After saving up for a really decent case with loads of room, I finally decided to get a Coolermaster ATCS 840. Yes, it is big and expensive. Fundamentally this is a great case, but it does have issues. After building the rig, which was a joy with all that room, I first noticed that the power light and HDD light were swapped. No biggie really, but a little annoying at this price.
All went well and the huge near silent 230mm fans really keep the insides cool, all very good until I tried to use the front USB ports and found only one pair was working, then I wanted to use the analogue jack out and that wasn't working either! After checking all the mobo headers were connected properly and still no joy I realised that there must be a fault in the top push to release box that houses all the front connectors. My first thougt was to try and get an RMA and get it sorted that way. then I thought of all the hassle stripping the guts out and arranging it all. No, too much hassle.
I had a good look at how the top plate and connector box was fitted and it didn't look too complex as everything was screwed together. After dismantling it I was very disappointed to see one of the USB plugs disconnected from the PCB, one problem solved. The mic and headphone sockets were a different story. The mic socket is pink in colour and the headphone socket is green, usually. Well, the sockets were those colours on the board and marked correctly by the silk screening next to them "mic" and "headphones" actually in words, not symbols. When I looked at the front panel of the front out box, the silk screening was reversed the symbols were in the wrong place!
Over £250 for a case and 1, they cant even check the silk screen printing was correct and 2, to use hot melt glue that was obviously not hot enough to glue the plugs in is very poor. All the glue fell off when touched gently!
As I now knew the jack colours were correct, I scraped off the printing on the box front with my thumbnail! Not exactly very good paint. I re glued all the plugs in properly and turned to the power and HDD leds. Both were wired with the same blue and white wire, that gives the builder a 50/50 chance of getting it wrong. Easy to rectify by swapping the leds over.
It's all back together now and it all works as it should. It's still a very good case overall apart from the black anodised brushed finish. the slightest touch with your hand, arm, or whatever leaves a white mark which is a pig to remove. I now use the mineral oil that was supplied to clean our brushed stainless steel fridge/freezer, that in very small quantities keeps it looking good.
I hope Coolermaster have sorted out these annoying problems on the later production runs, then it would be one of the very best cases ever made.
