The Ultra m998 is one bad-looking case, and I mean that in a good way. With its black paint inside and out, polished stainless steel motherboard tray, and flat black front panel, it definitely takes on a tough, no-nonsense appearance. The addition of a side panel window with fan duct and grill adds a touch of bling, and depending on how flashy your components are inside, could compliment or contrast all that black nicely. The aluminum construction helps to keep weight down and the power bar distribution system is a very unique approach to cable management. Additional features like the caster wheels, front I/O slot with eSATA and removable motherboard tray are just icing on the cake.

Once you dig in and start to actually use the m998 however, you begin to notice some of its shortcomings. While none of the issues I discovered during installation are exactly major, there are quite a few and they do detract from the overall look and feel of the whole. My biggest complaint is probably the drive mounting system, or lack thereof. Putting screws in the bays to hold your drives in place scratches the paint, and if you're one that is constantly changing out hardware you're going to quickly have rough-looking rails. The fact there's a side window only makes this issue worse. It's really kind of ironic that Ultra goes to the trouble to include black screws.

The other issues like panel fitment, fan wiring and power supply support (to name a few) are easier to overlook, and on a sub-$100 case, with all the other features the m998 has going for it, might be acceptable. But this isn't a sub-$100 case or even a sub-$150 case, the m998 commands a MSRP just shy of $200. For that kind of money I would expect a bit more refinement. Not that there's much refinement in the m998's namesake HMMWV though... possibly that's part of what Ultra had in mind.

Thanks to Ultra for providing the m998 for review.