my review of coolermaster wavemaster

rocadelpunk

Diamond Member
Jul 23, 2001
5,589
1
81
well I'll just give you the obligatory crappy pics i took : (, sorry I suck.

Note: this case is the sexiest thing ever, I wish I could take some decent pics of it, but only seeing it in real life does it justice.

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pros:
Very roomy, I had so much space to work with between the mobo and drives

Speaking of space there's (5 int.) 3.5 bays, (1 ext.) 3.5 bay, and (4 ext.) 5.25 bays the door clooses by magnet and it's very sturdy.

Very sexy looking, brushed aluminum is georgous, design is sweet, the blue led and hdd light are quite nice, it's pretty visible during daylight and at night it's nice but not obnoxious, very nice touch.

While having lots of room, the case isn't any bigger than the normal midtower case, it's heavier than most aluminum cases, but still only 22lbs
This case is very quiet, with my older system it was a jet : P, the coolermaster fans supplied are low noise. I have 5 fans going (3 of the coolermaster thing and 2 for the psu) and 1hsf (volcano2 w/sunon 60mm fan @5000rpm), I can bearly hear the computer over the fan for my room...I think if i put a zalman on the proc it'd probably be completely silent : ).

The pci slots have thumbscrews...something I haven't had a chance to use before, but it's a very nice addition, I remember having to fish for screws that had fallen when installing pci cards : \.

I had a removable mobo tray in my last case...this one is much better designed, it slides out instead of having to like hook it in (ala sidepanels are held in), and makes installing mobo a breeze...I dunno how'd I do it without removable mobo, it'd be such a pain in the ass.

The directions were simple and straightforward

Cons:
The psu was a tight fit, but once you get it in it's very flush.

The case being all aluminum can scratch easily, I noticed this when installing the psu (luckily it has the little atx backing so you can't see the scratches anymore, but I imagine that's how it goes for all alu. cases.

price: 140 at newegg (something around there) 160 including shipping


conclusion:

A tad bit expensive, moreso because it doesn't come with a psu (wasn't a concern for me though), but it's such an awesome case. It was such a joy to work with, it's incredibly spacious and roomy, the design is unlike any other, its build is top notch. For the extra 40+ bucks you'd pay for something generic that everybody else has, I'd definitely recommend this case...at least till everybody starts making knock offs : D.

I'm not gonna give it a rating, because all I've ever had to work with is crappy compaq/gateway cases and some crappy overclocker case I bought when I was a noob, circa 3 yrs ago.

p.s. this was a birthday present, so thanks dad <3, not that he'll read this : P.
 

lchyi

Senior member
May 1, 2003
935
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Thanks, very nice. It seems like it's getting popular pretty quickly because of it's unorthodox front bezel. But it looks so sexy. Props to Coolermaster for making sexy cases!
 

rocadelpunk

Diamond Member
Jul 23, 2001
5,589
1
81
yah i'm hoping the cost will deter people away :D, so not everybody has it. haha. I'm selfish.
 

Blooz1

Senior member
Jan 14, 2003
621
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WHOO! You've got your work cut out for ya trying to tame that "spaghetti factory" of wires in there!

I think that's a very nice design, but I always wondered about the placement of the extra ports on top where a blowhole fan would normally go. I'm sure you'll figure out methods to tame everything, though.
 

rocadelpunk

Diamond Member
Jul 23, 2001
5,589
1
81
yah : (

i need some wire loom and rounded cables, i dunno where the ones i rounded dissapeared to : \.

not like the thing is gonna be on display though ; D
 

beatle

Diamond Member
Apr 2, 2001
5,661
5
81
It's got 4 fans. 2 in front, 1 in rear, 1 in top blowhole. :cool: Only drawback I see is that they're only 80mm and if you don't like doors. :eek:
 

mechBgon

Super Moderator<br>Elite Member
Oct 31, 1999
30,699
1
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She's a beauty :cool: Now, surely there's a place you can hide the wires that aren't in use. How about on the hidden side of the 5.25" cage? And how about routing your power wiring down that hidden area, and then bring it out to meet the drives? If there's enough length to the rooftop cables, you could maybe route them back there too.