As you might have noticed on the previous page, Coolermaster didn't include a manual or a set of instructions on how to fit everything. In most cases, this would be classified under negative, but not today. First, we will try to find out if the case needs a set of instructions for a system to be assembled or not!
Installing the power supply unitWe start with installing the power supply which fits nicely into the lower right corner.
(Click to enlarge)As you can see in the second picture, there's a very small issue when trying to tighten the lower left screw. This could be solved by moving the small front panel about 0.5 to 1 centimeter to the right. This way, it'll make room for the lower left screw, but won't cover up the two screws on the right. But, as said, this is nitpicking: we were able to place the PSU without any problem!
Installing the optical/harddisk drivesThis section could actually use an instruction manual as I was a bit confused about where the harddisk storage and the optical drives had to go: on top or not. After a bit of looking at the case, I referred to the review over at
Techpowerup to see how they'd done it. Apparently, the optical drive goes on top.
(Click to enlarge)In the first two pictures you can see how both drives have to be installed. As you can see, there's enough room for a bit of airflow so the hard disk drive won't overheat. A shortcoming, in my opinion, is the amount of room available for hard disks. Although this might not sound quite logical, as an overclocker (and reviewer) I have different hard disk drivers for different operating systems. For instance, I have one drive for XP, one for Vista and one for Windows 7. This allows me to re-install operating systems without the fear of losing the operating systems I have for other reviews.
The fourth picture is how I would prefer to see the hard disk solution. The optical drive goes on the bottom of the case and above the drive there's room for more than one hard disk drive. If you increase the height of the case just a bit, even two drives can fit above each other, which would render the possibility of having 4 or maybe 6 drives jammed in this one case.
Finishing up with the system installTime to put finish up and install the motherboard, graphics card and all other necessities on top of the case.
(Click to enlarge)In line with the concept of this case, the motherboard is attached using a set of plastic studs. You can remove the platform with relative ease each time a new product has to be tested. The direction of the motherboard may be a bit strange in the beginning, at least it was for me as I'm used to leave everything point in the same direction. This can hardly be called a negative, obviously.
There is no need to any screws (at least I don't bother with them). It is taller, which means you can stack more components.
Since you reviewed the Cooler Master, would you have a go at the HSPC, too?