Before we dive into the closing arguments, let's address the elephant in the room: the Chieftec Pro Cube CI-02B-OP drives thermals to the edge out of the box with our test setup. This on one hand leads to really quiet idle operation, but naturally high load noise as the GPU and CPU fans try to keep things functioning. One can clearly argue that Chieftec could have included two standard fans with the chassis - one in the front and one in the back. That would have all but eliminated the hot boxed CPU, chipset and M.2 SSD. The counter argument clearly is that the case is so affordable out of the box, that it should give you the financial flexibility to buy fans of your choosing instead. Both arguments make sense and our testing method of running a case though its paces as it is delivered to the customer just illustrates that point in an extreme fashion.

With the Chieftec Pro Cube CI-02B-OP clocking in at just 55€ including 19% German sales tax, there is a lot to like. From the hinge to flip it open, to the ability to install up to seven hard drives and the presence of external drive bays, all that speaks to an interesting choice for those who want this form factor or simply don't need the external drive bays and don't have a need for ATX compatibility. In other words, it is geared towards functionality driven needs, and does so extremely well. The build experience is excellent, the quality of the frame is great as well.

There are two low hanging fruits that Chieftec could have explored though. One is the use of a vented side panel on the CPU side as well, and the other is the omission of the plastic lock and rubber grommets in the rear of the case. If Chieftec would have gone that way, the price for the case would probably had remained similar or at least under $60 Euro all-in, but also would have meant a better overall thermal experience even without adding case fans.

In the end, the Chieftec Pro Cube CI-02B-OP is very affordable, but punches well above its weight in build quality and assembly experience as well as functionality. That gives you the room to fix the shortcoming of cooling performance by adding your own fans, and still have a very affordable base on which to build your system, thus making the case easily recommendable for the audience that needs this form factor and provided functionality.