MicroCool Banchetto 101 Chassis Review

We have swapped in our MSI GTX 970 GAMING Twin Frozr V in our picture below, as you can see it doesn’t reach the SATA ports. More of a test of different cards than anything else, and it had no issues with the mounting posts.

Within the motherboard space, there are few limitations.The thumbscrews are big and chunky, they also have a flat head screw driver head.

Something we did note below, there is a larger than normal gap between the motherboard and chassis. This caused some bend when connecting the various components and power connectors.

We didn’t like it, and it slightly unnerved us when building the test rig.

Conclusion

The MicroCool Banchetto 101 Chassis is an unusual chassis. MicroCool don’t appear to be mainstream so this chassis sites in an unusual market sector, released by a company unknown to many. We were looking for a test platform so we could save out knuckles from all the usual scrapes and cuts when managing an enclosed chassis, and we have definitely found it. However, it is not without its faults.

We found the metal inserts were prone to slip when screwing together the structure and mounting components, such as the motherboard. It isn’t a big issue, as the slip stops when the thread sleeve meets the surface of the component or structure you are mounting. That said, it was unexpected.

The add-in card screw poles feel loose and need some attention when screwing in a retaining thumbscrew, a notched top to allow a flat headed screw driver to be used would have been ideal to tighten properly.

The drive cages also looked a little ungainly when unutilised, though you will probably mount an HDD and/or optical drive to resolve that issue.

Also, if you don’t like dust, the Banchetto 101 may be an issue, it is a dust magnet. Something that special cleaners and short hair will help, but we needed an extra photo-shoot with the Banchetto 101 due to the amount of dust it had acquired that we needed to clean off.

Finally the price, it is not cheap and that puts it up against some serious competition. Currently this chassis will cost you £219.99 which is a serious amount of money for anyone, so consider the choice carefully.

Final Thoughts

Did we like it? Yes, despite its minor issues the chassis is a real showcase in anyone’s den, games room or even office. We are using it as a test rig and for now, nothing can beat it. The ease of access is amazing, allowing for reconfiguration and swapping out parts quickly. You can use this as a chassis for any type of build you want and you will see some of these in modding builds such as desk mods.

Even with the price and the other issues it is still an excellent chassis. Improvements are needed, which you can do yourself if you don’t want to wait, but on the whole this is a bit of a showpiece and a refreshing departure from the norm.