Cooler Master WaveMaster Mid-Tower Case

Reviews: Cases

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Kurtis Kronk
Brian
Case-Mod
May. 18, 2005

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First Impressions

As usual, Cooler Master did a wonderful job with the design of this case. If you're as fed up with pre-mod cases as I am, the simple, flowing façade of the WaveMaster will be a breath of fresh air. Rather than opting for cheap acrylic windows and tri-LED fans, Cooler Master has gone with beautiful automotive paintjobs (black, silver, blue, yellow) on an all-aluminum chassis with just a hint of lighting at the front air intake.

On the front of the case you can see that there is a door covering up all of the bay devices. The door is made of aluminum, opens towards the right, and is held shut by a magnet on the inside of the door. In case you're wondering, no the door can not be re-seated so that it opens in the other direction. Normally I tend not to like doors, but for the style offered by this one I make an exception.

Under the door you will find a large Power button, a smaller Reset button, HDD status LED, and a semi-rectangular aluminum spire!? This thick slab of aluminum sits about half an inch away from the actual structure of the case, leaving some room for air to get in through the holes behind it. Additionally, two blue LEDs are mounted in the fan intake area to create a cool blue glow in the general area. The effect is pretty cool, I must say, but if you don't like it you don't have to plug the LEDs in. Going a step further, you could do a quick mod and swap out the LEDs for a different color if you wanted, but I'm sure you knew that!

The top panel holds a spring-loaded door which covers up a nice I/O interface (mic, headphone, firewire and two USB ports). This can be removed and an 80mm exhaust fan can be mounted in its place, but more on that later.

The left and right panels of the case are unremarkable, except for the fact that they each have a small "handle" towards the rear of the case to aid in their removal.

The back of the WaveMaster is where you will find a couple of really nice features: the removable motherboard tray and the rear-loading power supply cage. To install a PSU, all you have to do is unscrew the bracket, insert the PSU, and then screw the bracket to the PSU and then to the case. As you would expect, the mobo tray and side panels are fastened with thumbscrews. The motherboard tray looks pretty ordinary from the outside with the usual PCI brackets, I/O shield and a single 80mm exhaust fan.

Opening the Case

Initially, when I tried to remove the front panel of the case, I was unsuccessful in my attempts. Cooler Master did not include any instructions on removing the front panel, making things more difficult than they should have been. However, I did finally figure out how to remove the front panel with the aid of a 5/64 allen wrench, which Cooler Master did not include with the case for some reason. Unfortunately, getting the front panel out of my way ended up marring a small surface at the foot of the case. It is hardly a scratch, and if I didn't know it was there I probably wouldn't notice it, but still... This was probably the biggest disappointment for me with this case, as I would have expected Cooler Master to include detailed instructions for the process, as well as the allen wrench necessary to do it.

All of the front bay covers are held in place by screws on the left and right side, so you will have to remove both side panels and grab a Philips to get them out.

I would like to mention here that taking the side panels off is surprisingly difficult. For some reason they just really stick and it takes a little wiggling and more brute force to coax them away from the case. Removing them has become much easier over time, though.

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Page 2 of 4

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Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: First Impressions & Opening the Case
Page 3: Inside the Case
Page 4: Quality Check, Conclusion & Additional Images

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15 User Comments

1 - Posted by Nick on May 19, 2005 - 10:58 am

I think if Kurtis spent a little more time cleaning his room, that thing wouldnt have gotten so dirty. Can't you wipe your shoes off before coming in and rinse off after your mud bath's BEFORE you sit down at the computer? :)

2 - Posted by BCSchnei on May 19, 2005 - 12:23 pm

Great review Kurtis.

Cooler Master makes great cases. I purchased a Cooler Master case way back in 2000 and still use it today as my main home system. I don't remember the model number at the time, but it was their first all aluminium cases, and looks exacly like the Praetorian (PAC-T01) that they sell today.

5 years with one case is definetly a record for me. I have probably completly changed the hardware in it 3-4 times over the years.

I find it very interesing that except the skins and front bezel the internals of the case are exacly the same as the one I have. Actually most of their tower cases utlize the same internal design.

Cooler Master has taken a winning design for their case and are making the most out of it by making cosmetic changes to appeal to a broader audience.

I will defently be looking to Cooler Master for a BTX case when the time comes.
-BCS

3 - Posted by Kurtis on May 19, 2005 - 12:56 pm

Nick: You're asking way too much of me. my chair is lucky if i put on deodorant before sitting in it, let alone "rinsing off"? I'm allergic to soap. yes.

BCSchnei: Thanks for the feedback. :)

4 - Posted by J2T on May 19, 2005 - 2:08 pm

Yes, that is a pretty case. Its funny the innards look identical (aside from the PSU tray) to my Kingwin KT424. Its a design I like.

5 - Posted by Kurtis on May 19, 2005 - 3:13 pm

it's better quality than the Kingwin KT-424, I reviewed that previously.

6 - Posted by Guest on June 28, 2005 - 10:13 am

Dude. How can you make a conclusion about a case without taking any temperature measurements? Did you even put a system in it and turn it on? This is a useless review.

7 - Posted by Firewire on June 28, 2005 - 5:35 pm

I'll come to your rescue, even though you basted my writer on his review of the Antec Sonata II, which I think was done fine, and Antec was happy with it. But Guest Dude, there are more important things to a case review than just temperature. Ease of installation, fit and finish, and innovative features are also part of it. Kurtis did a great job of showing the readers exactly what they are getting when they open up the box, but I do concur that we should see more installation pics to highlight where problem areas could occur. Having said that, I would never buy a case that was ugly, but cooled well. I would buy a case though that cooled OK, but was very functional built well, and looked good. Madshrimpy guy got all aggro on me when I didn't take temp readings on my Antec Overture II review, but I did find some interesting results after doing so, and found it even more important when I went on to my ARIA review.

So in closing, temperatures are important, but they aren't the end all be all, but it would help to find out if the coolermaster really did produce good airflow like you said.

8 - Posted by Buffy635 on November 1, 2005 - 11:41 pm

bump

edit: ok soooooooo bumping dosnt work, if anyones in here, the mobo looks dangerously close to the mobo tray rail........?yes no?

edit: o sweet, bumping does work

9 - Posted by Kurtis on November 2, 2005 - 12:21 am

nope, no issues with the mobo tray. i've been using this case as my own personal rig since when I reviewed it (yes, i like it that much... heh)

i've swapped hardware many times in this case and no problemos

10 - Posted by Buffy635 on November 2, 2005 - 12:24 am

fantastic, thank you

11 - Posted by bothersome on December 6, 2005 - 9:25 am

I can’t be the only one who dreads having to plug in each of those tiny little connectors, squinting at the manual, reversing the image in my head, and so on… Is it asking too much to give us a standard plug? Come on, I’ll even pay the extra thirty-two cents for it… *sigh* Okay, where was I?

No you're definitely not the only one!!! Wish there was a petition to sign or something... But then again if everyone could do it then everyone would be building their own computers and we wouldn't have to build them for all of our friends... oh wait a minute... they don't pay us anyways!

12 - Posted by Dyrewolph on December 6, 2005 - 2:39 pm

they can't give you a standard plug because the pins change on each motherboard... and they can't make that standard because different motherboards give you different things you can plug into for your front panel... sorry but... you'll just have to stick with it... though perhaps, if your cable's long enough... you could do that before you put your motherboard into your case :-)

13 - Posted by bothersome on December 6, 2005 - 2:48 pm

hmmm.. the one's on the case our one thing... at least they could standardize the basic doohickies on the mb where you have to connect reset button, power button, hd light, floppy light, etc. 1 pin or 2 pin connectors. Still a pain in the arse! And then let you connect the rest ... maybe the mb manufactures should include that cable and you can use the outputs you wish and tuck the others somewhere where the sun doesn't shine...

14 - Posted by Rich on December 6, 2005 - 3:04 pm

Some boards are actually color coded which makes it a bit easier, still they are usually on the edge where lighting is ALWAYS poor.

15 - Posted by Kurtis on December 6, 2005 - 5:12 pm

dyrewolph, you are incorrect in saying they can not be standardized.

i'm not saying there should be one big fat connector for the entire front panel, just for each separate connection.

the USB plugs should always be one solid connector each. The sound part should be one standard connector. Firewire... and then of course the reset/power/speaker/hdd stuff could all be another plug... it's definitely doable, it just has to be made a standard.

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