MSI MPG Velox 100P Airflow: Cooling in the first place?

... Inside without compromise though

Velox 100Ps are some of MSI’s newest cases. In the Airflow variant (Velox 100P Airflow), it has a heavily perforated front, which is something we are interested in at HWCooling. The case is one of the more expensive midi-towers and doesn’t lack tempered glass or ARGB lighting. Naturally, though, our tests were mainly considering the design, equipment and cooling, since this Velox has the Airflow in its name.

Basic specifications

Somewhat mixed feelings about the exterior…

The accessories are modest, containing only small fasteners (screws, tightening strips, fan cable splitter) and a bracket for vertical mounting of the graphics card.
The first impression of the case is mixed. I don’t feel like pulling something that costs 185 euros out of the box. The front panel, the top cover of the fans and certainly the looks are to blame for that – but that’s a subjective feeling, of course.

The left side panel is, as usual, made of tempered glass with a thickness of 3 mm. It is fixed to the structure with two hinges and secured to the case with strong magnets. This gives you quick access to the components if you need to make any minor adjustments. For larger interventions as well as for the first time mounting, the side panel can also be pulled out of the hinges for convenient work, although this is rather difficult.

A large part of the front panel is perforated, which is one of the main differences from its twin MSI Velox 100R. Thanks to this, the case has more access to fresh air. The MSI logo located on the top of the panel needs no introduction. The bottom logo “MPG” marks the series of cases it comes from. The only thing I don’t like about the front panel are the plastic parts, which are more prone to damage. The grille in the middle is indeed sheet metal, but it probably won’t turn any heads.

The front panel can also be fully detached from the case structure thanks to the touch pins that power the backlight.

The dust filter on the intake is made of fine nylon mesh. Removal is easy, via two latches from underneath and the top is held on by two magnets.

Behind all this, three 120 mm fans are waiting for you, which are not specified by the manufacturer. That’s a shame for a case worth almost 200 euros. If they don’t suit you, you can replace them with three 140 mm fans or a water cooling radiator of up to 360 mm.

The right side panel does not go unnoticed either. Although it has a standard attachment via two screws, it is more interesting because of its perforation. This serves mainly as an exhaust for the water cooling radiator. Only a mesh with larger holes will protect you from dust here. But since it is located on the exhaust, I don’t see any fault in it. The mesh on the side panel is held in place via magnets that it has all the way around.

The top of the case offers decent connectivity in the form of two USB Type-A ports, the current fastest USB Type-C port with a speed of 20 Gbps and 2×3.5 mm jack for microphone and headphones. Of course, the I/O panel can’t miss a power button, a restart button and as a bonus one button for changing the case’s lighting modes. This offers 18 options to customize the case to your liking.

Right next to it you can notice a thick perforation where there should be one more dust filter – it’s missing, it’s a showcase sample. Even the sheet metal on the magnets itself doesn’t give the case a feeling of exclusivity. It almost folds 90 degrees when it’s being removed. Underneath, it is possible to place additional fans in the number of three 120 mm, two 140 mm or a radiator for water cooling of up to 360 mm.

The back of the case doesn’t stand out from the crowd. We have an opening for the motherboard I/O panel, an exhaust for a 120 mm fan, expansion card covers and a hole for the power supply. The tunnel can accommodate a power supply up to 220 mm in length without using the 3.5″ HDD bay.

The entire case stands on four feet, on which there’s non-slip rubber. The dust filter underneath the power supply is made of nylon, which guarantees quality protection against dust. If it needs to be cleaned, it is easy to pull out from the back of the case.

Velox 100Ps are some of MSI’s newest cases. In the Airflow variant (Velox 100P Airflow), it has a heavily perforated front, which is something we are interested in at HWCooling. The case is one of the more expensive midi-towers and doesn’t lack tempered glass or ARGB lighting. Naturally, though, our tests were mainly considering the design, equipment and cooling, since this Velox has the Airflow in its name.

… Inside without compromise though

The case is ready for hardware of any size and volume without limitations, for example, you can fit even E-ATX size motherboards. These are held by a 0.7 mm thick tray, which is slightly more than the standard 0.6 mm average. Along with the motherboard, it will also hold a tower-shaped CPU cooler up to 175 mm in size, giving you almost unlimited options in choice. Up to 380 mm long graphics cards can be accommodated in the case, which means you won’t have to limit your choice of cards either. To the right of the tray you can place the aforementioned 120/240 mm water cooling radiator or two 120 mm fans. The downside is having to uninstall the fans in the front on the intake, so this position is more for the water cooling radiator rather than the fans themselves.

All grommets for wiring are fitted with rubber caps. These hold them in place stably. The top of the tunnel is perforated, which in combination with the bottom fan on the intake gives a better possibility to “breathe” especially for 3.5″ drives and graphics card, if you have it placed in a lower PCI Express slot.

The fan on the exhaust is also unspecified, with the same parameters as those on the intake. The only difference is that this one has RGB LED backlighting. Both types remind me of the ones from the MSI Forge 100M case, where the fans also had ribbing.

The back side of the interior is deprived in the photo by one bracket for 2.5″ storage out of two and also by a compartment in the tunnel for two 3.5″ HDDs – this is because it is a showcase sample. They are supplied as standard with the case. For cable management, you have three pieces of Velcro pull-tabs. The other 10 positions are free for additional cable fixing. The hub for the ARGB lighting is mounted tightly next to the cable grommet, which can make it more difficult to handle when fitting. However, for a case in the high end price range, I also miss having the power supply for the fans directly in the hub.

The actual cable management was not difficult, there was plenty of space, 23 mm to be exact. This is despite the additional cables for the front panel backlight, tunnel trim and fan on the exhaust. The whole thing is powered by a SATA cable.

Like the cable management, the mounting and connecting of the hardware was also seamless. Even the backlighting didn’t conjure up the feeling of a more premium case.

Velox 100Ps are some of MSI’s newest cases. In the Airflow variant (Velox 100P Airflow), it has a heavily perforated front, which is something we are interested in at HWCooling. The case is one of the more expensive midi-towers and doesn’t lack tempered glass or ARGB lighting. Naturally, though, our tests were mainly considering the design, equipment and cooling, since this Velox has the Airflow in its name.

Test methodology

The case offers up to 7 positions for 120 mm fans. You could come up with different combinations where to place the four supplied ones. Years of testing and practice tell us that it’s not the best idea to place three fans on the intake and one on the exhaust. However, for testing we will leave the positions as the manufacturer has arranged them for us. I believe the case with the “Airflow” addition lives up to its name.

Testing is done in a home environment where I strive for the most accurate results possible. In the room during testing, the air temperature in front of the case is 23 degrees Celsius and the minimum noise level I can measure with the Voltcraft SL-100 noise meter is 32.4 dBA. The sensor of the noise meter is aligned to the center of the top of the case at a distance of 10 cm, for the best measurement of the speed difference of the fans, which I change using the motherboard. For easy comparison to other cases, they are always regulated to fixed noise levels.

Individual components are heated for 10 minutes in FurMark synthetic stress tests and with Prime95 (custom settings) at the same time. This time is long enough to allow all components to warm up sufficiently. There are then 15-minute cooling breaks between tests, during which the component temperatures (and the case air temperature as well) are brought back to default.

Modes noisiness:

• 36 dBA
• 38 dBA
• 39 dBA

Velox 100Ps are some of MSI’s newest cases. In the Airflow variant (Velox 100P Airflow), it has a heavily perforated front, which is something we are interested in at HWCooling. The case is one of the more expensive midi-towers and doesn’t lack tempered glass or ARGB lighting. Naturally, though, our tests were mainly considering the design, equipment and cooling, since this Velox has the Airflow in its name.

CPU and GPU cooling tests

Velox 100Ps are some of MSI’s newest cases. In the Airflow variant (Velox 100P Airflow), it has a heavily perforated front, which is something we are interested in at HWCooling. The case is one of the more expensive midi-towers and doesn’t lack tempered glass or ARGB lighting. Naturally, though, our tests were mainly considering the design, equipment and cooling, since this Velox has the Airflow in its name.

Motherboard cooling tests

Velox 100Ps are some of MSI’s newest cases. In the Airflow variant (Velox 100P Airflow), it has a heavily perforated front, which is something we are interested in at HWCooling. The case is one of the more expensive midi-towers and doesn’t lack tempered glass or ARGB lighting. Naturally, though, our tests were mainly considering the design, equipment and cooling, since this Velox has the Airflow in its name.

SSD cooling test and heating underneath the ceiling

Air heating underneath the case ceiling

Velox 100Ps are some of MSI’s newest cases. In the Airflow variant (Velox 100P Airflow), it has a heavily perforated front, which is something we are interested in at HWCooling. The case is one of the more expensive midi-towers and doesn’t lack tempered glass or ARGB lighting. Naturally, though, our tests were mainly considering the design, equipment and cooling, since this Velox has the Airflow in its name.

Conclusion

The cooling performance of the case even in the basic fan layout is at a decent level. Although compared to cheaper competitors it lags behind in cooling the processor mosfets and the part under the ceiling, the differences of these values are acceptable. Changing the fan positions could probably push the hardware temperatures a bit lower still.

The case has a nice added value in the form of a practical hinge attachment for the glass side panel. We’ve already encountered this with the Sekira 500X, also from MSI. I like this solution for its simplicity and effortlessness. Of course, some may argue that the hinges on the case spoil the impression of integrity.

For a case that sells for 185 euros, I didn’t feel like I had something of that value under my hands. But the price is also increased by the support of USB 3.2 gen. 2. This interface requires a more expensive cable for high transfer speeds, of which not so many are mass-produced to make it a cheap affair. For photographers or videographers, however, a fast, readily available port may be the deciding factor for buying this case.

The front panel of the Velox 100P Airflow is made of sheet metal and plastic (50:50 ratio) and the surface durability is average at best. We can deduce this from the fact that the case has already had a few tests that have left, shall we say, some minor cosmetic damage on it. More delicate is the metal cover on the top as well, which folds over when removed.

But the above doesn’t change the fact that the case takes home the “Approved” award for decent, well-accessible space, convenient cable management or solid support for expansion fans or liquid coolers. The case can thus handle even very powerful builds with ease.

English translation and edit by Jozef Dudáš

• Contents
• Somewhat mixed feelings about the exterior...
• ... Inside without compromise though
• Test methodology
• CPU and GPU cooling tests
• Motherboard cooling tests
• SSD cooling test and heating underneath the ceiling
• Conclusion