A Closer Look - Outside

Unpacked, you could be forgiven for thinking you've unboxed a green variant of the original Meshlicious. (If I was part of ssupd's marketing team, I would name the chassis "Meshlicious 2" or "Evo" instead, but that is subjective). The green looks good, and it's refreshing to have a unique hue as an option. The paint application of the panels is excellent as well. Each panel requires more than the usual amount of force to remove from the chassis frame. As such, everything feels sturdy.


Viewed from the front, you can clearly see the insides of the case through the fine mesh. Interestingly enough, there is no branding on the visible panels, so system integrators and discerning individuals should appreciate this case, should they choose to build in it. The only visible branding upon closer examination is a subtly embossed logo on the rear of the case.


The internal layout places the GPU on the left side of the chassis, while the motherboard/PSU compartment is on the right. Both sides employ the same fine mesh panels as the front, providing as much ventilation as possible. This is great, as it's proven that glass, while aesthetically pleasing, increases operating temperatures too much to be an optimal material for small enclosures.


Taking a closer look at the rear, the bottom half is reserved for the PSU, on the motherboard side. You may go for any SFX, SFX-L, or even ATX unit. This is also where you may notice several differences to the original Meshlicious. For starters, the SFX mounting frame no longer leaves an opening at the top of the PSU cutout. On top of that, the cable routing hole on the bottom left is now bigger and ssupd has engineered screw mounting holes in the vent area for the Meshroom S, which was previously of no additional use.


In the top, there are still three expansion slots, in case you are opting to use a short GPU or plain expansion card within the case, but these brackets can now be used to hold storage drives. The only downside is most short GPUs are dual-slot, thus giving you two of these covers to play with for a total of three when considering the separate one in the accessories box. ssupd should have really included one more, so that users could take full advantage of storage and dual-slot GPUs at the same time, without leaving an unsightly gap.


Another change is that the power button is now in the rear of the chassis. There is no real reason this needs to be here, but by doing so, the Meshroom S is able to provide one additional front panel USB port, at the top of the chassis.


On top, the panel looks just like the one on the front and the side, and ssupd includes one USB-C and two USB 3.0 ports. Unlike the original Meshlicious, which sported a blue USB-A (later versions had black ones), the Meshroom S is fitted with black plugs. It is debatable if more IO ports warrants the inconvenient rear power button and lack of power LED.


The underside, being part of the frame, is not mesh, just like the rear of the Meshlicious. There is a cutout for access to the GPU display connectors, which are routed out through a hole in the rear. Additionally, ssupd has improved on the position of one of the two SSD mounts, which now sports rubber rings. Lastly, there are several mounting possibilities for pumps or reservoirs, catering for custom liquid cooling.