Microcool Banchetto 101 Open Air Modular Chassis Review

Looking over the Banchetto 101

With the Banchetto out of its packing we can start to get a good look at it, and it is sharp looking.

In the front part we have the PSU bay on the right, 5.25 bay center, and the 3.5 bay left. If you wanted, you could put the PSU on the right and the 3.5″bay on the left.

Each of the bays is held in place with thumbscrews, two each for the PSU and 3.5 bays and only one for the center 5.25 bay.

Each of the thumbscrews has a rubber washer glued to it. This helps hold it in place and not vibrate loose over time.

With the front bays removed we can get a look at the back bone of the Banchetto 101. It is a simple structure that when combined with the rest of the bays makes the Banchetto 101 fairly sturdy. This is the one piece that is not tool-less. The structure is mounted to the upper and lower acrylic sheets with socket head screws.

The rear bay of the Banchetto 101 is held in place with four thumb screws. It has the ability to accommodate up to three 120mm fans, or triple radiator. The forward shelf of the bay is where you can mount water cooling pumps, power distribution blocks, or whatever else you can think of.

The slots in the forward shelf are big enough to accommodate up to a 10-32 or M5 fastener.

The motherboard tray is completely removable; it also has a large CPU cut out. This will allow for a CPU cooler to be switched out without having to un-mount the motherboard from the tray.

In the front there are two large power and reset buttons. To the right is the Banchetto 101s name silk screened on to the tray. The motherboard standoffs are already installed for you and setup for an ATX motherboard. If you use an mATX you will have to move some of the standoffs around.

When I flipped the tray over to look at the switches I noticed that one of the wires had come loose from the switch. This was due to a screw vibrating loose in shipping. I simply put the wire back and tightened the screw.

The feet for the Banchetto 101 are some of the biggest and nicest I have seen. They are solid rubber and screw into the tray.