Cooler Master ATCS 840 Case Review

[Apoptosis]

Cooler Master ATCS 840 Case Review

The Cooler Master ATCS 840 case is one of the newest available from Cooler Master for enthusiasts. The aluminum construction not only allows for a lighter weight but complements the thermal design seamlessly with three 230mm fans, dedicated air duct for graphics card cooling and HDD cooling module for superb cooling. Take a look at the article and see if this full tower case and see if your wish list of features was fulfilled!

The Cooler Master ATSC 840 is an enthusiast-level case that may be large in stature but is also equally large in features, quality and usability. If you are in the market for a new case for your Christmas hardware goodies, I highly recommend giving this case serious consideration.

Article Title: Cooler Master ATCS 840 Case Review
Article URL: http://www.legitreviews.com/article/859/1/
Pricing At Time of Print: $240.99 plus shipping

[Zertz]

Great review, I have one as well and I love it

[Skippman]

When I first looked at the picture I wondered what the big deal was until I read FZ1's review.

That things MASSIVE. Just looking at the picture for the motherboard tray and you get a sense of what a beast you're dealing with here. Makes my 1200 look small! I do love the ability to install the radiator internally if watercooling is your taste. I also like the smooth finish to the exterior paint.

Still a beast of a case though.

[gwolfman]

I just got this case in silver and I love it. Here are some of my thoughts...

Looking at the top, you'll see the two massive 230mm fans that vent warm air out of the top of the case which is where the warmer are will naturally collect in the case. The panel for these fans easily slides off for cleaning although there are no dust filters here.

I am saddened about the absence of the dust filters here. Why did you not run any temp results? I flipped my two top fans around so it's blowing air in instead of out. I don't know if this helps, but it helps push air out the back and video cards better without using the attached VGA blower. They are nice and quite too.

This brings us to one of the best features of this case and one I cannot understand why more cases don't utilize. The cutaway motherboard tray with easy access to the back of the CPU area on the motherboard for switching out coolers without taking off the whole motherboard. Paradise for a tinkerer or those that switch out parts often!

Agreed 100%!!! I love this feature. I also have the q-connector deal with my ASUS motherboard so it makes it easy to remove the board with regards to the front panel connectors. I don't have to remember where every LED/switch cable goes.

Having a modular PSU helps a lot as well.

I got one just for this reason, it's very helpful.

For water cooling, you can also install the radiator near the top where the fans are so there are a lot of options for making modifications.

Do you have to use any special radiator or will any standard 2 x 120mm radiator work? Will a 3 x 120mm work? Is it possible to keep the large fans in and a radiator or do the fans have to be pulled out?

One question:
[*]What are the screw holes for in the back of the HDD cage? Does Cooler Master offer an option to install a SATA hot-swap backplane there? I didn't see one on the website.

My major gripe about the case:
[*]The weakly thought up method of attaching the drive bay covers. I popped one out simply moving my case and slightly bumping it. Also, my 2 year old pushed out 3 at a time quite easily with very little effort. I had to take off the side panel just to reinsert it correctly. This implementation is horrible!

Btw, fingerprints show up too (perhaps not as easily noticeable).

[FZ1]

Why did you not run any temp results?

I didn't really have another case to compare it to. I have the Stacker 830 but I kinda gutted it for water-cooling so no good comparisons there. I have seen other sites that did do some temp measuring and it was about average for temps. Most cases, unless they are really poorly designed should maintain temps fairly well and they will all be within a few degrees of each other.

Do you have to use any special radiator or will any standard 2 x 120mm radiator work? Will a 3 x 120mm work? Is it possible to keep the large fans in and a radiator or do the fans have to be pulled out?

I think just about any 2x120 rad will fit, 3x120 might but you'll probably exceed the mesh screen length. If you need that much cooling it's something you'll probably want to mount externally anyway. You'll always get better performance externally because ambient is almost always lower than the case temp. Yes, the existing fans at the top have to come out first.

One question:
[*]What are the screw holes for in the back of the HDD cage?

I talk about this and there is a pic too - you can mount 2 120mm fans on the back of the HDD cage

Does Cooler Master offer an option to install a SATA hot-swap backplane there? I didn't see one on the website.

Not that I am aware of.

My major gripe about the case:
[*]The weakly thought up method of attaching the drive bay covers. I popped one out simply moving my case and slightly bumping it. Also, my 2 year old pushed out 3 at a time quite easily with very little effort. I had to take off the side panel just to reinsert it correctly. This implementation is horrible!

Yeah, they can pop out pretty easy. I don't have little ones running around poking at it so not much of a problem here. They use the same design in a lot of their cases although on the Stacker 830 they were a little harder to remove.

[gwolfman]

One question:
[*]What are the screw holes for in the back of the HDD cage?

I talk about this and there is a pic too - you can mount 2 120mm fans on the back of the HDD cage.

I have added a single fan to the back of the hard drive cage to assist with the airflow since I have three hard drives installed but you can actually add two 120mm fans as shown below.

I don't mean in the location where we can see the two 120mm fans as in the picture on the right (with the plastic mounting brace for the fans), but on the side of the HDD cage where the SATA data/power connections need to be made there are some screw holes. The threading didn't look like it was for fans... unless the plastic fan brace can be moved to that side as well... ??? Anyways, it would be nice if they release a backplane in the near future.