Cooler Master ATC-220B-AX1 Review

[Ian]

HWZ has a review of the Cooler Master ATC-220B-AX1, a lovely looking case that looks very similar to some Lian-Li models:

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Cooler Master has once again triumphed in casing style and fashion with the ATC-220B series of casings. From the model that started the craving for aluminum casings - the ATC-200, each successive model built up the elegance notch by notch to the ATC-201, ATC-210 and now the ATC-220B. The Cooler Master ATC-220B has been updated to fit extra large motherboards as the casing depth has been significantly increased and it is now at 550mm. With motherboards such as Gigabyte’s GA-8INXP that is so fully loaded to its brim of its already large board size, larger casings are definitely the more ideal chassis to house them in.

Read the review here

 

[1nteger]

Thanks for flagging this one up, Ian...I'm particularly interested in cases at the moment. The dabate still rages in my head: air cooling in an aluminium chassis or a Vapochill Titanium??? Unfortunateley, coolermaster's prices and the flaws in this case have moved me closer to the Vapo! :crazy:

 

[Ian]

Yep, CoolerMaster have some high prices!!! How much are the Vapochill cases going for?

 

[1nteger]

There are 3 UK Vapochill resellers in the UK, all selling the top end Premium Edition in the 'Titanium' case for £430 (incl. VAT). Add delivery and it's probably £450, but i haven't checked that. There are slightly lower models at £400 and you can still get the earlier version for less than that. The important thing to note is that the case itself is only about £70 of the price...buying the vapochill to fit in an existing case is still around £350!!

The way i see it, I could go this way:
New Lian-Li or coolermaster case: £130-£200
New AMD CPU, say Barton 3000+ (2.1 something Ghz) @ £450
and probably a new mobo @ £100 (Asus A7n8X ?)

Or keep my existing rig for now and pay £430 for top of the range Vapo and overclock my existing XP2100+ from 1.73Ghz to....probably over 2.2GHz.

I have a post into the Vapochill support forums to find out what overclocking results others have been getting with vapochilled XP2100's...if ur interested, i'll let u know what feedback i get.

 

[Ian]

Sure - I'd be very interested!

Do you have a link to the model you are interested in?

 

[1nteger]

Sure...here's a link to vapochill's own product spec pages:

http://www.asetek.com/default.asp?s...=sideid&myvalue=229&contentSection=2&menuID=8

And here's a link to Overclockers.co.uk pages that carry all the latest models for Intel and AMD:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_VapoChill_Systems_132.html

I actually contacted Vapochill to find out who their UK resellers were and i mentioned that I was considering writing a review for this website. They emailed me within a few hours with a link for a standard pro-forma to request a review model. I replied that they misunderstood...I'm actually thinking of buying one!! (I don't have the credibility to point to any existing reviews yet as examples, and i didn't think it was right to request a vapo on behalf of your site when i'm only a member).

However, if you want to check out the request system (its under their press link on the vapo website)...you could check out the possibility of a review model. I'd be glad to write the article i mentioned...:roll: as long as u trusted me to do a good job and let me keep the vapo! LOL

 

[Eric Portelance]

Have you read both my case reviews, 1nteger?

 

[1nteger]

Certainly have, Eric. I was interested in your Antec 1080 review because my current rig is based around an Antec 1040. The Lian-Li 6085 from their new range was also useful, as I have seriously been considering a Lian Li case.

Basically, I wanted to move to aluminium for any cooling benefits and weight (I shift mine around a lot and the Antec is, as you know, pretty heavy)...but while the new lian-Li's look ok, I'm not really interested in glass doors and neon lights. A mobo draw has its drawbacks (forgive the pun), and at the end of the day, it didn't really offer much more than the PC60. The two cases I have really been considering are the lian Li PC70 full tower and the Coolermaster 101. Both are roomy and therfore easy to work in and presumably airier and cooler. The PC70 has 6 exposed 5.25 bays...and i like the idea of loads of gizmos in a case .
The coolermaster has 5 bays and only one 3.5'' bay (but floppies are on the way out!!!...read my thread on that and loads of room, plus it looks even better than the PC70....but it costs a fortune...about £80 more here in the UK.
In the end I coulkdn't make my mind up so i then started looking at vapochill and their cooler in a case combo...Watch this space8)

 

[Eric Portelance]

Unless I'm mistaken, the PC-60 doesn't come with a window. It's basically a stripped down version of the 6085, which comes with a window, thermometer LCD and some lights on the front.

The PC-70 is just a taller version of the PC-60.

The brushed aluminum look is very nice, IMO. Much nicer than you can tell in any of the pictures. It's still a very simplistic look, but I think it works well.

 

[1nteger]

Eric, you may have noticed that i have now purchased a PC70 and am very pleased with it...especially the little upgrades to things like the PSU cage, external fan speed controller etc...very nice indeed.8)

 

[Eric Portelance]

Good job. Glad to see you're happy with your purchase.