Cheapest High Airflow Case: 6 Fans for $70 Montech X3 Mesh

This review benchmarks the budget $70 high airflow case from Montech, the X3 Mesh, for its 6 fans. We also look at build quality, noise levels, some crazy wiring, and more.

Until 7/31/21, 33% of all profits from sales of GN posters will be split and donated to the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) and to Fight to Repair! Both organizations are focused on repairability of products, reduction of e-waste, and legal protections for consumers to truly own and maintain their own devices.

RELATED PRODUCTS [Affiliate Links]



TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Lots of Fans
03:56 - Montech X3 Mesh Build Quality
14:09 - CPU Thermals
15:12 - GPU Thermals
15:47 - Firestrike Gaming Thermals
16:18 - Blender (CPU & GPU) Thermals
17:08 - Standardized Fans
18:02 - Noise Levels
18:56 - Conclusion

** Please like, comment, and subscribe for more! **

Links to Amazon and Newegg are typically monetized on our channel (affiliate links) and may return a commission of sales to us from the retailer. This is unrelated to the product manufacturer. Any advertisements or sponsorships are disclosed within the video ("this video is brought to you by") and above the fold in the description. We do not ever produce paid content or "sponsored content" (meaning that the content is our idea and is not funded externally aside from whatever ad placement is in the beginning) and we do not ever charge manufacturers for coverage.

Follow us in these locations for more gaming and hardware updates:


Host, Test Lead: Steve Burke
Writing, Testing: Patrick Lathan
Video: Keegan Gallick

[qwkimball]

Here's something weird. That metal wobble side panel noise was used to emulate thunder in 15th-16th century London playhouses. The technique was "borrowed" from its inventor by a rival prop master, giving us the phrase "stole my thunder."

[medic-chan]

23:06 "but if you're looking for affordable airflow, and... good for performance uhhh... gets the job done. Then this is one of the better ones we've looked at lately and we're fine with recommending it for that type of user."

Another absolutely glowing review from Gamers Nexus.

[jeremylbuffington]

Steve: Decent overall performer… not intolerably loud.
Me: I’ve never seen Steve gush over a case like this.

[gremfive]

G'Damn kids I remember when we had to plug in molex cables uphill both ways.

[kcmsterpce]

4:23 ahh yes, the "Molex Centipede"... It was quite the horrorshow. The sequel, "Molex Centipede 2: Additional Current" was off the rails.

[futurebues]

Great example of how decision making in parts picking is about tradeoffs. This case seems good enough in most ways and most of the shortcomings are acceptable tradeoffs to keep costs down for users who are not interested in dedicating more of their budget to a premium case.

[vonra.]

I purchased a somewhat similar case from Montech about a year ago: Montech Air X ARGB. I paid a similar price $70 (Newegg still at $70) I believe it is more a solid build than X3 and it came with functional fan controller. I’m happy with the purchase.

[lougou]

In denmark it’s just shy of 40 $ so that is a steal considering the “price to performance”

[MaxLan-ol]

How to make a great budget case:
-Cheap out on the materials and build quality
-Basic fans
-Tons of airflow with sufficient dust proof
-Reasonable designs that make it easy to work with

[Lintary]

Global logistics are a nightmare atm, containers go fro 4 to 10x their normal rate and take 2x the time and that is IF you can get a slot on a ship.

[regeanewolfe]

But what are the OUT-OF-THE-BOX thermals?

[jeffb.]

A case only having a single USB 3.0 port is a real pet peeve of mine. The header supports two ports, and it's not like they use a less chunky cable when they only provide one port.

[jeremybrown]

Picked this up recently for a little over $50 for the first Pc I've built since 2008. Considering my entire budget for the pc minus the GPU was $400, it helped out a lot.

[TheBrirod]

Bought this case for $60 from MicroCenter last month for my first build and it’s great. I usually don’t have the rgb fan lights on since the other components provide my multicolored goodness. Installed the NZXT Kraken X53 AIO at the top and it stays cool and quiet. mATX is definitely the way to go for space to work in for future repairs/upgrades. Overall a great budget case and looks *crispy* once finished with that side panel display. Montech has gained an extra fan!

[iceahs]

Montech's cases have been great (especially here in Malaysia). I personally got the Sky One for about 70-ish USD, 4 pwm fans (one being argb), an argb hub, great airflow and usb type-c. Even their Air 100 is super popular rn. Hope you guys can bring a review on those cases!

[Ferdilicious]

The designer of this case needs more credit. No liquid cooling, no problem. What is the % of gamers that use liquid cooling? The smaller dimensions are great.

[Excalibaard]

I got a Silverstone PS15B for 50 bucks and added a 5x set of Arctic P12 for $25, and I really like it as a budget airflow case. With how good the price/performance is of the P12s I feel there are a lot of these cases that are barely talked about that can definitely pull their weight in the budget category. As long as they have mesh and enough sensible mounting spaces for fans at least :)

[enzicoxe]

cheap materials are good if it doesnt affect performance/ durability

[BIGWRM]

"...powered by a 4-pin molex connector."

"Oh."

"*Only*"

[kraqd]

I do a little PC building on the side. And I’ve built in this case and it’s actually not bad for the price. It does feel cheap but wheat can you expect with all them fans the one problem I had is that when trying to plug in the motherboard in the top left the fan was in the way so I had to remove the fan then reinstall it later.