Please help critic Coolermaster ATC 710 Case

[MGP]

I am thinking about getting the Coolermaster ATC 710 Case and have read numerous reviews on it. As the acoustics should be similar to the Chieftec Dragon enclosures (same general case design), my only concern right now is what color to get (grey/black, silver/grey) and the fact that the case does NOT have a "Reset" button or HD activity light.

For anyone who owns this case or is familiar with it, do you feel that the missing button and HD LED are major problems? How would you get your system running again if the computer hangs and a hard-reboot is the only option? Thanks for any comments regarding this case.

[Ralf Hutter]

I am thinking about getting the Coolermaster ATC 710 Case and have read numerous reviews on it. As the acoustics should be similar to the Chieftec Dragon enclosures (same general case design), my only concern right now is what color to get (grey/black, silver/grey) and the fact that the case does NOT have a "Reset" button or HD activity light.

My gaming rig lives in a Coolermaster 710. The 710 is the exact same case as the Antec SX10x0 series or any of it's many clones like the Chieftec Dragon so anything that applies to them also applies to the ATC-710. Of course the big difference is the aluminum bezel of the ATC-710. The 1/8" thick aluminum does seem to quiet the drive noise more than the plastic door of the regular SX10x0 cases but otherwise it's just eye-candy.


As far as colors go, the steel body of the case is the same color on either the black version or the gray version, it's the familiar Antec "Dark Charcoal Gray". The only difference betwee the black and gray versions of the ATC-710 is the color of the anodized front bezel. The "black" version is a very dark gray with a slight hint of brown to it. The silver version is a standard silver color. Personally, I think the silver version looks funny because the entire rest of the case is dark gray. I suppose it's a personal preference kind of thing though. Here's a pic of the front of my black 710:

For anyone who owns this case or is familiar with it, do you feel that the missing button and HD LED are major problems? How would you get your system running again if the computer hangs and a hard-reboot is the only option? Thanks for any comments regarding this case.

The missing HDD light and reset button don't bother me at all. I suppose if you wanted you could put the leads from the "power" light onto the HDD activity pins so you could see your disk activity instead of your power light. Personally, it doesn't bother me to not see any disk activity. I have 2 Barracuda IV's in this case too, so I can just barely hear them seeking in the quietest of moments. The lack of a reset button also isn't a problem at all. If you have to hard-reboot you just hold your [power] button down for over 4 seconds and your box powers off. Then just restart it. Voila.

One nice thing about this case is that the front door is reversable. Notice my picture. I keep my case on the floor to the right of my desk so it's way more convinient to have the door open to the right because it gives easier access to the drives.

[Jan Kivar]

Ralf, do You have any other Kingwin racks? I'm currently using KF23 (the one w/ three fans), and I'm eager to buy one of those black ones for my computer. The problem is, I don't know if the inner tray is compatible between these two. I tried asking Kingwin couple of times, but got no answer. [I don't really mind the color per se, but I do have enough 40 mm fans... ]

Cheers,

Jan

[Ralf Hutter]

Ralf, do You have any other Kingwin racks? I'm currently using KF23 (the one w/ three fans), and I'm eager to buy one of those black ones for my computer. The problem is, I don't know if the inner tray is compatible between these two. I tried asking Kingwin couple of times, but got no answer. [I don't really mind the color per se, but I do have enough 40 mm fans... ]

Cheers,

Jan

The Kingwin KF-21, 22 and 23's are all the same identical racks, only with 1,2 or 3 fans, respectively. I actually have about 7-8 inner trays and when I've bought each tray I've bought whatever model I've found for the cheapest price since they're all the same except for the fan count.

Those racks in that picture aren't black, they're beige and I've painted them with vinyl dye to match the case color. You should just paint yours too, it's certainly cheaper than laying out the money for new racks and black vinyl dye is available in almost every autoparts supply store.

[MGP]

Thanks Ralf, you've been quite helpful regarding the ATC 710 case. I think I will choose the black version, too (too bad I don't have the lovely black DVD/CD-RW/Floppy bezels that you have ).

P.S. Let me say this: you have been one of the most helpful members ever since I joined SPCR after reading a article in Mike Hipp's redmule.com (photo essay of Dell Optiplex). Thanks for your guidance and dedication to the SPCR Community. Your posts always include great info as well as instructive pictures. Thanks once again!

[MGP]

Those racks in that picture aren't black, they're beige and I've painted them with vinyl dye to match the case color. You should just paint yours too, it's certainly cheaper than laying out the money for new racks and black vinyl dye is available in almost every autoparts supply store.

BTW, Ralf, did you use the vinyl dye for your Pioneer DVD-ROM and PlexWriter? If so, how easy is it (risk, amount of time and $$$)?

[aphonos]

Those racks in that picture aren't black, they're beige and I've painted them with vinyl dye to match the case color. You should just paint yours too, it's certainly cheaper than laying out the money for new racks and black vinyl dye is available in almost every autoparts supply store.

BTW, Ralf, did you use the vinyl dye for your Pioneer DVD-ROM and PlexWriter? If so, how easy is it (risk, amount of time and $$$)?

Ralf Hutter may weigh in with further comments, but, for starters here is the link to the last time he stepped someone through using vinyl dye: Building First Quiet PC - Antec 3700 Questions

I assume painting your bezel would void your warranty for most companies, since the manufacturer will probably say you broke the drive during the disassembly (though that begs the question as to why LianLi, et. al. sell drive bezels to match their cases).

Here's another post where starsky used vinyl dye to paint his drives: Offtopic: Black Computer Components. Pretty good details.

[MGP]

Thanks for the links, Aphonos.

One nice thing about this case is that the front door is reversable. Notice my picture. I keep my case on the floor to the right of my desk so it's way more convinient to have the door open to the right because it gives easier access to the drives.

Ralf, I just got my Coolermaster 710 GX2 (black/grey) and found out that one of the magnets came off the door and nows sticks to the case's magnet. This is quite disheartening after spending $$$ on a nice case like this. I'm thinking of RMAing it, but as I'm short on time, I'm not sure.

In addition, since the case came with no instructions (just case and screws/keys), would you be able to tell me what the round metal ring that came in the parts bag is for and how to make the door reversible? Thanks.

[aphonos]

would you be able to tell me what the round metal ring that came in the parts bag is for and how to make the door reversible? Thanks.

You're welcome for the links. (I feel like the Ralf Hutter proxy/index )

From: Finally doing it... (another Chieftec Dragon thread)

well, my question is, why is the big black ring for??? it's kinda heavy but i dont know what it's for.
(btw theres no manual :p)

It's called a ferrite ring and it's supposed to go over the wiring (the wiring that goes from the front bezel to the MoBo) to reduce electrical noise. I never use them but I've heard of people using them to help fix specific noise problems and they seem to work.

[Jan Kivar]

Ralf, do You have any other Kingwin racks? I'm currently using KF23 (the one w/ three fans), and I'm eager to buy one of those black ones for my computer. The problem is, I don't know if the inner tray is compatible between these two. I tried asking Kingwin couple of times, but got no answer. [I don't really mind the color per se, but I do have enough 40 mm fans... ]

Cheers,

Jan

The Kingwin KF-21, 22 and 23's are all the same identical racks, only with 1,2 or 3 fans, respectively. I actually have about 7-8 inner trays and when I've bought each tray I've bought whatever model I've found for the cheapest price since they're all the same except for the fan count.

Those racks in that picture aren't black, they're beige and I've painted them with vinyl dye to match the case color. You should just paint yours too, it's certainly cheaper than laying out the money for new racks and black vinyl dye is available in almost every autoparts supply store.

Thanks Ralf. Kingwin did eventually answer my questions.

I NEED a new rack, as I'm trying to get rid of those plastic racks I still use. The KF-23 I currently use will go to my older computer (beige), and I'll get a black one for my newer computer. My supplier sells the black version (KF-21-B), and it's tad cheaper than the three-fan beige one (~5€).

As I mentioned, I'm not after the color. That's why I have a door in my case...

Cheers,

Jan

[Ralf Hutter]

Those racks in that picture aren't black, they're beige and I've painted them with vinyl dye to match the case color. You should just paint yours too, it's certainly cheaper than laying out the money for new racks and black vinyl dye is available in almost every autoparts supply store.

BTW, Ralf, did you use the vinyl dye for your Pioneer DVD-ROM and PlexWriter? If so, how easy is it (risk, amount of time and $$$)?

1) Yes, I used the SEM dye as posted in the thread that aphonos linked to. I'll post the exact color later, dye is out in the garage, it's 5 AM and I don't feel like waking up the little lady so I'll have to wait until later.

2) How easy is it? Well, it's not too bad but I'm pretty experienced with using paint from my years of modeling and I don't have an aversion to taking things apart. Both of those attributes will be helpful here.

As far as risk goes, the worst thing that could happen is that you'd break off the little tabs that hold the faceplates onto your drives. You need to remove the faces and drawer covers of your optical drives to paint them. If you look at the drives you'll see that the faces are held on with 4, 5 or 6 tabs that snap into the drive casing. All you need to do is pry them down a little and carefully pull the faceplate away from the casing. You do this after you remove the tray door. You remove the tray door by first manually opening it (stick a paperclip into the emergency eject hole to open the drawer), and them looking at how it's attached to the tray. They're snapped onto it, just take a look at how it's attached and you'll see how to remove it. Some drawers have a gasket around the back of the faceplate, remove that before painting. Don't forget to remove or mask over the clear plastic window on the faceplate before you paint. I just remove 'em, they're usually snapped in from behind, sometimes they're held in with a bit if superglue or GE silicone.

Amount of time? That depends on how nice you want the final results to look. The vinyl dye needs to go on in thin coats to look the best but it dries very quick, it's ready to repaint in about 10 minutes. 4 coats is usually enough to cover completely. After I paint I usually let it dry over night before I reassemble/reinstall. I just did a CDrw drive over the weekend, total time for the project (not including waiting overnight for the dye to completely dry) was maybe 1-1.5hrs. and I wasn't in any hurry. "Haste Makes Waste" you know.

How much $$? The vinyl dye I use costs around $7-11 per can depending where you source it from. One can will last a long, long time. I also use (at the recommendation of the paint supply place where I buy my dyes) a clear "adhesion promoter" spray prior to painting with the colors, this costs another $10 or so. I haven't seen too many other people use this though, you could probably skip it and be fine.

[Ralf Hutter]

Thanks for the links, Aphonos.

One nice thing about this case is that the front door is reversable. Notice my picture. I keep my case on the floor to the right of my desk so it's way more convinient to have the door open to the right because it gives easier access to the drives.

Ralf, I just got my Coolermaster 710 GX2 (black/grey) and found out that one of the magnets came off the door and nows sticks to the case's magnet. This is quite disheartening after spending $$$ on a nice case like this. I'm thinking of RMAing it, but as I'm short on time, I'm not sure.

In addition, since the case came with no instructions (just case and screws/keys), would you be able to tell me how to make the door reversible? Thanks.

1) I've heard of the magnets coming off before but both of mine have held on fine over the last 15+ months that I've had my case. Just glue it back on with 2-part epoxy, or maybe superglue.

2)How to make the door reversable. It's easier to do it than explain but I'll give it a shot..

Before you start, look at the door when it's open. See the hole that runs through the door on it's open side? That's where the hinge pins will go when you reverse the door. The door and mounting points on the bezel are symmetrical so you can have the hinge pins on whichever side of the door you want.

To reverse the door first you have to remove the aluminum front bezel in order to be able to remove the hinge pins from the door and move them to the other side. Open the door and the two swinging cover plates so you can get at all the screws. You'll also need to remove the lower face of the bezel (the part with the fan vent in it) so you can get to the screws that are down there too. I think there's 10 screws that actually hold the bezel to the case, plus another 3 on the lower part of the bezel faceplate that need to come out in order to remove that faceplate.

As you remove all the screws that hold the bezel on, it'll start to fall apart on you. There's really no way around this unless you have an extra set of hands to help. It's imortant to keep track of the position and orientation of the top plate and the small flaps that cover the drive mounting hardware. This stuff can end up backwards and upside down and will complicate the reassemlby so just make sure you keep all the parts in their correct postion as the bezel is falling to pieces around you. Again, extra hands are helpful but not required.

Once you get the whole shittery apart you'll see how the removable hinge pins can just be moved from the left side over to the right side, then you can put the whole mess back together and enjoy a door that opens on the correct side.

[Hardrain]

While I am a proud owner of a 710 (grey/black), I must warn you about a few things before you buy. I'm sorry it does not address your inquiries regarding the lack of a reset button and HDD LED; I've never found that to be terribly problematic:

1. There is a VERY small tolerance between the door of the case and the front of the drive bays, I'd estimate <5mm. This means that if you have any devices with parts that "stick out", in my case a 5.25" Terratec audio breakout box and a 3.5" fan controller, you will have to move or possibly modify the plastic Chieftec rail mount guides to put that device farter into the case.

2. The gigantic solid metal side panels may ring depending on the amount of vibration transmitted within your case. I found myself a little bothered by the low frequency hum and eventually covered both side panels with a vibration dampening material.

3. It's HEAVY. REALLY HEAVY. I know, most SPCR readers say, "What do you expect with a steel server case?" Fully loaded, I'd estimate my rig to weigh in at around the 50 lb. range. That said, it gives a certain sense of security knowing that your case could probably take a bullet for you.

4. (Trivial) The blue LED is VERY bright, enough so that I tinted the clear plastic to darken it a little, though I admit was nice to have as a night light on my way to the kitchen .

5. The power button is behind the door. It bugs me a little, but it's a small price to pay for a streamlined face. Having no visible buttons on the front makes the case look like a big, scary machine -- very user-unfriendly.

I'd highly recommend the case; it's the most impressive one I've ever had the pleasure of seeing firsthand. I also concur with Ralf's suggestion of the vinyl dye; I've used it with great success. One note, though: it will NOT fill in a stamped design (like the Phillips "disc" logo on CD drives), but it WILL cover any painted-on logos on the bezel.

[MGP]

Does anyone else have problems closing the case when a floppy disk is in its drive (eject button sticks out too much)?

[Ralf Hutter]

Does anyone else have problems closing the case when a floppy disk is in its drive (eject button sticks out too much)?

Yes it does but the SLK3700's door does the same thing.

Personally I like it, it acts like a safety feature telling me "hey dummy, there's a floppy in here, don't leave it inside otherwise you'll get a 'no system disk' error next time you reboot"!

[Jan Kivar]

Personally I like it, it acts like a safety feature telling me "hey dummy, there's a floppy in here, don't leave it inside otherwise you'll get a 'no system disk' error next time you reboot"!

I haven't rebooted for over three weeks. I had to reboot today, because I installed the latest patch for IE... The reboot prior to that was also because of patching... I do use S3 power save, so my computer isn't running 24/7.

XP seems stable enough for this. I have to reboot my system to install/uninstall programs/patches, and to use my backup drives. I think using external HD enclosure would help with my backup drives...

Cheers,

Jan

[manalainen]

Hi,

I´m thinking of buing a ATC-710 (Grey). I thought of doing a few modifications to it and I would like to know if the lower part of the bezel (the one with the filter) is easy to take off? Is it screwed on or does it have hinges like the door?

I was planning on installing a 4 x 5´25" drive cage (Like the one allready in it, taken from my current case, Antec SX1030). It would be kind of neat to have 8 x 5´25" bays, the lower ones for HDDs in No Vibes III hidden behind that bezel and upper ones for optical drives and other 5´25" devices.

TIA,
manalainen

[the_bfg]

I'm also thinking about the ATC-710 case and wonder how you guys mount your fans in the case?

Do you use the included fan clips?

If not why not?

Also, if not, how did you mount them to the case (there don't seem to be standard screwholes, only those for the clips)?

cheers,

/bfg

[Ralf Hutter]

Hi,

I´m thinking of buing a ATC-710 (Grey). I thought of doing a few modifications to it and I would like to know if the lower part of the bezel (the one with the filter) is easy to take off? Is it screwed on or does it have hinges like the door?

ATC-710 is no longer in production. Good luck finding one.

The entire bezel comes off, and the lower portion can be swung open too, even though it's not really hinged.

[Ralf Hutter]

I'm also thinking about the ATC-710 case and wonder how you guys mount your fans in the case?

Do you use the included fan clips?

If not why not?

Also, if not, how did you mount them to the case (there don't seem to be standard screwholes, only those for the clips)?

cheers,

/bfg

ATC-710 is out of production. Good luck finding one.

I originally mounted my fans in the purple fan holders but as I started making my system quieter and quieter I noticed that the fan holders weren't helping things. They rattled and also let the fans resonate so I pulled them off and mounted the fans to the case by drilling new holes and using O-rings to mount the fans. If I was doing it again I'd mount the fans with the EAR isolators instead of O-rings.

[manalainen]

Hi,

thanks for the reply, a local shop has a couple of them in stock so I can get my hands on one, pretty cheap also, 140 EUR (~160 or so USD). That is, it usually sells between 170-190 EUR here in Finland.

[GamingGod]

OMG that is so ignorant. The 710 was my favorite cooler master case. Why would they stop making them?

[Ralf Hutter]

OMG that is so ignorant. The 710 was my favorite cooler master case. Why would they stop making them?

They stopped making almost all their original cases, except for the 600 desktop series. They gutted the entire rest of their line except for those couple of new ones, one of which really sucks and the other is that ho-hum wave case.

Business decision I guess. Too bad, they made some of the nicest looking cases out there.

[Gwailowen]

I've been thinking of buying one of these cases (I've seen one on sale locally), and was wondering if sound escaped excessively from the front grill, which seems pretty direct and open.

[Ralf Hutter]

I've been thinking of buying one of these cases (I've seen one on sale locally), and was wondering if sound escaped excessively from the front grill, which seems pretty direct and open.

Yes, it does a bit. But if you ever think you might want one of these, buy it now because they were discontinued last year (as were most of Coolermasters line of tower cases) so they're not available any more.

[Gwailowen]

I'll go ahead and get it then, since it seems they're selling pretty cheap, about USD100. Thanks!

[Ralf Hutter]

I'll go ahead and get it then, since it seems they're selling pretty cheap, about USD100. Thanks!

Probably a "close-out" price. When I bought mine a few years ago it was $125-130. Pretty steep for an SX10x0 case with no PSU and a pretty bezel but I really liked how it looked.