Thermaltake, leading PC chassis, cooler, and PSU brand manufacturer, is celebrating their 10th anniversary in the PC DIY industry and will therefore present a very special highlight at this year’s Computex2009 show in Taipei, Taiwan, June 2 ~ 6.

Herewith we would like to cordially invite you to this exclusive ceremony with the Director of the European Studio of BWM Group DesignworksUSA, Laurenz Schaffer the AMD Vice President of Platform Business Development Levi Murray and the CEO of Thermaltake Kenny Lin. Don’t miss your chance to meet three of the most innovative technology leaders in their fields and directly ask them and tell what you think matters.

Thermaltake exclusively work together with the renowned design consultancy BMW Group DesignworksUSA and the prime manufacturer of processors and graphics solutions Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) on a chassis project called Level 10. Level 10, the Extreme Gaming Station chassis, reflects the vibrant and pioneering vision of DesignworksUSA which results from their work in the automotive area as well as for diverse industries from lifestyle to aviation, yachting or IT. Level 10 entirely breaks with traditional case architecture conventions and explores a daring and futuristic concept in which most components are compartmentalized, making the case an open and modular structure, allowing for most convenient access to and exchangeability of the most important components. AMD’s highly overclockable CPUs and powerful graphics solutions bring the “Level 10” Extreme Gaming Station to life and in full gear for the best gaming experience.

The Director of the European Studio of BMW DesignworksUSA, Laurenz Schaffer, points out:
“With the Level 10 design we have created an exceptionally new and exciting design icon for the gaming market while at the same time focusing on ease of use. The dramatic architectural aesthetics is inspired by the visual motives of virtual worlds. A unique modular structure emphasizes the additive components. New functions and features are introduced to increase usability and provide maximum individual configurability”

AMD, manufacturer of first class CPUs and graphics chips, is an innovative technology company dedicated to collaborating with customers and partners to ignite the next generation of computing and graphics solutions at work, home, and gaming. The AMD Vice President of Platform Business Development, Levi Murray notes:
“Thermaltake attempts to search for product distinction and recognized that great design will lead the way. With many new and innovative features, Level 10 provides a breakthrough design that is an ideal environment for AMD’s high-performance CPU and GPU solutions.”

With many new features, utmost usage convenience and optimized cooling efficiency wrapped in an almost unreal aesthetical chassis design the Level 10 Extreme Gaming Station is bound to soon become a true collectors’ item among computer enthusiasts.

We look forward to seeing you at Computex Taipei 2009, if you want to register upfront or want to make individual appointments with Thermaltakes PR or sales team please feel free to do and just send an email to: PR@thermaltakeusa.com

Flexible, roomy and sturdy, the Obsidian Series 800D full tower chassis was designed exclusively by Corsair and incorporates features demanded by the enthusiast market.

“The Obsidian Series 800D is a true builder’s case,” said Jim Carlton, VP of Marketing at Corsair. “It will reliably last you through years of motherboard, power, memory, cooling and component upgrades, while its advanced features and superior cooling performance allows you to build your ultimate dream system.”

The steel structure of the Obsidian Series 800D has a matte black coating both inside and out, and is finished with a brushed aluminum faceplate for a professional, high-end look. It supports up to five 5.25 inch and six 3.5 inch drives in total, is compatible with ATX, Extended ATX, and Micro ATX motherboards and incorporates advanced features that make it ideal for demanding system builders. These include four hot-swap SATA bays, a cut-out section in the motherboard tray for easy CPU cooler installation and a unique cable management system that decreases cable clutter to increase airflow. The tool-free design also allows for easy entry and simple installation of 5.25 inch drives.

Cooling performance is vital for any high-end chassis, which is why the Obsidian Series 800D has a total of seven fan positions and three isolated cooling zones for the power supply, hot-swap SATA bays and main compartment. A dust-filtered 140mm fan draws in cold air at the bottom of the chassis and exhausts it at the rear and top of the chassis, forcing fresh air over the graphics cards and CPU. The SATA hot-swap bays are cooled by a separate 140mm fan, which exhausts out of the rear of chassis via a sealed chamber, preventing the heat generated by the drives from entering the main compartment. The power supply also has a dedicated intake and exhaust, which is also isolated from the main compartment.

For those in need of even greater cooling performance, the Obsidian Series 800D features a pre-drilled section in the roof to support single, dual and triple radiators, or up to three additional 120mm fans.

The Corsair Obsidian Series 800D chassis will be available in stores in early July at an estimated price of US $299, and is backed by a two-year limited warranty. Complete customer support via telephone, email, forum and Tech Support Express is also available.

Hiper is a name that used to be synonymous with high end modular PSUs. However they were not content to leave it there and have branched out to many other facets of performance gear. One of their recent products is the Anubis high-performance PC Enclosure. This is a Mid-Tower design with an interesting twist in looks and cooling. We took a good long look at the Anubis to see if the design, looks and performance are worth your hard earned money.

Product: Hiper Anubis Aluminum ATX HTC-1K614-A1
Author: Sean Kalinich
Category: Enthusiast
Reviewed on: December 14th 2008
Product cost: $149.99
Manufacturer: Hiper
Spelling and Grammatical Editors: Planetx64 Staff

{mospagebreak title=Packaging and Accessories}
Packaging and Accessories:
The box the Anubis ships in is not bad looking as case packaging goes it has the required half transparent images and large logos to catch the eye. The back of the box even includes and exploded view of the Anubis to show off the features in store for anyone that garbs one. The case itself is well protected in the usual cocoon of Styrofoam and plastic. The sample we received looked like it was pretty badly beat up (from the outside of the box) yet the Anubis inside was not damaged at all.

Hiper has done a nice job on the goodies thrown in, they packed all of the screws and needed accessories into a purple and black mesh bag. All of the mounting hardware is separated into their own little bags for easy identification during your build. Hiper has also thrown in a couple of nice extras, a brush for cleaning the vents in the case and a heavy keychain with the Anubis logo on one side and a number on the other.

{mospagebreak title=Construction and Features}
Construction and Features:
The Hiper Anubis is designed with the feel of a custom built limited edition model. Each case is numbered and as mentioned above you receive a large key chain with the corresponding number on it.
Hiper has put some good thought into the design of the Anubis. This is a solid case it does not creek or feel flimsy when you pick it up. In fact the only noise I was able to get out of it was a slight metallic clang from the front door (which is metal).
Making a quick walk around the Anubis has many nice features to show off.
One of the first features you might notice is the large window on the left side of the case. This is not a completely clear window and it covered by a metal grill that partially conceals what is inside but allows for any lighted accessories to be visible. The sides themselves are designed for easy removal; all you need to do is push down on the metal latches and the side opens out from the top. Unlike many other case Hiper is using spring loaded metal �clips� to hold the bottom portion of the side in. This means no more lining everything up just right to get the case side on.
Moving from the sides to the front we come to one of my only complaints with the Anubis; the front door. This is made of the same metal as the rest of the Anubis and is held closed by two magnets. The problem is that it is not solid; Hiper has left the bottom clear for air flow and has lined the upper portion I vertical bars giving it the look of a cage. This combination takes away from the looks and also makes the front door rather clunky.

The top of the Anubis is the most unusual, not in a bad way but very interesting to look at. Hiper has done the entire top like the fins of a heatsink.  In amongst the fins are the controls and front panel headers as well as a single 120mm fan �blow-hole�. I am not sure how well this will help cooling but it gives the Hiper Anubis a very eye catching look.
Finishing off with a look at the back we find the Anubis looks like almost any other mid-tower case when viewed from behind. The only exception might be the two large ports for external water cooling.
Taking the sides off we get a good look at the interior. Hiper has used all Thumbscrews instead of the more usual Philips head style. This does make it much easier for installation and removal of devices with one exception. When installing you Add-In cards these small thumbscrews are awkward to get lined up and in place especially if you have large hands or thick fingers. The lower HDD cage is also completely removable and can be fitted with a 120mm fan to help keep any drives you install cool. Hiper Has also made the task of stand-off placement for different board types easier by coding the holes on the back plane.

{mospagebreak title=Aesthetics}
Aesthetics:
As usual I have shown the Anubis off to a few people to give you a better grasp in its appearance.
My two questions are:
Rate the case based on Looks (1-5)
Rate the case based on �cool factor� (1-5)
Cool Factor is the ability of the object to grab your attention and make you look longer. In much the same way an Exotic Car driving by does.

I also asked for a one word description of the Anbuis.

Personal Opinion:
When I first looked at the Anubis I was reminded of the way mainframe computers always looked in old comics. They were always depicted as towering structures with rounded tops and many fins. This struck a chord with me as I used to love those sci-fi comics (go figure). The black coloring is perfect for this style of case. I am also becoming fonder of the way the side window was done. It does not obscure too much but is not a magnet for dust and fingerprints now either. With a lighted interior you would have an excellent view into the internal workings of your system. The front �cage� door, although clunky, gives is an interesting feel. It is still something that I cannot quite put my finger on I just know that I do not like it.

{mospagebreak title=Ease of Build}
Ease of Build:
The Anubis was pretty easy to work with. Hiper�s choice to label all of the screws and place them into individual bags will make a build with the Anubis simple for even a beginner. Installing drives (HDD and DVD/CD-ROM is a snap while the easy labeling of the mainboard mounting plate will help speed up installing the stand offs for your particular board.
As mentioned above the only real installation issue was with installing the Add-boards but if you are careful you should be able to get that done without too much trouble.
For my build I decided to use a full i7 system with a fairly high-end GPU.

The components were as follows:
Intel Core i7 920 (with stock cooler)
Intel DX58S0 Mainboard
Qimonda Triple Channel DDR3 1066 memory
XFX Black Edition GTX 260 (216 Cores)
2x 80GB HDDs
CoolerMaster Silent Pro 500
I mentioned above the heat-sink looking top of the case, well it would appear that this does have an effect on cooling. The components in the Anubis seemed to remain cooler even under load.

{mospagebreak title=Value}
Value:
The Hiper Anubis will set you back a steep $149.99. I am not entirely sure that the Anubis warrants that high of a price. It is a great case the aluminum construction makes it light while not compromising sturdiness, and will help to keep your system cool. The issue is in size inside, there is not much room for water cooling or even for a high end air cooler. If the Anubis was a little wider I would feel better with the pricing.

{mospagebreak title=Conclusion}
Conclusion:
I am sort of up in the air about the Hiper Anubis. It is certainly a great case with some great and well thought out features. However I think that it might have a price tag that is a little too big for its size and over all offerings. When performing the build in the Anubis I found my hands cramped in many places and wondered how it would deal with log cards like the 4850 X2. The thermal design is amazing and the appearance of the Anubis is certainly eye catching but again these are not enough to make the $150 price tag make sense. In short I think the Anubis is a great case that is in need of a price cut before it will really make a hit on the market.

Discussion Thread

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. 

NZXT has been in our headlines recently with two cases, a superb fan controller and two power supplies. Well they are back again, this time we have the Rouge, a Small Form Factor case with a unique stab at portability. We are going to take a long hard look at the Rouge and see if these features make it worthy of your hard earned money.

Product: NZXT Rouge     
Author: Sean Kalinich
Reviewed on: September 21st 2008
Product cost: $149.99 (at Newegg.com)
Manufacturer: NZXT
Spelling and Grammatical editor: Planetx64 Staff

{mospagebreak title=Packaging and Accessories}
Packaging and Accessories:
The rouge arrived in a fairly large box for what is supposed to be a small case. There are graphics on the two sides that show impressive images of the Rouge in black brushed aluminum along with the tag line Ultimate SFF Chassis. On another side there is the rather pompous line “enormous power within”.
Once you open up the box after admiring the pictures and perhaps laughing at the enormous power line. You will find the Rouge is carefully packed inside foam walls. This is a nice touch and means that you are very likely to get your Rouge without any damage from shipping.

NZXT does drop some nice accessories in the box with the Rouge. There is a nylon carrying “strap” that you can use to tote the Rouge around to LAN parties with you, but best of all the screws and other hardware all come in labeled plastic baggies. This is a very, very, nice touch and speaks to the quality NZXT put into this case. NZXT has also included a PSU mount that will allow for larger PSUs to fit into the Rouge another nice touch.

{mospagebreak title=Construction}
Construction:
The Rouge is an aluminum case that has a rather odd shape to it.  As you can see it is squat but not block like many SFF cases. The front has a bowed door that can be locked to block access to your drives as well as your power and reset buttons (very handy to have for LAN parties and for use as a small system like a firewall) along both edges of the front door are plastic inserts that light up when the power is on. Front panel support is along the left edge of the door and includes two USB ports, Mic and headphones jacks and an e-SATA port. The lock for the front door is a barrel lock but is not really meant as high security, since it only locks down the upper left corner of the door. It is good enough to keep the curious out.

Opening the door present you with a rather plain front, NZXT has gone for ultra minimalist here. There are no labels for power or reset and the brushed silver of the model I was evaluating just looked bleak and almost cheap. The lock opening and the magnet that hold the front door closed stand out quite a bit with this finish,  this is one case that should probably only ship in black.
Moving around to the sides (either one) you see one extremely nice feature of the Rouge. There are two ports for 120mm fans these are setup to in a push pull configuration to allow for some serious air flow. NZXT has also included two filters for the intake side to cut down on the amount of dust and dirt that can enter your system. The ridged along the side add to the visual appeal (again if the finish was black and not silver). These side panels also come off for easier installation. And since the screws that hold them in place are small (listen up Antec) NZXT includes a small jeweler’s screw driver.

Moving around to the back we find that NZXT has put some thought into the ease of build for the Rouge, from the Slide out mainboard tray, to the PSU mounting bracket, to the use of thumbscrews it all points to some serious thought. Many SFF cases are horrible to work with requiring the builder to have tiny hands and be a contortionist to get hardware installed. A fifth 120mm lighted fan provides rear exhaust for the Rouge.
The top, well the top is a good design but fails to impress due to the silver coloring again…
After we remove the single thumbscrew holding the top on we get to peek inside.

The inside of the Rouge is all black, this should allow for lighted fans to stand out quite well, and also helps make your installed hardware standout. There is room inside for two 5-1/4” drives or for a drive bay mounted reservoir for a water cooling system (yes there is enough room for one). There is also one 3-1/2” bay for a multi-card reader or a floppy drive if you want. For hard drives there are four vertical mounting points giving you quite a bit of flexibility for drives and storage. The Rouge also features a removable mainboard tray; this makes mainboard mounting a snap. For your PSU, NZXT includes an extension bracket for use with larger PSUs or if you want more room for cabling.
All of this when put together makes for one serious Small Form Factor case!

{mospagebreak title=Aesthetics}
Aesthetics:
I mentioned this before but it bears repeating; the Rouge should only be offered in black.
The silver of the case tends to make it look a little cheap and even dull. I asked my usual questions about looks and coolness and then added in the question about how people would feel if the case were black.
Everyone stated that it would be much better if it were black. As I did not have a black version of the Rouge I used the images found here.
I hope NZXT is listening and perhaps removes the silver option from future sales.

As with most of my subjective testing I asked a small sampling of people to rate the NZXT Rouge for Looks and Coolness, the results are below:
For the NZXT Rouge in Silver

Words used to describe the Silver Rouge

For the Black Rouge

Word used to describe the Black Rouge:

{mospagebreak title=Installation}
Installation:
System:
AMD AM2 FX-62
2GB (4x512MB) Corsair XPS2 8500
Western Digital 74GB 10k RPM Raptor
GIGABYTE GA-MA78GM-S2H
Sony DVD-ROM
OCZ ModStream 520 Watt PSU

The Rouge was surprisingly easy to work with. Both the side covers come off allowing for easy installation of DVD/CD-ROMs or Hard Drives. The slide out mainboard tray lets you get your mainboard all setup outside the case. The PSU goes in last and you still have great access to all parts of the mainboard for connecting cables and power.
During my re-build into the rouge I did not even have to remove my Ruby Orb cooler from the CPU. There was still enough clearance for it to slide right in. For larger air coolers you will need to install them after the tray is in and for extreme cases (like the V8 Cooler) you might need to install your mainboard with the tray still in the case.
There is quite a bit of room inside the rouge you could potentially have a 4870 or similar sized card in this case as long as you have it on a MicroATX board.
AS this system is primarily meant as a UTM (Unified Threat Management) server it needs to be small quite and cool. The Rouge fills all of these requirements and then some.  The locking front door even adds and extra level of protection from accidental tampering.

{mospagebreak title=Value}
Value:
The rouge will set you back about $150.00. This is a little pricey for a small form factor case but considering that you are only sacrificing the ability to have a full sized mainboard you are getting quite a bit.
With the way the rouge is setup for air cooling, the room for larger GPUs and more HDDs, not to mention the carrying strap you can set yourself up with a very powerful and portable Lan Party box.

{mospagebreak title=Conclusion}
Conclusion:
I personally liked the Rouge, it is a very well put together case, although you are forced to use a MicroATX board you still have many options for making a very powerful system.
NZXT put some good thought into making the Rouge easy to work with. By being able to remove both side panels and the mainboard tray you will have plenty of room for even the largest hands.
The space for four 120mm fans setup in a push pull configuration guarantees that there will be good airflow for you system. The locking front door will keep people out of it. And the included carrying harness will let you lug it around wherever you need to go.
The Rouge will easily find itself at the top of any high-performance SFF PC builders list of parts.
 

Product: Cooler Master HAF 932
Author: Sean Kalinich           
Category: Enthusiast             
Reviewed on: August 10th 2008
Product cost: $159.99
Manufacturer: CoolerMaster
Spelling and Grammatical Editors: Planetx64 Staff

Discussion Link
 

{mospagebreak title=Packaging}

Packaging:
The HAF 932 box was quite large (in fact it blocked my whole doorway) with well done graphics on the sides that were not over done. There was just enough information to make you want to grab this case and take it home. When I received this I did not even finish getting everything out of my truck (I had just gotten back from an errand) instead I left the door hanging open (both the front and truck doors) and grabbed a knife to get at the HAF. Opening the box you get your fist glimpse at the front.

There covered in thick plastic and cradled by two Styrofoam end caps sits the HAF 932. (By this time I was getting yelled at as the dog had run out and jumped into my truck… so I had to stop and take care of this before delving further into the HAF 932) While removing the case I noticed that the Styrofoam end caps were quite thin and one even came apart while I was removing the case. This was not a good thing and I would be concerned about damage during shipping with such light protection. Once I was through being appalled at the poor shipping protection, I was able to get the HAF 932 out and in a spot where I could get a good look at it.

{mospagebreak title=Construction and Features}
Construction and Features:
The CoolerMaster HAF 932 is a fairly sturdy case, this is despite the fact that much of it is plastic.
The entire front is all molded plastic, as is the top shelf portion. On the front panel, at the top, you will find all of the external connections. Power and Reset buttons are on the top. 

On the top of the case there is a tray for your keys etc, this has a rubber mat on the floor that covers up a fill port for a reservoir that would be mounted in the top 5-1/4” bay. Behind this is the first of three 230mm fans. The grill this fan is mounted to has a ton of mounting holes, making it perfect for a radiator or to put in multiple smaller fans.  The skeleton of the case is plain cut sheet metal and nothing too awe inspiring. The side panels are made of a thicker sheet metal and while the right hand panel is simply painted a dark matte black (with an industrial looking  squared X and vents in the front) the left hand side more than makes up for it.

Here CoolerMaster has placed a 230mm fan in a large rectangular grill. This grill is the same as the one on the top of the HAF (extra mounting holes).  Above this grill in the side panel is a small rectangular Plexiglas window. This window has cross hatched lines to give it the look of industrial safety glass adding to the industrial feel of the HAF 932. Along the front edge of the side panel you can see the outline of the letter HAF in slightly more glossy paint (a nice and almost gothic touch) below this are a series of exhaust vents.

Internally the HAF 932 is well laid out with plenty of room for even a 12x13” E-ATX mainboard. 5-1/4” drives can be mounted in the top six bays (5 if you leave the 3-1/2 adapter in place for an HDD or floppy drive). These bays use a push button locking system for easy installation and removal.
Hard Drives are mounted perpendicular to the mainboard; the mounts feel very flimsy but hold up to some pretty serious twisting. The HDD mounts are also tool less. CoolerMaster has provided five internal bays for HDDs. Directly in front of the HDDs is another 230mm fan; this one lights up red and adds a nice glow to the HAF.
Moving back into the main cavity of the case I was surprised at how deep the HAF 932 is. It is almost 2” deeper (wider) than the Silver Stone TJ09B-W. This provides from some great air space and really allows the three 230mm and one 140mm fans to do their work on keeping the system cool. Speaking of cooling, CoolerMaster has not left the water cooling crowd out either. As I mentioned above, the HAF has places to mount a 120mmx2 radiator in the top of the case or the side (although I do not know why you would want to do that.)  

 
Added into the extra flexibility, the HAF gives you the choice of mounting your PSU in the top or bottom of the case. If you mount your PSU in the top of the case you can mount an extra 2 120mm fans in the bottom.  Holes are provided for external water cooling, there are cable runs under the mainboard mounting panel, and all peripheral mounts are tool less. As a final touch CoolerMaster has added in a cutout in the mounting panel for the mainboard, this allows for the easy installation of a large aftermarket heatsink or waterblock without the need to remove the mainboard.  Included in the “parts” box were a set of small casters to allow you to put your new case on wheels.

In all I would have to say the HAF 932 is one of the best designed and most flexible cases I have ever worked with.

{mospagebreak title=Aesthetics}
Aesthetics (that means looks):
Looks are always going to be subjective, I could give you just my opinion and you might not agree with it. So to be fair I used my usual method for scoring the appearance of cases. I asked multiple people what they thought and asked them to score the HAF 932 based on overall looks and “coolness” this latter category is described as “An ability to grab your attention and hold it” something does not have to look good to be cool. Additionally I asked for a one word description of the HAF 932.

Most people felt the HAF 932 looked very rugged and industrial, one comment said it would look right at home in a heavy iron foundry, the same person mentioned it would look perfect in Gotham City.  The industrial look also let itself to militaristic styling I had more than one commented, tagging it as a military product.  Of the eight people that I asked most liked it, a number did not like it on first impression but after looking at the HAF 932 from all sides they found it did catch their eye and drew them in. Only one out of the eight did not like it, they referred to it as a Case 900 knock off and called it a “brick”. Below are all the scores and the one word descriptions given to me.

My personal opinion of the case is that it has a hardened industrial look that simply stands out. Normally I do not like the industrial look, I feel that it is overdone and make a case look cheap. The HAF 932 does not fall into this category though. It draws your eyes to it and you (well I) can spend a few minutes just taking in all the details. CoolerMaster did not try to blind you with a ton of LEDs either the simple single red LED lit 230mm fan in the front adds to the overall feel of the HAF 932.

{mospagebreak title=Installation}
Installation:
For this case I decided to rebuild my favorite desktop into it. This meant removing my V8 from its current SST-TJ09B-W home (I am recycling this case as a test bench due to its pull out mainboard tray).
The removal actually took me longer than the installation into the HAF 932! I was very happy with how everything wet together. The extra room inside this case made the installation of this larger system a snap. I was finished with the initial install in 20 minutes. Cable management and clean up took another 15 minutes and I had a clean smart looking system.

{mospagebreak title=Price/Warranty}
Price /Warranty:
The CoolerMaster HAF 932 will set you back about $159.99. This is not a bad price at all considering the size and features of this case.
Warranty is CoolerMaster’s standard three year warranty.
{mospagebreak title=Conclusion}
Conclusion:
CoolerMaster has a great product in the HAF 932, it is clean, sharp looking, and extremely easy to work with. In all it is everything the Antec Case Nine hundred and 1200 wish they were. I am very impressed with the flexibility CoolerMaster have added into the HAF 932. There is a ton that you can do with this case. I do wish they would have gone with aluminum for the frame, but the steel frame does not take away from the cases quality. Aesthetically, the HAF 932 is stunning, for many its beauty might not hit them at first but after a moment or two the overall design and form start to really show through. The design gang at CoolerMaster really did a good job on the appearance of the HAF 932.  If you are looking to pick up a new case you will definitely want to take a look at the HAF 932. In fact I would not recommend too much looking; as good as these cases are someone will grab it if you wait too long.

Discussion Link

Product: NZXT Guardian 921     
Author: Sean Kalinich
Reviewed on: August 11th 2008
Product cost: $99.99 (at Newegg.com)
Manufacturer: NZXT
Spelling and Grammatical editor: Planetx64 Staff

{mospagebreak title=Packaging and Construction}
Packaging and Construction:
Packaging:
What a difference a little thought makes in packaging. Unlike the box that they Tempest ships in, the Guardian 921 arrived in an eye catching box that would certainly get a closer look on a shelf.  With a “Film Noir” type effect displaying a three-quarter view over an incomplete profile view of the 921 glowing in an eye catching purple.  The box also contains the usual information on specs and feature highlights.
Upon opening the box the 921 also looks a little bit better protected than the Tempest was.

Construction:
As with all the crafted series cases from NZXT the Guardian 921 uses a steel frame. This makes the 921 very sturdy and a little heavy for its size. Taking a look at the front of the 921 we see a “Transformer” like face which is caused by the three angled LEDs and the upper and lower portions of the front face plate (although with a little glow-in-the-dark paint you could turn this into the BIOHAZRAD symbol)
the lower portion of the face plate is slit to allow for good air intake while the top “crown” is actually a display area for the built in temperature sensors. The system power and reset buttons are located on this display panel as well.
Upon opening the front faceplate I was a little let down, the 921 looks like little more than a standard mid tower case with a fancy cover on it.
NZXT has opted to put the front panel connections on the lower left side of the front faceplate. I would have thought a better place would have been to incorporate them into the “Crown” area.
Moving to the exciting side of the 921 we see a very nicely cut window. Well it would be a very nice window it NZXT had not of ruined it with the way the side mounted fan was done. I although I can understand the use of a fan grill to help reduce dust in the system the Plexiglas bars and the silver grille ruin what should be an excellent window.

Looking at the back of the 921 it looks again like not much more than a standard mid-tower case with two openings for water cooling. Again in a departure from the Tempest the Guardian 921 has large openings allowing for a wider selection of tubing sizes to be used.
Taking a look inside we see that the 921 is also a tool-less case as far as drive mounting goes. For drive bays the 921 offers three 5-1/4 bays, two external 3-1/2 bays and (according to the box) five Internal 3-1/2” HDD bays. However, when I looked there were only five 3-1/2” bays total (3 internal and 2 external), so the box is very misleading.

The HDD bays are mounted so that they can be installed directly from the side making installation easier while a 120mm fan provides cooling. The NZXT is also tool-less for mounting your expansion cards. A 120mm fan at the back of the case provides additional airflow.
One thing to note, the box states that the Guardian 921 will fit an E-ATX mainboard. However looking at the interior of the case and doing some measurements I quickly found that unless you plan on forcing it in, you are not going to get an E-ATX board in this case. There is simply not enough room for one.

{mospagebreak title=Aesthetics}
Aesthetics:
The Guardian 921 is different. There is something about that does catch your eye even if you can’t say what it is. It was a very big hit with my kids and their friends. The glossy curved face has an ominous look to it and when lighted it seems to stare at you, it is almost creepy.  The side window glows nicely in the dark and other than the poorly done fan grill, is one of the highlights of the case. Personally I found the 921 to be a good looking case, it is not in my personal taste as far as cases go but as mentioned there is something about it that makes it stand out and remain in your head.

As with the Tempest I asked a small sampling of people to rate the Guardian 921 for looks and “coolness”.  I also asked for a one word description. 
Below are the results:

One common comment was that the 921 stuck in their head. There was something about it that made you want to stare at it. This was especially true when the system was powered on and the lights were out.

{mospagebreak title=Performace}
Performance:
Building a system into the 921 was fairly simple. The tool-less design made for easy drive installation.
Where I ran into problems was mounting the mainboard. Here the smaller size of the case became a hindrance. Installing larger GPUs was also difficult due to the shorter length of the 921. Cable management was not as easy as in the Tempest again the lack of room prevented a stuffing bales out of the way. I would certainly recommend a modular PSU if you are going to be using the Guardian 921.
After I was finished I found the inside to look cramped and jumbled.  Air flow was sufficient but not great. The temperature probes made a nice touch and do allow you a real-time display of how cool your rig is running. The three sensors are labeled CPU, HDD and Sys. Fan controllers linked to the thermistors would have been a nice touch but were not present.

{mospagebreak title=Price}
Price:
The NZXT Guardian 921 runs for around $99.99. This is a pretty good price considering you are getting a free temperature monitor with the case. There are other cases in this price range that do offer better cooling and larger interiors for mainboards, but these do not have the styling that the 921 has. Here your personal tastes will have to come into play.

{mospagebreak title=Conclusion}
Conclusion:
I found that I liked the NZXT Guardian 921. I do not think I would buy it for myself but it was a good looking case. I also do not feel it is a gamers’ case or meant for enthusiasts it simply does not have the options needed to hold the gamer over.
The 921 would be something that I would seriously consider getting a teenager that was building their first system or that wanted to upgrade. It has style is inexpensive and easy enough to use that you could safely leave it up to them (with a little help) to build it.

Product: NZXT Tempst     
Author: Sean Kalinich
Reviewed on: August 8th 2008
Product cost: $109.99 (at Newegg.com)
Manufacturer: NZXT
Spelling and Grammatical editor: Planetx64 Staff

{mospagebreak title=Packaging and Construction}
Packaging and Construction:
Packaging can speak volumes about a product. It is the first chance for a manufacturer to catch the consumer’s eye. The box the Tempest ships in is not pretty, it comes off as cheesy and cheap. The images do not suggest high-performance but low budget.  If you were to take a closer look then you might see that the Tempest does have some features that are interesting.

If you happened to look, stop and read, then take the Tempest home; upon opening the box you would be greeted with a large and sturdy case (after you opened and disposed of the ugly box).
 
Construction:
As I mentioned above the Tempest is a heavy and fairly large case. It has support for E-ATX mainboards and full length peripheral cards in addition to a large number of drive bays. The weight comes from having an all steel chassis, as well as side and top panels. The front of the Tempest is molded plastic and sports 5-1/4” openings its full length. Also at the front are two angular protrusions that have long clear plastic insets on them. These are two long blue power lights for the system. Also along the lower left hand protrusion is a single clear plastic “stripe” this is covering a green LED for HDD activity. The letters NZXT are embossed above the top 5-1/4” bay. The front is further enhanced by the presence of two 120mm Blue LED fans.
On the top of the case there is a shelf of sorts that extend back for four or five inches and then slopes up to the front panel. Here are usual suspects for front panel connections and controls.
Interestingly enough the Power and Reset switches are not labeled. The power switch is slightly larger than the reset button but otherwise they are identical.  Behind these controls are another two fans, these are 140mm and work well for top exhaust. These fans can be removed and a dual fan radiator installed for internal water cooling. The top of the Tempest is not completely flat but has similar angular protrusions along each side like the front does.
The back of the Tempest is nothing exciting with the standard bottom PSU mount layout. NZXT does include small openings for external water cooling rigs, although I wonder about their usefulness due to their size.

Moving on to the sides we find the usual blank and dull right side. The left side is a little more interesting. NZXT have added a window, unfortunately this window was not well thought out. In what I can only assume was an attempt at giving the Tempest a “cool” 3-D look NZXT chose to bevel the side window and to make it very angular. They have also places a fan in the center and covered it with a standard grill instead of just venting the plastic. This deters from the appearance and gives the window a cheesy look.
Taking the cover off and looking inside we find that look are only skin deep. NZXT has done a nice job on the interior setup of the tempest.
There are two cages for HDDs each holding up to four drives. These drives are mounted perpendicular and are well ventilated by the 120mm fans at the front. Above these two cages are three 5-1/4” bays.

The cabling for the front panel is more than long enough to reach even the longest mainboard.
There are multiple fan connectors and NZXT has thoughtfully provided both three-pin headers as well as 4-pin Molex adapters for all of the case fans. For drive installation NZXT has made everything completely tool-less.  With rails for the HDDs that simply sit on each side and hold the drive in place with  short pegs that fit into the normal screw holes. The down side of these is that they do not clip to the drive. You have to hold them in place while you slide the drive in.
This tool-less design did not extend back to the expansion ports though, here you still have to break out your favorite Phillips head screw driver.
Now, I am sure by now many of you are thinking the Tempest is nothing more than a cheap knock off of the Case Nine Hundred from Antec. Well in terms of general design and layout you might be correct but in terms of features, true airflow and ease of use you would be dead wrong.

{mospagebreak title=Aesthetics}
Aesthetics:
This is a tough one.  My first thoughts on seeing the Tempest (both in and out of the box) were that it was cheap, cheesy, and something I might pick up in Wal-Mart. It did not strike me as a top of the line product. The angular design of the front and top make it look awkward instead of exciting. The beveled window is a detractor as well. The whole package just screams cheap knock-off.  But as with all subjective items I will not subject you to just my opinion but will show the results of a limited number of other people I showed the case to. This time I broke them into two groups. Five saw the Tempest in person and five only through pictures. I found the two perspectives interesting.

It would seem that from pictures people were more inclined to have a good impression of the Tempest. But when people were up close their opinions dropped.

Words used are shown below:

{mospagebreak title=Installation and Performance}
Installation and Performance:
As mentioned above, NZXT did put some thought into the interior design of the Tempest and this translated into an easy build process. I pulled a system that was in an older case and rebuilt it into the Tempest.  With the extra room inside the Tempest along with the tool-less installation of the drives this rebuild was quite simple and quick. Cable management was a fairly simple, although all the extra fan power cables did get in the way. One down side to the build was the need to remove the front panel when installing the DVD-ROM. There was no other way to remove the plate covering the slot.
Unfortunately NZXT did not provide simple clips that you can use to “pop” off the face plate. It was a pain to get it off as you really have to force it off. I was concerned that I might break the face plate.

Performance wise the Tempest does have very good airflow. Temperatures on the system I built into it dropped by 2c during operation.  This is not a bad reduction in temps considering this system runs 24/7.
I was also impressed that the Tempest is very quiet. Even with 6 case fans running full time it is barely noticeable.

{mospagebreak title=Price}
Price:
The Tempest has a price of $109.99 right now this puts it just above most entry level cases but that is expected as it has some high-end features.

{mospagebreak title=Conclusion}
Conclusion:
The Tempest is a hit and miss for looks, but for functionality, ease of build and price point the tempest has quite a bit going for it. It is easily superior to the Case Nine Hundred having more room, better cooling, the ability to install a dual fan radiator (without modification), and much easier to build your system into. I think that NZXT is on the right track with the way they have designed the Tempest but might want to do a little more work on the appearance.  While the Tempest might not win any beauty contests it certainly has it where it counts on the inside. If you can overcome the appearance and want a very good low-cost air cooled case the Tempest may have what you are looking for.

Sunbeamtech has long been known for their computer cases and moding accessories.  This time around they have sent out an acrylic HTPC chassis for us to take a look at. It may not be what everybody wants sitting under their HDTV in the living room but there is certainly a market for HTPCs like this.

{mospagebreak title=Specifications} 

Specifications:

Color – Transparent(HTPC-T)
           UV-Blue(HTPC-HUVB)

Drive Bays – 5.25” x2                  
                   3.5” x1 (External)
                   3.5” x8 (Internal)

 

Front
I/O
Port – USB 2.0 x2
                       Speaker               
                       Microphone

Weight – Gross Weight: 5.6 kg
              Net Weight: 4.8 kg

Dimension – 47.5(L) x 44(W) x 19.5(H) CM

MB Type – Standard ATX

{mospagebreak title=Overview}

Overview:

Who knew an acrylic case would come in a flat box? I sure didn’t, it was as if this case was packaged and shipped from Ikea.  They are very well known for there flat pack boxes.  Once over the initial reaction of the packaging I was able to get into building mode, which I would remain in for close to an hour before this chassis was ready for the innards of a PC to be added.

Just getting all the pieces out of the box took me almost five minutes.  I was wondering while I was unpacking everything, "how I would get this built without leaving fingerprints all over everything?" As it turns out Sunbeamtech thought of that as well and threw in a pair of white cotton gloves for you to wear while building the case.  There were over 100 screws in the box, all labeled and stored in separate zip lock baggies according to what they would be used for. (I didn’t actually count the screws but it looked like about a hundred.)  The instructions were slightly vague at times which made it difficult to know what to do next.  Once I got my head around the instructions and figured out all the screws, the chassis went together pretty easily, although it was still a long process.  I was very careful the whole time trying not to scratch the acrylic with the screwdriver.  The cotton gloves sometimes just got in the way or made it difficult to hold the screwdriver and had to be taken off for the delicate tasks.

Once the case was completely together and pictures taken, I had to take a few parts back out in order to add the PC components.  This turned out to be a lot quicker and easier then I originally expected. 

The PC install went pretty well with only a few setbacks.  To start there are only one set of holes to mount the standoffs so this case will only hold a standard ATX motherboard.  To install the hard drives the case had to be slightly taken apart, although this only involved removing two screws and loosening two more for each hard drive cage.  There is room for up to eight hard drives; I completed my build with three drives in a single cage.  These drives are all held in place with screws.  There is no tool-less installation with this case, everything is screwed in. While the hard drive cages were out of the case I installed the optical drive.  There are two 5 ¼” drive bays on the front of the case. Both of the hard drive cages must be removed in order to install the optical drives, otherwise you will not be able to tighten the screws.  Completing the rest of the installation went pretty well.  There was loads of room for everything to fit in.  I didn’t come to another issue until I was putting the cover on the case.  The fan bracket that is attached to the cover of the case pushes against the video card.  I used a relatively short Sapphire X1600Pro in this build and it still did not have room to allow the cover to be screwed on without using extra force and pressure on the components.  Anyone using a longer video card will either want to remove the fan bracket or trim it down to allow more space.

  

Performance wise the case worked well.  Temperatures always stayed within reason due to the four case fans included.  There is a bit of noise that comes out of the case due to the four fans. Due to the noise some may find this case a distraction. But then again those people probably aren’t the ones that this case is marketed too. A fan controller may be an option to reduce the noise.

{mospagebreak title=Price/Warranty/Conclusion}

Price/Warranty:

Sunbeamtech has this case available from several online retailers such as NewEgg for around $79.99.  Sunbeamtech offers a 1 year warranty on there cases.

Conclusion:

Overall this is a really fun case.  How often to you get to build your case from scratch? I enjoyed the build and the finished product.  Being my first acrylic case I really get to see how terrible I am at cable management, which is something that I am going to have to work on, thanks Sunbeamtech.  This case is by no means for everyone but those that are looking for an acrylic case this would be a great one to pick.  The LEDs are very bright and will light up a good part of your room.  Great for those late night gaming sessions when you need to make it to the fridge for another beer in the dark.  To sum it all up I recommend this case to anyone looking for an acrylic case, it is well built and has loads of room for you to put all your goodies into. I only had one major issue with the fan bracket and five minutes with a Dremmel would have that solved permanently.  The Sunbeamtech Acrylic HTPC gets my stamp of approval and our Best on the Planet award for being a great acrylic case.

Acknowledgements:

We would like to thank Sunbeamtech for sending us this product for review.

Introduction:

Cooler Master was founded roughly ten years ago, with a self stated mission to provide customers with the industry’s best thermal solutions. This is a very laudable goal and for the most part Cooler Master has been able to provide some good performing products, even if their appearance has been a little boring. But things seem to have changed in the Cooler Master Design room. Now they have hit the market with a new product that not only promises performance and silence but with a very stylish look. This product is the Cosmos; tagged with the line “where performance meets silence” the Cosmos offers excellent cooling without the noise associated with using tons of fans. But can the Cosmos truly bring everything Cooler Master is claiming? Or will we end up lost in space? (Sorry couldn’t resist that one)

Product: Cooler Master Cosmos
Author: Sean Kalinich           
Category: Enthusiast             
Reviewed on: August 2007
Product cost: $199.99
Manufacturer: Cooler Master
Spelling and Grammatical Editors: Paul Mercer and Jason Hambly

{mospagebreak title=Packaging}

Packaging: Packaging is an important part of a product these days, both from a marketing perspective and from the consumer’s point of view. For the marketing people, the packaging is another opportunity to grab a potential purchaser’s eye. Many companies have relied on garish “cartoon” figures catering only to the ultra geeks out there while others have gone towards stark and uninformative boxes that give you nothing on the product within. So, how do you strike a balance? Give the best combination of images and information to grab not only the enthusiast’s eye but also the Mom/ Dad, friend, girl-friend etc. of the enthusiast. Well you do what Cooler Master has done, you offer packaging that has very artful images of the actual product (in this case the Cosmos 1000) and provide enough detail to highlight the feature without over loading the non-geek.  As a box for a case I have not seen very many that strike this balance as well as the box for the Cosmos 1000. Now that I have waxed enthusiastic about the outside, how does the box fair inside?

The Cosmos 1000 is safely snuggled in a thick plastic bag; this is covered top and bottom by nice thick pieces of Styrofoam.

Inside this cocoon of protection, the Cosmos 1000 is safe from most damage that could be caused in shipping. When I opened the box I looked for the accessories (Screws, mounts, wire ties, etc) but I did not see anything loose in the box. It turns out that all of this was inside the case itself; although this is becoming more common, what is not all that common is the nice case that the majority of these “supplies” fit into. Cooler Master put all of this into a double ended case. On one side were the screws and mounts, and the other side was packed full of small wire ties. There was also a small key ring with two special keys, one a Phillips-head screw driver and the other a flat-head.

{mospagebreak title=Aesthetics}

Aesthetics: I have gone on ad-nauseum before about how important the appearance of an enclosure is to me, and that the thought put in to the appearance is as important as cooling and internal layout. So far very few manufacturers have been able to meet my high standards for form and function but it seems that, with the Cosmos 1000, Cooler Master has made the list.
Let’s take a quick tour of the outer appearance of the Cosmos. One of the first things that leap out at you about the Cosmos 1000 are the four rails that run from front to back on top, bottom and sides. The next eye grabber might be the lack of sharp corners or edges, Cooler Master has chosen to give everything nice curved edges. Even the side panels have rounded corners and smooth angles.

From the front the Cosmos presents an attractive combination of lacquered black and brushed aluminum. The front door panel has a large black plastic center piece that runs the length of the one piece aluminum door with rounded brushed aluminum edges visible, it is very solid and reversible (you can set it to open to either the left or right). The weight helps prevent vibrations and also gives it s a sturdy feel. To reverse the opening direction all you need is a phillips-head screw driver (or you can use the provided key) the posts that act as the pivot point are removable without tools, but the two screws that act as magnetic “latches” have to be removed the old fashioned way. Making the switch takes about 5 minutes if you are going slowly. Behind the door is a full length mess with four standard 5-1/4” openings and one 3-1/2”/5-1/4” opening for drives. These openings are very easy to work with as removal is as simple as un-clipping them from the front of the case and although there are no true filters the front has a dual mesh screen system that will keep the majority of dust and other particles out of your system.

At the bottom of the front is a pull out filter for one the HDD cooling fan. The top of the front slopes away gently (remember there are no sharp edges) with the word Cosmos embossed on the curved leading edge. Following this curve onto the top of the case we find the front panel controls in a small panel in a shape reminiscent of the view screen on the Enterprise. This small panel appears to be of black brushed aluminum and has just about everything you could want on a front panel; Firewire, USB 2.0 (4 ports), e-SATA, headphone and microphone jacks, power and reset buttons, and power and HDD lights (in Blue LED). All of these controls and ports are available at your finger tips. Behind this is an area of non-slip material shaped like an elongated trapezoid. At the back of the top (that sounds confusing) is a vented fan opening that forces hot air being exhausted out of the top of the case towards the rear of the case instead of just straight up. Now while all of this might be great and very helpful what really catches your eye are two of the rails that I talked about earlier. These rails work well on the tops as handles that you can use to maneuver the Cosmos around with and add to the already unique looks.

Moving to the side (either side as they are both the same) we see that the designers did not stop with the front and top. Instead of the usual side panels that attach at the front of back and are boring (even the ones with digital watches…uh I mean side windows), Cooler Master went for panels that attach into the actual side frame and are octagonal with the appearance of brushed aluminum. To remove the side panels Cooler Master put latches on the back, one for each side, all you have to do is push the latch for the side you want to remove toward the top and the case side pops off.
Flipping the case over and looking at the bottom we see another set of rails, but these two act as feet to support the case and allow for good air flow under the case.
Moving around to the back of the case we find the usual items we would expect to see.

A large 120mm fan, 7 expansion ports, a spot for your I/O shield and in keeping with the current trend the PSU is at the bottom. Cooler Master has also added in openings for an external water cooling kit towards the top of the case. To either side of the water cooling ports you can see the levers that release the case sides.

Since aesthetics is an entirely subjective category, what I may think looks good, someone else may find hideous, I like to get multiple peoples opinions. With the Cosmos 1000 I asked 4 people these three questions:

1          On a scale of one to five how would you rate the appearance of this case? One being unattractive and five being very attractive.

2          On a scale of one to five what would you say the Cosmos 1000’s “cool factor” is?

 One being would not very cool at all and five being very cool.

3          Give me one word to describe your first impression of this case, good or bad.

The first two questions each yielded a result between 4 and 20 these were then divided by the number of persons asked. This would give me two scores between 1 and 5 these were added together and divided by two to give me the final score.

With these three questions I felt I would get a good idea of how aesthetically pleasing the Cosmos really is. For looks I broke this down by gender so that you would have an idea whether your wife/girlfriend would let you put it in a “pubic” part of the house.

Here are the scores and comments broken down by gender:

“On a scale of one to five how would you rate the appearance of this case?

“On a scale of one to five, what would you say the Cosmos 1000’s “cool factor” is?”

These two questions yielded us a total of:  8.6 this number divided by 2 gives us our aesthetics score of: 4.3 out of a possible 5 not too shabby

Some of the words used to describe the Cosmos were:
Futuristic
Tough
Clean
Sharp

For me I feel the Cosmos has a very attractive blend of classic elegance and futuristic audacity. It is striking but far from gaudy, and has become something of a conversation piece for anyone entering my office. Especially as it shares the “spotlight” with one of my favorite cases, the SilverStone TJ-09, these two cases are polar opposites in design concept but are equals in being aesthetic pleasing.

{mospagebreak title=Installation/Build}

Installation/Build:
Just as important to me as the aesthetics is the ease of build, I chose to use the Cosmos as the enclosure for my Virtual Server project. This is a system that will be home to four virtual servers running 24/7 for testing all powered by an Intel QX6700. I needed a case that could hold everything, keep it cool and not drive me batty with fan noises.
To being the build I assembled my parts
Intel QX6700 Core 2 Quad (2.66GHz)
Asus P5W DH

6 GB DDR2 800 RAM (2x2GB Kingston HyperX 2x1GB Kingston HyperX)
1x Western Digital 74GB 10,000 RPM Raptor HDD.

1x Seagate 7200.9 Cheetah 500GB HDD
1 Generic PCI-e 64MB Video card

1x Netgear Gigabit network card

SilverStone Zeus 750 750Watt PSU
1 Sony DVD-RW
Now with parts in hand I set about assembling my new server.
After installing the CPU and memory on the mainboard I opened the side of the Cosmos and prepared to mount the mainboard. The first thing that jumped out at me was the paper overlay that spelled out exactly where to put the brass stand-off for each type of mainboard. This is a helpful little touch and can save time in lining up the board to make sure you have everything in the right place. After that I noticed that the back of the side panel was covered in a sound dampening foam; my first thought was that this was a great idea, this was followed by many thoughts about what effect this would have on cooling.

Now I know you are wondering how I could miss the plastic “bar” that ran the entire inside of the case, but I really did not consider that until later (when I forgot to put it back in) however, this bar is actually an air flow channel. This channel is supposed to help cool the video card or cards you choose to put into the Cosmos. After I was finished with my initial observations and had mounted the stand offs I took a more detailed look at the inside of the Cosmos, starting at the bottom of the case. Cooler Master has provided a nice raised platform (for lack of a better word) to rest your PSU on, this platform has a rubber coating on the top to help reduce vibrations and also has a depression below it with an air intake grill complete with cleanable dust filter. Just a short distance in front of all of this is an intake fan that pulls cool air from under the case and pushes it towards the top but as you can see from the picture the air is not vented straight up but towards the front and side. This direction also forces air into the air flow channel I spoke about earlier. This fan has a heavy and thick plastic grill protecting the blades (and your cabling) and which allows for the directional air flow.

Now all of this goodness does not get in the way of the mainboard installation and still leave a fair amount of room for cabling to be tucked away in the bottom of the case.

After I mounted the mainboard I took a look in the top of the Cosmos to see how the exhaust fan was mounted. To my surprise there were two 120mm fans hidden away in the top of the case. This will make keeping this case quiet even a bigger proposition. The next item on my build was to mount the HDDs and the DVD-RW. Installing the HDDs was pretty straight forward except for how to run the cables (Power and Data). The drives themselves mount using the bottom screws and fit in any one of the six “drawers” located in the lower front of the Cosmos.

The interesting part is that the power and Data cables are plugged in on the far side of the case and out through a convenient opening just behind the drive bays. This gets all of the HDD cables safely out of the way.
Optical drives were also a breeze to install. A simple button press and you slide the drive in.
Now that all of my basic hardware was mounted I wanted to add on my extra cards and the Freezone CoolIT. With all of the extra room, even adding in the bulky CoolIT was not a problem as you can see from the images below.

Cabling was simple as Cooler Master provided front panel cables that were long enough not only to reach the proper headers but to be tucked out of the way.

Now something you can see in the picture below is the port-like shape of the side openings. This allows the Cosmos to have a stiffer frame than most and to reduce the dreaded vibration that are found in most cases. There is also visible a rubber gasket that prevents vibrations between the side panel and the case, this also acts to keep air from escaping the case and helps with the overall air flow design.

(A quick note before you ask, the fan controller you see above the fan in the bottom of the case is part of the CoolIT. The Cosmos did not come with a fan controller)

Another short note, when I first wrote this section I completely forgot about something that I saw with the Cosmos that I have not seen on any other case. Normally, during a mainboard installation, you have to turn the case on the side. Well unless you put a towel under the case you can run the risk of scratching the sides. I found that the rails Cooler Master put in at the top and the bottom actually kept the case from lying flat on the ground. This saved the sides from potential scuffs and scratches. I am not sure if this was by design but my hat is off to Cooler Master for their thinking if it is.

Cooling vs Quiet:
How did the Cosmos do on noise? Well I can tell you that with all of the fans running and the CoolIT in place I could barely hear it running. The loudest fan in the system is the one that is on the back of the CoolIT. Even with this fan going full I could barely hear the Cosmos. This was in stark contrast to the Antec Titan 550 I was using before.
Now I know you are wondering about heat, will the foam inside hold in heat? Will all of the sound dampening prevent efficient cooling? The good news is that there was not a significant increase in temperatures inside the Cosmos with all of the sound dampening. Another benefit of the sound insulation is that the Cosmos does not act like a little space heater like many other cases. How many times have you been sitting by your high-end system and felt the hot winds of the Sahara blowing from the vents, while in colder climates and during the winter this might be ok, try to deal with that in 90 degree heat in Central Florida or even more southerly than that. It seems that Cooler Master got it right. The fans pull the air in and exhaust it out efficiently.
A word on the fans, especially for you pet owners, I have had issues in the past with filters on cases still allowing pet hair and dander in to clog up the working in my systems. With the Cooler Master I can say the filters on the bottom vents are very efficient. When I went to clean them I found a large amount of hair and dander on the filter but after opening the case I did not find any inside.

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Price/Warranty:
Price:
The Cosmos 1000 carries a price tag of roughly $200. Although this is not cheap there are more expensive and lower quality cases out on the market. The nice thing about the Cosmos, unlike some other “high-end” cases, this is one time where you get what you are paying for.

Warranty:
The Cosmos comes with a two year warranty, this is nice improvement over the normal one year offers from most case manufacturers and further proof that Cooler Master designed the Cosmos to last.

{mospagebreak title=Conclusion}

Conclusion:
I have not always been a fan of Cooler Master, in fact after buying the early AquaGate I was rather put off by them. I can say that they have redeemed themselves and more with the Cosmos. It not only lives up to the claim on the box but I feel it also lives up to Cooler Master’s proclaimed goal of  providing customers with the industry’s best thermal solutions. From the stylish design that grows on you the more you look at it, to the ease of build, to the low noise and excellent cooling the Cosmos 1000 exists in a galaxy of its own. (ok I had to throw one more in)

Pros:
TONS of room
Good cooling
Low noise
Easy build
Great Looks
Side bars
Good filters
Two-year warranty

Cons:
Price

Acknowledgments:
I would like to thank Lucas Wang at Cooler Master for providing the Cosmos 1000 for this review.