The Meshless MD280 is a beautifully built, all-aluminum SFF case with a unique crossflow fan design that delivers strong thermals and bold engineering. Just be aware of the price, tight cable routing, and potential clearance issues with oversized GPUs.
The Meshless MD280 isn’t your typical small form factor case. What makes it different — and kind of wild — is that it uses just one fan to cool your entire system. But this isn’t a regular case fan. It’s a long, cylindrical crossflow fan that runs along the top and pushes air out through the back. The entire case is built around this concept, and somehow… it actually works.
Let’s start there. The crossflow fan is easily the most powerful fan I’ve ever seen pre-installed in a case. It pulls air through the top-mounted 280mm radiator and vents it directly out the back. It’s genuinely strong — the airflow coming out the rear is intense.
It’s controlled by a small onboard controller with four modes: three speed presets and an auto mode. You can cycle through these using a button on the back, or hook it up to FanControl if you want full software control. It’s dead simple, and it makes traditional case fan layouts feel outdated.
The chassis is machined from a single thick piece of aluminum that forms the core structure. It’s heavy, rigid, and has basically zero flex. The way everything slots together — with CNC-milled rails and hinged side panels — feels extremely premium. It almost reminds me of an industrial prototype rather than a retail case.
It’s not the lightest SFF case out there, and while there is a strap handle included, I wouldn’t trust it to carry the full weight. This thing is dense.
Getting into the case involves just a few hex screws — two up front and four in the back — and from there the side panels hinge open. The glass slides out from either side. One odd thing: the screwdriver was included… inside the case. Which requires a screwdriver to open. Hopefully that gets fixed in future batches.
Internally, things are organized well, though space is still tight. I used a Ryzen 9 7950X3D, an ASUS B650-I, and 32GB of DDR5-6000. Installing the motherboard was straightforward, but plugging in the PCIe riser took some finger gymnastics.
The PSU area supports both SFX and SFX-L units, but I’d highly recommend sticking with standard SFX. I used a Corsair SF1000 — the newer 2024 model with Type-5 braided cables — and it fit beautifully.
Meshless also sells a 280mm AIO guaranteed to fit this case — the ID-Cooling SL280R — which I used here. It’s low-profile, has a display on the pump, and fits without any drama. Mounting was shockingly easy: the radiator just drops in from the top and slides into place.
If you’re using your own AIO, make sure the pump height is under 56mm and the radiator isn’t thicker than 30mm.
This case supports up to four-slot GPUs at 362mm in length. That’s massive. I tested it with a Gigabyte RTX 4090 AERO, which is a four-slot, 342mm card — basically as big as it gets. It fits.
But when I plugged in the power cable, I ran into a clearance issue: the glass panel wouldn’t close unless I angled the cable awkwardly or used an ultra-flexible one. Smaller GPUs won’t have this issue.
Installing the GPU was also unique — there’s a clever sliding PCIe riser system. You drop the card in from the top, pull a lever, and the riser connects underneath. Weird at first, but it works great.
With only one case fan, those are excellent results. It’s clear that the internal layout was optimized for airflow efficiency.
At full speed, the fan can get a bit loud — around 50 dB. But for most workloads, silent or balanced modes are more than enough, keeping things at around 45 dB. That’s slightly above my ideal range, but the noise quality is smooth and low-pitched, not whiny.
At around $450, the MD280 isn’t cheap — but it’s a bold case that actually delivers. From materials and airflow to GPU support and thermals, it nails so many things that are tough to get right in SFF design.
If you want something that feels premium, runs cool, and looks fantastic on your desk — the MD280 is absolutely worth your attention. Just be ready for a slightly more advanced build process.
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