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Cooler Master's Latest High-End Case Reviewed
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.
The linked page has this little gem written on it...
! note: all the specification subject should be changed without prior notice !
They should?
! 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
There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
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.
That, is my kind of cast. Simple, standard, aluminum, cold, and cool lookin'. It's expensive, but worth it. When I get a new PC in the coming months I'll definitely be looking for a coolermaster.
So what if you can have a goatse sized hole and red lights on your pc to make it look one thousand three hundred and thirty seven. I dont care, Im sticking to my white box, the only decoration is an amd case badge and that is it.
Most of the time your box is shoved under the desk while you look at the screen.
mod this as -1 if you want, but its very hard to find generic whiteboxes for sale these days.
...that's it? It's a steel case with a hole cut in the side and something that looks like a steel fly-swatter pad stuck over it... and not even a big hole at that. TigerDirect has much better cases for like.. $50. Am I missing something?
WinXP and KDE are also pretty much at a Win95/98ish stage in competitive feature/integration terms.
>>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"
Huh?
It seems their webserver is running cold enough to stop electrons dead in their tracks....
I Heard Microsoft is going to make... coolers... trust me... they will blow you away...
Whoopa@tmf.nl
it's sleek, it's sexy, I want one
... just like they did back in the day with the old Crays.
that said, it does make me wonder how far away we are from having to hire plumbers to help install water-cooled towers
healyourchurchwebsite.com - WWJB?
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 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.
well I tend to compare KDE with Windows but I would never compare GNOME with one Windows version available.
hahaha hahaha hahaha hahaha hahaha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha hahaha hahaha hahaha hahaha ha nevar! Amiga will come back, I just know it!
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.
If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
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?
sig.
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....
"Only in their dreams can men truly be free 'twas always thus, and always thus will be."
--Tom Schulman
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,"
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)
if anyone wants to get all touchy-feely with one, i've seen them at best buys and comp usas
Cooler Master ATC-201A SX2: 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.
Date: January 6, 2003
Catagory: Cases & Cooling
Manufacturer: Cooler Master
Written By: Hubert Wong
Cooler Master ATC-201A Introduction External Features Internal Features Cooling Performance and Conclusion
There was a time when many enthusiasts were content with buying a beige box. Overtime, mostly due to the popularity of LAN parties, enthusiasts would begin to customize their rig. In some cases, these modifications were functional, but in most cases, it was for aesthetic reasons. Everyone wants to stand out, and be it a fancy paint job, or a cool cutout in the side panel, everyone fought to be Waldo (read: standout in a sea of normality).
Case manufacturers see this as a cash cow though, and today, more and more companies are springing up, offering their cases to compete for your wallet. These companies offer pre-modded cases, either with windows, or with blowholes.
Getting further into this, aluminum cases were another market. Other than the physical benefits, they were sought after because they simply looked cool. Aluminum cases are becoming a dime a dozen these days. Once upon a time (read: 18 to 24 months ago), there were only a couple manufacturers, but now there are dozens. These cases can also be bought pre-modded, and even companies such as Lian-Li give their cases a little extra to catch the buyer's eye.
It should seem fitting then, that the pioneer of aluminum cases, Cooler Master, went back to the drawing board, and improved upon one of their most popular models, the ATC-201, and end result is the ATC-201A-SX2. Make no mistake though, as they didn't just add an air duct and call it a day. There were some overhauls done, and this is one case you're going to want to check out.
Specifications
Material: All Aluminum Alloys
Drive Bay: 5.25' Bays (exposed) x 4
3.5' Bays (exposed) x 2
3.5' Bays (hidden) x 4
Slot Bracket: 7
M/B Type: Standard ATX MB
I/O Bracket: Standard ATX
Power Supply: None
Cooling: Dual 80mm x 80mm x 25 mm Fan attached front panel. -- Air flow in --
One 80mm x 80mm x 25 mm Fan attached back panel.--Air flow out --
One 80mm x 80mm x 25 mmFan attached top panel. --Air flow out --
Weight: Case : 5Kg (12 lbs)
Dimension: 497 mm x 196 mm x 452 mm
The Cooler Master ATC-201A-SX2 ships in a fairly average sized box, just a little larger than the case itself. Everything is neatly packed, and there's enough folded cardboard and packing foam to keep things secure during shipping.
There isn't much in the way of instructions, except for a small leaflet on installing a redundant PSU. I suppose anyone who purchases an aftermarket case; i.e., you build a PC yourself, won't miss the instructions too much. There are plenty of screws provided, though sadly, no extra thumbscrews, which we'll get into a little later.
External Features
As with most aluminum cases, the ATC-201A is light. At a mere 12lbs (case alone), you should have no problem lugging the rig from place to place. Like most of the aluminum cases on the market, you're on your own when it comes to the power supply. In most cases (no pun intended), stock power supplies aren't of the best quality, and I'll bet most of you have an aftermarket PSU anyways.
There are 4 external 5.25" drive bays, and 2 external 3.5" drive bays. This should be enough expansion room for most users, as being a mid sized case, you do sacrifice the number of drive bays when compared to a full tower.
Our Cooler Master, and from what I hear, most Cooler Masters, was missing one external 5.25" drive bay faceplate. I suppose the idea behind it is you'll have at least one optical drive to put in there, but for those of you who wish to stealth their CDROM drive, you'll have to resort to painting it instead, or picking up one of Cooler Master's aluminum bezels.
The ATC-201 has a mesh grill (to allow for airflow for the fans), which will be a hit or miss for some people. Personally, I find it a nice aesthetic (and functional) feature, whereas there are people who prefer an untainted front panel. We will discuss why this vent placement is better than how most cases draw air later on in the review.
The power button and reset button are nicely recessed on the right side. The power button is a little "squishy" for my tastes, but that's a minor complaint on my part. On the left of the vent are the USB 2.0 ports. Personally, I don't like the idea of USB ports that "show" on the front, so the spring door to cover the ports is nice. I'm not sure if it was our sample or if it'll be a common issue for all of the production 201As, but the spring door doesn't really lock in an open position. A couple of times, it just swung shut, bending the cable to my USB device. No damage was done, but you'll need to take some care with the door.
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. The feet are fairly spongy, and do a pretty good job at keeping the case from slipping around.
As with past Cooler Master cases, both side panels are removable. There are three thumbscrews on each side panel, and each panel has a small grip on the back to pull them off. The side panel on the left side has a pre-cut blow hole, which is referred to as the "Air Guide". The case is available without the Air Guide, but as our tests have shown, it works prety good. We'll talk more about this in the cooling features.
One nice feature is the painted side panels (as well as the top panel). The paint is of car paint quality, though under a special garage light, we did notice a sort of "dusting" over the surface. This is unnoticable under normal light though, so I doubt anyone will bother wet-sanding it any further. As you can see above, the paint is very reflective, and will certainly impress people (who are into these things at least). At this moment, only metalic silver (4 coats) is available, but you can expect a high gloss black (6 coats), as well as an aluminum colour in the near future.
Internal Features
The interior is fairly spacious, and actually does not have the "crammed" feel I got when I was working with our Lian-Li PC65U. The hard drives and optical drives are held in place by screws. I would have personally preferred drive rails, but the screws do the job. The aluminum edges have been sanded down, to prevent scraping yourself, but there is still of an edge to them. I still managed to scuff myself a couple times, so don't just go charging in there when you're setting up your rig.
Although I did not have any problem installing most of our components, we did stumble on an issue with the Vantec Nexus Fan Controller.
Due to the fact that the screws on the Nexus are not flush with the unit, it simply will not fit. I ended up scratching up the inside drive bay pretty badly in the end. I'll probably will have to grind the crews off and do some soldering in the end.
Although the interior is roomy, the inclusion of a pull out mobo tray can be a life saver. The tray should accomadate most ATX motherboards, and one nice thing I like about it is the use of traditional motherboard, screw-on standoffs. Earlier Cooler Masters, as well as Lian-Li, used clip-on standoffs. Although they look nice, a problem that arose was that they bent very easily, rendering them useless. Considering the amount of times that enthusiasts change mobos, this can be a problem if you've run out of these clip on standoffs.
Another well thought out idea is the mobo tray support. A lot of motherboard trays are simply "L" shaped (tray and back panel), and if you pull it out with a large heatsink and motherboard installed, the weight will flex the mobo tray. This problem in particular is the case with our Lian-Li, though nothing has broken yet. Although the support bracket was always present with past Cooler Masters, as well as other cases, the bracket here is a lot stronger than those you'll normally find.
Thumbscrews are present throughout the case, including those to secure the PCI cards. A nice touch, and once you've gotten used to thumbscrews, you can never go back to using Phillips screws to secure your peripherals.
The wiring required to plug into the motherboard run from the right side of the case. The only reason I'm mentioning it is because if you're picky about aesthetics, you'll know that case wiring is something you'll want to keep out of the way as much as possible. The wires here are somewhat hidden behind the 3.5" bays, saving you some of the work in trying to hide them.
A problem with a lot of aluminum cases (again, an issue with Lian-Li, as well as others from reviews I've read) is it can be troublesome installing power supplies that have more than one fan. Enermax immediately comes to mind, as their secondary fan grill is not flush with the PSU, as well as those PSUs with front mounted fans. In these cases, some modifications to the PSU, or removal of a fan grill during installation is required. Not so with the ATC-201A, as our enermax slipped right in without any problems.
Cooling
That's some fancy equipment they got there.
Cooler Master originally got their recognition from their heatsinks, so it's natural that the R&D into heat dissapation carried over into their case design. The ATC in its name stands for Active Thermal Convective System. The name is exactly as it implies... the case acts as a giant heatsink. This theory comes from, in part, that the case is made of aluminum, which as we all (should) know, is decent at dissapating heat. The Active Thermal Convective System however, is a bit different, as it represents the design in the case's airflow, air pressure, air resistance, and ventilation. By default, the ATC-201A-SX1 comes with four 80mm fans, as well as the Air Guide, which is a 10cm hole and duct.
Fan #1 is located in the top of the case. The fan is configured to exhaust air from the top, which in theory, should work pretty well. As hot air rises, the fan will accelerate the air flow out the top. Previously, Cooler Master cut into the top of the case to create the vents for the fan, but now there is a mesh screen, which should allow for more airflow out of the case. Like the front screen we'll be talking bout, there is a foam filter between the fan and screen. I have not figured out a way to remove it yet, so cleaning will be a bit of a chore.
By removing the front mesh screen, we can see the filter Cooler Master has installed into it. Although it is removable, Cooler Master didn't exactly make it easy for us to clean. To get to the screen, you'll have to remove the front bezel, which is secured by six hex screws. The screen then requires the removal of four small Phillips screws, which will almost certainly drop unless you use a magnetic tipped screwdriver. The screen secures the filter itself by folding portions of it into the filter. An air gun is all that's needed to clean out dust particles, but I wish there was an easier method of removal.
Fans #2 and #3, which are the two front fans, are configured as intake fans. Not only do they serve as intake fans, they also serve as hard drive coolers as well. Although the air will now be somewhat "warmed-up" by passing through the hard drives, I don't think it will affect temperatures all that much.
The last fan, #4, is located in the back, next to where the CPU would be. This fan serves as an exhaust fan. Liek the changes to the top panel, you'll see that Cooler Master no longer uses ventilation holes stamped out of the metal, but rather, they use a traditional fan grill which will allow more air to pass through the back.
An optional feature, the Air Guide is the most significant change in the ATC-201. Ducts are nothing new, but for those who don't know, the idea behind them is they assist in isolating the air around the CPU and to help keep the heat away from the rest of the PC. Dell has been using ducts for years, though they do it much differently. Unlike Dell, there is no fan built into the duct (they don't use fans on their CPU heatsinks).
On the ATC-201A-SX2, there is another mesh screen built into the side (otherside is the Air Guide duct), with a nice acylic decoration around it. We'll see later on if the duct affects temperatures at all.
By adding a PSU, you should have a minimum of 5 fans (perhaps 6 or even 7 depending on the PSU), where 3 fans exhaust air, and 2 are intake. In terms of noise, there is quite a bit of it, though a high speed CPU fan, such as a Delta, will still overpower the noise generated by the case fans.
Cooling Performance
Other than the aesthetics, an important aspect when shopping for a case, is the cooling performance. Contrary to popular belief, having a large tower with 10 fans blowing in every direction is not necessarily going to mean it's going to keep your components cool.
Test Bed
AMD Athlon 1700+ w/Swiftech MCX462+
MSI KT3 Ultra2
2 x 256MB Crucial PC2700
2 x 80GB Maxtor 7200RPM
PNY Verto GeForce 4 Ti4600
Plextor 24/10/40 CDRW
AOpen 1640 DVD
Enermax 430W
Comparison cases will be a Lian-Li PC65U, which is also a mid tower aluminum case, as well as a full tower, steel construction AOpen HX-08. All three cases are configured with their stock cooling for the initial tests. The second group of tests will be with all three cases with all their fans off (except on the power supply).
I should note that for the first two tests, we have removed the Air Guide from the ATC-201A, and taped the side screen shut. The last test will be with the Air Guide enabled. Temperatures were read with the Vantec Multifunction Panel (which fit just fine btw), except for the CPU and system temperatures, which were gathered from MBM. Temperatures will be presented in Celcius, but you can grab a Celcius to Fahrenheit converter here. Temperature readings are taken at full load, with Prime95 and Folding@Home enabled.
Both the Cooler Master and Lian-Li are the top performers of the three. Between the three, the AOpen seemed to be the noisiest, as I would guess that the larger case echo'd a little more. Hard drive cooling was led by the ATC-201A, as well as the video card and system cooling tests.
Although the Lian-Li also has dual intake fans blowing directly over the hard drives, the way the hard drives were arranged (sideways), it was a tighter fit than the dual drives in the Cooler Master. Furthermore, there's a bit more obstruction on the Lian-Li, as the air filter is thicker, and the front vents are not as free flowing as the screen mesh on the ATC-201A.
System cooling temperatures were drastically lower with the Cooler Master. This can probably be attributed to the top blowhole wicking away the rising hot air. To equalize the playing field, we'll no conduct tests with all the fans off (except on the power supply). All ventilation holes on all three cases will now be cardboarded, and taped off.
By turning off the fans (and taping shut any ventilation, save for the power supply), we can get a better idea of how well each case handles heat. The AOpen does the worst, but not really as bad as I thought it would do. It's possible that being such a huge tower, there's just more air volume to heat up. The Lian-Li fairs much better, but like I said earlier, the interior is a bit more cramped when you load it up. The CDROM drives are very close to the PSU, and being a shorter case than the Cooler Master, wiring becomes more of an issue. The Cooler Master does the best, keeping temperatures just a bit lower than the Lian-Li. Now, let's see how things are when we enable the Air Guide.
Testing the Cooler Master with the Air Guide enabled netted some interesting results. System temperatures actually increased slightly, but CPU temperatures did lower by a small margin. What is probably happening that the CPU fan is configured to draw air into the heatsink. The Air Guide is channeling cooler outside air into the heatsink. The reason we're not seeing a more drastic drop in temperatures though is because the Air Guide does not reach the motherboard, thus not cutting the heatsink off completely from the rest of the components. The increase in system temperatures is probably the result of the Air Guide obstructing some of the air flow to the rear vent, though I think this rise in temperature is worth the drop in CPU heat.
I should note that these temperatures for the CPU were obtained by running our Smart Fan 2 at full speed. When we ran the fan at low speed, CPU temperatures were the same, regardless if the Air Guide was used or not. What is probably happening is that at low speed, the fan simply isn't drawing air in fast enough to matter if the air was being channeled or not.
Installation Notes
I have already mentioned the Vantec Fan Controller issues, but other than that, all our hard drives and optical drives had no problems. Our KT3 Ultra2 had no problems fitting, nor did the Air Guide "miss" our CPU/HSF. The problem with the Air Guide compatibility is if you use a dual CPU setup, a Slot-1 or A motherboard, or an ATX motherboard with an oddly placed CPU socket. For the most part, the majority of ATX motherboards should have no problems. One other heatsink that comes to mind as possibly having problems with the Air Guide is the Zalman CNPS3100-Plus, as the cooling fan may not allow for the Air Guide to fit.
Final Words
Cooler Master has taken everything that was good about their ATC-201, and carried it over into the the ATC-201A-SX2. This includes the sharp aesthetics, the thumbscrews, the removable motherboard tray, the slick paint job, and its ATC technology. What has been improved with the latest version is the stronger construction overall (thanks to thicker aluminum, though I wouldn't use the case as an ottoman), the Air Guide, and dropping the older ventilation cutouts with either grills or mesh screens instead.
Complaints are minor, but there are a few things that did bother me. The foam filters used in the top and front ventilation screens are problematic to clean, as they don't lend themselves to easy de-installation. The USB door, though a nice touch, does not lock into place, possibly slamming shut if you're using it. I am not going to penalize the trouble with the Vantec Nexus Fan Controller woes, but be aware that peripherals with outside screws not flush with the unit will have problems installing. The edges in the interior could have been folded, or covered with some protective plastic to protect your hands would have been nice as well.
I will flat out say that the Active Thermal Convective System does indeed work here, as our overall temperatures are in fact lower than they have been before. Whether fans are off or on, the case itself does wick away heat, though I would not quite go as far as turning off fans on your heatsinks. Our tests have shown, though not dramatically, that the Air Guide does indeed lower CPU temperatures slightly. I also find the side cutout a nice aesthetic feature, though you're free to remove the Air Guide and place an additional side fan in its place. All this cooling also does not come at the expense of your ears, as the stock fans, though noticable, are not deafening. Anyone used to 3-4 case fans probably won't notice a thing.
You do pay a fair penny for a quality case, but it is cheaper than past models, and you get exactly what you pay for. I have seen nice aluminum cases, and I have seen ugly ones, but Cooler Master cases always catch my eye whenever they are on display. No doubt, it'll draw a remark or two if it's sitting on your desk.
Pros: Beautiful, cool, removable motherboard tray, thumbscrews, quality construction and Air Guide.
Cons: USB Door needs work, cleaning the air filters inconvenient, expensive (but worth it).
Bottom line: Make no mistake... $178.00 is a lot to spend on something that sits under your desk, but a case like this deserves to sit on top of it. It's roomy, and acts like a heatsink for those $3000 PC parts inside. In terms of quality and R&D, it's pretty tough to top Cooler Master.
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.
Of course, and I highly suspect it, I may be talking out of my ass. -oqti
Click on the "See it" links for the silver and black
& su bmit=Go&description=d%2Dvine
versions. This case is also under the "DIGN" brand name.
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?DEPA=
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.
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.
Ignore the "p2p is theft" trolls, they're just uninformed
You are an idiot. Viperlair posts some very interesting reviews and the writing is excellent, I can deal with just OK pics.
Why not build a PC into your stereo? That's exactly the route I'm taking. A Mini-ITX 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 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.
Looking for hardware (Currently need: Large Etch-a-Sketch) Have one? See my journal!
Why flamebait, there's a point here about the way things are on Slashdot lately? The worst one lately was this one two days ago. What nerd these days has over six grand to waste on something like that (really, since when is being a "nerd" equivalent to someone blowing money on overpriced eye candy)? Isn't a nerd someone who has a 1.3GHz CPU running in an old 286 machine or something like that?
Run and catch, run and catch, the lamb is caught in the blackberry patch.
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.
------
"And may your days be long upon the earth."
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.
The pics arent the worst part. My main problems are with the methods used to test in most review sites. Remember the scientific method you learned back in school, thats what these people need to learn again. I dont know how much i can trust these numbers without a reliable method. Sure im glad at least i have SOME idea about performance of parts but there are many things to look into.
There are a few things that bugged me the most on this site. For starters the graphs suck. The graphs need a label at the top so you know what they are measuring. You should be able to tell whether or not your looking at the "taped off vents" graph or the "all fans on" graph withoutm trying to guess which paragraph it is above so therefore it is... this one. Also on the graphs the X and Y axis' need to be labled. The X axis isn't so bad as its fairly easy to tell what they mean but for the Y? Come on its a few clicks in an spreadsheet program. When i see the results i see something like "46,45,45"... 45 what? seconds before it overheats? I will assume it means degrees celcius but is it above zero or above ambient room temp?
Also the numbers are taken a bit too seriously. There are many places where errors could have skewed data but none of these are pointed out. The data for the "w/Air Guide" is a little odd. The reviewer goes on about 1 degree differances and tries to guess about why they might be there when im sure if a margin of error was obtained it would explain a little bit of change in data between tests.
Also for numbers to be considered valid in a real controlled experiment you need to have at least 3 trials at minimum so you can get an average. I appreciate that someone out there is willing to spend time on this but if your going to do it at all why not spend a bit mroe tmie and do it right?
unzip; strip; touch; finger; mount; fsck; more; yes; unmount; sleep
I saw the A/V Cooler Master case at the CompUSA at Snowden Square in Columbia MD yesterday morning.
... more transportable, for one thing. But I can see the fetish appeal of black, same-width stereo gear ;)
One of those little shuttle cases is more appealing to me, though
timothy
jrnl: http://tinyurl.com/c2l8yr / foes: http://tinyurl.com/ckjno5
Happen to look at the date on that article wehn that was posted? That would be april 1st, also known as april fools day. Maybe you should do a better job of checking your facts
Then how do YOU explain the rise of the slashvertisements over the years? It certainly wasn't this bad 2 years ago. I think someone at VA Research^WLinux^WSoftware put CmdrTaco's balls to the grindstone and told him to get some fucking revenue going or his servers are going to be out on the street.
I much prefer Lian Li cases. I have their PC-60USB and PC-62USB models. They have all the attributes expected of high-end cases: machined or rounded edges everywhere, thumbscrews, excellent airflow, lots of drive bays, etc. But they have nice touches like filters on the intake fans that can be easily removed for cleaning by unsnapping the front bezel. are a pleasure to work on. The dual front fans have a speed control, adjustable from the chassis front, that lets you set their speed to keep noise down. Combine that with noise limiting fans on the front and top exhaust ports, and you can make a nearly silent machine. The front also has 4 USB port connections behind a door that hinges back into the chassis when open. Its nice touches like that that make a big difference.
Finally, in spite of having more space (3 external, 5 internal 3.5" bays vs. the 2 and 4 of the CoolerMaster), it fits all this into a total package about the same size. So check out Lian Li if you are in the market for an aluminum chassis.
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.
I hope they're at least sanded or have trim covers to prevent cuts. Ouch!
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.
AOpen H500W and A340, Chyang Fun CF-2029B, and FastWin FW-168A
Codegen ATX-6061 and ATX-6063 (they look expensive, but they aren't)
Lian Li PC-6087, PC-6089 and PC-6099 (Lian Li's versions of Cooler Master's swing-front boxes)
I've had an ATC 101 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 in the front. Here is a screenshot.
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 ;-)
-WolfWithoutAClause
"Gravity is only a theory, not a fact!"What kind of crackhead would pay $178 for a computer case? What's the point of paying twice as much for a product that isn't any better than the standard fare? I think the hardware industry is being taken over by ricer mechanics.
they have tons of people who find deals on electronics and post them to a forum. I got a 120GB HD for my XBOX for $100!
Link for the lazy: www.fatwallet.com
Link for the lazy: www.fatwallet.com
Link for the lazy: www.fatwallet.com
Link for the lazy: www.fatwallet.com
Link for the lazy: www.fatwallet.com
News for nerds.....stuff that MATTERS!~! Keep this out of here.
If it wasn't for C, we would be stuck using BASI, PASAL and OBOL.
The article linked to above links in turn to a much better page 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.
...
I was part of that strange race of people aptly described as spending
their lives doing things they detest to make money they don't want to
buy things they don't need to impress people they dislike.
-- Emile Henry Gauvreay
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