Cooltek UMX2 Review 9

Cooltek UMX2 Review

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Value & Conclusion

  • The Cooltek UMX2 goes for around €170 with a solid side panel. The windowed version goes for €180 instead, a €10 premium.
  • Excellent use of materials
  • Single piece aluminum frame for top, front, and bottom
  • High quality rubber lining on metal frame eliminates any vibrations due to side panels
  • Three fans included
  • Very understated and timeless design
  • Can hold a fully sized ATX board if you sacrifice two fans
  • Two SSD-mounting spots behind motherboard tray
  • Plenty of space for cable routing
  • Lots of mounting possibilities for zip ties
  • Well-engineered PSU bay implementation
  • Full ATX board means that you have to remove the two bottom fans
  • Opening for CPU cooler in motherboard tray is way off target
  • SSD slots require you to remove the motherboard for access
  • Silver motherboard expanison slot covers
  • Internal space in top is wasted
The Cooltek UMX2 is one of those cases a user should buy if design is the most important factor. Clocking in at 170€, it is important for the user to have the ability to look past various functional issues Cooltek hazarded to preserve the chassis' overall looks. We usually do not judge the interior too harshly with such cases, but the UMX2 really pushes it with its advertised full-ATX compatibility. The chassis is essentially incapable of properly housing such a motherboard without removing the two fans in the bottom. It would have been smarter of Cooltek / Jonsbo to make this a mATX chassis, or to at least not include the two bottom fans for a lower price tag and the choice of buying fans with a smaller board instead of being left with two unused cooling units with a fully sized motherboard. Then there is the unusual placement of the motherboard-tray opening as it is essentially useless because it has been placed too far to the right for modern motherboards. Those facets taken aside, however, the UMX2 does make a rather nice impression. Sure, you will not fit a CPU cooler of more than 150 mm or an extraordinarily long PSU into the chassis, but the purpose of the chassis is to look cool, not swallow high-end gaming gear. The engineering that was put into the PSU bay and the HDD trays is refreshing, and the overall quality of the UMX2 is as you would expect of designer chassis. Even stuffing the chassis with all the hardware it can muster, the interior is surprisingly clean as all cables can be routed behind the motherboard tray. In the end, though, the UMX2 becomes a bit tough to recommend as you will not be able to use it as advertised without compromise.
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Aug 27th, 2024 23:18 EDT change timezone

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