CoolerMaster ATCS 840 Evaluation

CoolerMaster has been hard at work over the last few months turning out some top notch products.
From the HAF 932 to the V8, now they have dropped another Full Size (perhaps jumbo would be a better word) case that build on the success of the HAF and refines it into something even better.
I am talking about the ATCS 840, this case in CoolerMaster’s Classic Series and looks like it might just be one of the best all around cases out. 

Product: Cooler Master ATCS 840
Author: Sean Kalinich           
Category: Enthusiast             
Reviewed on: December 2nd 2008
Product cost: $279.99
Manufacturer: CoolerMaster
Spelling and Grammatical Editors: Planetx64 Staff

{mospagebreak title=Packaging and Accessories}
Packaging and Accessories:
The ATCS 840 ships in an unusual box. In a market filled with gaudy full color boxes all having enlarged images of the case Cooler Master went with a Black Brown cardboard box with black ink illustrations.

As soon as I saw the outside I was extremely interested to see what I would find once I opened it up.
Inside I found more than just the usual PC Case.
Some of the items that showed up made no sense to me at first but after reading the manual I found out that CM has packed in some pretty useful toys in the ATCS 840’s Box.

One in particular is the Exhaust shroud. This nice little item lets you enhance the exhaust from your GPUs (this works very well with dual slot coolers.) it also provides the extra benefit of protecting the connections to your GPU and other Add-In cards. CM has also included brackets to allow for easier installation of a dual or tri- 120mm fan radiator, and quite a few self adhesive cable tie-downs for even better cable management.

{mospagebreak title=Construction and Features}
Construction and Features:
The ATCS is made of an aluminum frame with aluminum side panels and is simply one of the largest cases I have worked with. It measures a whopping 24” x 23” x 9-1/2”. This makes the ATCS 840 a full 2-1/2” longer and ½” wider than the HAF 932. The version that I had the pleasure of looking over was silver and had a brushed or hairline finish.

Looking at the front there is a protrusion that covers the lower half of the face plate. This is an intake cover for a front mounted 230mm fan and can be removed (although not terribly easily) to clean the front mounted intake filter. The front 5-14” bay covers are very easy to remove and are not blocked by the usual case cutouts that take so long to get out (who does not hate bending those things back and forth until they snap and can be removed?).
Moving up to the top of the ATCS 840 we find the power and reset buttons as well as the usual HDD and power LEDs. Just behind the controls is a small “push-to-open” panel this hides the front inputs; for your connectivity pleasure Cooler Master has thrown in four USB ports, a Firewire 400 port, e-SATA, and of course the usual Microphone and Headphones jacks.
None of this is as eye catching as the two 230mm fans on the top of the ATCS 840. These monster fans are whisper quiet yet can move some serious air. The top mesh can be removed to allow you to take out the two 230mm fans and put a radiator up here instead if you choose.
The sides of the ATCS 840 are unadorned and follow the same brushed look as the rest of the case.

The Back of the ATCS 840 is anything but normal.
With options for top and bottom mounting of your PSU as well as ports for external water cooling kits (or externally mounted radiators) being the least of the options. Cooler Master has finally put in a Mainboard tray. This tray slides in and out on a ball bearing track to prevent sticking. It also is the same width as the actual case (not all trays are), this helps with large air coolers. You will also notice that all of the mounting screws for the add-in cards are accessible from outside.

The space around the mounting points can be used as a pass through for a fan power cable or even for water cooling tubing.  Why would I be passing a fan power cable through here? Well I am glad you asked. I mentioned above that Cooler Master has included a shroud for exhaust, this is where it goes.
All you need to do is add a 120mm fan run your cables through the rubber openings and screw it into place with the provided thumb screws. From that point on you are now venting the hot air put out by your GPUs to the side and not heating up the wall behind you. This works especially well with and Crossfire setups and actually knocked about 4c off of the temps for two GTX 280s.
Opening up the side panels we find a large amount of room (Enough for 6 5-1/4” drives and 6 HDDs).  Taking a look at the HDD cage you might notice a plastic frame this allows you to add in two additional 120mm fans to keep your HDDs cool.

On the floor of the case is room for another fan to pull cool air in from the bottom complete with removable filter.  At the back of the ATCS 840 is another filter, this one is for the air intake on your PSU. The ATCS 840 is capable of comfortably fitting a 12×13 E-ATX board with room to spare. And plenty of options to keep your system cool inside.

{mospagebreak title=Aesthetics}
Aesthetics:
I honestly think this is my favorite part of case evaluations, it give me a chance to see what other people like and share their opinions with you (instead of just mine). 
As with other Case Evals, I asked a group of eight people what they thought about the ATCS 840 in terms of looks and “cool factor” for those of you who have never read one of my case evals Cool Factor is defined as something that grabs your eye and makes you look longer or want to take a closer look.
A good example is when an exotic car drives by, you usually cannot just glance at it but turn your head to take in the details etc.
With each of these in hand I brought the 8 people in to take a look at the ATCS 840 one at a time and asked them to rate the 840 on a scale of 1-5 for each, after I asked for a single word to describe the ATCS 840. Below are the results:

Now for my own opinion, personally I found the case to be very attractive although I will admit this was not my first impression of it.
When I first opened the box I was a little put out by the silver color (I have a preference for Black Electronics). Once I had the ATCS 840 out of the box and started to look it over I began to see the elegance and simplicity in its design. Unlike the industrial look of the HAF 932 the ATCS 840 is clean and elegant. The stainless steel look compliments its size and draws your eyes to it.
It is a full-tower case that really can stand out on its own and still look good.

{mospagebreak title=Ease of Build}
Ease of Build:
Building a system into the ATCS 840 is very simple. Pull out the mainboard tray, install the board, CPU, RAM and add-in cards. While that is out install your HDDs (they just clip in) DVD/DC-ROMs (they clip in too) any water cooling or extra fans, mount your PSU and then slide the tray back in.
One very nice feature of the tray is a large cutout so that the back of the CPU socket is accessible. This means you do not have to remove your board to mount a high-end fan or water block. So once the tray is in hook up the power and cooling and you are off.

With a few extra minutes you can clean up the cables and tuck them out of the way for better air flow but as there are no windows in the ATCS 840 no one will see them once you close the case up.

{mospagebreak title=Value}
Value:
The AYCS 840 is not a cheap case, it will put a healthy $280 dent in your wallet.
This price is in-line with other cases in its class and is more than justified (in my opinion) by the workmanship and quality of the ATCS 840. There are many other cases in this price range that do not offer even half of what you get with Cooler Master engineering marvel.

{mospagebreak title=Conclusion}
Conclusion:
The ATCS 840 is an amazing enclosure, it has the privilege of being the only case in two years to supplant my Sliver Stone TJ09.  I found it to be extremely easy to work with, more than roomy enough for even the largest of HSF for the i7. The air flow in this case is fantastic. I can feel the cool air moving though it even under 100% load on the i7 965 I built into it.
The little extras like the ball-bearing rails for the mainboard tray, the mainboard tray itself, the tool-less mounting for the HDDs and DVD/CD-ROM drives are all just topping on an already delicious desert.
For those that need a full tower case that it understated, classy and very functional the ATCS 840 is the way to go. 

Tags: case, chassis, coolermaster