MSI MAG Forge 112R Mid-Tower Case Review

Today on the review table is MSI’s MAG Forge 112R mid-tower chassis. The MAG series are known to be built for gamers and tend to be more budget conscientious. That is precisely where the MAG Forge 112R falls in MSI’s product stack. At just $89.99 at Amazon and Newegg, This feature-rich case may have just what you are looking for in your next build. In this review, we break down each of the features offered by this case, test out its thermal capacity, and determine if it’s worthy of the Overclockers.com Stamp of Approval.

Features and Specifications

As we mentioned in the introduction, MSI’s MAG Forge 112R is a mid-tower chassis capable of housing ITX, mATX, and ATX motherboards. It features a full-mesh front panel and a removable magnetic top dust filter for excellent airflow. A tool-less tempered glass side panel provides a clear view of the installed components. Four Addressable RGB fans are included and are controlled by MSI’s signature Insta-Light Loop LED controller. Five Storage drives can be installed, three 2.5” drives and two 2.5” or 3.5” drives.

Below is a list of the specifications taken from MSI’s website.

Here is a list of features also taken from the website.

MSI MAG Forge 112R Features
	ARGB SHOWROOM Create your own ARGB battle station with the MAG FORGE 110 Series, fully supported by MSI Mystic Light.
	OPTIMIZED AIRFLOW The MAG FORGE 110 Series is optimized to provide generous and effective airflow for system cooling. The MAG FORGE 110 Series can mount up to 6 fans.
	INSTA-LIGHT LOOP BUTTON Quickly control the fan and front LED strip’s lighting effects with Insta-Light Loop at the touch of a button. Click through the profiles at ease and choose a favorite.
	MAGNETIC DUST FILTER A magnetic filter sits on the top vents keeping dust from falling inside while being easily removed for cleaning.
	TOOL-LESS SIDE PANEL The light gray tone of 4mm tempered glass side panel is ideal for displaying RGB lighting effects and provides clear internal component construction.
	TOOL-LESS SIDE PANEL The MAG FORGE 112R thoughtful case design allows users to install/remove the tempered glass easily. Simply place the tempered glass on the stump of the case before installing it for a safe and simple process.

Packaging

As with all MSI chassis, the Mag Forge 112R is shipped in a sturdy brown cardboard box featuring simple black print. The two large sides are identical and depict an image of the case with the model’s name and number clearly defined. At one end is a table of the specifications we outlined above. The other side lists a few of the features along with several international certifications.

The internal packaging consists of two thick Styrofoam endcaps and a clear plastic bag. The method is standard for nearly all case manufacturers and effectively protects the contents from potential shipping damage.

Contents

As with most budget-friendly cases, not many accessories are included. There are two PCI expansion cover plates, a fan splitter cable, a bag of assorted screws, five mini cable ties, a quick installation guide, and Europe’s mandatory regulation notice. This may be the bare minimum, but in our experience, this is enough to complete a solid build.

Exterior At A Glance

Measuring 210 mm wide, 395 mm deep, and 483 mm tall, the Forge 112R is relatively small for mid-tower cases. This smaller footprint saves space on your desktop but also reduces the build capabilities. Just be cautious when ordering larger components like GPUs and CPU coolers.

The steel chassis is painted with a matte black finish that resists fingerprints well. An attractive black-on-black graphic is displayed just below the tempered glass side panel. Approximately 80% of the front panel is mesh, allowing excellent airflow. At the bottom of the front panel is MSI’s easily recognizable Shield and Dragon logo. The top of the case is fitted with a removable magnetic dust filter, which is also where the I/O panel is located.

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A Closer Look

The MAG Forge 112R looks to be a solid case from the outside. In this section, we look deeper into what it offers as we dissect each aspect individually.

Front

We start with the front panel. It is a very basic, plastic front panel with plenty of mesh. It has no removable filter, so users must be more diligent with the usual routine cleaning. This is typical when compared to other budget-friendly cases. Removing the panel reveals three 120 mm ARGB fans. This is an excellent addition, as many chassis in this price range will only include a single exhaust fan. A keen eye will also notice slots for mounting up to two 140 mm fans, potentially a good location for a 240 mm All-In-One (AIO) cooler.

Left

Four tool-less thumb screws quickly remove the tempered glass side panel. Focusing on the motherboard tray, we find eight cable pass-through openings. The massive opening at the center is to assist with mounting a CPU cooler should you choose to mount it after the motherboard is installed. The right side of the motherboard tray offers two locations to mount 2.5” drives. A 120 mm ARGB fan is mounted at the rear of the case, bringing our total to four included ARGB fans, an excellent value.

At the bottom of the left side is the fully vented PSU shroud. There are tapped holes for mounting two additional 120 mm fans should one choose to. At the front of the PSU shroud is a large opening for installing a radiator or large AIO cooler.

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Right

Rotating 180° takes us to the right side. The steel panel is removed with a pair of thumbscrews. The top panel I/O cables are routed through an opening next to the motherboard tray openings. This allows for clean cable management as everything can be managed together. 13 cable tie points also assist in keeping everything tidy.

MSI’s Insta-Loop ARGB controller is located at the center of the case. With six connection points, this controller can power your lighting needs. By default, each fan is connected to its port, but they can be daisy-chained together, freeing up ports for other components if needed. Adjacent to the controller is a removable 2.5” drive tray. Rounding out the storage is another removable caddy at the bottom of the case. This one can house either 3.5” spinner drives or 2.5” SSDs. It can also relocate 30 mm closer to the PSU to gain additional clearance for front-mounted radiators and fans. If you look closely at the PSU garage, you may notice no rubber mounts supporting the power supply. While we would certainly prefer to have something to support the power supply, we experienced no issues without them. The rear panel of the frame is thick enough to mount the PSU without flexing.

Rear

At the rear of the case is the typical opening for the motherboard’s I/O panel. Adjacent to this is the rear 120 mm exhaust fan. It features vertically adjustable slots of up to 25 mm. There are seven PCI expansion slots. These are the cheap breakaway type. MSI was kind enough to provide two cover plates for these; however, in my experience, this is never enough. MSI decided on a sliding cover plate to lock the PCI cards into place. This is a much cleaner look than what some other manufacturers do, such as simply leaving that space open. At the very bottom are the four mounting locations for the power supply.

Top

Next, we take a look at the top of the chassis. The Magnetic dust filter is a nice touch and will be very helpful when fans are not installed at the top. You’ll notice slots for mounting either 120 mm or 140 mm fans and radiators. Located at the front of the top panel is the chassis I/O panel. From left to right are the MSI Insta-Light Loop LED button, two USB 3.2 Gen1 type-A ports, microphone jack, headphone jack, reset button, power button, HDD indicator, and power indicator.

Bottom

Finally, we lay the chassis on its right side to get a good look at the bottom. There are four robust feet with large rubber pads. These are excellent at keeping the case where you want it and helping reduce vibrational noise. There is a removable dust filter at the PSU intake opening. This is another great addition to a budget case. At the front and middle of the case, you can see the adjustable mounting points for the HDD/SSD storage caddy.

Fans

There are four addressable RGB 120 mm fans included with this case. They feature a nine-blade turbine that is frosted white. With a rating of 0.15 Amps, they are powered by a standard 3-pin DC plug and are speed controlled via the motherboard’s BIOS. A 3-pin ARGB daisy chain connector is also present. These can be connected to the included MSI ARGB hub or directly to a compatible motherboard. During testing, we recorded a maximum speed of 1275 RPMs.

Storage

We removed the storage caddy and SSD tray so that you can see it in a better light. The HDD/SSD caddy utilizes a pair of plastic trays that can house either a 3.5” or 2.5” drive. The mounting holes are identified on the tray. Additionally, 3.5” drives can be attached by simply using the included side pins. As mentioned earlier in the review, five storage drives can be installed, up to two of which are 3.5” HDDs. Naturally, this does not include any M.2 drives the motherboard may have.

The Builds

Now that we’ve analyzed each section of this case, let’s see what a few typical builds might look like. This section will highlight the MAG Forge 112R’s ability to house custom water-cooling components and large air coolers.

Water Cooled Build

We begin with a custom water loop mock-up build. We’ve installed a 240 mm radiator at the top with a pair of fans and a 360 mm radiator at the front. With this chassis having a depth of only 395 mm, there isn’t enough room for fittings with this configuration; however, this example does show how various radiators may fit. We did notice a maximum of 55mm thick radiator/fan combo when installing a 280 mm at the top. The front will allow up to a 70 mm radiator as the fans mount inside the front panel. Also, keep in mind if you choose to build a custom loop, in this case, the width of the GPU will play a significant role in the pump and reservoir location. The EVGA RTX 3070 XC3 used in this review measures 111 mm wide, and there is just enough room to squeeze a small Swiftech MCP35X combo to the side of it. If the GPU you plan to use is wider, you may need to locate the pump/res horizontally, similar to the second image.

Air Cooled Build

We use a large 160 mm tall tower cooler for our air-cooled build. We use this setup for nearly all of our thermal testing, which has proven effective for comparing different cases. The MAG Forge 112R lists a 160 mm clearance for the CPU cooler, with just a slight bit of clearance left. All is good.

Cable Routing

Behind the motherboard tray, there is about 20 mm of cable clearance available. Though it is tight, this is enough for a complete build with every possible hard drive installed. The 13 cable tie points came in handy as we managed semi-tidy cable management—probably not our best work, but certainly a passing grade.

Lighting

MSI’s Insta-Light Loop controller has been used for quite some time and in multiple cases we have reviewed. It offers various display options, including seven solid colors, several multi-color rainbow choices, a fade effect, and a rotating effect. Users also have the option to turn the lights off altogether.

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Thermal and Acoustic Testing

In this section, we test the thermal and acoustic aspects of the MAG Forge 112R. The results are normalized based on an average ambient temperature and decibel reading. Below are comparison charts of several of our recently reviewed cases.

Thermal Testing Procedure

Now that we’ve seen what this case can house, it’s time to test whether it is getting adequate airflow. With the case in its stock orientation and all the fans at full speed, an overclock will be applied to the CPU and GPU. The overclock will be as high as possible, maintaining stability and staying within the thermal limits of the components. To apply a load, Aida64 Engineer is used to run stress tests of the CPU, FPU, Cache, and GPU for about a half-hour. This will allow us to record the maximum internal case temperature. Next, we remove the side panel and continue the test measuring maximum temperature without the side panel. If the case gets proper airflow, the case temperatures will remain within a few degrees of the original result. If there is a significant temperature drop with the side panel removed, the case is starving for fresh, cool air.

With the side panel off, we see a temperature of only one degree higher than ambient. But with the tempered side panel installed, the internal temperature was 5.5° Celsius higher than without the glass. This result is higher than what we typically see. While there are four included fans with this case, they are not MSI’s high-quality MAX F12A fans included with its premier cases. We should also point out that none of the test rig’s components ever came close to their throttling point during this testing. The components, including the case, keep the system running at a high overclock.

Acoustic Testing Procedure

With the thermal testing complete, it’s time to test this case’s acoustics and the installed components. We make every effort to keep the details the same from build to build. Consistency is the key here, so like in the previous reviews, we position the case in a typical placement on the desk with the front of the chassis facing forward and the Decibel meter 20 inches from the chassis. An ambient noise reading is measured early in the morning while the house and surrounding area are quiet. The system is then booted with the CPU and case fan set to performance mode in the BIOS. The RTX 3070 fans remain off during idle testing. Finally, we reboot, setting the CPU, case fan, and GPU fans to 100% to record the maximum decibels.

The ambient decibels measured 39.1 on the morning of this test. Switching the system on and allowing it to boot and stabilize to an idle state, we measured a reading of 44.2dB or 5.1 Decibels above ambient. This is a barely audible reading. Finally, we rebooted to our fans maxed out to get a reading of 56 Decibels. From the chart, it may look like this is a loud setup, but remember that the other two cases in this comparison utilize MSI’s premier fans. While 56 dB is undoubtedly audible, it is not what I consider loud, especially for a build running at full tilt.

Conclusion

The MSI MAG Forge 112R brings a lot to the table for a budget-friendly chassis. It features four addressable RGB fans (included), MSI’s exceptional Insta-Light Loop LED controller, a pair of USB 3.2 Gen1 front ports, a tool-less tempered glass side panel, and plenty of storage possibilities. It is not the quietest nor the best thermal case on the market, but at just under $90 from Amazon or Newegg, it provides good performance for the price. Due to its size, it is somewhat limited to what can be installed regarding custom water cooling, but for most builds, we believe the MAG Forge 112R is a decent bargain.

-John Nester (Blaylock)

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