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Review: Cooler Master TAC-T01EK Wave Master

by Ryszard Sommefeldt on 27 September 2004, 00:00

Tags: Cooler Master

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Internals

Empty shell

As you can see with the case fully stripped, there's room for five 3.5" drives, four internal and one external. External 5.25" runs to four devices, as seen in the pictures on the previous pages. The expansion capacity here isn't at fault, it's the method used for mounting the devices that I'd like to see improved upon. Other chassis manufacturers have implemented sliding mounts for devices, especially externally facing optical drives, and it's something I'd like to see Cooler Master adopt. Screw fixings aren't bad per se, they could just be improved upon, making things less fiddly.

In front of the lower few 3.5" bays are the pair of front mounted cooling fans.

Front fans

80x80x25mm, each fan is rated at 26d5a and spins at a leisurely 2500rpm. They are sleeve bearing by design and seem to be whisper quiet in operation, negating the need for a fan controller in most situations. As you can see in the shot, the Molex connectors for the fans are awkwardly sited inside the bay area, where you'd choose to mount most hard disks, to get optimal cooling for them. Getting a power connector from your PSU to that bottom area, with drives installed, is a pain.

The exhaust fan is identical.

Rear fan

Mounted as close to the ATX I/O plate as possible, the rear exhaust fan helps to dump most CPU heat out of the case as fast as possible. Powered by your motherboard on a 3-pin connector, it supports speed monitoring. No 3-pin to 4-pin Molex adaptor is supplied, something I'd liked to have seen, but is no big deal.

The last remaining internal feature of note, and one obvious from the top shot on this page, is the removable motherboard tray.

Motherboard tray

The motherboard try allows you to install your motherboard outside of the case, slotting it back into place when done. In practise it works well with the Wave Master, despite it being tough to push back in; the bottom guide rail seemed to be a little tight in a couple of spots along its length, giving cause for a good shove or two before I could slide it in any further.

Your motherboard attaches to the tray by means of little aluminium standoffs. You hand screw them in with no need for a driver to make them steadfast. I'm motherboard tray agnostic; if they're there, great, but if not it's no big deal. It does allow you to avoid resting the case on its back side though, reducing the wear and tear and possible damage.