Review System

Assembly

Installing a Micro-ATX board is easily done but requires you to remove the PSU cage to make room. There is essentially no room on the bottom edge when employing such a form factor. We also removed the top fan temporarily to allow for some cable management around the CPU power connector.


That aspect means that the next part you should be installing inside the chassis is your PSU. You may go for an ATX unit in the front, but as our review system unit would hang past the PCIe x16 slot on our motherboard, we opted for the next best thing: an SFX-L power supply. Using an ATX variant that is longer than 150 mm is possible, but then you are limited to a 245 mm GPU, or at least will end up having to mount it in the third slot on your board, which in turn will limit your cooling or storage possibilities on the floor of the CST350 Plus.


Since the SFX-L unit is short enough, long GPUs of up to a solid 320 mm will fit just fine. The latch that covers the opening in the back of the case is actually magnetic, which is a nice little touch.


In terms of storage, you have several possible mounting positions once you consider your cooling setup. We installed a single 3.5" drive on the floor of the chassis towards the front of the case, which gives you as much breathing space for the GPU towards the back, while keeping cable clutter to the front section of the chassis.


With SSDs, due to their compact size, you have even more options, regardless of the build setup. With the front mounted SFX-L PSU, you loose access to the top spots in the front of the chassis - something FSP could have easily counteracted by allowing for them to be mounted on the exterior of the chassis frame. As such, you are left with a spot on the PSU bracket itself, on the floor behind the 3.5" drive, on the side bracket or on the top above the PSU exhaust.


As there is a classic GPU setup with an Micro-ATX board and front mounted PSU, you won't have room to install a 240 mm AIO in the side or the floor of the chassis. While there is enough clearance for such a unit on the floor theoretically speaking, there is no easy way to route the tubing to the CPU socket with a long GPU in the way. As such, we mounted a 120 mm AIO right above the CPU socket, which also meant we could move it over towards the front of the case far enough to retain the rear 80 mm fan.


With everything installed, you can't really look into the interior of the chassis. It took some thoughtful order of assembly and strategic zip ties, but the the result is really good for a case of this size. The AIO tubing makes a nice full circle to give the fan the room it needs to spin freely.

ITX Setup

Alternatively, when using an ITX board, the CST350 Plus becomes a lot more flexible and does not require as much compromise across multiple fronts when compared to a Micro-ATX setup. You can easily fit the SFX-L unit on the side of the chassis, which frees up the front SSD mounting positions, and gives you full clearance for a 240 mm AIO as well. If you go for the smaller SFX unit, you may choose the lower mounting position, which provides just enough room for a second fan in the ceiling as well.

Finished Looks

With the FSP CST350 Plus turned on, there isn't much visually to let you know that the system is turned on besides the embedded blue LED on the top of the case.


You can see shimmers of ARGB lighting from the components within from all three sides of the case, but as there is a second layer of dust filters on the interior, visibility is cut down considerably.


Looking at the front of the FSP CST350 Plus, there isn't any difference between the system being on or off, as the metal mesh is only really useful for a front mounted PSU to pull fresh air in from. In the rear, all the ports and expansion cards are where you would expect to see them. As the power plug is at the top right corner, that may add a little extra bulk to the rear of your desk setup.