Cooler Master ATCS 840

[Darksaber]

The Cooler Master ATCS 840 revives the line of cases which essentially made the brand so popular in 2001. It will be interesting to see if the chassis is worthy to carry such an illustrious name and if it can light that same spark of awe and respect for the now established brand.

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[Yukikaze]

I just ordered one of these four hours ago, then I came home and I saw you guys just put up a review. Nice coincidence

As pretty much the only higher-end case available locally (With the Cosmos Pure and Obsidian 800D and the Sword M not [any longer] imported to Israel and very few other options, at all) this was pretty much my only choice for a case that is big enough for the plans I have for it.

Glad to see you guys liked it, makes me more comfortable with my decision - Cases over here carry a significant markup over the prices in the US or Europe. 160 Euros in Europe translates into almost 300 euros here...

 

[Sasqui]

"... The only benefit another fan on the bottom may create is that of positive air pressure inside the chassis. Such a system - already implemented by Silverstone - means that outside dust cannot enter the chassis, as there is more air pressure inside the case than the surrounding air on the outside, thus any dust is ejected out instead of settling somewhere within the case. ..."

I don't get that. The fans blowing the "positive" pressure into the case would also blow dust in with it. As long as you have air moving from the outside through the case, there is going to be dust going with it.

Anyway, nice case, nice review - understated, well though out, functional and practical. CM does it again.

 

[wrathchild_67]

I love mine. It's the best case I've ever bought. I can fit a Thermochill PA120.3 on top (with some minor modification), a Swiftech 2x120 on the HDD cage area, and a 1x120 radiator on the back.

 

[Darksaber]

"... The only benefit another fan on the bottom may create is that of positive air pressure inside the chassis. Such a system - already implemented by Silverstone - means that outside dust cannot enter the chassis, as there is more air pressure inside the case than the surrounding air on the outside, thus any dust is ejected out instead of settling somewhere within the case. ..."

I don't get that. The fans blowing the "positive" pressure into the case would also blow dust in with it. As long as you have air moving from the outside through the case, there is going to be dust going with it.

Anyway, nice case, nice review - understated, well though out, functional and practical. CM does it again.

I will rewrite that sentence. If you have a higher pressure inside (for example by pushing more air in than out), dust wont managed to ENTER the case through air vents and other openings. Works just like clean rooms for CPU manufacturing, where the interior has a higher air pressure than the surrounding room.

cheers
DS

 

[Yukikaze]

I love mine. It's the best case I've ever bought. I can fit a Thermochill PA120.3 on top (with some minor modification), a Swiftech 2x120 on the HDD cage area, and a 1x120 radiator on the back.

Did you have to rip out the HDD cage to fit the dual-rad in the HDD area ?

 

[Yukikaze]

I will rewrite that sentence. If you have a higher pressure inside (for example by pushing more air in than out), dust wont managed to ENTER the case through air vents and other openings. Works just like clean rooms for CPU manufacturing, where the interior has a higher air pressure than the surrounding room.

cheers
DS

Yes, but air needs to enter the case in order to create the positive pressure. This means air needs to come into the case from somewhere, and this way in can still carry in dust. Constant and powerful air motion and filters can negate that to some degree, though.

 

[wrathchild_67]

Did you have to rip out the HDD cage to fit the dual-rad in the HDD area ?

Nope, the key is in the fan mounting holes you use on the radiator. You have to shift the radiator up about an inch because otherwise the holes don't line up because the bottom of the radiator hits the bottom of the case. So the radiator ends up only being held in by two screws, but it's enough.

To get a Thermochill PA120.3 in the top, you have to take out the PSU plate at the top/back of the case. The end of the Thermochill just barely sticks out into the space where the plate was.

 

[Sasqui]

I will rewrite that sentence. If you have a higher pressure inside (for example by pushing more air in than out), dust wont managed to ENTER the case through air vents and other openings. Works just like clean rooms for CPU manufacturing, where the interior has a higher air pressure than the surrounding room.

cheers
DS

Thanks for the reply. So long as the air being pushed in is highly filtered, then I buy it.

 

[Yukikaze]

Nope, the key is in the fan mounting holes you use on the radiator. You have to shift the radiator up about an inch because otherwise the holes don't line up because the bottom of the radiator hits the bottom of the case. So the radiator ends up only being held in by two screws, but it's enough.

To get a Thermochill PA120.3 in the top, you have to take out the PSU plate at the top/back of the case. The end of the Thermochill just barely sticks out into the space where the plate was.

Thanks. I am planning on a somewhat similar rad setup and I was wondering whether than HDD cage would have to go. Good to know it can stay there.

 

[Fourstaff]

Anyone figured what that contraption behind the case is?

 

[razaron]

Anyone figured what that contraption behind the case is?

the contraption is for giving the gpu/s an airway like thing. you're supposed to add another 120mm fan (not incl.) to it.

what a coincidence my early birthday present got a review on my birthday.

a top 360 rad rad can be mounted on top of the 2 230mm fans, but you'd have to make a custom mesh guard thingy for the fans.

 

[morphy]

"... The only benefit another fan on the bottom may create is that of positive air pressure inside the chassis. Such a system - already implemented by Silverstone - means that outside dust cannot enter the chassis, as there is more air pressure inside the case than the surrounding air on the outside, thus any dust is ejected out instead of settling somewhere within the case. ..."

I don't get that. The fans blowing the "positive" pressure into the case would also blow dust in with it. As long as you have air moving from the outside through the case, there is going to be dust going with it.

Anyway, nice case, nice review - understated, well though out, functional and practical. CM does it again.

The intakes incl. the optional intake fans all have removable filters. That includes the PSU mounting bracket if you mount it with the fan facing the bottom.

 

[morphy]

Enjoyed the review. As an owner of the case I'm quite happy with it. I agree with that back contraption being quite useless - interesting feature but I left it out on mine.

I wanted a case without fancy lighting, and clean lines with a classic understated styling that won't grow old on me even after 3 years, LOTs of room, not too overpriced and eventual take a WC setup and this one fit the bill perfectly.

Having said that I have a few niggles:
The side panels could be a bit thicker. Also since the case is so huge I felt that getting sufficient air flow within the case could be a problem. The stock cooling contributes more to a negative pressure system, and that's fine but I wanted something slightly more positive.

So I disabled and removed the front top 230mm exhaust ( case temps actually improved because it was exhausting cool air from the front). Besides adding a bottom fan for intake, I also installed a 120mm fan intake (with filter and matching black aluminium grill) at the front bay area taking up the bottom 3 5.25" bay covers. Another nice bonus with having 6 5.25" bay covers to play with. The front bay fan I installed might not be necessary for everyone but I highly recommend installing a bottom intake fan and disabling the front 230mm top fan.

 

[TheMailMan78]

Man I think you got that rear contraption all wrong man. I think its to house a small pump?

 

[gumpty]

Just adding my 0.02c.

• If you occupy the bottom fan mount, the dust filter for the PSU is no longer removable (unless you remove the fan).
• The side panels are a bit flimsy, but adding a sheet of that noise-dampening foam stuff to each of them removes any chance of rattle, and help reduce what little noise comes out of the box.
• The sideways HDD enclosure is good in theory, but crap in practice. It means that you have to remove both side panels to remove a hard drive.

Might add some more when I think about it.

 

[wtf8269]

My dad recently got this case for his new build. I was pretty impressed by it, but it still wasn't nice enough to sway me from being a lifetime Lian Li fan.

However, I really really liked the idea of the black box on the back. Reason being is that I've had issues with my two 3870x2's getting way too damn hot, and I was just thinking that if I had some sort of way of assisting the exhaust side of the coolers everything would be okay. The cores closest to the fans on my cards are running just about 70º load, whereas the ones toward the back are in the mid-low 80's. This indicates a problem with exhausting the heat properly to me. I had just thought about that idea of putting a fan on the exhaust side when I saw the black box for this case. I've thought about trying to adapt it to my PC-A70B somehow. More than likely I'll just be switching to some 5870's though.

 

[techsmith]

This case is awesome. It looks much more spacious in person than you see in the photos. I don't know why removeable motherboard trays aren't a more frequent feature in chassis these days.

 

[Yukikaze]

My ACTS 840 arrived today. The box was seriously beat up and the case was severely damaged. The store sent it back to the importer and I should get a replacement tomorrow.

Gah. Talk about annoying.

 

[techsmith]

That sucks. Cases usually are shipped in double boxes. They must be really careless to do that too because the ATCS is pretty tough. ugh, I can only imagine how annoying that is finally getting your shipment then finding out its damaged.

 

[gumpty]

Another two cents from me.

• If you sit the case on carpet the weight of the case will cause the feet to sink in, and seeing as the bottom fan mount's dust filter is underneath the case, this will end up squashed right up against the carpet - it'll be a struggle to get any air in. My carpet is not even at all plush. So if you want to use that fan mount you will need to prop the case up further off the floor. I use a couple of old game cases underneath the feet.

 

[boredgunner]

Very good case. I've had mine for a few months. My airflow is amazing, since I'm using nine 120mm fans (soon to be 10). Put the PSU on top for the best results. I replaced the front 230mm fan with a 120mm fan (I'll use two here), and I added a Scythe Kama Bay for additional cooling. Inside I have two 120mm bottom intake fans, three 120mm intake fans on the back of the drive bays, a 120mm rear exhaust fan, and a 120mm exhaust fan in the "Black box" (it is called an external air duct). All of my fans are Cooler Master R4 fans (1800 RPM/69.69 CFM/19 DBA).

CONS

• Front covers tend to fall into the chassis too easily
• Black box in the rear rather useless
• Screws to secure expansion cards are placed outside of the chassis
• External drive bay locks don't hold as well as traditional screws
• Very round and bloated design may not be for everyone

I've never had a problem with the front 5.25" bay covers falling into the chassis.

The screws to secure the expansion slots are outside of the case so that you can actually use a required screw driver. If they were inside, then you would need a small screw driver to screw/unscrew them. Also, this setup allows more exhaust around that area. More on this later.

The "black box" (it is called an external air duct) is not useless. Put a 120mm exhaust fan there. It is meant to exhaust air from the rear of the case. Dual slot video cards exhaust quite a bit of heat out of the rear of the case. A 120mm fan in the external air duct would pull more air out at a faster rate. The expansion slot covers are meshed and the fact that the expansion slot screws are outside of the case creates a larger opening for more exhaust. You didn't even test this device, so how are you going to say it is useless? Learn to do a proper review.

About the "external drive bay locks", is this a reference to the 5.25" drive bay locks (the button locks)? If so, this isn't an issue. A screw can be used on the other side, and if you removed the button locks then you can use a screw there. These buttons make installation/removal much quicker. Definitely a good thing in my eyes.

You should also learn to do a decent cable management job.

One downside that wasn't mentioned in the article is the construction of the side panels. They bend quite easily. They don't rattle though, nor is it a huge problem. Just a minor annoyance.