During the last couple of years, relative newcomer Montech has sidled its manner onto our best-PC-case lists by producing mainstream-quality chassis at low value. (The corporate has additionally carried out some high-end fashions.) At present’s focus, although, is off the market map: a mainstream PC case with a decidedly un-mainstream look. The $109.99 Heritage Professional is a low-slung MicroATX PC case with a carry strap and an aesthetic leather-based end, and people distinctive trappings will probably override any thermal, acoustic, fitment, and even value considerations, in case you’re smitten with the look. We would give it an award for the very best leather-bound PC case available on the market, however we’re fairly positive it is the solely one, too. Look upon it and make your judgment.
Design: A Complete New That means for “Cable Cover”
Moderately than load up its Heritage Professional with hefty panels or inner options to justify the value, Montech poured its finances into that leather-based aesthetic: Parts of the face and facet panels are wrapped in that brown conceal, and a thick strap of it serves as a carrying deal with. The Heritage Professional is out there in a selection of black or white sheet metallic, and Montech additional enhances the looks of the white model by coating its plastic components in a silvery aluminum end.
(Credit score: Thomas Soderstrom)
The 14.6-inch-tall, shoebox-style mini-tower arrives with its deal with packed inside, with the deal with {hardware} increasing its width from 9.3 to 10.4 inches. The leather-topped left facet visually delimits a diagonal glass panel that spans the Heritage Professional’s size entrance to again.
Backside-front ports (two USB 3.x Sort-A, one Sort-C) sit astride the Heritage Professional’s buttons and audio jack. The massive button options an indicator gentle behind its translucent energy brand, whereas the smaller button engages the motherboard’s reset pins, and the 1/8-inch combo jack works with the stereo headphone and monaural microphone of a one-plug headset.
(Credit score: Thomas Soderstrom)
The Heritage Professional’s again panel has 5 PCI Categorical card slots however no power-supply bay; that’s been relocated internally. All that is here’s a energy jack that feeds an extension cable that results in the interior energy provide mount, together with a 120mm exhaust fan that’s factory-mounted to 1-inch-long screw slots. (The facility provide mount can work with ATX or SFX energy provides.) Additionally seen right here, the fitting facet’s panel options the identical vent sample and lack of mud filtration because the entrance panel. It additionally has the identical diagonal leather-based highlights because the left panel.
(Credit score: Thomas Soderstrom)
As for the PCI Categorical card mounting space, we’ve heaped previous praises upon Montech for together with inner slot panels on a few of its full-ATX mid-towers priced as low as $70, so we view the folded-out tab of the pricier Heritage Professional with a little bit of unhappiness. Its 22mm clearance hole is definitely large enough to keep away from the sort of card-install interference we have run into, every now and then, with this sort of design, however maneuvering playing cards on this method nonetheless appears an pointless inconvenience.
(Credit score: Thomas Soderstrom)
The Heritage Professional’s backside panel supplies a triple 120mm fan mount that can also be able to supporting some 360mm-format radiators—in case your motherboard has the clearance—and is roofed in a rigidly framed mud filter. The filter’s body attaches to the case through six everlasting magnets, plus some securing tabs on one edge.
(Credit score: Thomas Soderstrom)
The Heritage Professional’s different mud filter is a perforated foil sheet that Montech slid, loosely, below the perimeters of its prime panel, in a fashion that daunts its removing—at the least by us. We’d counsel utilizing a vacuum cleaner or compressed air to wash it in situ.
(Credit score: Thomas Soderstrom)
A fan mount constructed into the highest panel is lengthy sufficient to host as much as three 120mm or two 140mm followers, in addition to radiators as much as the 360mm format. Although the highest is lengthy sufficient {that a} 420mm radiator mount might have been positioned there, radiators that enormous might need interfered with power-supply set up, thus the 360mm official suggestion.
(Credit score: Thomas Soderstrom)
A barely totally different viewpoint lets us see the potential drawback, the place the ability provide mounting flange sits solely 2.5 inches under the highest panel when left in its manufacturing facility place. It additionally sits 10.5 inches above the underside panel and 9.3 inches above the entrance panel’s port card, and it may be moved downward if wanted.
(Credit score: Thomas Soderstrom)
The Heritage Professional offers builders 1.1 inches of cable house behind the motherboard tray, which will probably be extra-important to anybody who needs to make use of its facet fan mount. You see, the placement of the ability provide mount up entrance blocks followers from being put in on the motherboard facet of the mount. That leaves the house between the fitting facet panel and the motherboard tray as the one place to place side-panel followers, if you wish to use these mounts.
(Credit score: Thomas Soderstrom)
Different mounting factors seen under permit the power-supply bracket to be spaced an inch or two farther away from the highest panel, in comparison with the manufacturing facility place.
(Credit score: Thomas Soderstrom)
A detachable drive tray covers a lot of the traditional entry gap for the again of the motherboard and its CPU-cooler assist space. This tray can home two drives: two 2.5-inchers, or one 3.5-inch and one 2.5-inch.
(Credit score: Thomas Soderstrom)
Constructing With the Montech Heritage Professional
The Heritage Professional comes with three reverse-flow case followers, a guide, the leather-based carrying strap, a PS/2 (full ATX) to SFX power-supply adapter, and a compartmentalized {hardware} pack with all of the screws required to fill the case, plus a bunch of cable ties. For many who haven’t seen this sort of fan earlier than, a reverse-flow fan blows air out the open facet, fairly than the same old facet with the body.
(Credit score: Thomas Soderstrom)
As soon as our {hardware} was put in, we linked the motherboard to the case’s Sort-C port through the case’s Gen 2×2 (Sort-E) cable, and the Sort-A ports through the same old 19-pin USB header cable. The audio combo jack connects through an HD Audio cable, and the ability/reset buttons and LED through an F_PANEL mixed entrance header. The rear energy jack on the case connects to the PSU through the interior energy provide extension cable. The case’s PWM followers additionally join on to our motherboard’s 4-pin fan headers, and every fan has a pass-through energy output to permit the complete set of 4 followers to attach through a single motherboard header, if desired.
(Credit score: Thomas Soderstrom)
Montech lists a most energy provide size of 165mm and a most GPU size of 400mm, although we measured 452mm of card clearance with out power-supply intrusion and solely 160mm of power-supply clearance with graphics card intrusion. You possibly can set up a far bigger energy provide in case you restrict the cardboard size to 366mm (which remains to be large), and the ability provide mount might be lowered to supply extra cooler clearance on the prime, if that is your druthers.
Talking of fan clearance, we put in the included followers motor-down on the underside panel with their reversed-flow fins blowing upward, and observed that their facet frames have been lower than 2mm under the sting of our motherboard and solely round 8mm vertically from its floor. In some situations, routing cables round a fan’s body would require it to be briefly eliminated.
(Credit score: Thomas Soderstrom)
The case seems to be sort of cute simply sitting there, doesn’t it? This angle even highlights the Montech brand that the manufacturing facility embossed into its leather-based cowl on the Heritage Professional’s backside rear nook.
(Credit score: Thomas Soderstrom)
Testing the Montech Heritage Professional
For this check fest, we needed to swap within the MicroATX motherboard from our most up-to-date case-testing configuration cupboard. No worries there, as we’ll be evaluating it to different MicroATX instances. Here is our components lineup…
Here is the Heritage Professional measured towards a number of different current MicroATX instances. Our CPU runs a bit sizzling within the Heritage Professional, but it surely’s nothing that our customized thermal limits couldn’t deal with, and it’s nonetheless as near the class-leading Thermaltake The Tower 300 as it’s to the trailing SilverStone Sugo 17 in that check. It additionally sits firmly mid-pack in voltage-regulator cooling temperature, and its consumption followers even put it within the lead for GPU cooling. (Keep in mind, decrease is healthier relating to these temperatures.)
The acoustic good thing about wrapping the sting of its tempered-glass sound barrier with plastic and leather-based comes into focus because the Heritage Professional fights to comprise the noise of its followers, and ours, when measured from the opposite facet.
Verdict: Leather-based Luxe or Dinner Deluxe? You Resolve
Just like the leather-based trim, the Heritage Professional’s reversed followers are extra about type than operate. And whereas there’s nothing incorrect with the operate, simply know that as a purchaser, you are principally paying a premium for the shape.
Based mostly on the pricing historical past of different Montech instances, we’re pinning the value of the Heritage Professional’s distinctive styling at a $30 to $40 markup. If that feels like the value of a superb lunch, the Heritage Professional could be for you. Alternatively, if it feels like the value of an inexpensive evening out for you and your vital different, that could be a more durable promote. Nonetheless, it is all about how a lot you worth the look: steaks for a night, or cowhide in your PC for years to come back. That is what’s on this menu.
Professionals
The Backside Line
Excessive-quality leather-based trim units aside Montech’s Heritage Professional as a uniquely appointed, mid-priced chassis for a luggable, lovable MicroATX PC construct.
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About Thomas Soderstrom
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