Verdict: Centurion 5 + Praetorian 731 = Centurion 531

The 531 is the latest member of the Centurion case family and, to our eyes, appears to be something of a crossbreed between a Centurion 5 and Praetorian 731.

It forfeits the fully ventilated front panel of other Centurions in favour of a solid aluminium panel that clips onto the main steel body behind. The lower half of the front panel is dominated by a series of vertical trenches, which also form part of the air intake. It's one of those 'love it or hate it' designs, so we'll let you decide which applies to you.

Shining through the front panel is a 120mm blue LED fan, while there's a 120mm fan mount at the rear, although no fan is supplied. Earlier Centurions had an 80mm intake and 120mm exhaust fan cooling arrangement, so it's great to see Cooler Master has updated the design to twin 120mm fans.

On the left side panel are two additional vents, one above the CPU socket and another above the slot for the graphics card.

Another change from previous Centurions is that three of the four internal 3.5in drive bays are now positioned at 90-degree angles to the front of the case, so drives can be more easily installed. In addition to the four internal 3.5in bays, there's one external 3.5in and five 5.25in drive bays. Due to its compact dimensions, there's no room inside the 531 for anything bigger than a standard ATX motherboard. Two USB 2 ports, a single FireWire port, and microphone and headphone jacks are located on the roof of the case, just behind the front panel.

Costing just £50, the Centurion 531 - like its internally identical brother, the Centurion 530 - is excellent value for money. Both cases are more expensive than the Jeantech Phong and Yeong Yang 5603 Mars, but the Centurion 531 is more solidly built and has better airflow.

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