- Back to homepage
- Related articles
  Related articles

Cooler Master AMMO 533 ATX Case Review

Cases & PSU/Cases by jmke @ 2006-02-01

Cooler Master jumps into the themed pre-modded chassis segment; does the AMMO have the ammunition to take out its opponents? We take a close look at its plug and play features, check out the thermal and noise performance and show you the ins and outs

Performance & Conclusion

Let there be light

The front fan is equipped with a Blue LED, it’s not too bright or disturbing as long as you don’t have the bottom of the case at eye level, but who does?

Madshrimps (c)

Performance tests

in-take temperature was measured at 22°C for all tests, but temp fluctuations and user error can account up to 1-2°C of inaccuracy in the obtained results. Please keep this in mind. If I got questionable results the test was restarted.

Noise level was recorded with SmartSensor SL4001A. The lowest dBA reading in the test room was 32.5dBA with everything turned off!

System was stressed by running Real-Time HDR (VGA) 2*Prime95 (CPU) and Sisoft Sandra HDD burn-in test for at least 30min or until temperatures stabilized. Speedfan was used to log maximum obtained temperatures from VGA, Chipset(Motherboard) and CPU. I placed a sensor on the side of the HDD (outside the airflow path) to measure HDD temperatures.

Arctic Silver kindly send us their “Lumière” thermal testing compound which has the same colour as Ceramique, but only a break in time of 30min!

My first test configuration is with the CPU at default speeds, and I compared no case fan versus 1x120mm fan at 12v:

Madshrimps (c)

Given that the hard disk is installed right in front of the in-take fan it’s logical that it benefits most from the added airflow. The video card temp also sees a nice drop; the overall system temperature goes down by ~4°C. The CPU is less affected as it is situated outside the direct airflow path of the in-take fan.

In my second test I turn up the heat by overclocking the P4 to 3Ghz and increasing the vcore. I also measured the impact on performance and noise when adding a second fan; I added the Papst 4412 F/2GLL (review) as it offers a good noise/performance balance. Both fans are running at full speed (12v).

Since the side panel has 2 large ventilation grills I also did an extra round of tests where I duck taped those holes shut to see how it would impact performance and noise. In the graphs I’ve marked the results with this configuration by adding the (SP) tag.

Madshrimps (c)

The holes in the side panel do not affect the performance of the case negatively, there’s even a small drop in overall system temperature. Adding a 120mm fan in the rear has the largest impact on the CPU temperature.

While adding more fans is always good for increased airflow, it should not come at a high price in the noise department. I measured the noise from 70cm away from the left side panel, and 75cm away from the front.

Chart Legend: F=Front Fan / FR=Front&Rear Fan / (SP)= Side Panel Holes Blocked

Madshrimps (c)

When blocking the holes in the side panel there’s a slight drop in noise, hardly noticeable. The extra Papst fan is not noticeable in these tests. With all the case fans off the system is 5dBA over ambient level, powering up the case fans further increases this difference to ~9dBA. I would say that the Cooler Master in-take fan is surely not loud and at lower speeds it goes into the quiet realm. It will be the others components that you choose to install into this case which will decide how loud your AMMO box turns out.

Conclusion

Usually Cooler Master leads, the others follow, but this time around it’s them who follow the popular "themed" chassis idea set by other manufactures. But they do not only improve over what’s currently out there, they make this LAN box stand out from the crowd due to well selected touches of class. That and its very attractive price of ~$75/€70 (USA/DE, NL/BE) make it an worthy LAN party ready solution.

While the design might not be for everyone, Cooler Master gives its customers the advantage of choice; if you don’t like the pre-mod look there are plenty of high quality products in their line-up.

There were only 2 gripes I had with the AMMO, the aluminum finishing on the front panel got slightly bend after repeatedly reinstalling the cover and at the right side of the case I encountered a few sharp edges in the 5.25” bay area.

If you are looking for a pre-mod retail enclosure with excellent cooling, easy installation and useful features this AMMO 533 has your name written all over it.

PRO
Good looking Pre-mod to fit a its theme
Very easy installation
Good overall finishing
Excellent cooling performance
Silent 120mm fan includedµ
Competitively priced

CON
Handle front cover and area around 5.25” bay with care.
Pre-Mod, no dremel/painting fun

Where to buy/Product Page?

Question/Comments forum thread

All information and graphics contained in Madshrimps are sole property of the Madshrimps crew and may not be reproduced or copied in any manner without written permission from us.