Review System

Assembly

We hinted at the fact that removing the side panels is the first step in gaining access to the interior of the Chieftec Pro Cube CI-02B-OP. The second step is to remove the thumb screws in the back and two traditional ones on the side, which then allows you to flip forward the whole top and front of the chassis. This gives you all the room you will need for component installation, and is certainly a nice way to implement accessibility.


Installing the motherboard is done via traditional means using the screws and golden spacers provided. There is the additional step of having to mount the spacers first, as Chieftec does not ship the chassis with them pre-installed. The two cable management openings line up nicely with the forward facing edge of the motherboard and Chieftec has done an excellent job, with plenty of hooks for zip ties in this area as well.


While it is actually encouraged by Chieftec to use the Pro Cube with air cooling, and it is not advertised, you may easily install a 120 mm AIO in the back of the enclosure. The GPU also fits nicely, with room for extra wide units or even triple slot ones. The only limiting factor is length at up to 320 mm, which is further shortened if you opt for a front intake fan.


The 3.5" drive trays are made of plastic and are tool-less, you may also install 2.5" drives here, but that requires the use of classic screws. Once the tray is filled, simply slide it back into the chassis until it snaps into place.


Adding any 2.5" drive using one of the three plastic 2.5" trays is completely tool-less as well. You may slide the drive into position below the external 3.5" drive bay easily, even if the system is filled completely.


Alternatively, you may pull out the small cage underneath the motherboard tray and then slide up to two drives in, which then goes back into the case and is secured by a single thumb screw.


Adding an optical drive is straight forward as well. Simply pop the cover off the front and slide the drive into place. the plastic lock secures the unit well enough on one side, but you should still use one or two screws on the opposite side to eliminate any possible vibration of the device when in use. While our optical drive is rather long by today's standards, it fits perfectly and the GPU clears it just fine as well.


Our mainstream 660 Watt PSU fits inside the bay like a glove, even with the fully detachable cables. That said, you should really plan and connect them before squeezing the whole unit in there, as you won't have access to any wiring once it is in place. As such, you may want to pre-attach SATA or PCIe wires in case you plan to add or upgrade components in the future.


With everything installed, the Chieftec Pro Cube CI-02B-OP makes a very clean impression. The USB and audio leads come through the opening in the motherboard tray and are far enough away from the GPU as well. However, should you fill the expansion slots up to the rim, it would have been nice to have those same row of holes in the motherboard tray as the opposite side to secure cables to. As you can see from that other angle, those are quite a bit of difference in terms of keeping the wiring secure. As there is plenty of room underneath the motherboard tray, any excessive or unused PSU wiring can be stored here without issue.

Finished Looks

Turning the system on, there is nothing but that small blue LED to let you know that everything is up and running. As expected, the Chieftec Pro Cube CI-02B-OP makes a very understated impression.


Looking at the front, the optical drive fits right into the straight and flat design of the Pro cube. The vent on the GPU side of the motherboard is right in line with that system component, but you won't see much in our build. Those using a pixel pusher that has lots of ARGB may get to see a shimmer of that lighting element thought the metal mesh covered opening. In the rear, everything is easily accessible, with the PSU lead on the bottom.