A Closer Look - Inside

After removing all three exterior panels, you are left with the body which has plenty of angles to easily access the interior for assembly. Even in this state, the case feels sufficiently sturdy so you can move it around during that whole process. In the rear, you can see quite a bit of a cable mess from the three fans, but Montech does include those important grommets which should result in clean looks in the end.


The shroud of the case is vented with the possibility to mount up to three 120 mm fans. While this would also block the bottom expansion slot, the odds are very slim that you will ever fill your whole motherboard anyway. Even with the fans, the connectors at the bottom of the board will remain easily accessible. There is an opening to route GPU wires through, which is strategically placed to still allow for two fans at the same time. Interestingly enough, the mesh panel is not riveted in place, but instead uses screws, so you can remove that as well. There seems to be no apparent reason to do so for the Montech XR, but it is nice to have the option. But, if you look closely, there are four unused screw mounting holes around a smaller cutout, which would all be covered by the mesh panel. This could be a hint that Montech is looking to launch a case featuring an embedded display or something similar in the future.


You will find two 120 mm ARGB equipped fans on the side. These are reverse variants, and are clearly labeled as such as well. This means that you get to see the clean fronts of the fans within the XR but also have the benefit of airflow being pulled into the case from this part of the chassis. Having such cooling units in a case of this price segment is awesome to see.


Behind the motherboard tray, you will find a single 2.5" tray under the cutout for the CPU cooler mounting bracket. Montech also includes two further Velcro straps which loosely hold the cable mess of the three fans. As a cost saving measure, Montech does not include a PCB, but instead daisy-chains the included fans. This does get a little messier, but is still perfectly functional. On the bottom, you will find a basic HDD cage which may hold up to two 3.5" drives or one 2.5" and one 3.5" variant. This brings the total storage opportunities the Montech XR provides to a very useful three.


In the back, the PSU bay is basic but perfectly functional. Above that are the seven expansion slots, each reusable cover being held in place by a classic screw. In the very top, there is that one exhaust fan in the same style as the two on the side. This one features a classic fin design, while providing the same consistent look and illumination.


All the wires within the Montech XR are black and both the USB-C and USB-A leads are of the flat-band kind, which is a nice detail many other brands don't manage to provide, regardless of price point. Even the front panel connectivity is present in form of a simple-to-use, unified plug to make this step of the assembly process a breeze.