Coolermaster Wavemaster

[imported_croc]

This case seems to fill my needs. Any drawbacks?

 

[RallyMaster]

80mm fans are loud and do not move very much air.

 

[dawza]

Horrible cooling capabilities in stock form due to lack of adequate intake vents and only 1x 80mm exhaust. Can be made decent with some modifications.

It is absolutely beautiful, though, and as well-crafted as they come.

 

[Zepper]

Yup, beautiful case with old-school cooling. You can add an 80 to 120mm fan adapter to the back of the outside (remove any restrictive grill material if present). That will help cooling a lot with minimal or no cutting. You can also mod the front for better cooling - perhaps up to 120mm fan. However, if you don't want to mod the front, perhaps you could cut a port into the bottom of the case about where the case speaker is (that can be moved anywhere there is room). Just cutting a hole like one for a 120mm fan would help ventilation a lot. You could cover it with a regular fan filter. jab-tech.com or svc.com have good selections of fan filters.

.bh.

 

[RallyMaster]

996GT2 fitted the front of his Wavemaster with two 92 mm Panaflos (I think they're Chinaflos?) and made a 120mm hole on the side of his case to cool the video card. That's some of the popular ways to improve airflow.

 

[Ken90630]

This subject has come up a lot on this site over the last couple years. From where I sit:

I've had my WaveMaster for a couple years now. The cooling is not "horrible," nor are the stock fans objectionably noisy. Sitting down at my feet, I can barely tell my computer is on.

Cooling adequacy with this case depends almost entirely on how hot your components get. Unless you're running a scorching hot video card and a high-end P4 CPU, and several Raptor HDs or something, the cooling should be fine. A common misconception on this site is that gobs of room-temp air must be drawn into a computer for "proper cooling." This is utter nonsense in all but the most extreme systems. Components like vid cards and CPUs (or multiple HDs) give off heat, and the amount of heat is what it is. You don't need to cool those components -- you simply need to evacuate the heat they produce quickly and efficiently. Intake air does not do much towards evacuating the heat these components produce -- it merely mixes that hot air with room temp air that is likely to be a bit cooler, thus lowering the overall in-case temp a little (theoretically). But that should not be necessary -- the inside of computer cases is quite small (obviously), and if you have fans blowing the hot air out within a second or two from the time the component gave it off, what's the problem?

Since the stock config of a WaveMaster only has one 80mm exit fan at the rear, the key to making the WaveMaster an efficient "exiter or hot air" (for lack of a better term) is, IMHO, to remove the USB port assy from the top of the case and put a fan there, blowing outwards. In WaveMaster circles, this is called the "blowhole mod." Hot air rises (simple physics here), and putting a fan in the top will obviously blow the hot air, that naturally migrates there from the CPU. vid card and HD(s), right out of the case -- almost instantly. The bracket you need for the blowhole mod comes with the case, so all you need to provide is the extra fan. I use a Panaflo 12L (same as an L1A), but you can use a 12M if you want extra ooomph (but with some extra noise). It takes about five minutes to do the mod.

SVC sells (or used to) a front panel USB port thingy that you can put in a 3 1/2" drive bay like where the second floppy drive would go. That's what I used to replace the USB ports that normally reside in the top of the WaveMaster. Works perfectly.

I actually like the low intake of air from the front fans. They bring a little bit of air in, but not so much that you have to clean the dust out of your case every month or clean fan filters constantly. My rig runs cool and quietly and I've never had a heat problem.

IMHO, the case is great. There are some things I don't like, like the use of 80mm fans instead of 120mm ones (or at least 92mm), and drive rails for the HD and optical drives would have been nice, but overall the build quality and "fit & finish" are so excellent that the pros outweigh the cons. But hey, to each his own. If you're running scorching components and want wind tunnel cooling, the WaveMaster is not for you. Otherwise, I think you'll be happy with it. Just my $.02.

 

[Zepper]

In order to put a bigger fan in the back, the whole case would have to be made wider because of the mobo drawer. That is why I suggest the fan adapter - easiest way to up the air flow. Here's how I used the idea before and have done the same on my current PSU.
http://www.techimo.com/photo/showphoto.php?photo=9079


That's only 80 to 92 but an 80 to 120 should work just as well.

.bh.

 

[Ken90630]

Originally posted by: Zepper
In order to put a bigger fan in the back, the whole case would have to be made wider because of the mobo drawer.

I wish they'd have just made the case a little wider and used 120mm fans. Who would care if the case were an inch or two wider? I also kinda thought CoolerMaster might listen to the suggestions/criticisms of people like us, and come out with a WaveMaster II or something that's wider and uses 120mm fans, but the case has remained unchanged since it came out several years ago. It would seem like such a simple and inexpensive design improvement to make, but they've just dug their heels in and chosen to ignore us. Disappointing, but it's their company and they can do what they want, I guess.

Since the perfect case still doesn't exist, we're stuck prioritizing and buying accordingly.

 

[RallyMaster]

The Wavemaster II = Mystique 631...but it has nowhere close to the quality of the Wavemaster. On some earlier images, the Mystique 631 even says Wavemaster II on the door...

 

[Ken90630]

Originally posted by: RallyMaster
The Wavemaster II = Mystique 631...but it has nowhere close to the quality of the Wavemaster. On some earlier images, the Mystique 631 even says Wavemaster II on the door...

Yeah, I know, but I wasn't including it 'cuz, like you say, it's nowhere near the quality of the original WM. It was a poser, and originally calling it a WM was kind of blashphemous. :laugh:

I was hoping for a WMII that was the same design & build quality as the original, but with the improvements that I and many others expressed that we'd like to see made. But CM apparently hasn't been interested in acting on customer feedback. It's a shame, 'cuz 120mm fans, drive rails, and rubber HD mounts would make it almost the perfect case. Throw in an option for larger fan intake holes on the front and more powerful fans (for hardcore users who just insist on having wind-tunnel airflow) and they'd sell a gazillion of them (even if the improvements added a few $$ to the price).

 

[Zepper]

When the Wavemaster first came out it was a pretty expensive case so making the whole thing a couple of inches wider to accomodate a fan would have bumped the price up even more. Yup the Mystiques are nice cases but aren't in the same league with the WM. The Praetorians are more on the same level with most of the same drawbacks.

.bh.

 

[Ken90630]

Originally posted by: Zepper
When the Wavemaster first came out it was a pretty expensive case so making the whole thing a couple of inches wider to accomodate a fan would have bumped the price up even more. Yup the Mystiques are nice cases but aren't in the same league with the WM. The Praetorians are more on the same level with most of the same drawbacks.

.bh.

Yeah. I would have just liked to have seen 2 models of the WaveMaster -- the original and an improved one (a legit "WMII" or whatever) that costs a few $$ more but has improvements like I mentioned. That way, for those willing to spend the extra $$, at least the case would be available. A "basic" and a "deluxe" model to choose from, in other words.

 

[imported_croc]

A rather moot point, as it seems that in AUS I can no longer get the wavemaster.

I have four criteria for a case.

1. It needs to have a flat top.
2. It needs a removable MB tray.
3. The door needs to swing to the right, or to have no door.
4. It needs to be aluminium.

I am now looking for a preterorian, but don't have any hope.

I can make the case have better airflow, I cannot make an antec weigh less.

 

[Zepper]

Croc,
The Coolermaster Mystique 631 meets all of your criteria except for the mobo drawer. That feature is not common at least partly because a `120mm fan won't fit a normal sized drawer and everyone wants a 120mm exhaust fan. The only case that I know of that meets all your criteria is the Silverstone TJ-09 - super pricey.

.bh.