removable fan and radiator bracket can support up to three 120mm, two 140mm, or even two 160mm fans. Due to clearance issues, only 360mm or 280mm radiators can be installed. Remember that the radiator thickness will be more limited if the pre-installed vertical GPU bracket is used.

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Moving onto the back wall, which supports the same fan and radiator combinations as the floor bracket, is not removable for easier installation. Two rubber cable grommets also aid in hiding cabling beside the motherboard tray.

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Removing the rear side panel shows two swing-out cover plates that also double as 2.5" drive mounts, a single drive on the top plate, and two on the bottom plate. These plates are fully removable for easy drive installation. Behind those plates are two additional locations to mount 2.5" SSDs/HDDs on the floor.

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The MAG PANO 100L PZ's PSU mount is centrally located in the rear chamber. Being in the center presents excess cabling because the PSU manufacturers do not provide the full length, so be mindful of that.

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MSI has even made the I/O cabling all white to match the rest of the MAG PANO 100L PZ. Also, something that should have been standardized a long time ago is the front panel header connections, which MSI has made into a single connection. I can't tell you how often this has piqued my frustration while building.

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And finally, the accessories. An EU Regulatory Notices leaflet, the seven-slot PCIe bracket, foam dampeners, GPU support bracket, a baggie filled with screws, zip ties, a few POGO pin replacements, and lastly, a few velcro cable ties.

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MSI also sent along their new MPG EZ120 ARGB white three-pack of magnetic daisy chainable fans, which we will install because the PANO 100L PZ does not include pre-installed fans. So please keep that in mind when shopping. Let's get to the building!

Test System, Installation, and Finished Product

• Motherboard: Z690 AORUS Pro (Intel Z690) - Buy from Amazon
• CPU: Intel Core i5 12600K - Buy from Amazon
• Cooler: Cooler Master PL360 Flux - Buy from Amazon
• Memory: Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR5-7200 32GB - Buy from Amazon
• Graphics Card: ZOTAC Gaming GeForce RTX 3090 Trinity OC - Buy from Amazon
• Storage: Corsair MP600 PRO XT Gen4 PCIe x4 NVMe M.2 SSD - Buy from Amazon
• Case: MSI MAG PANO 100L PZ
• Power Supply: Enermax PlatiGemini 1200w 80 PLUS Platinum ATX 3.1 and 12VO PSU - Buy from Amazon
• OS: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro 64-bit Build 22621 - Buy from Amazon
• Software: AIDA64 Engineer v7.35.7000, CPU-z 2.10.0 x64. GPU-Z 2.60.0, and HWiNFO64 v8.07-5515

Final Thoughts

Building in the PANO 100L PZ was a breeze; nothing went wrong, and everything went right. All in all, well done MSI. With that said, MSI should create a version with fans. They don't have to be the best fans like the EZ120 ARGB ones they sent over; just some fans for air intake would be nice, say pre-installed in the bottom or the side.

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Now that the build is complete, the MSI PANO 100L PZ looks the part. Again, I can't stress this enough: the EZ120 ARGB fans are not included, but they look great in the build!

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Testing the MSI MAG PANO 100L PZ ATX case, I used the Intel Core i5 12600K on a Z690 AORUS Pro motherboard. For the memory, two DDR5 sticks of Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB ran at DDR5-7200M/T. The test GPU is the Zotac NVIDIA RTX 3090 Trinity, which was run at stock power limits and clocks via MSI's Afterburner GPU Overclocking and Monitoring utility. The three 120mm intake fans MSI sent along with the MAG PANO 100L PZ, which has the model number EZ120 ARGB, is a triple magnetic 120mm fan set, available separately, allowed airflow via the bottom of the chassis, which blew right at the GPU.

In contrast, the silver Cooler Master aRGB AIO had triple 120mm fans mounted on the CPU AIO, and the Cooler Master PL360 Flux, in the roof, helped even those odds. The Intel Core i5 12600K CPU, which has 10 cores with 16 threads, had temps only risen to an average temperature of 65C while maintaining average boost clocks of 4.5GHz with 1.2v for vcore. In contrast, the Zotac NVIDIA RTX 3090 Trinity GPU averaged only 76.7C while keeping an average frequency of over 1.8 GHz for boost clocks.

All testing was completed using Aida64 Engineer's System Stability Test v7.35.7000 for over 38 hours, with an ambient air temperature of 24C. Other monitoring software used was HWiNFO64 v8.07-5515, TechPowerUp GPU-Z v2.60.0, and CPU-Z 2.10.0.x64.

Finally, was the MSI MAG PANO 100L PZ ATX Case good? Yes, for a case that competes with the rest of the fish tank-style cases currently out on the market, especially the Lian Li O11 Dynamic. What would be awesome is if MSI could release a version with fans instead of customers having to source their own; however, at the price point of $109.99, it seems like a pretty good deal for a name-brand fish tank style cases that has three separate tempered glass panels that have pretty good water cooling support.

All in all, the MAG PANO 100L PZ is a good case that needs a few fans to finish it off.