Test System

Assembly

Installing a motherboard within the MB311L is pretty straightforward. Things are a bit on the compact side as there is no real space below the board's bottom edge, which is not a real issue because of well-placed openings in the shroud for cable-routing to the right spots. As you can see, the chassis can easily hold a potent 120 mm tower and long GPU.


Adding an SSD requires no tools at all. Just pop the rubber grommets into place, screw the pin-style screws into the drive with your bare hands, and push the drive in. While this works well, I would be cautious when moving the system longer distances with this setup.


Adding a 3.5" drive does not require tools either as you simply attach the plastic rails and slide the drive into place until it snaps down.


Adding the power supply is done by traditional means. Simply slide it in through the side and use case screws to hold it down. Things are pretty tight, but the 850 W unit fits, which means most users won't have to worry about this aspect either.


With everything installed, the inside of the MB311L ARGB looks fairly clean, but the missing grommets would have made things look a bit better. I tried routing the cables away from the openings, which was possible as the zip-tie hooks all around make for a clean view from this angle.

Finished Looks

Once everything is assembled, turning the Masterbox MB311L ARGB on allows you to clearly see the lighting elements of the two fans in the front. On top of that, the power button lights up with a nice white LED around it when the system is running.


You can clearly see all the components inside the case even without any additional lighting as there is little to no tint on the window panel, while the rear is exactly the way you would expect it to be for a current mid-tower chassis. With the included ARGB controller, you may toggle through various lighting effects. The controller did not allow for a solid color, only for a breathing mode of any of the below hues, but you are absolutely able to set it to anything of your choice if you connect the lighting setup to your motherboard. That said, the fact that the fans are center-lit is actually a nice touch, and well-balanced for the Masterbox MB311L ARGB.