Cooler Master Stacker 830
Written: Feb 12 '06
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Aluminum, Attractive. Cooling capacity would cool down a Volcano. Slide out motherboard tray
Cons: PRICE. Engineering design. Not user friendly. No filtration. Cables length. No cable quick connect/disconnect.
The Bottom Line: This is a beautiful case that has some design flaws. Cooler Master should study some of Lian Li's user friendly mechanical designs.
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| mfarris2's Full Review: Cooler Master CM Stacker 830 (90369) |
First let me say that I have always been a Lian Li case fan. I have always been impressed with their user friendly engineering. But when I started looking around for my next PC case. I spotted this new design from Cooler Master, soon to be released.
I read the few reviews available from marketers and was impressed. So I plunked down what was to me a lot of cash for a box. But there was no denying this box was sharp looking.
A few weeks later my case arrived. This is what I found.
I had read in a review that to remove the screen front covers, there was a latch at the top of the case. Cooler Master must of changed this. As now to remove the screen covers to install DVD drives, etc., you have two full length panels that you simply pull open. No struggle to do this.
The case comes with one blue lighted LED 120mm fan at the front. This is attached to the 4 into 3 device for your hard drives. It also has another 120 mm fan at the back of the case. (Not lighted) There is a spot at the top of the case for another optional 120 mm fan. There is also a clear plastic side door/panel that you can add 4 more optional 120 mm fans. When I added the 4 fans to this panel, all four of my fans started to make a lot of noise. I had to pull them from the fan snap in locks to get them quiet.
I also thought this case was going to be larger. I had purchased an additional 4 into 3 device as I wanted to run 4 hard drives. Now you can run 4 hard drives into one of these devices. But that would put the hard drives so close together that they would practically be kissing each other. That would hinder air flow. So I went for two of the devices. This left me with only 3 open bays left. (1 DVD burner, 1 bay for the Creative Xfi Platinum front panel & lastly 1 floppy drive.) The case does come with reducing screen for the 3.5 floppy and brackets to mount such.
The case is supposed to be of a screwless design. But you will need to screw in the floppy to the brackets. And you will also need to screw in the 4 into three modules.
Some of the things that I did find troubling about the case are as follows.
The wires for the case front panel are short. Using the Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe motherboard, I could barely hookup the firewire. The wire is very tight using the shortest path. (Right across the Video card) No hiding or routing any of the cables. The USB cables are the same length,...barely usable. Another thing that I found troubling was that unlike Lian Li cases,....there was no quick disconnect for all of the case wires. With the Lian Li case, you can wire everything for the case on the removable motherboard tray, then slide the tray back into the case and just connect the quick connect/disconnect harness together. This may sound petty,...but you will understand why this is a problem in a moment.
One of the biggest problems with this case is the slots where your PCI/PCIE cards tabs slide down along side the motherboard. THE SLOTS ARE NOT DEEP ENOUGH. I had installed the board onto the tray. I had installed all the cards and had screwed them into place. I then had slid the tray back into the case. I then took the time to wire everything up. (Hard to get the firewire cable hooked up as the cable was very short as mentioned previously. Went to boot the computer and noticed that none of my cards were recognized. At first I thought I had a bad motherboard. Upon closer inspection,..it appeared that each card was not fully seated by a small amount. (Although each card looked straight and each screw holding in each card was down and tight.)
Now I discovered another problem. You cannot remove the card holding screws without removing the motherboard tray at least a couple of inches. (Upgraders be advised) Now I have to remove the wiring so I can slid the motherboard tray out again. (Wiring harness quick disconnect would have been much appreciated here.)I then had to grind down each ear on each card to get them to seat properly.
The motherboard I purchased is supposed to talk to you during boot up. But this case does not have an internal speaker. So I will have to purchase this and figure a way to install.
There was some comments made by the marketers about the side panels being a little difficult to put back on. It is true that they are a bit more difficult than a Lian Li case. But once you get used to the method, it hardly seems worth mentioning, considering some of the other previously mentioned problems.
The bottom line is, this is a sharp looking case. It is perhaps one of the best looking without going gaudy dragon looking. But it is not as user friendly as an Lian Li. If you are creative, not afraid to use a few tools, and do not mind wiring up your case every time you go into it. This case is hard to beat for looks and for cooling capabilities. If Cooler Master was to take a few tips from Lian Li,...this would probably be the best case around $300.00 (case plus shipping)could buy.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
mfarris2
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Reviews written: 29
Trusted by: 1 member
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