Chunky_Chimp

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Since I haven't seen one of these started yet, I figured "why not?". I know the cost turned down at least a few people, but I was lucky enough to get mine as a Christmas present. I'll add and update a list as people around here start digging deeper into their credit lines. I also figure there will be some that will ask if it's lonely being one of a handful to own this, and the answer to that is a big yes; emphasis on the big. (Late note, this first paragraph has not been changed since I first wrote it, besides this note itself. Of course, there are MANY owners of the case here now, but that doesn't mean I should change or remove this part. )

Pros and cons lists done on my part for those considering this case:

Pros:

• The sheer size is great if you need room to breathe, but I highly doubt you'd fit a quad rad without substantial modifications. Otherwise you can stuff just about anything you want inside that doesn't require more than the standard 7 expansion slots at the back.
• Pop-up I/O panel. Although it's not a fancy hydraulic assembly or anything like that, it's actually VERY well constructed. A minor niggle is that mine came with the headphone and microphone labels reversed. This means if yours comes like this, connect by COLOR, not PRINT. Both connectors worked when connected (with the "AC'97" lead) to the header on my Xonar DX.
• Power/HD activity LEDs. They ARE as bright as everyone says they are. I really thought they wouldn't be but they are. They could be used as emergency indicators in a highway crash if you really wanted. Just don't stare directly into them for more than a few seconds or you'll regret it. Strangely, as with the headphone/microphone jacks, the labels are reversed. However as both LEDs are the same color I don't think this is a problem.
• Drive mounting. The push-button pins for the 5.25" bays work as advertised but they only lock one side of the device, making it appear uneven. It IS secure however, so I don't mind too much. The hard drive trays feel a little cheap but they actually work quite well and it was easier to insert my hard drives into the trays than I anticipated.
• Motherboard tray. The ball bearings work better than I thought they would and the tray makes ZERO noise as you remove it. I'd like to have had the tray removal process be tool-free but CM seem to favor traditional screws for this. Not a biggie but not something I expected.
• Fans/filters. I've added an S-Flex G on the bottom of the case behind the hard drive cage, a Panaflo U1BX to replace the stock rear exhaust, as well as 2 Panaflo H1BXes on the back of the hard drive cage itself to assist intake, but I quite like how well it works for airflow out of the box. I noticed, before adding fans and (nearly) equalizing pressure, after several hours of running the system that the ENTIRE enclosure was cold. Not cool or even very cool, I mean COLD. Especially the plate in front of the 23cm intake fan. The filters also do their job as advertised, and are easy to remove. Nothing special to note about them.

Cons:

• I severely underestimated the size of this thing. As noted in one or two posts before, I had the floor tower shelf of my desk slightly modified so the right-hand support column was moved just enough to allow the case to fit. As for the interior, in my case the size was ultimately a disadvantage as my Liberty's power cables were ALL too short (save for the 4-pin ATX connector, the extension worked well for that once I properly keyed it) to take advantage of the cable management features.
• Some of you might have noticed I had posted that the side panels bowed outward slightly. I have fixed this but the panels are still VERY slightly distended at the center and make a milk-bottle-ish "POMP!" when pressed.
• Speaking of the side panels, they're quite thin considering how thick the front fan's cover plate is. I assume this was a cost-cutting measure, but I still don't like how thin the side panels are. Maybe if Cooler Master makes a mid-tower version of the case like they did to the HAF932 by making the HAF922, they'll have thicker side panels, and I hope that would be the case (no pun intended). They're thick enough to be side panels, though not thick enough to avoid being easily bent/damaged.
• The exterior finish, as most reviews have stated so far, attracts LOTS of fingerprints. Keep a dust-free, lint-free cloth handy at all times. I say lint-free because if you buff prints out of the front, any lint will be sucked into the filter. Not that this is a con so much as a minor annoyance.
• The plate in front of the 23cm intake fan needs a technique to remove without breaking the clips (and no, I haven't broken anything on the case at all... yet). The clips on the left side of the plate are plastic, have substantial give, and have a lip that's hooked on the inside of the faceplate; the hooks on the right side are aluminum tooth-like hooks. Given this, removal involves pulling the panel from right to left until the hooks on the right side are released, then you simply pull it straight off. Be warned that despite being aluminum, said cover plate has quite a bit of weight to it. It's not heavy, but I STRONGLY advise that you be careful, as, if dropped, it most likely will either scratch up a solid surface (especially wood) if you have that, get scratched up, or it'll simply crack a bone in your foot or something. Just don't be reckless.
• The interior's size works against itself in 2 ways; airflow and cable management. Because of the open design, that is to say that the area around the mobo tray isn't closed with cable holes like the HAF, it's harder to hide your cabling than in the HAF932 and Antec 1200. Airflow suffers because cool air pulled in the front is immediately directed upward by the huge ceiling fans. They may reach parts of the mobo but it's not as effective as it should be. Mounting fans in the bottom and on the back of the hard drive cage would compliment the stock fans VERY well.
• Make absolutely sure your power and data cables are long enough to reach all components with ease at the very least, preferably long enough to take advantage of the spacious gap between the motherboard tray and the side panel. This was the one thing I hadn't accounted for when initially building as the Liberty modular PSU I had at the time had insufficient cable length to effectively hide everything. I now have a new buildout with the Corsair HX850, and it works VERY well with the case. Simply warning you to ensure your power and data cables are long enough to take advantage of the cable management of the case, and still reach their intended components.

Another edit; I've only just realized that the screws left over are for the box thing that mounts on the back of the case to, according to CM, assist in cooling the video card(s). I have also re-done the list in the board's own list format. This should make the points clearer.

As a side note, I'm going to get the mobo tray (including the outside back end where the connectors poke out), HD cage, and the 5.25" assembly done in satin black sometime soon by a shop in town, and sometime later I'll tack on a side panel window. I know the modification potential for this case is as enormous as the case itself, but due to my lack of experience (and a receipt), I'm going to leave the more complicated and hard-core modifications to those that have done it enough before to know what they're doing.

If anyone wants pics that other reviews can't possibly provide for some reason, then I'll see what I can do about that.

Late edit; thanks to Oupavoc for the suggestions for the post style and the image; image was resized to 66% of its original size to avoid page stretching (which is more of an annoyance than a real problem).

Edit:

Added existing photos I took during the build. The first one compares the ATCS to my old Rosewill; yes, I did clean the dust off after I took the pic. The second one is self-explainatory. The third one shows just how large it is inside with both side panels off. The fourth one shows the best I could do with the now-insufficient length of the Liberty's power cables and my SATA cables. The fifth one is self-explanatory.

Made official by prosser13, 7/5/09.
~coolerthanyou

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Oupavoc

Nice little review, I'm actually thinking about getting this case But can you do me a favour, is there a way you could mesure from the center of the bottom foot to the other, lenth wise O <-------------------> O Thanks again

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Oup <°))))><™

Chunky_Chimp

Definitely. Let me get a pic.

Edit; nevermind about the pic but the closest I have is 471mm from the center of one front "foot" to the back one on the same side. Different tape measures have different levels of accuracy so I can't say if that's exactly what it is.

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kimosabi

Nice thread! May I suggest some pic's of the case in the OP? Many members here may not have a clue about how this case looks like and IMO it would be a nice start to this "Owner's Club". I read through the whole text mainly because I have this case on order but I'm sure many won't bother. Pictures say more than a thousand words!

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OCN Forza 3 Club

Chunky_Chimp

It'd be a lot easier to look at the ones on Bit-Tech or DriverHeaven. Not to mention my camera's batteries are dead. I'll get some up when I've recharged them, though, which takes a while.

2nd edit; added pics to the first post to give it the appropriate 5,000 words as kimosabi advised.

1st edit; Here's a teaser on just how overwhelmingly big the case showed to be when I hefted it onto the shelf, the pic was taken about a week ago and shows that I underestimated the height, though I can still slide it on and off without scratching it, it also shows how close it was to not letting me use the I/O panel (I have about a half-inch of leeway for moving the case side to side so I can pop the panel up and down as needed without issues):

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Oupavoc

Hey thanks for the measurements, also I think this case will be a able to fit on my computer table Your measurement came to 18.5 inches and my table is 22 1/2 inches So as long as the feet stay on the table I'm happy. Plus its not that much bigger the my Antec 1200 case

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Oup <°))))><™

kimosabi

That case rocks!! Cant wait till I get mine!

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OCN Forza 3 Club

siric

I'll be joining this club soon. Did you try out the external airduct that's supposed to cool the video cards? And cool pics, I can see it gets dirty real quick. Must be the aluminium or something.

Auld

I love this case even though its $280 . definitely buy those slipstreams and throw them on the back of the hard drive cages and maybe even another one to fill that bottom slot in front of the power supply.

have you tried using that external blower that sucks out hot air away from your video card? if not buy a fan slap it on and do a before and after temps test for us!

Chunky_Chimp

Nope, I haven't tried the duct yet. It gets dusty simply because it's a dusty environment and I'm a bit lazier about preventing dust build-up than one would think.

To answer to Auld, I actually can't monitor any temps besides my hard drives and video card for some unknown reason; Everest refuses to detect the sensor on my CPU. If you guys want to know anyway, here's what Everest says:

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