Hello People!!
I am back with a short review of a Cooler Master Chassis and PSU combo. Today I will be taking a look at the Cooler Master Elite 330 which is now bundled with the Cooler Master Extreme Power Plus 390 PSU.
Many of you will be wondering what is so special about this combo then? Both these products are available in the market as individual items. The important thing is the pricing of this combo. CoolerMaster is targeting this combo towards corporate sector and SOHO segment. And that is reflected in its pricing. We will get to details of this later. But first let’s have a look at what we get.
[BREAK=Specifications]
First lets quickly go through the technical specifications of the Cabinet and the Power Supply Unit.
Cooler Master Elite 330 Cabinet
Dimension (W / H / D): (W)189 x (H)425 x (L)485 mm
Weight: 6 kg
Material: SECC
Motherboards Supported: ATX, Micro-ATX
5.25" Drive Bay: 4(exposed)
3.5" Drive Bay: 6 (Hidden); 1 (Exposed)
I/O Panel: USB 2.0 x 2, MIC x 1, SPK x 1 (Only support AC 97)
Cooling System: One 120mm front fan(optional), One 120mm rear fan
Expansion Slots: 7
Power Supply: Standard ATX PS2 (Optional)
Cooler Master eXtreme Power Plus 390 Power Supply
Model: RS-390-PMSR-A3
Type: ATX Form Factor 12V V2.3
Dimension (W / H / D): Standard ATX 150 x 140 x 86 (mm)
Input Voltage: 90 ~132V/180~264V (Selectable)
Input Current: RS-390-PMSR-A3 / 8A@115V,4A@230V
Input Frequency Range: 47 ~ 63 Hz
PFC: None
Power Good Signal: 100 ~ 500 ms
Hold Up Time: >17 ms
Efficiency: >70%
Typically MTBF: >100,000 hrs
Protection: OVP / OCP / OPP / SCP
Max. Output Capacity: 390 Watts
Operation Temperature: 0~40℃（Nominal Input Voltage）
Safety: Nemko / TUV / cUL / CE / BSMI / FCC / C-tick
Fan: Sleeve bearing 80mm fan
Connectors:
ATX M/B 20+4 Pin x 1
CPU 4 Pin x 1
4 Pin Molex Peripheral x 5
SATA x 2
4 Pin Floppy x 1
[BREAK=Look at the cabinet]
The Cooler Master Elite 330 is a classic mid tower ATX cabinet. There are no surprises here.
Its only available in the Black colour. Its compact, finish is decent for its price. Its very light as one would expect considering its small compact size and dimensions. I must admit, its not the great looking cabinet. In fact it is little dull.
The front side of the cabinet has usual exposed drive bays, I/O connector which has 2 USB, Stereo In and out connector. The IEEE 1394 connector you see here is a mock and is not used on this cabinet model.
The exposed drive bay cover lids are clip on type. It means you don’t need any tools to remove or re-attach these covers. They come off easily and it’s equally easy to put them back on.
Each of these drive bay cover lids carry a dust filter mesh as you can see in the picture. This prevents the dust accumulation inside the cabinet.
As usual there is Power On and Reset buttons on the front panel and HDD activity LED. The Power On LED is in the button itself which glows blue when PC is switched on.
The side panel has a air vent and grill for the CPU air tunnel normally seen on other cabinets. Those who do not wish to use the CPU air tunnel can easily remove it by removing 4 screws so it wont cause any obstruction to the big aftermarket heatsinks.
The Back of the cabinet is like any other cabinet with 120mm exhaust. The side panel can be locked with lock and key to prevent unauthorised person from tempering with the PC. A must for corporate users.
Now lets move onto interiors.
[BREAK=A look inside the cabinet]
Opening the side pan reveals the interiors. Its traditional ATX configuration with top mounded PSU.
The motherboard tray can house any Micro ATX or ATX motherboard.
You can see it’s a tool free design here. You dont need to pickup screw driver to even secure expansion cards. Its all held in place by a metal strip which can be opened and closed easily.
Same goes for the Optical , Floppy and Hard drives. It is again tool less design as you can see above. It’s a clever tool less design as well. Here are close ups of the plastic brackets that secures the optical drive and HDD in the bay.
It locks and unlocks by moving the blue knob clockwise and counter clockwise, securing the drive firmly in its place.
The fit is tight. If you are going to use the full size ATX motherboard, the hard disk will come close to the motherboard border. But enough gap remains for trouble free installation and removal of Hard Drive.
You can install maximum of 5 HDDs in this cabinet.
All the screws, nuts, some cable ties are provided with the cabinet. The only thing that’s lacking from this cabinet is the front FAN. There is provision for the same as you can clearly see in the above picture. But its not included with the cabinet. It would have been nice if that was included but a decent 120mm fan is cheap.
Now lets move onto the Power supply.
[BREAK=Quick look at the Power Supply Unit]
As I stated in the introduction, Cooler Master has bundled Cooler Master Extreme Power Plus 390 with this cabinet.
Its not a very powerful powersupply and there is nothing fancy about it. It’s a dual rail ATX PSU with 80mm fan providing the cooling. Here is the picture of the rating sticker.
As you can see it can supply 216Watts on the +12v lines. This is more than enough for the targeted audience which will mostly be running low power, mid to low budget components. And this PSU fits the bill perfectly for them.
We tested this PSU with budget Intel setup.
We used Intel E7200 running at stock speed on Asus P5KPL-CM motherboard with 1 HDD and 1 optical drive and ATI Radeon HD3450.
The PSU was able to handle this setup with ease. There were no stability issues or voltage fluctuations that one would expect from cheap PSU. The 12volt rail remained stable at 11.92v. +5v line was also very stable at 5.2v
So we decided to slightly push the setup to 3Ghz. And even at 3Ghz, the PSU did not show any signs of faltering.
So far so good, we did not push this too much as that was not possible with the motherboard we used to test and the intended audience for this setup is unlikely to be an enthusiast.
So the PSU does what it is suppose to do very effectively. No drama, no problems.
[BREAK=Cooling performance]
Lets take a quick look at how the cooling performance of this cabinet was.
The cabinet has very limited cooling capabilities. You get 120mm exhaust and an optional 120mm intake and that is it.
We tested the thermal performance of this cabinet with side open and side closed. And with only exhaust and with exhaust + 120mm intake.
For intake, I used Sflex 120mm fan.
Here are the numbers. All numbers are with the ambiant of around 25-26°C
Side open with 120mm exhaust fan only
Side closed, 120mm exhaust fan only.
Side closed, 120mm exhaust and 120mm intake fan.
As you can see, temperatures are ok with just 1-2 degree change in temperature with side closed. As you can see, adding intake helps a lot with HDD temperature. So its recommended that you add the intake fan to this cabinet.
[BREAK=Final Thoughts]
So we are at the end of the review here. I know there are many unanswered questions in your mind by now. I will try to answer them one by one.
First the built quality impressions. The cabinet is strictly ok in terms of built quality. The steel is not very think unlike the higher end Cooler Master products like CM690. That is understandable considering the price which I will revel soon. But that does not mean the fittings are poor. Everything fits perfectly. There are no visible misfits anywhere. Side panel slides into place easily. Its not too much trouble like you might be used to with cheap cases.
The exhaust fan is ok but not great. It does not move lot of air but it is dead silent. The PSU is not as noisy as I expected even when its cooled by single 80mm fan.
Now coming to the price. Cooler Master has launched this combo targeting the Indian market. Individual cost of the Cabinet alone is around Rs.1900 to 2000. And PSU is available in market for Rs.1700-1800.
But Cooler Master is offering this combo for Rs.3250/- which makes it very attractive offering for corporate, SOHO and along with in the mainstream retail PC buyers.
This gives buyer a decent cabinet coupled with a good 390W power supply. As individual components, these may not have great appeal to the probable buyers, but as a combo with current price offering, it does make it worth the money you spend.
Pros.
1. Decent Built Quality
2. Provision for 2x 120mm cooling fans
3. Tool less design
4. Good PSU bundled in the package
5. Very light weight
6. Very good value.
Cons
1. Not as exciting or good looking
2. Only one 120mm fan bundled
Warranty Information : On this combo, cooler master is offering 1 Year replacement warranty.
Our thanks to Cooler Master India for providing this bundle for the review.
Shripad signing out until the next time
I am back with a short review of a Cooler Master Chassis and PSU combo. Today I will be taking a look at the Cooler Master Elite 330 which is now bundled with the Cooler Master Extreme Power Plus 390 PSU.
Many of you will be wondering what is so special about this combo then? Both these products are available in the market as individual items. The important thing is the pricing of this combo. CoolerMaster is targeting this combo towards corporate sector and SOHO segment. And that is reflected in its pricing. We will get to details of this later. But first let’s have a look at what we get.
[BREAK=Specifications]
First lets quickly go through the technical specifications of the Cabinet and the Power Supply Unit.
Cooler Master Elite 330 Cabinet
Dimension (W / H / D): (W)189 x (H)425 x (L)485 mm
Weight: 6 kg
Material: SECC
Motherboards Supported: ATX, Micro-ATX
5.25" Drive Bay: 4(exposed)
3.5" Drive Bay: 6 (Hidden); 1 (Exposed)
I/O Panel: USB 2.0 x 2, MIC x 1, SPK x 1 (Only support AC 97)
Cooling System: One 120mm front fan(optional), One 120mm rear fan
Expansion Slots: 7
Power Supply: Standard ATX PS2 (Optional)
Cooler Master eXtreme Power Plus 390 Power Supply
Model: RS-390-PMSR-A3
Type: ATX Form Factor 12V V2.3
Dimension (W / H / D): Standard ATX 150 x 140 x 86 (mm)
Input Voltage: 90 ~132V/180~264V (Selectable)
Input Current: RS-390-PMSR-A3 / 8A@115V,4A@230V
Input Frequency Range: 47 ~ 63 Hz
PFC: None
Power Good Signal: 100 ~ 500 ms
Hold Up Time: >17 ms
Efficiency: >70%
Typically MTBF: >100,000 hrs
Protection: OVP / OCP / OPP / SCP
Max. Output Capacity: 390 Watts
Operation Temperature: 0~40℃（Nominal Input Voltage）
Safety: Nemko / TUV / cUL / CE / BSMI / FCC / C-tick
Fan: Sleeve bearing 80mm fan
Connectors:
ATX M/B 20+4 Pin x 1
CPU 4 Pin x 1
4 Pin Molex Peripheral x 5
SATA x 2
4 Pin Floppy x 1
[BREAK=Look at the cabinet]
The Cooler Master Elite 330 is a classic mid tower ATX cabinet. There are no surprises here.
Its only available in the Black colour. Its compact, finish is decent for its price. Its very light as one would expect considering its small compact size and dimensions. I must admit, its not the great looking cabinet. In fact it is little dull.
The front side of the cabinet has usual exposed drive bays, I/O connector which has 2 USB, Stereo In and out connector. The IEEE 1394 connector you see here is a mock and is not used on this cabinet model.
The exposed drive bay cover lids are clip on type. It means you don’t need any tools to remove or re-attach these covers. They come off easily and it’s equally easy to put them back on.
Each of these drive bay cover lids carry a dust filter mesh as you can see in the picture. This prevents the dust accumulation inside the cabinet.
As usual there is Power On and Reset buttons on the front panel and HDD activity LED. The Power On LED is in the button itself which glows blue when PC is switched on.
The side panel has a air vent and grill for the CPU air tunnel normally seen on other cabinets. Those who do not wish to use the CPU air tunnel can easily remove it by removing 4 screws so it wont cause any obstruction to the big aftermarket heatsinks.
The Back of the cabinet is like any other cabinet with 120mm exhaust. The side panel can be locked with lock and key to prevent unauthorised person from tempering with the PC. A must for corporate users.
Now lets move onto interiors.
[BREAK=A look inside the cabinet]
Opening the side pan reveals the interiors. Its traditional ATX configuration with top mounded PSU.
The motherboard tray can house any Micro ATX or ATX motherboard.
You can see it’s a tool free design here. You dont need to pickup screw driver to even secure expansion cards. Its all held in place by a metal strip which can be opened and closed easily.
Same goes for the Optical , Floppy and Hard drives. It is again tool less design as you can see above. It’s a clever tool less design as well. Here are close ups of the plastic brackets that secures the optical drive and HDD in the bay.
It locks and unlocks by moving the blue knob clockwise and counter clockwise, securing the drive firmly in its place.
The fit is tight. If you are going to use the full size ATX motherboard, the hard disk will come close to the motherboard border. But enough gap remains for trouble free installation and removal of Hard Drive.
You can install maximum of 5 HDDs in this cabinet.
All the screws, nuts, some cable ties are provided with the cabinet. The only thing that’s lacking from this cabinet is the front FAN. There is provision for the same as you can clearly see in the above picture. But its not included with the cabinet. It would have been nice if that was included but a decent 120mm fan is cheap.
Now lets move onto the Power supply.
[BREAK=Quick look at the Power Supply Unit]
As I stated in the introduction, Cooler Master has bundled Cooler Master Extreme Power Plus 390 with this cabinet.
Its not a very powerful powersupply and there is nothing fancy about it. It’s a dual rail ATX PSU with 80mm fan providing the cooling. Here is the picture of the rating sticker.
As you can see it can supply 216Watts on the +12v lines. This is more than enough for the targeted audience which will mostly be running low power, mid to low budget components. And this PSU fits the bill perfectly for them.
We tested this PSU with budget Intel setup.
We used Intel E7200 running at stock speed on Asus P5KPL-CM motherboard with 1 HDD and 1 optical drive and ATI Radeon HD3450.
The PSU was able to handle this setup with ease. There were no stability issues or voltage fluctuations that one would expect from cheap PSU. The 12volt rail remained stable at 11.92v. +5v line was also very stable at 5.2v
So we decided to slightly push the setup to 3Ghz. And even at 3Ghz, the PSU did not show any signs of faltering.
So far so good, we did not push this too much as that was not possible with the motherboard we used to test and the intended audience for this setup is unlikely to be an enthusiast.
So the PSU does what it is suppose to do very effectively. No drama, no problems.
[BREAK=Cooling performance]
Lets take a quick look at how the cooling performance of this cabinet was.
The cabinet has very limited cooling capabilities. You get 120mm exhaust and an optional 120mm intake and that is it.
We tested the thermal performance of this cabinet with side open and side closed. And with only exhaust and with exhaust + 120mm intake.
For intake, I used Sflex 120mm fan.
Here are the numbers. All numbers are with the ambiant of around 25-26°C
Side open with 120mm exhaust fan only
Side closed, 120mm exhaust fan only.
Side closed, 120mm exhaust and 120mm intake fan.
As you can see, temperatures are ok with just 1-2 degree change in temperature with side closed. As you can see, adding intake helps a lot with HDD temperature. So its recommended that you add the intake fan to this cabinet.
[BREAK=Final Thoughts]
So we are at the end of the review here. I know there are many unanswered questions in your mind by now. I will try to answer them one by one.
First the built quality impressions. The cabinet is strictly ok in terms of built quality. The steel is not very think unlike the higher end Cooler Master products like CM690. That is understandable considering the price which I will revel soon. But that does not mean the fittings are poor. Everything fits perfectly. There are no visible misfits anywhere. Side panel slides into place easily. Its not too much trouble like you might be used to with cheap cases.
The exhaust fan is ok but not great. It does not move lot of air but it is dead silent. The PSU is not as noisy as I expected even when its cooled by single 80mm fan.
Now coming to the price. Cooler Master has launched this combo targeting the Indian market. Individual cost of the Cabinet alone is around Rs.1900 to 2000. And PSU is available in market for Rs.1700-1800.
But Cooler Master is offering this combo for Rs.3250/- which makes it very attractive offering for corporate, SOHO and along with in the mainstream retail PC buyers.
This gives buyer a decent cabinet coupled with a good 390W power supply. As individual components, these may not have great appeal to the probable buyers, but as a combo with current price offering, it does make it worth the money you spend.
Pros.
1. Decent Built Quality
2. Provision for 2x 120mm cooling fans
3. Tool less design
4. Good PSU bundled in the package
5. Very light weight
6. Very good value.
Cons
1. Not as exciting or good looking
2. Only one 120mm fan bundled
Warranty Information : On this combo, cooler master is offering 1 Year replacement warranty.
Our thanks to Cooler Master India for providing this bundle for the review.
Shripad signing out until the next time
i just saw the conclusion. Nice review Funky btw