Cooler Master Cavalier 3 Mid-Tower Case

Reviews: Cases

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Brian Kristensen
Kurtis
Cooler Master
Dec. 1, 2004

Specifications

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Inside The Case

Overview

Inside the Cavalier 3, there are five external 5.25" bays and five 3.5" bays, one of which is external. In front of the bottom three 3.5" bays is an 80mm intake fan. As mentioned earlier, there is a 120mm exhaust fan at the rear of the case. Both the drive bays and the PCI slots feature tool-less locking mechanisms.

Drive Bays

The first thing that caught my eye when opening the case was the drive bays. All of the bays feature a tool-less locking mechanism extremely similar to, if not exactly like the ones in the Kingwin KT-424 we reviewed in October. The locking mechanisms are made of plastic and are fairly easy to use. Once the drive is in place, simply slide the mechanism forward and push the latch down. This feature doesn't require any screws or tools on the opposite side of the bays and is able to securely hold the drives in place. While they may be rather unsightly, they do the job well for those who can't stand screwing in every device. There are some components, such as fan controllers and other front bay devices that do not extend far enough to work with the tool-less lock. For these, you still have the ability to use screws to secure the devices. Unlike the KT-424, I had no problems installing drives in any of the bays.

While I talk about it later during installation, I would like to mention that behind the plastic drive bay plates, there are metal plates which have been partially stamped out of the chassis. They are left there to help reduce EMI (which is hardly a threat with computers these days), but require that you bend and twist them until they break off and can be a bit of a nuisance.

Wires

There are several wires inside the case that stem from the front panel. There are the usual motherboard headers for the power buttons and LEDs as well as the wires for the front USB, Firewire and audio ports; all of which plug into the motherboard instead of exiting the back of the case and plugging into the existing ports.

PCI Slots and I/O Shield

Now to the PCI slots and rear I/O shield which were briefly mentioned earlier. Sadly, this is where the true budget aspect of the case begins to shine through. It isn't a happy, shimmering shine either; more of a dull, grey, depressing shine. As I said, the PCI slot covers and I/O shield are physically part of the chassis. Instead of completely stamping out and removing them during the machining process, Cooler Master decided to forgo a snap-in I/O shield and reusable PCI slot covers to save a few bucks and force you to manually break the metal seal to permanently remove the shield and covers. While the shield itself is generally removed and tossed aside with any case (as most motherboards come with their own designed specifically for their I/O port configuration), it would be nice to remove and replace the PCI slot covers as you swap out and rearrange your add-in cards. Cooler Master did include one, yes I said one, removable PCI cover. How nice of them!

On to a more positive topic, the PCI slots feature a unique tool-less design to replace the screws used to hold add-in cards in place. Through my experience, I have never found a tool-less design for PCI slots that I would favor over thumbscrews. However, the tool-less setup in the Cavalier 3 is the best I have seen. They are basically a little clamp which clicks into place via a plastic tab. To open the mechanism, simply press the tab down and the clamp opens up. While they are made out of plastic, they do a good job of holding the cards in place. They do budge a little under stress (if a card simply doesn't sit perfect) but manage to stay in place. Unlike some other tool-less designs, these clamps do not get in the way of taller or awkward card sizes. If you prefer to use the tried and true method, the clamps can be removed and cards can be installed with screws.

Cooling

As we have already discovered, there is a single 80mm intake fan located in front of the 3.5" bays and one 120mm exhaust fan on the back of the case. The decision to go with a 120mm exhaust fan is generally a good idea. It allows for more airflow and the ability to reduce the fan speed and still push plenty of air with less noise. Unfortunately the front intake fan does not have a filter to prevent dust from getting in your machine. Also, as I mentioned earlier, the front air intake vent is located on the bottom of the case. While there is plenty of clearance for the incoming air when the case is on a desk or other flat surface, when placed on the floor carpeting can severely reduce the ability of the 80mm fan to pull in air, if not render it useless.

Considering the 80mm intake fan, 120mm exhaust fan, and a power supplies exhaust fan, there is an apparent lack of balance between the air being sucked in the case and the air being pulled out of the case. Especially considering the fact that the exhaust fan is much larger than the intake and will push more air, there is an overall negative air pressure system inside the case. What does this mean? Because more air is being pulled out than sucked in, the negative pressure causes air to be sucked into the case any way possible, not just through the front intake. While the lack of an intake fan filter lets dust in anyway, there is another concern with the path of the airflow through the case. If sufficient air can not be pulled from the front intake, the air may enter through other gaps such as the PCI slots or seems between the panels of the case. When this happens, the air may not follow a path through the hard drives then over the memory and CPU.

While most computers wouldn't have a real problem with this airflow, high-end and overclocked components may reach uncomfortable temperatures. With all of that being said, the cooling setup isn't great, but should be fine for most systems. I have had a Pentium 4 2.4c, ABIT IC7-MAX3 and Radeon X800 Pro in this case on the floor as well as on a desk for a couple weeks now and haven't had any problems with overheating.

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Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: First Impressions
Page 3: Inside the Case
Page 4: Quality Check
Page 5: Conclusion

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1 User Comment

1 - Posted by ballista on March 1, 2005 - 9:47 pm

How did you get the front panel off the cavalier 3? I have one and that sucker is impossible to get off, I need to take that cheap intake fan and put a higher flow fan in its place.

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