A Closer Look - Outside

The M1 is made out of nothing but aluminum and sports clean, straight lines without any fancy lighting elements or cut outs, which makes the chassis timeless and yet suitable to many different scenarios. While the black version is completely so, the silver variant employs a black skeleton and silver panels all around.


The front comes with two identical bends, the brushed surface the vertical bits. The black panel in the back gives you a first insight into how much detail went into engineering the M1's manufacturing procedure as the unit has been designed from the ground up instead of taking tooling and redesigning it.


Both side panels are perforated to allow for air to enter the compact chassis, whether passive or with the help of fans.


NCASE put the I/O into the bottom of the front. It consists of two USB 3.0, the usual audio, and a larger power button. You may pull the front panel off to reveal the slimline ODD bay, which may alternatively be used as a spot for a 2.5'' hard drive.


In the rear are three expansion-slot covers to ensure maximum compatibility in regards to which board is used. Above that are two liquid-cooling holes and a spot to mount a 80mm or 92mm exhaust fan. As the PSU will be in the interior's front, a cable has been routed to the back. You will also find a plaque with the brand, case model name, and revision number here. The plaque is the only form of branding on the M1.


The top comes with a little cut out right where the ODD would ejects the disc. NCASE also offers the chassis without the slot-loading drive in which case the cutout is simply missing. The entire top panel is perforated as well to give the compact chassis some additional access to fresh air.


Looking at the NCASE M1's underside, the trend of utilizing every little bit of space in a meaningful manner continues as you can mount various parts onto the floor of the enclosure.