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soulesschild
Supreme [H]ardness
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2007
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- 6,176
Edit: Here they are!
http://flickr.com/photos/soulesschild/sets/72157610185530325/
So I just bought a Cooler Master ATCS 840 Silver (I wanted black but decided after I saw a model in store, the reason behind this is that the model in store showed that the black aluminum showed scratches REALLY REALLY easily). Note that I don't have my system hardware inside it yet as I'm writing this review at my parents house for Thanksgiving break. Once I get back home I'll post some pics with my stuff installed inside.
Unpacking:
I bought this retail for 255+tax = 277. It came in a box with the usual styrofoam case holders + a plastic bag around it. Nothing fancy, nothing too special. Initial examination showed no scratches or otherwise obvious damage to the case due to shipping or packaging. The cardboard is very thick and should hold well if you were to order this online.
The box of stuff (GPU fan thingy, screws, etc were packed inside the case nicely and showed no signs of moving around. They actually have like garbarge bag ties holding it in place agaisnt the mobo tray, so no worries of it flying around during shipping and damaging the fans or anything.
It's fairly light, site says 30 lbs, but felt INFINTELY lighter compared to when I bought my P182.
Exterior:
The outside of the case is extremely nice, has the rough feel of aluminum. The only thing I don't like is the fan grill for the top fans are black, but I guess it contrasts fairly well. I can't imagine what a silver mesh would look like, but just for like, overall look...uniform look, it looks a bit off. The pop-up front IO pops up nicely and smoothly. Though I have no idea that if it somehow breaks, you can fix it or not. =/
A bit annoying is that the side panels make a slight noise (I can't really describe it but it's a noise you don't want to hear) when you put a bit of pressure on them when you have them off the case. I don't know if that's just the aluminum building construction, or a defect. Not sure if we have a CM rep here to answer these questions =/. Another thing that's irritating is that the feet feel like cheap plastic. I mean come on CM, least you coulda done is use some better material then cheap plastic??!?!
Interior:
Interior is beautiful, very nicely done on Cooler Master's part IMO. The mobo tray is very nice and the handle on the mobo tray has a very...solid feel to it. It's hard to describe but when you pull on it, it just feels firm and sturdy. The actual mobo tray is very nicely laid out. It's got a piece of paper on it that's labeled which holes to put in for the different ETX formats, m-ATX, ATX, and E-ATX. The ball bearings in the mobo tray make taking out the mobo feel smooth and silky. No metal grinding on metal. The fan filters are very nicely done, shouldn't have a dust problem in this case! You have the huge fans on top of the case, 2x230x30mm which can be removed if you plan on installing a rad, though I'm not sure if you can have both at the same time...might be counter productive but who knows?!. A fan on the mobo tray, standard 120mm, and another 230mm intake fan in front, which you can't replace with anything I believe. Though if it breaks, CM should sell replacements. It's also got a ginormous fan filter as well
Though, what I think is a design oversight or error is that the PSU intake filter, if you have something installed like a fan or something on the bottom middle intake/exhaust, you have to remove it to remove the PSU fan filter. Also, some people might not be a fan of the way the HDD mounting racks are. Feels a bit...cheap. But should get the job done.
Extras:
So some extras! As you can see from the picture, CM has a load of stuff lol. Fan mounts for mounting rads or HDD fans (though I feel like they shoulda included more, what if you want to mount HDD fans AND a rad? You'll probably have to cough up some extra money for those parts) A REALLY nice thing that CM has done is include an 8 pin PSU extender cable! That's something I think is pretty genius and thoughtful of CM. I know my HX620 has issues something reaching the connector in my P182, even more so now probably on a full tower. The GPU/PCI-E exhaust housing is still somewhat of a mystery to me but it mounts fine and looks fine. Other then what you normally expect, cable management ties, screws, it's pretty standard stuff. The manual is a bit sparse in terms of wording, just mostly pictures, so this might hurt some noobies try to install stuff, but generally pretty clear.
Overall:
I plan to WC this, probably going to put a triple rad on top, and a 240 rad on the HDD rack if it doesn't adversely affect my HDD temps (any WC nut want to supply some input?) But overall, I'd recommend this case to anyone who's looking for a full tower aluminum chassis and doesn't want to pay for a hugely overpriced IMO Lian-Li. It's beautiful, it's big, and it kicks some serious ass in looks and functions offered!
http://flickr.com/photos/soulesschild/sets/72157610185530325/
So I just bought a Cooler Master ATCS 840 Silver (I wanted black but decided after I saw a model in store, the reason behind this is that the model in store showed that the black aluminum showed scratches REALLY REALLY easily). Note that I don't have my system hardware inside it yet as I'm writing this review at my parents house for Thanksgiving break. Once I get back home I'll post some pics with my stuff installed inside.
Unpacking:
I bought this retail for 255+tax = 277. It came in a box with the usual styrofoam case holders + a plastic bag around it. Nothing fancy, nothing too special. Initial examination showed no scratches or otherwise obvious damage to the case due to shipping or packaging. The cardboard is very thick and should hold well if you were to order this online.
The box of stuff (GPU fan thingy, screws, etc were packed inside the case nicely and showed no signs of moving around. They actually have like garbarge bag ties holding it in place agaisnt the mobo tray, so no worries of it flying around during shipping and damaging the fans or anything.
It's fairly light, site says 30 lbs, but felt INFINTELY lighter compared to when I bought my P182.
Exterior:
The outside of the case is extremely nice, has the rough feel of aluminum. The only thing I don't like is the fan grill for the top fans are black, but I guess it contrasts fairly well. I can't imagine what a silver mesh would look like, but just for like, overall look...uniform look, it looks a bit off. The pop-up front IO pops up nicely and smoothly. Though I have no idea that if it somehow breaks, you can fix it or not. =/
A bit annoying is that the side panels make a slight noise (I can't really describe it but it's a noise you don't want to hear) when you put a bit of pressure on them when you have them off the case. I don't know if that's just the aluminum building construction, or a defect. Not sure if we have a CM rep here to answer these questions =/. Another thing that's irritating is that the feet feel like cheap plastic. I mean come on CM, least you coulda done is use some better material then cheap plastic??!?!
Interior:
Interior is beautiful, very nicely done on Cooler Master's part IMO. The mobo tray is very nice and the handle on the mobo tray has a very...solid feel to it. It's hard to describe but when you pull on it, it just feels firm and sturdy. The actual mobo tray is very nicely laid out. It's got a piece of paper on it that's labeled which holes to put in for the different ETX formats, m-ATX, ATX, and E-ATX. The ball bearings in the mobo tray make taking out the mobo feel smooth and silky. No metal grinding on metal. The fan filters are very nicely done, shouldn't have a dust problem in this case! You have the huge fans on top of the case, 2x230x30mm which can be removed if you plan on installing a rad, though I'm not sure if you can have both at the same time...might be counter productive but who knows?!
. A fan on the mobo tray, standard 120mm, and another 230mm intake fan in front, which you can't replace with anything I believe. Though if it breaks, CM should sell replacements. It's also got a ginormous fan filter as well Though, what I think is a design oversight or error is that the PSU intake filter, if you have something installed like a fan or something on the bottom middle intake/exhaust, you have to remove it to remove the PSU fan filter. Also, some people might not be a fan of the way the HDD mounting racks are. Feels a bit...cheap. But should get the job done.
Extras:
So some extras! As you can see from the picture, CM has a load of stuff lol. Fan mounts for mounting rads or HDD fans (though I feel like they shoulda included more, what if you want to mount HDD fans AND a rad? You'll probably have to cough up some extra money for those parts) A REALLY nice thing that CM has done is include an 8 pin PSU extender cable! That's something I think is pretty genius and thoughtful of CM. I know my HX620 has issues something reaching the connector in my P182, even more so now probably on a full tower. The GPU/PCI-E exhaust housing is still somewhat of a mystery to me but it mounts fine and looks fine. Other then what you normally expect, cable management ties, screws, it's pretty standard stuff. The manual is a bit sparse in terms of wording, just mostly pictures, so this might hurt some noobies try to install stuff, but generally pretty clear.
Overall:
I plan to WC this, probably going to put a triple rad on top, and a 240 rad on the HDD rack if it doesn't adversely affect my HDD temps (any WC nut want to supply some input?) But overall, I'd recommend this case to anyone who's looking for a full tower aluminum chassis and doesn't want to pay for a hugely overpriced IMO Lian-Li. It's beautiful, it's big, and it kicks some serious ass in looks and functions offered!