1. Introduction
2. Packaging and Contents
3. The exteriors
4. The interiors
5. Installation
6. Conclusion
[BREAK=Introduction]
Cooler Master Centurion 590 Cabinet Review
Cooler Master is a well known brand in India and this is due largely to the fact that they have taken their presence in India rather seriously. Today, they are present in almost all the product lines that they are known for internationally, and have worked hard to make sure that there is easy availability of their products in most cities in India.
Today I have with me the Cooler Master Centurion 590 Cabinet. The 590 is the younger brother of the more popular CM 690 cabinet, but in no way is this a bad thing. But before going any further into that comparison, lets have a look at the specifications list first:
Before I go any further I would like to thank Darksabre over at techPowerUp! - The latest in hardware and gaming, for allowing me to use some of the pictures posted in this review.
[BREAK=Packaging and Contents]
Packaging and Contents
The Centurion comes in the standard chassis packaging that most manufacturers prefer to use these days. The box is the by now familiar purple and white Cooler Master packaging, with a big picture of the 590 in the front and the main features of the cabinet at the back.
On opening the outer packaging, we see the normal Styrofoam and plastic packaging, which actually does a good job of making sure that you receive your cabinet without any dents and scratches.
The box also includes a the manual, a dozen cable management zip ties, motherboard mounting screws and a whole bunch of screws for mounting the drives. The cable ties are a good idea, specially since they have provided zip ties holes for better cable management inside the cabinet. Overall, its got everything that you need to start installation and have not skimped on any of the contents.
[BREAK=The exteriors]
The Exteriors
From the moment you see it for the first time, this chassis gives off an aura of strength. There is none of the plastic finish seen in the CM690 and in my opinion it only makes the case look better. The front frame of the case, is infact made of plastic, but it has been given a classy brushed aluminum look. Within this frame are the metal brackets, one for each 5.25" external bay, which runs the full height of the chassis.Each of these bay covers be removed individually and they them have a dust filter attached to the back. The third cover also holds the Centurion logo, which can be moved to any of the other bays if you so desire.
The front top of the case holds the Power button, two USB ports, a headphone and microphone port and an IEEE port, along with blue led lights for power status and HDD activity.
The left side panel is pretty plain and has two fan holes, each of which can hold a maximum 140 mm fan. These fan mounts can also hold smaller size fans, so you can look at adding two 120 mm fans to cool the innards of your PC.
On the right we have a single 80 mm fan hole. Now this shows the thought that has been put into designing this case, as this 80 mm fan slot can effectively remove the air behind the motherboard, which is kind of a dead spot for air movement in most cases.
The rear of the case is pretty standard issue, with the only differences being that the PSU is mounted at the bottom and secondly, there are two round holes for which can be used for a water cooling setup. There is also a fan port, which is for a designed for a 120 mm fan.
The top of the case again holds two fan mounts with the option of mounting a maximum size 140 mm fan.
[BREAK=The interiors]
The Interiors
Now this is where this case really shows it class.
The case has thumb screws for both the side panels, so opening it out is pretty easy and does not require any tools. People who tend to fiddle with the computers on a regular basis will find this extremely convenient. Once open, you actually get the sense of space that this case has managed to build in. There is nothing fancy and everything has been designed towards making it an extremely usable simple chassis.
At the bottom you have the PSU mount, which comes with rubber holders to reduce any vibrations and noise from your PSU. Note the 80 mm fan grill at the bottom. This helps the PSU to draw in fresh air from outside of the case, and therefore makes its cooling independent of the rest of the system. I can personally vouch for the effectiveness of this design as my PSU has tended to run a lot cooler after using this case.
We have the single 120 mm fan at the rear in the normal configuration. there are also plastic tabe to hold your add on cards, but I would suggest you use proper screws in case you have one of the bigger GPU's.
On the left are the drive bays. The drive bays need to be secured using screws and this unfortunately takes away a little from the overall ease of use of this chassis.
The right side of the case is looks pretty straight forward, but there are a few things to note here. Firstly, you can see the cable management holes at the bottom and at the top. These are especially important to keep your cabinet looking clean and have the maximum airflow possible. Note that the metal around the holes have been bent back to give it a rounded edge, This helps to make sure that you get no nicks and cuts while working with the cabinet. In fact we see this feature all around the cabinet ad its a very thoughtful design.
The second noteworthy feature is the 80 mm fan mount as discussed earlier in the article.
And finally we have a good amount of recessed space near the drive bays, making it easier to route cables and also to store unused connectors.
Finally we come to the HDD drive bays. Cooler Master have gone in for a different design from what we have seen in the CM 690. Here, we see that there is a even column of 5.25" bays. At the bottom there is the 3:4 converter, which is essentially the HDD cage. This cage holds upto 4 HDD's and you can use the included 5.25" to 3.5" converter to house one more HDD. The CD/DVD drives are mounted directly to the chassis like any other cabinet.
The HDD cage has rubber mounts to reduce vibrations and noise from the HDD's and once again this is a very thoughtful inclusion. The HDD cage has a low RPM low noise fan at the front, which acts as an input fan for the case as well as for cooling the HDD's. This cage can be placed anywhere within the vertical drive bays and you can choose to mount it right at the bottom for a more efficient airflow setup. The fan cable is clipped onto the the side of the cage, and stays out of the way during installation.
Overall, I would say that this is one of the better thought out interiors and shows that Cooler Master have probably worked with the feedback they have received on their earlier products.
[BREAK=Installation]
Installation
This case is very easy to work with and like I have said earlier CM have worked very hard to make sure that self installers like us end up with very few nicks and cuts.
I have tried to make this as clean an install as possible, to show you what is actually possible with this case.
This case also makes for very easy cable management and routing the cables is a breeze. Overall, I would say that this is by far one of the easiest cases to work with.
As you can see the cable management holes make it a lot easier and cleaner to route cables. I have installed a total of 6 fans onto the case and it does not take much to hide the cabling. The I/O cables can also be routed behind the motherboard tray and back into the cabinet near the PSU.
One note of caution though, your PSU must have long cables, otherwise its going to be a headache to route the motherboard 4/8 pin cable, as there is quite a distance between the bottom of the tray and the top, specially if you would like to conceal the cable behind the motherboard tray.
The CD/DVD drive is installed simply by removing the front panel and securing it with the supplied screws. The HDD can be fit either into the HDD cage or into the 3.5" converter. This converter can also be used for a floppy drive or a card reader.
This is where the 590 scores most of its points.
[BREAK=Conclusion]
Conclusion
The Cooler Master Centurion 590 Cabinet costs about Rs. 3,800/- plus taxes. This makes the case a great buy specially seeing that that particular price point does not have too many choices.
Pros:
* Removable hard drive cage
* Great engineering inside the case, specially with the rounded edges
* Very quiet operation
* Nine drive bays
* Easy cable routing possible
* Vibration dampening where possible.
* Mainboard headers with Molex adapters on all fans
* Well placed PSU
Cons:
* Fit and finish not upto the mark
* No reset button
* Power supply fan and side fans have no dust filters
* Not completely tool free
* Included fans not very good
I would tend to overlook most of the drawbacks, as they are easily fixed. But the one big negative that I believe is not acceptable is the final fit and finish of the cabinet. Lets face it, in India a Rs. 3,800/- cabinet is somewhere in the mid to high range and for this kind of money people want a good fit. I am not saying that the cabinet is bad, far from it. But there are a few things like the alignment of panels that needs to be looked into.
Overall I would still give this cabinet a resounding 8/10, specially for all the thoughtful features that CM have included in this cabinet.
Rating 8/10
2. Packaging and Contents
3. The exteriors
4. The interiors
5. Installation
6. Conclusion
[BREAK=Introduction]
Cooler Master Centurion 590 Cabinet Review
Cooler Master is a well known brand in India and this is due largely to the fact that they have taken their presence in India rather seriously. Today, they are present in almost all the product lines that they are known for internationally, and have worked hard to make sure that there is easy availability of their products in most cities in India.
Today I have with me the Cooler Master Centurion 590 Cabinet. The 590 is the younger brother of the more popular CM 690 cabinet, but in no way is this a bad thing. But before going any further into that comparison, lets have a look at the specifications list first:
Before I go any further I would like to thank Darksabre over at techPowerUp! - The latest in hardware and gaming, for allowing me to use some of the pictures posted in this review.
[BREAK=Packaging and Contents]
Packaging and Contents
The Centurion comes in the standard chassis packaging that most manufacturers prefer to use these days. The box is the by now familiar purple and white Cooler Master packaging, with a big picture of the 590 in the front and the main features of the cabinet at the back.
On opening the outer packaging, we see the normal Styrofoam and plastic packaging, which actually does a good job of making sure that you receive your cabinet without any dents and scratches.
The box also includes a the manual, a dozen cable management zip ties, motherboard mounting screws and a whole bunch of screws for mounting the drives. The cable ties are a good idea, specially since they have provided zip ties holes for better cable management inside the cabinet. Overall, its got everything that you need to start installation and have not skimped on any of the contents.
[BREAK=The exteriors]
The Exteriors
From the moment you see it for the first time, this chassis gives off an aura of strength. There is none of the plastic finish seen in the CM690 and in my opinion it only makes the case look better. The front frame of the case, is infact made of plastic, but it has been given a classy brushed aluminum look. Within this frame are the metal brackets, one for each 5.25" external bay, which runs the full height of the chassis.Each of these bay covers be removed individually and they them have a dust filter attached to the back. The third cover also holds the Centurion logo, which can be moved to any of the other bays if you so desire.
The front top of the case holds the Power button, two USB ports, a headphone and microphone port and an IEEE port, along with blue led lights for power status and HDD activity.
The left side panel is pretty plain and has two fan holes, each of which can hold a maximum 140 mm fan. These fan mounts can also hold smaller size fans, so you can look at adding two 120 mm fans to cool the innards of your PC.
On the right we have a single 80 mm fan hole. Now this shows the thought that has been put into designing this case, as this 80 mm fan slot can effectively remove the air behind the motherboard, which is kind of a dead spot for air movement in most cases.
The rear of the case is pretty standard issue, with the only differences being that the PSU is mounted at the bottom and secondly, there are two round holes for which can be used for a water cooling setup. There is also a fan port, which is for a designed for a 120 mm fan.
The top of the case again holds two fan mounts with the option of mounting a maximum size 140 mm fan.
[BREAK=The interiors]
The Interiors
Now this is where this case really shows it class.
The case has thumb screws for both the side panels, so opening it out is pretty easy and does not require any tools. People who tend to fiddle with the computers on a regular basis will find this extremely convenient. Once open, you actually get the sense of space that this case has managed to build in. There is nothing fancy and everything has been designed towards making it an extremely usable simple chassis.
At the bottom you have the PSU mount, which comes with rubber holders to reduce any vibrations and noise from your PSU. Note the 80 mm fan grill at the bottom. This helps the PSU to draw in fresh air from outside of the case, and therefore makes its cooling independent of the rest of the system. I can personally vouch for the effectiveness of this design as my PSU has tended to run a lot cooler after using this case.
We have the single 120 mm fan at the rear in the normal configuration. there are also plastic tabe to hold your add on cards, but I would suggest you use proper screws in case you have one of the bigger GPU's.
On the left are the drive bays. The drive bays need to be secured using screws and this unfortunately takes away a little from the overall ease of use of this chassis.
The right side of the case is looks pretty straight forward, but there are a few things to note here. Firstly, you can see the cable management holes at the bottom and at the top. These are especially important to keep your cabinet looking clean and have the maximum airflow possible. Note that the metal around the holes have been bent back to give it a rounded edge, This helps to make sure that you get no nicks and cuts while working with the cabinet. In fact we see this feature all around the cabinet ad its a very thoughtful design.
The second noteworthy feature is the 80 mm fan mount as discussed earlier in the article.
And finally we have a good amount of recessed space near the drive bays, making it easier to route cables and also to store unused connectors.
Finally we come to the HDD drive bays. Cooler Master have gone in for a different design from what we have seen in the CM 690. Here, we see that there is a even column of 5.25" bays. At the bottom there is the 3:4 converter, which is essentially the HDD cage. This cage holds upto 4 HDD's and you can use the included 5.25" to 3.5" converter to house one more HDD. The CD/DVD drives are mounted directly to the chassis like any other cabinet.
The HDD cage has rubber mounts to reduce vibrations and noise from the HDD's and once again this is a very thoughtful inclusion. The HDD cage has a low RPM low noise fan at the front, which acts as an input fan for the case as well as for cooling the HDD's. This cage can be placed anywhere within the vertical drive bays and you can choose to mount it right at the bottom for a more efficient airflow setup. The fan cable is clipped onto the the side of the cage, and stays out of the way during installation.
Overall, I would say that this is one of the better thought out interiors and shows that Cooler Master have probably worked with the feedback they have received on their earlier products.
[BREAK=Installation]
Installation
This case is very easy to work with and like I have said earlier CM have worked very hard to make sure that self installers like us end up with very few nicks and cuts.
I have tried to make this as clean an install as possible, to show you what is actually possible with this case.
This case also makes for very easy cable management and routing the cables is a breeze. Overall, I would say that this is by far one of the easiest cases to work with.
As you can see the cable management holes make it a lot easier and cleaner to route cables. I have installed a total of 6 fans onto the case and it does not take much to hide the cabling. The I/O cables can also be routed behind the motherboard tray and back into the cabinet near the PSU.
One note of caution though, your PSU must have long cables, otherwise its going to be a headache to route the motherboard 4/8 pin cable, as there is quite a distance between the bottom of the tray and the top, specially if you would like to conceal the cable behind the motherboard tray.
The CD/DVD drive is installed simply by removing the front panel and securing it with the supplied screws. The HDD can be fit either into the HDD cage or into the 3.5" converter. This converter can also be used for a floppy drive or a card reader.
This is where the 590 scores most of its points.
[BREAK=Conclusion]
Conclusion
The Cooler Master Centurion 590 Cabinet costs about Rs. 3,800/- plus taxes. This makes the case a great buy specially seeing that that particular price point does not have too many choices.
Pros:
* Removable hard drive cage
* Great engineering inside the case, specially with the rounded edges
* Very quiet operation
* Nine drive bays
* Easy cable routing possible
* Vibration dampening where possible.
* Mainboard headers with Molex adapters on all fans
* Well placed PSU
Cons:
* Fit and finish not upto the mark
* No reset button
* Power supply fan and side fans have no dust filters
* Not completely tool free
* Included fans not very good
I would tend to overlook most of the drawbacks, as they are easily fixed. But the one big negative that I believe is not acceptable is the final fit and finish of the cabinet. Lets face it, in India a Rs. 3,800/- cabinet is somewhere in the mid to high range and for this kind of money people want a good fit. I am not saying that the cabinet is bad, far from it. But there are a few things like the alignment of panels that needs to be looked into.
Overall I would still give this cabinet a resounding 8/10, specially for all the thoughtful features that CM have included in this cabinet.
Rating 8/10
