BlueSmoke - Review : Cooler Master ATC-210

		Date	: Apr 5th, 2002
		Category	: Cases
		Manufacturer	: Cooler Master
		Author	: Tom Smith

Today, computer cases say more about a person and the system that they have put together. Back a few years ago, basically the only computer cases that you could get were the standard beige and occasionally you could find a black case. Now unless you painted it the choices were limited. Also the choices were limited in materials. You got to choose from steel, plastic, or a combination of both. The problem with the cases was they kept heat in. Now granted color really does not have anything to do with that.

Fast forward to the present day... Now you can still the steel and plastic cases in a variety of colors. Over the last 2 years aluminum has come in to the computer case market. Lian Li, Coolermaster, and some others are now sporting some of the top of the line aluminum computer cases.

So what are the advantages of aluminum over steel or plastic? Well for one with the newer and hotter PC components they tend to dissapate heat quicker than steel or plastic, and in my opinion they look better. For the LANners out there they are also considerably lighter than the steel counterparts.

With that said, today we are taking a look at the Cooler Master ATC-210 aluminum PC case.

The UPS dude came and delivered this gem to my door. When I picked up the box I almost fell over backwards, as I was expecting the box to be heavy. My wife though it to be quite funny.

The shipping material was sufficient to protect the case from minor damage while in transit. There was about 3 inches of space between the case and the box.

OK enough about the packaging. Let's go on the the good stuff. Now with the case finally out of the box, here is what you get.

The fans included in the case are fairly efficient at removing the heat. Check out the door. It will save me some what from having to mod my my drives.

The case has a handy slide out motherboard tray with these plastic runners. This is supposed to reduce friction while installing and removing the tray. Another nice feature is there are thumbscrews everywhere. No need for a screwdriver. The power supply is held in by the use of an adapter that is attached to the back of the case. There are two adapters included. Notice the lack of a front intake fan... The sides of the case are very thin. Beware that they are very tight on the case. To take off the sides was no problem but, it will take some finesse to get them back on. To ease the strain and reduce the chance of me bending the side panels I bent the guides on the inside of the panels out a little. Much eaiser to get back on.

First I took the whole case apart. I slid out the motherboard tray and attached the stand offs to where they needed to be.

Next I installed the Enermax 365 Watt power supply. So here's where we run into some issues. The power supply is a royal pain to install this way. So I installed it from inside the case and then attached it to the adapter plate. Notice what it did to the upper motherboard tray guide. Granted this did make the tray slide in a little tighter, but not so much that you could notice.

Installing the 5 1/4" drives was a snap. I personally would like to have seen the case have rails for quick removal, but the current system works. The same applies to the 3 1/2" drives. Again drive rails would be a great asset.

Now while installing the hard drives you will notice that the front panel connectors and LEDs are there. Be aware of how close you are to them. I think that I may have busted the power LED when I installed the second hard drive. Not to worry though I have a replacement.

So with the case complete and the sides put back on it was time to test the temps of the case.

Room temperature stayed at a constant 76 °F.

Cooler Master has a good reputation for CPU coolers and quality aluminum PC cases. The 210 is no different. With good temps with no front fan.

Aesthetically, the ATC-210 is very pleasing. The brushed aluminum case with the fogged lexan drive door is a good match.

Pros :

• Aluminum construction

• Light weight but study construction

• Aesthetically pleasing

• Quiet

• Good temperatures with no front intake fan

• 2 USB ports up front and accessible with out having to open the door

• Slide out motherboard tray

• Thumb screws every where 

• Rolled edges

Cons :

• No front intake fan

• Power supply installation is a little of a hassle

• The side panels were a little tight, may lead to a bent panel if not careful

• Hard drive mounting positions may cause damage to LEDs or Switches

• Would have liked to seen drive rails

Overall I am very happy with this case. No longer do I have a case that sounds like a military just at full throttle just to get the temperature down to a level where I want it to be. Just because the case is made out of aluminum don't let that fool you, this case is very sturdy. At no time did I notice any "flex" in the frame when I had the side panels off. The fans performed as expected, but can be upgraded. I honestly expected to see higher temperatures due to no front intake fan. That shows that they have a right to call it a passive cooling system. The door can be relocated to open on either side. Just swap the hinges around. I think that Cooler Master has another winner on their hands with this case.

With a few minor flaws that can be overlooked, avoided or worked around this is a great case. I would like to see Cooler Master put out another case like this one with more 5 1/4 bays.  This case comes Very Highly Recommended.

I would like to thank Jason at Cooler Master for sending us this case to review.