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Hardware

Cooler Master's Latest High-End Case Reviewed 97

Posted by timothy from the when-you-can't-take-the-shuttle dept.
Hubert writes "Cooler Master, pioneer of the aluminum cases, overhauled one of their most popular models, and released something enthusiasts should consider when shopping for a new case." Cooler Master has also come out with some cases which might meet the often-expressed demand for PC enclosures which would look at home in an A/V rack. Pricey, though.
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Cooler Master's Latest High-End Case Reviewed More

Cooler Master's Latest High-End Case Reviewed

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  • Strange policies... (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    The linked page has this little gem written on it...

    ! note: all the specification subject should be changed without prior notice !

    They should?

  • typo heaven (Score:5, Funny)

    by DrSkwid ( 118965 ) on Sunday January 05, 2003 @03:46PM (#5021113) Journal
    ! note: all the specification subject should be changed without prior notice !

    it's really a matchbox

    An ulimate multinedia PC in intel website

    I just can't get by without my daily dose of ulimate multinedia

  • ARTICLE SPACE FOR SALE (Score:4, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 05, 2003 @03:50PM (#5021129)
    If you have a product you cannot sell, ask Slashdot advertising department. We can and do provide high response rates and publish your advertisement hidden as science or hardware news.
    • If you have a product you cannot sell, ask Slashdot advertising department. We can and do provide high response rates and publish your advertisement hidden as science or hardware news.

      They do [slashdot.org].
    • Incase anyone wasn't paying attention back when Slashdot decided to add subscription service, one of the things Slashdot is now doing is allowing advertisers to write advertisements disguised as articles and put them up with the rest of the articles.

      Either start paying the subscription fee or quit whining.

  • Designer Feet (Score:5, Funny)

    by wideBlueSkies ( 618979 ) on Sunday January 05, 2003 @03:54PM (#5021151) Journal
    >>Taking a cue from home audio equipment, there's a nice gold trim around the 4 feet on the bottom of the case. I do question the colour choice though, as being a silver case, a silver trim would be a better colour match for the rest of the case.

    Yeah, one should care about how the case's feet look when they're beneath their desk retreiving a dropped pen, or reseating a network cable.

    "Mmm. Where's my pen? It's sure dusty down here, oh there's the potato chip I dropped last week. Whoa! check out the feet on the Cooler Master! Nice. Too bad they're not silver though"

  • can't.....see.....link..... (Score:3, Funny)

    by Phybersyk0 ( 513618 ) <phybersyko AT stormdesign DOT org> on Sunday January 05, 2003 @03:54PM (#5021152)
    It seems their webserver is running cold enough to stop electrons dead in their tracks....
    • yeah could somebody post a link to some picture of that thing somewhere on the web?

      it would be nice to know what people are bashing.. otherwise this could be just 'ask slashdot, what do you want to say about fancy cases'..
  • it's sleek, it's sexy, I want one

    that said, it does make me wonder how far away we are from having to hire plumbers to help install water-cooled towers ... just like they did back in the day with the old Crays [pipex.com].

  • even more expensive because micro-ATX only (Score:5, Insightful)

    by eagl ( 86459 ) on Sunday January 05, 2003 @03:56PM (#5021165) Journal
    Those AV styled cases are even more expensive due to the fact that you'd have to buy new hardware to fit inside it. My multimedia box next to my TV is ready to go into a new, nicer looking case, except that it uses a full ATX motherboard. I'm willing to spend some coin on a new case, but I'm not willing to change the hardware configuration from a known-good setup just to fit into a new case. If I'm going to do that, I might as well buy a prebuilt or bare-bones setup like those nice little shuttle mini systems.
    • I'm glad someone is finally doing nice looking AV rack cases. Yes, they cost more but they look nicer. All of my AV gear is in a normal cabinet and a minitower PC just doesn't fit this setup. For these "media center" PCs to take off they need to fit in with normal AV electronics.

      Maybe I'll look at building a media center PC now....

    • or you can also make your own case!

      I just did that to a computer of mine to plug into the tv and watch DVDs, DIVX and play snes/genesis games. I built a cube out of transparent plexiglass. You can watch it here [insomni.org]. This is not something you can easily mix with other AV gear, of course :)

    • I have the 610 case. It's an early adopter product. It's good construction, and it's worth $200, but they missed a bunch of details.

      Getting a micro-atx mainboard is no big deal. I bought an ASUS A7N266-VM board for $70 at newegg. Athlon XP 1700+ is about $55, and a stick of 512mb mushkin was $130, so all in all, getting new components was reasonable compared to the $205 for the case (at trendetronics.com).

      Back to the case itself, the things they missed are:

      1) Window for IR receiver

      2) Removable drive bracket; it'd be nice to mount all my drives in a bracket then screw that down to the chassis

      3) Quiet case fan; the 60mm cooler-master fan it came with was a tad loud. i bought a vantec stealth and that was ok, but nothing magical.

      4) Cable routing. Finding a way to run the front usb connectors around the entire case to the internal USB jacks was...interesting. right now i think i have them going under the motherboard

      I researched HTPC cases for months before buying this one; there was basically this, a case available in germany only, and another case that was $500 (but looked oh-so-cool). All in all it was worth it; it matches my stereo equipment, it's quiet (now), and gives me a PC that doesn't look anything like a PC.
      • Howz the door on the -610? From the image of it that I saw, it looks to have a similar door to the -600 case. Got a -600 case and the door is a pain in the ass! If you (as I do) try to open an optical drive while the door thing is closed it crashes. On the plus side the door is transparent which might have made for a solution to your IR receiver issue.
        • I haven't tried that yet actually. The doors are closed by a push-latch at the top and have those slow-swivel gears on the sides (words...escaping...mind). Usually if i am doing something with the CD drive i just leave the top door open, i'm guessing that the drive wouldn't be able to force it open at all.

          I'm planning on getting a slot loading cd drive at some point; i dont know if that would handle things differently (since there is no tray state? who knows)

  • Excellent Seller (Score:3, Informative)

    by eviljolly ( 411836 ) on Sunday January 05, 2003 @04:04PM (#5021203) Journal
    I ordered a rounded SCSI cable from these guys a few weeks ago. It took about a week and a half to get her, but that's very acceptable considering it was right around the holidays. I think most of that was UPS's fault anyways. These guys are very professional and they answered all my questions promptly and shipped my item the next day. Man I feel like I'm leaving feedback on ebay now.
    • It took about a week and a half to get her, but that's very acceptable considering it was right around the holidays. I think most of that was UPS's fault anyways.

      Well, this time it'll be Slashdot's. Doesn't anyone ever think to mirror the article before taking out a small company's web site? Knowingly taking out a commercial site like that ought to be illegal.

    • Man I feel like I'm leaving feedback on ebay now.

      Perhaps, but you seem to be missing what is unfortunately considered by many to be a required component of a feedback comment:

      AAAAA+++++++!!!!!!!
    • Rounded SCSI cable? What in the hell for? Why don't you just get some electric fence wire to use while you are at it.

      Spend a fortune on SCSI then use out of spec cables because they are 'KOOL'...

      Someone please shoot me.
      • How are those cables out of spec? I didn't buy them because they looked cool either, I bought them because the normal 5 device cable clogs up airflow in my case and literally raises the temp about 10 degrees (Fahrenheit...and yes I know most of the world uses Metric...you don't have to remind me). I ran benchmarks and noticed no difference between the 2 cables just to make sure. I actually gained a few points on the rounded cables, but nothing signifigant. Perhaps if I had all 30 devices on my 39160 card then these cables might make a difference, but I'm only connecting one device, so does it really even matter? They do make rounded cables that work equally as well as high end ribbon cables, but those will run you a little extra just as the flat ones would. If I was going to be connecting 30 devices I wouldn't bother paying for scsi anyways, I'd go with a fibre channel array.
  • The aluminum looks all sleek and cool, yeah... but what about when you install a bunch of nasty beige devices into it? Isn't that just going to look super super tacky? Is there an easy (ie. w/o disassembling each component) way to make it all match up?

    • Re:Aluminum drive bays... (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Osty ( 16825 )

      The faceplates on most components are very easily removed. Add to that a can of spray paint in a matching color for your case, and there's no longer a problem. Be sure to mask off the holes for status lights, though.

    • Lian Li makes some aluminum stick-on things for various brands of drives (optical and floppy). Fairly cheap, around 5-7 dollars each. I've seen them at many places online, and at CompUSA. You could also probably make your own out of a piece of aluminum, or thin steel even.

      You could also try painting your drives, but that involves a lot more effort.
    • There are color-matched components available at places like Directron [directron.com]. For instance, at Directron they have links to all their components in both black and silver right on the front page - DVD and CR-RW drives, stick on bezels for beige drives, both LCD & CRT monitors, all sorts of stuff :)

    • Re:Aluminum drive bays... (Score:5, Informative)

      by skeedlelee ( 610319 ) on Sunday January 05, 2003 @05:00PM (#5021492)
      I am not a case modder but here are a few comments on that...

      The article actually mentions (if you got to it before the slashdotting) that CoolerMaster sells bezels that match. That would be useful for the mid-tower case.

      The desktop case (which looks like an AV component) doesn't need it because there is a very attractive door in front of the drive bays, making the whole thing look like a laserdisk player or a 7 disk CD changer or something. You only see the drives when the door is opened.

      This bears mentioning though because I helped someone get a computer that ended up coming with an ATC-600 (IIRC). This is a desktop with a transparent door in front of the drive bays. Very attractive case, actually had Mac people ooo-ing and aww-ing (unpromted even). The case is really solid, put a 19" CRT on top of it with no complaints (which ordinarily might be a stupid thing to do). The door is attractive and well built. Unfortunaely the door is also a completely stupid idea if you actually plan on using the computer. There are two optical drives on the front, not surprisingly you often want to get in and out of them fairly often. The door is on some sort of smooth opening device, which means it opens slowly. Frequently you'll eject a CD or DVD and the drive slides right into the stupid little door. You can try to frantically open the door as the drive comes out but it goes way too slowly.

      The result is that I tend to just leave the door open all the time when I'm using it, have almost brought myself to remove it (which looks pretty easy). I'm guessing that the new case has a similar problem with the door. If you're planning on using this in an AV system, be aware that this will be an issue (minor as it is, but these are rather expensive cases). The door is a liability and to some extent negates the 'don't need matching face plates' comment that started all this off in the first place.

  • Lian Li (Score:2, Informative)

    by Master Bait ( 115103 )
    Pioneered aluminum cases [lian-li.com] before Coolermaster even began building cases. They remain superior in construction quality, but not necessarily in looks.

    • Get back to me when Lian Li make a case as nice as the Coolermaster ATC-710 [coolermaster.com]
      The guts of that one are the same as the Antec/Chieftec towers BTW... complete with (metal) clip-in drivebays for 3.5" devices and rails for the 5.25" bays.
  • Disclaimer: This is not a troll

    That said, it really just a variation of the same thing. I bought some nice, tall server towers, in black, for next to nothing at an auction, threw in all new gear, from power supply to extra fans, and everything in between. Total cost (because I installed Linux)- $500 each. I'll bet my rack of black boxes are more impressive than a pimp-puter with lights. Also, I don't give a rats ass what other people think about my setup. I have to admin it, and use it. An extra hole in the side and some lights do not improve my efficiency. Sure, I'd prefer a direct neural interlink, and a secondary interface like Romy (the AI on Andromeda), and a bioprocessor, and and...

    C'mon, people, lets see something like the pumkin 'puter, only smarter. I've got a project I'm working on, and no, it doesn't use wood. All these smart minds, and all we get are case mods. I want to see case RADS!

    "As of Monday, you will fear me," [xnewswire.com]

  • For some reason people seem to be. . . (Score:5, Informative)

    by kfg ( 145172 ) on Sunday January 05, 2003 @04:24PM (#5021287)
    getting confused by the way the article has been posted.

    Please note that there are *two* cases linked to, one of which is a standard tower, and *one* of which is an AV style case.

    Please read the article carefully and follow both links if you expect your comments to make sense.

    KFG
  • This appears to be an attempt on slashdot to go directly to "OOO SHINY!" rather than something leading up to it, usually Homer related.

    (And a good link as I'm looking for a new case now anyway now that I have a kid to pass it down to)

  • Do you mind!?!?! (Score:3, Funny)

    by espresso_now ( 219443 ) on Sunday January 05, 2003 @04:34PM (#5021334)
    I'm trying to read the article and all you Slashdoters are making the web-site unresponsive. Could you please wait for me to finish? I was there first after all.
  • Somebody tell CoolerMaster that "charset=big5" is for Japanese kana.
  • Really is it so slow that now you are posting case reviews? BFD. I can go to a million sites for that.
  • ... MUST HAVE TO BE COOL ON SLASHDOT ...

    Geeks throughout the world, in order to be loved and accepted by your fellow slashdot peers you MUST buy the following product.

    Businesses, please follow these simple steps.

    1.) Make something that involves a computer (nearly anything will do)

    2.) In your pitch make sure you include words that aren't usually associated with the target crowd:"Must Have", "Sleek", "Sexy", "Expensive", and of course "HandSized".

    3.) After that setup a sham of a fake website that looks like it's ran by an independent source, then give yourself great reviews.

    4.) Submit the story to slashdot.org and make it look like the product is obviously well known by menioning "older" and "outdated" products that every geek who is a geek SHOULD already know about, even though more tha 99% of the readers will have no idea what your company is even about.

    5.) When the story is published on slashdot, immediately take down the sham site and proceed to the article in question. Provide a personal insight as to how wonderful you think the company is, along with a shitty cut and paste job of the text from the page (make sure you paste text from frames close to each other to make it nearly impossible follow. (do this as what they call an "Anoynmous Coward"

    6.) Have someone with a "ScreenName" on the website submit a personal encounter with the company and how wonderful they were to them.

    7.) And then have someone mention how horrible it is that slashdot would waste a companies bandwidth like this thus making the consumers think they are helping you out by purchasing your product.

    8.) Cut a check to OSDN for 10% of the profit.

    9.) Repeat in 6 months with new product.

  • Instead of this case... (Score:3, Informative)

    by Judg3 ( 88435 ) <jeremy@NoSpAM.pavleck.com> on Sunday January 05, 2003 @04:56PM (#5021465) Homepage Journal
    Why not build a PC into your stereo? That's exactly the route I'm taking. A Mini-ITX [mini-itx.com] motherboard for 100-200$ (Builtin everything), an old stereo to test it on from the Goodwill, a few other pieces and you have an all in one multi-media box.
    In fact, Im setting it up with a wireless NIC and will be able to use my IPAQ to control BrowseAMP [browseamp.com] to change mp3s anywhere in the house.
    Add to that an IR controller and the IR stuff for Winamp and it's an all-in-one solution for a lot less then one of these.

    Now, granted, it's not going to handle everything you throw at it, it's only an 800 to 933Mhz Via CPU, but it's all I need.
    They had a similar case like this on The Screensavers 2 days ago, and the case alone is 200$.
    Thats the price for everything in my setup, including the stereo.
    It's nothing special, as it's a test to see if ti works, but hell, I got the idea here at slashdot from another poster.
  • What I would like to see is a case like that with the 5.25" bay in the back, so I could mount the I/O bay back there and have most the A/V cables coming out the back like a real component solution. Other wise, things will look a little weird having everything running out the front.
    • What are you talking about???

      The 600 is basically a regular micro-ATX computer case with a custom fascia and kind of funky drive mounts. I love this case, by the way...

      atc600 [slriv.com]

      The only complaint I have with it are the fans... Too damn loud! Of course I have a 10K RPM scsi drive in the mix so that doesn't help either. Upgrading the fans to panaflo's or something similar, throwing in maybe that cool looking vantec Nexus controller:

      Vantec fan controller [mwave.com]

      Get some fast EIDE 8MB quiet drives, and your system would almost be ready for the AV rack.
      • I was refering to the 610. I would have liked to have seem them put a 5.25" bay on the back side of it (rather than in the front behind the panel), so I could mount something like a Live!Drive and run all the cables to it from the back, just like the rest of my components (DVD, VCR, etc.).
        • I don't understand. Why would you use a LiveDrive-like thingie in the back, instead of just using the usual motherboard and card connectors that are already back there? Isn't the whole point of LiveDrive-like panels, to have attractive front connectors in view? 4

          It seems to me that if you're going to have connectors in back, out of view, that you wouldn't have any desire for a LiveDrive.

          • The LiveDrive and such offers connectors that are not usually available on the back of a PCI card. Take for example the Toslink optical I/O. I haven't seen a PCI card that has an optical out on the card itself. By mounting a LiveDrive in the back, I could run an optical out for all my audio without it running through the front. Now if there were sound cards that have daughter cards for the connectors or have the connectors themselves on the PCI card then i'd be all for that. I just don't know of any.
  • Using a tired cliche like "make no mistake" - that's a paddlin'.

    Using a tired cliche like "make no mistake" twice in the same article - it's time to smash the author's keyboard, and maybe cut off his fingers, just to be sure.

  • It's amazing (Score:3, Funny)

    by Zuperdominican ( 637530 ) on Sunday January 05, 2003 @07:32PM (#5022368)
    I have a 700 MHz celeron and when people look at the case they just shut up and think that this can blow theirs away. Even though their computers may be more powerful than mines.
  • My chance to pile on, with links to my own recent fancy case reviews:

    AOpen H500W and A340, Chyang Fun CF-2029B, and FastWin FW-168A [dansdata.com]

    Codegen ATX-6061 and ATX-6063 [dansdata.com] (they look expensive, but they aren't)

    Lian Li PC-6087, PC-6089 and PC-6099 [dansdata.com] (Lian Li's versions of Cooler Master's swing-front boxes)

  • I've had an ATC 101 [coolermaster.com] for over a year now. Coolermaster cases are very expensive, but the quality and performance is unbeatable. My ATC 101 runs at 30C with 100% CPU utilization sustained in a 78 degree room. No crazy mod either, just a standard ATC 101 case, with a standard coolermaster heatsink, and 2 superdrive coolers [coolermaster.com.hk] in the front. Here is a screenshot. [phataudio.org]
  • Ok, call me picky, but I think they should anodise these cases black:

    a) it looks cooler

    b) black is a better thermal emitter so the case will actually be cooler!

    Also, I'm wondering whether a really nice case would use perspex instead of aluminum. I mean sure, aluminum is nice and light, but perspex is even lighter, and you can double wall it, and fill it with water from water cooling. The only problem with perspex is that it gives no electromagnetic shielding, but thin aluminum or copper mesh underneath would, done correctly, look cool, be transparent, and provide every bit as good protection. (Hint, ever wondered why they use mesh on the door of a microwave oven?)

    Plus you could keep fish in it ;-)

    • Hate to be dumb, and I don't quite remember the wavelength of the particular wavelengths that cause the electromagnetic interference, but given that visible light is under 1000nm = thousandth of a milimeter it would require a very thin mesh to block visible light. This is of course just for visible light, but are the frequencies that need sheilding too far off?
  • The article linked to above links in turn to a much better page [intel.com] on Intel's site. It's practically a howto on using this case to build a kick-ass (and quiet) multimedia pc for the living room.

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