A Closer Look - Inside

As I mentioned before, there is no locking system to hold the side panels in place this time around. You may take them off by simply unscrewing a pair of thumb screws on each side. The interior layout looks very clean and everything seems to be where you would expect to see it. There is a single cross beam in the upper section of the chassis, which should not interfere with assembly at all. Turning the chassis around, we find a large opening to gain access to any CPU cooler backplate you may be using, along with pre-routed I/O cables leading into the chassis. The last image simply shows the construction quality. Cooler Master has gone to great lengths to make sure that this case is sturdy. One very obvious proof are the four corner beams, which are shaped in an elaborate manner to allow for any screw holes without compromising the overall construction of the chassis - excellent.


Turning our focus to the interior area in the front of the chassis, we have the six hard drive trays. We have seen this exact same layout in the HAF 932 and Sniper in the past. Simply said: we know the system works and we do no see a reason why Cooler Master should not continue to use it. Each tray is spaced quite far apart, allowing for better air flow. They are made of simple plastic, with rubberized mountings for the hard drive to minimize vibration. The larger drive bays also look very similar to that of the HAF 932 and Cosmos. In fact, Cooler Master has stayed with this system for high profile cases since its inception back in 2007 with the original Cosmos. A new feature however, is the black frame on the side of the hard drive bays. This allows you to install two 120 mm fans in this area to further aid in air flow. While it may not make much sense in terms of additional cooling for the hard drives, having a direct breeze blowing over this area of the mainboard should benefit you in form of lower temperatures.


Before we move on to the rear area of the case, let's make a quick stop in the center. There is a fan mount on the flooring of the ATCS 840. While it is nice to see such a possibility, it is not of much use. You already have air flow pushing in through the front with the possibility to add two additional 120 mm units there. 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. Last but not least, there are the two 230 mm units in the ceiling. Nothing out of the ordinary here. As you can see, these are the actual reason why the ATCS 840 is so wide.


Now that we got the positive oddities covered, let us move on to the rear as promised. The PSU bay on the bottom has a removable dust filter to protect the PSU from "biting the dust" too soon. It is washable and does not require any tools to remove. There is foam lining on the entire PSU tray, to minimize vibration here as well. Above that are the afore mentioned expansion slots. One can see clearly from this angle, that the screws are located outside of the chassis walls. Maybe that is one reason why Cooler Master has included the black box to place onto the rear after assembly. To round things up, there is the 120 mm fan and the two openings for water cooling tubes. Nothing out of the ordinary to see here folks - move right along.


The ATCS 840 features a removable mainboard tray. Much like the one we have seen in the Stacker - with the same large handle to pull on. The tray itself is quite sturdy, thanks to the two diagonal support strips. This entire system makes it quite easy to install the board and fill it with all the major components.