CoolerMaster CMStacker 830

Craig Simms finds bliss in a case.

Okay, excuse us while we wank lyrical here. The CoolerMaster CMStacker 830 is perhaps the single best case we’ve ever used.

Learning from the previous stacker’s few mistakes, this baby’s internals are now entirely aluminium in construction – well, except for the removable 3.5” drive tray, which for some reason is still constructed from the banished steel of yore, and can carry only four drives. This is, however, nicely offset by being able to mount it anywhere within the 5.25” bays at the front.

The number of 5.25” drive bays has been reduced from eleven down to nine, to create a more streamlined case. This reduction is offset by one of the most wonderful bay faceplate removal systems we’ve seen – two securing brackets on either side are flipped out, then the finely mesh filtered faceplates are removed by pushing in the plastic clasp on either side. Genius.

The door is a new addition, but if you don’t like it, it can be easily removed. Also easily removed is the motherboard tray, complete with handle, clip lock and the smoothest slide action this side of Bill’s butt. Or so he tells us, anyway.

In terms of cooling, 120mm fans are placed at the back and front, and there is a slot for a third at the top. A transparent, removable plastic door inside the case also serves as a framework to mount four more 120mm fans to cool pretty much all of your components. You can also add in Coolermaster’s ‘cross flow’ fan if you’re that way inclined, available as a separate product and designed to spread air out over the motherboard.

An entire BTX ‘upgrade’ kit is included if you’re interested, and within the front panel are two USB ports, a firewire port, and the requisite microphone and headphone jacks. Two more USB ports crown the case, next to the reset button and the power button.

Noise could be a concern to silent PC enthusiasts, as there is a lot of mesh on the outside and nothing to stop the whine of fans from passing through – however this should also excite cooling enthusiasts and those that choose to master the art of bling.

About the only downsides we can find are the side panels can be a bit of a bugger to get back on, and the PCI slot covers are still held in by thumbscrews rather than a clasp release system. But this is minor whining in the face of so many positives. On top of the well designed, easy to play with interior the exterior is aesthetically sweet. A top polished product.

Judging by the last stacker, which we loved so much we set it on fire for the cover of issue 54, we’d have to melt this one into a soggy mess to do it justice. Three thumbs up.