Cooler Master ATC-201A: High performance Aluminum

Features

The Air Guide is the most interesting feature of this case, and it should pay a large part on the deciding factor on its performance. Air Guide is a product which Cooler Master has created in partnership with Intel, the Air Guide is a 100mm plastic frame around a fan or in our case, the duct. The purpose of the Air Guide is the allow air to flow into the duct with less turbulence and therefore reducing the noise that is created. It also allows the fan to get a steadier flow into the heatsink fan. We will talk more about the Air Guide later in this article.

Almost every quality case these days has forward USB ports. The ATC-201 is no exception. Two small, forward adaptors are present in the lower corner of the unit, which is covered by a spring hinged cover, which adds show to the case. Almost everything on the case was removable by thumbscrews, which we have also come to accept as the standard for high end cases.

The top exhaust fan is present with a filter over it. Even though the filter is removable, it requires work to do so. The front intake fans are also covered by a filter, but just like the top exhaust, it is difficult to remove. The effectiveness of both of these filters are questionable because they are made out of metal and fairly open. They are not going to catch most of the dust that usually collects inside a computer.

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The ATC-201A features a removable motherboard tray which we know assists greatly in the installation of a motherboard. Unfortunately, the tray catches on the rails on which it slides, so it doesn't glide as well on the rails as hoped. Fortunately, this is only a minor annoyance rather than a severe problem. On the positive side, all of the peripheral cards can be left in place while removing and installing the motherboard tray, similar to the previously reviewed Kingwin case. Even though their removable tray design isn't perfect, Cooler Master still deserves credit for designing a fairly elegant tray setup without knocking off someone else's removable tray setup.

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This case did not have any fan controls which many cases of this caliber have started offering. It would have been a welcomed addition if it was included. With the recent flood of fan controls on the market, you may want to invest an additional few dollars to turn down the case fans at night or other times when they are not needed. Since this is a "high performance" chasis, we really would have liked to have seen Cooler Master offer some fan control option.