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Cooler
Master ATC-210C Aluminium Case
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Author : Wayne
Date : 24th September 2002
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Introduction :
When the time comes for you to upgrade your case
often one of the first considerations is whether to go for plastic,
steel or aluminium, at least for those who take their PC buying
decisions seriously it is. Plastic tends to be the cheapest
of the three but it's also usually not too clever structurally.
Steel on the other hand is usually much more rigid but it's
also much heavier, no fun if you regularly hump your case around
to LAN parties. It also needs a paint finish to look good and
paint as I'm sure you know scratches. The third alternative
is aluminium, it's as light as or lighter than plastic, it looks
good with a variety of surface finished, it helps to dissipate
heat and it looks just plain cool if done properly but as with
the other two options there's a downside and the downside is
the price. There are some budget aluminium cases on the market
and as a rule corners are cut to reduce the price, this is one
area where the old adage"you get what you pay for"
really does seem to hold true.
Cooler Master actually introduced the very first
aluminium case to the market and there's no doubting their pedigree
or their willingness to try new things, take their heat pipe
coolers for instance. Okay so their first heat pipe cooler was
a bit of a disaster but like all good companies they learnt
from their mistakes, went back to the drawing board and followed
it up with the HHC-001, one of the best copper AMD heat sinks
on the market. To some extent they've done the same with their
aluminium cases, the early offerings were supreme quality but
they lacked imagination. They were rather square, rather industrial
looking slabs of alloy that had a fairly limited market appeal,
they certainly never floated my boat but few aluminium cases
do even today.
The biggest criticism I hear leveled at Cooler
Master is price. Cooler Master aluminium cases tend to be a
touch more expensive than some of their rivals and the stock
reason given for this price discrepancy is "quality",
a vague word that's often muttered but rarely qualified with
an example of just what "quality" might mean in real
terms. In the case of Cooler Master the word "quality"
does actually mean something, it means all their cases are built
from 6063T5 aluminium alloy which, compared to some of the alloys
widely used in aluminium case production is a very expensive
option. In fact 6063T5 alloy costs approximately six times as
much as steel. It also means that Cooler Master have ditched
the idea of working with 1mm thick aluminium as used by some
rivals, all of the case frame structure is made from minimum
2mm thick alloy and often thicker depending on the model. The
fascia of the cases is also an area given special consideration.
Cooler Master case fascias start at 5mm thick and range all
the way up to 10mm again depending on the model in question.
Even the acrylic used is specially selected to be scratch and
shatter resistant while still maintaining to look and clarity
of glass. Finally Cooler Master design their cases with the
aim of them being 95% air tight to stop in the inflow of dust
and other pollutants. These are all factors in the slightly
higher price you pay for a Cooler Master case but as so often
happens these factors are rarely aired as the reason for it.
Well, with that out of the way let's move on to
the subject of today's review. On the bench we have the Cooler
Master ATC-210, a rather classy looking aluminium case with
a front acrylic door available in either green or blue and with
or without frosting. Personally I prefer the frosted look and
that's just what we have here in green. Let's take a meander
through the case specs first :
| Material: |
All
Aluminum & Acrylic |
| Drive
Bay: |
5.25' Bays (Exposed) x 4
3.5' Bays (Exposed) x 2
3.5' Bays (Shadow) x 4 |
| Slot
Bracket: |
7 |
| M/B
Type: |
Standard
ATX |
| I/O
Bracket: |
Standard
ATX |
| Power
Supply: |
Optional
Power Supply Unit ( 300W,400W PS2 redundant) |
| Cooling: |
Optional
power supply unit
one 80 mmx 80 mmx 25 mm Fan attached top panel (Exhaust)
one 80 mmx 80 mmx 25 mm Fan attached back panel (Exhaust) |
| USB
port: |
Dual
standard USB front port |
| Weight: |
Case
:6.5 Kg
Power Supply : 2 Kg |
| Dimension: |
520
mm(L) x 196 mm(W) x 452 mm(H) |
| ALL
LISTED POWER SUPPLIES ARE AMD AND INTEL APPROVED |
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