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Official Cooler Master ATCS 840 Website
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Cooler Master ATCS 840 Owners List (Click to show)
leedash13
vis213
N0rmal
ochoco
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nyder
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430
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j148
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mru
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Pedros
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shelter
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coolmiester
gre0481
xxsashixx
delavan
Deed
Inteller
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Swiftes
ckoons1
Endracion
Haze_hellivo
ckoons1
The-End587
arko1983
e911
Father Fuzzy
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※: Please post or PM me, preferably with photos of the case, if you wish to be added. That's the best way for me to know as I DO check this thread at least a few times per week. Thanks!
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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, and it obviously no longer costs $279.99, but that doesn't mean I should change or remove this part. 
) Newer edit: from this post we've found out that a new model/revision is coming*; as soon as details are pushed out officially and publicly I'll make the proper edits to this.
*New update: I have now been informed that an NDA has gone into effect regarding a new Cooler Master full tower until Q3 2011 (another Edit; the NDA keeps getting pushed back, I don't know when it expires now); this may very well be the next ATCS. Edit; no COMPUTEX announcement, disappointed. They should still have it in the works though, supposedly it was shown behind closed doors at COMPUTEX (newer Edit; I've learned since that they only showed off the HAF-XM[?] and Cosmos II behind closed doors, no new ATCS). As promised I will make official updates to this club as soon as the new case name and other details are publicly released by CM, which hopefully will happen sometime this year. It's likely they've abandoned it but just as likely they're updating it silently and want no additional info going out at all.
I've touched up this post to show what I'd like out of a new revision. Outside of that, here are pros and cons lists done on my part for those considering this case:
Pros (Click to show)
- The sheer size is great if you need room to breathe, but I highly doubt you'd fit a quad 140 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 (Click to show)
- 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. Air 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.
- The top fans vibrate against each other, creating a resonance effect; I picked up some 60-cent-apiece rubber grommets from FrozenCPU and cut them in half, and they work perfectly for mitigating this resonance. It's still a con since the fans' housings are not separated by anything.
Notes/Edits (Click to show)
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 (already done, see my later posts), 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).
Later edit; post streamlined with spoilers. Should look much less busy now.
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 (corrected with newer components, see later posts). The fifth one is self-explanatory.
Made official by prosser13, 7/5/09.
~coolerthanyou
Deep Blood
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Deep Blood
(16 items) |
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!
I'll get some up when I've recharged them, though, which takes a while.
. 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.
