MONTECH X3 Mesh PC Case Review

MONTECH may not be a famous name in the PC case space, but as I recently found out with the GameMax DS360, there are plenty of good PC cases out there if you’re willing to sacrifice the famous name badge.

A competent player amongst the not-so-famous case makers, MONTECH currently produces a series of solid and distinctive PC cases. The looker of the bunch is clearly the X3 Mesh. It ships with six (not so) RGB fans and sports an elegant glass side panel door. Currently available for £59.99 it’s competitively priced as a good mid-range mid-tower.

Specifications

Case features and build quality

Budget PC cases often sport flimsy metal and poorly finished joints, especially on the inside. I’m pleased to say in the case of the MONTECH X3 Mesh everything feels solid and well put together.

The seven expansion slots on the rear are of the break-off-once-and-you’re-done kind, which is unfortunate, but for most people these days it’s just two slots for the GPU and jobs a gooden.

The tempered glass side panel is reasonably thick (3mm) and the hinged mechanism seems solid. A cute little pull tab makes swinging open the glass door very satisfying and of course, enables quick and easy access.

The front panel I/O is perfectly decent, with 2 x USB 2.0 (seriously, we need to get rid of this stupidly slow standard now) and 1 x USB 3.0. We also get a power button, mic and headphone ports, LED fan controls and blinky little lights for your power and HDD activity. There’s no USB-C which is a shame, but unsurprising for a mid-range PC case.

The best thing about this case is the inclusion of six fans – three of which are full-fat 140mm fans mounted up front. All six connect via a human centipede-style array of Molex connectors (ugh) which is pretty simple assuming you don’t have an issue with this horribly outdated dinosaur of a plug refusing to line-up. Fortunately for me, I got it in OK after some expletive-filled shoves and twists (that’s what SHE said, hehehe).

The fans are not truly RGB, as the advertising tries to insinuate, but are hub illuminated via a case button that cycles through a variety of pretty illuminations. Not satisfactory for proper case nerds who have to get that exact hue to match their other gaudy accessories, but perfectly good for those who just want some pretty lights to look at.

If you’re old-school and have a ton of physical drives to mount the case is reasonably generous in this area. There’s two 2.5″ SSD mounting plates and a removable 3.5″ old-style HDD cage that can support two full-size drives. Seriously, this should be plenty for anyone in 2022.

On the downside, peering into the top of the case there’s an exposed PCB with the I/O dangerously exposed to my general cack-handedness. Everything looks pretty flimsy, and if you’re impatient or aggressive with your cable management you could easily snap some things off, as there’s no glue to reinforce the joints. This is typical of cheaper PC cases, so just take extra care when handling anything near the PCB.

Installation

The MONTECH X3 Mesh is set up out of the box for an mATX board, which is highly convenient as that’s what I use. For ITX or ATX, a simple rejigging of the mounting screws is all you’ll need. Included in the box is a bag of screws and a very basic fold-out sheet with installation instructions. Rarely does anyone provide a comprehensive and attractive manual these days. Sigh.

The process of mounting components is fairly simple, with only the PSU cabling proving to be a bit of a faff due to the cramped space you have to work with.

Otherwise, cable management is acceptable with the included velcro straps to help guide your leads parallel to the front fans behind the back plate, away from any crucial airflow areas. The cables are typical of cheaper setups, flimsy and thin, with the exception of the USB cables which are of the nicer flat-band variety.

Temperatures and observations

Motherboard: MSI B560-A Pro Motherboard
CPU: Intel 11th Gen i5-11400
GPU: RTX 3060 Ti
RAM: Kingston Fury 32GB RAM

Although my test-bed setup is not particularly power-hungry or energy-intensive, the fans are quite noisy even at idle. This is almost definitely due to the quality of the case fans included, or the fact that they run at 12V at all times. Airflow is clearly not the problem, which is perfectly sufficient with all six fans filling up a tidy open space around the components. The ambient temperature was an ideal 21 degrees.

Idle temps: CPU – 32 C / GPU – 35 C
Heavy stress test: CPU – 72 C / GPU – 76 C

Temperatures are impressively low. The six fan setup and airflow characteristics clearly work well to minimise any higher than ideal spikes in heat. Unless you’re planning on some proper overclocking or shoving an RTX 3090 in there I don’t think you need to worry.

Conclusion

The MONTECH X3 Mesh is a compelling buy for the solid mid-range price it’s pitched at. The inclusion of three 140mm front case fans, part of a six-fan package that is included overall, is a rare bonus at this £59.99 price. The general build quality and overall look of the case with its pull-tab glass side door is a particular highlight. The fan illuminations available are attractive and easy to cycle through via case-mounted buttons.

Internally, the case is well laid out and cable management is pretty straightforward. During my testing temperatures stayed impressively low, showcasing the quality of the case design and fan setup.

However, the fans are quite noisy, operating at 12V at all times the most likely culprit. The internal PCB and most of the included cables are cheap and flimsy and the fans are not truly RGB.

Those niggles aside, you’re getting a highly attractive case that gets the most important parts right at a perfectly decent price.