Review: Cooler Master Cross Flow Fan & Window Panel (pics)

Reviews this post:

• Cooler Master Cross Flow Fan
• Cooler Master Window for Stacker

Last Update: 24-SEP-04 : 1236AM
Reason: Updated information on CFF mounting problem.

Related Review Links:

• Cooler Master Stacker Case

Hi everyone,

This time I have 2 reviews for you. We will be taking a look at the Cooler Master Cross Flow Fan and the Window for Stacker side panel. As always, feedback is greatly appreciated so please tell me what you think. I will be playing with the format until I figure out how I want it. This review reflects my personal opinions about the item. Please don’t flame me just because you don’t agree with what I say. If I got a technical specification wrong however, please do let me know and it will be corrected.

If you have questions about the item reviewed, feel free to post your questions and I will answer them as best I can.

Additional reviews are coming real soon. If they are related to this review, a link to them will be provided above. This review set includes the Cooler Master Stacker Case, Cross Flow Fan and Windowed Side Panel.

You can see the work log this item is being used for by clicking here: Project Stackers

*** All photos are hosted by me. Please do not link to the photos outside this review. Also, due to its length, please do not reply and quote the entire post! Quote specific items you want to discuss, but please don’t do the entire review. It can really make a mess of the thread. >.< ***

Thanks & Enjoy!

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Product Review: Cooler Master Cross Flow Fan




Company: Cooler Master



Product Category: Cooling
Item Number: STF-B01-E1

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Introduction:

Cooler Master’s CM Stacker is a great case. We took a closer look at it in this review. Today we will look at the Cooler Master Cross Flow fan. This fan is designed specifically for the Stacker chassis, and is used to provide airflow across the entire motherboard.

Let’s take a peek at the technical details:

Dimension: 336mm Long x 50mm Wide x 50mm High
Weight: 400 grams.
Material: Aluminum cross flow fan blade in a steel housing.
Chassis Supported: Officially, only the CM Stacker. Unofficially, Any case you can shake a Dremel at lol.
Voltage: 12 Volts DC
Voltage required to start: 5 Volts DC
Amperage Draw: .24 amp
Controller Settings, Speeds, Airflow & Noise Level:
Low: 1400 r.p.m., 6.5 Volts, 25 cfm, 22 dB
Middle: 1800 r.p.m., 8.5 Volts, 32 cfm, 32 dB
High: 2500 r.p.m., 12 Volts, 38 cfm, 38 dB
Bearing Type: Ball Bearing
Life Expectancy: 30,000 hours

Ok enough of the technical. Let’s see what we got here:

Packaging:


The front


The back

The Cross Flow fan comes shipped in a thin clear and printed plastic box with familiar Cooler Master logo on the front. On the back are the fan specs. The directions are printed on the inside of the box insert. It is important to note that better instructions and diagrams of installation are printed in the CM Stacker manual.

The packaging is nice and all, but it’s what is inside that we want to see.

The Good Stuff:


Fan and accessories

Let’s see what we have here:
The Cross Flow fan, power splitter, controller card and wire mounts. The wire on the fan itself is long enough to reach any controller you may have. The fan itself is painted black and has a clean look to it. It also seems fairly well made. The motor end is attached with a plastic mounting ring. The other end appears to be “floating” inside a rubber gasket. I will need to ask a little more about that end.

Mounting & Operation:


Fan goes here

Mounting the fan is straight forward. Hold the fan on the inside of the case with the larger open-end of the fan (intake) covering the hole inside the case (right next to the motherboard tray).

Point the smaller open-end of the fan (exhaust) to the left so that it will blow over the motherboard tray. Then, using the 4 included screws, attach the fan to the case by coming through the motherboard support plate and into the fan itself. See the pic to see what I mean.


The fan is supported by 4 screws.

This is what it should look like from the inside of the case.



Then, you just install the controller card, plug in the necessary wires and power, and away you go.


Fan Controller Installed

The controller has 4 settings. They are Off, Low, Middle and High. On low mode, the fan blows a nice breeze over the motherboard, and is almost silent. When you go to the middle and high settings, you really start throwing out wind. On the High setting, the fan runs at 12 volts and pushes about 46 cfm over the entire motherboard. The noise level of the fan at that speed is about 38 dB.

While it won’t cool off a CPU or GPU heat sink by itself (especially on newer systems), it does cool the Northbridge heat sink and any ram sinks you may have on your components quite nicely.
Overall this provides a nice breeze to everything you may have installed on your motherboard.

Conclusion:

The Cross Flow Fan performs its designed task perfectly. Using this single fan, you can provide cooling fresh air to your entire motherboard. This is a very efficient way to use 1 fan to cool the entire motherboard and components, verse using a single standard fan to do the same task.

Though designed for the CM Stacker, I am quite certain that the modding community can find other uses for this great little fan.

This is definitely a recommended addition to any Cooler Master Stacker case.

Score for Cross Flow fan will be given after temp testing, which will take place very soon. Pros & Cons subject to change at that time. These are just my initial observations.

Pros:

• Long unique fan blows air over the entire motherboard
• Included controller card provides user selectable performance & noise control.
• Near silent operation.

Cons:

• Price. This isn’t your typical fan. The average price at the time of this writing is about $32.00 usd. However we feel this is a minor investment for something that can help cool your system in relative silence.

Additional Notes:

• Additional information, including temps, will be added at a later date.
  
• Unfortunately, one of the 2 Cross Flow Fans we ordered arrived damaged. The plastic mount that holds the motor somehow broke cleanly off. This probably happened somewhere in shipping and handling. A box & bubble wrap packaging may have helped to prevent this, but I doubt it. The way the far end of the fan floats in that rubber gasket, there is play if you press on it. A large impact probably just made it bend too far out.
  
  Not putting the blame on anyone, just adding that as an afterthought. The lesson being, don’t throw around your Cross Flow Fans… they may break. LOL. Here is a pic for you.
  
  
  
  
  Can you say “RMA”?
  
  The one on the left is good. The one on the right is a little broken. As you can see, the break is clean, right around the mounting point. Oh well. One CFF DOA = RMA.

~ Problem: CFF Mounting Point (added 24 SEP 04 )

This is not a problem with the CFF itself more than the case. However, since it deals with the CFF I thought I would add it here as well. When I did this review, I only wanted to get pics of the cff installed. When I went to mount it, I only used 3 of the 4 screws because i misplaced one of them >.<.

When I went to mount it for the real installation, I turned up a problem with the case. One of the 4 mounting points for the crossflow fan is alittle too close to the airflow duct ring. Take a look at this:



As you can see, the bottom right mounting hole is right against the airflow seal. When you attempt to mount the crossflow fan, the seal prevents the screw from sitting flush against the case. This can cause you to accidently strip the metal if you are not looking at what you are doing.

The mounting point was like this on both cases. The screw holes seemed to be at a very slight angle. This looks like a design possible flaw. If it's at an angle on purouse, CM could be correct this by making a small indentation in the seal itself near the mounting point. I spoke with another stacker owner and his cff mounting holes were fine. I'll guess this may have been a small problem in one of the production runs? I don't know. It was like that on both cases I had though.

The good news is that using only 3 of the 4 screws still holds the fan in place with no vibration or play. Just be careful mounting the CFF.

[end]

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Product Review: Cooler Master Window for Stacker



Company: Cooler Master



Product Category: Accessory
Item Number: SPB-S01

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Introduction:

Cooler Master’s CM Stacker case is a great case. We took a closer look at it in this review. We cooled the case in the last review using the Cross Flow fan. Now it is time to make the case look cool. You have just spent a lot of money on that new computer system. The stock side panel is nice, but what if you want to show off the goods?

Some modders choose to create their own windowed masterpiece. However, there is alternative: The Cooler Master Side Window for Stacker. This is a pre-modded window side panel available from Cooler Master, and its guarenteed to add a little class and glass (acrylic actually) to any CM Stacker case!

Let’s talk technical:

Dimension: 22” Long x 22.25” Wide
Weight: About 4.5 pounds
Material: Aluminum and Acrylic.
Chassis Supported: Officially, only the CM Stacker. Unofficially, any case you want to mod it to.

There. That wasn’t so bad now was it? Let’s look at a few pics:

Packaging:


Ooooooo.....


Ahhhhhh.....

The design matches the box the case came in. A few pics of the window, a few marketing blurbs, and the stacker robot adorn the box cover. The box itself comes in at 2” thick. Did the contents survive the hell we call shipping?


Nice packing!

It sure did! Look at that shipping protection . The window is covered in bubble wrap and sits in between a sandwich of styrofoam. The styro is actually glued to the box so it wont slide around. Protection on every side and bubble wrap to boot. Good work CM.

There are no instructions provided. If you can’t figure out how to get this on installation is covered in your CM Stacker instruction booklet. Lets hope it will not come to that though.

The Window:


The Window.

Not bad. Not bad at all. I give thanks to cooler master for NOT making the acrylic window totally square. As you can see, it has a nice slow curve in the front top corner. It looks very clean. The lines and color variances you see in the pic is caused by the plastic covering that is placed on both sides of the acrylic. This protects it from dust and scratches during shipping, and is easily removed.

The window itself has a slight translucent blue/grey tint to it. Lets take a closer look.


Nice logo...

Notice that they did not use molding to secure the window. This makes for a clean transition from window to aluminum, and it looks great. The acrylic is held on by 8 screws, and again CM used the flush mounting nuts. This preserves the overall look and allows for the lack of molding. Nice work.

Along the bottom of the window is the CM STACKER logo in grey. Again you can see the bubbles and folds in the protective plastic sheeting. You can simply peel this off when you are ready to install. The window itself is flawless.

One thing I want to point out is the “blemish” in the left corner between the mounting bolt and window. When the flush bolts are inserted into the aluminum, the metal around the bolts can get stressed. To the naked eye, these stress marks are barely visible or not visible at all. I can’t see it at all just looking at it. However, for some reason they show up for camera flash.

As you can see, it looks like there is a fairly bad blemish there. Don’t let this alarm you. If that WERE the case, I would have returned it. However, this “blemish” is next to undetectable when you look at it. Even shining a bright light does nothing to make it show up, so this is nothing to be concerned about.

That being said, if you come across a window that has stress marks that are visible and look that bad without a flash (it could happen), simply contact your retailer and they should correct the problem.

Lets flip this thing over:


Nice workmanship.

Here we can see how the acrylic was mounted to the panel. They 8 mounting points insure the acrylic stays snug against the panel. They use normal screws, so I will guess the window is removable. Why anyone would want to remove it is beyond me, so we will save removal for another day. Perhaps they have replacement acrylic available? I am not sure if CM sells the acrylic by itself as a replacement or not.

Time to put this thing where it belongs.

On the case:


The window slides rightinto place.

Sharp looking. The window looks right at home on our stacker case. Now we can clearly see the inside of our computer. The new panel mounts exactly the same way as the original. The only thing you loose is the ability to mount a case fan to the side. Nothing a dremel couldn’t fix if you want to go that route.

It would have been nice if the window was more to the left on the panel. Some people do not like showing that much of their drive bays. Unfortunately, due to the design of the case this would have caused a problem. Even though it may seem like there is a lot of extra space on the left to work with, there is no way they could have moved the window over any further. This is partly due to how the window is mounted to the panel. The rest has to do with how the panel mounts to the case.

To remove the panel, you must slide the panel to the left to get it out of the mounting points and out from underneath the front bezel. The panel remains flush with the case until the holding rails clear the case. There is no additional room to play with at that point. If the window was any farther to the left we would risk scratching the window every time we opened the case.

If molding had been used to secure the window, we would probably have had a little more room to play with. I am glad they did not use molding, as it would have killed the look of the panel.

Take it how you will.

Lets add a little light to the subject, shall we?


Let there be LIGHT!

I connected a blue Cold Catho to my spare PSU and threw it inside the case. It is easily hidden under the lip below the window. Even with the flash and the lights on, the blue light is clearly visible inside the case.

Taps, Taps, Lights Out.


True Blue


Red, red, red.

Ahh now we can really see the light. Looks good. Once we throw a nice system in there, a few UV goodies we will really be pimping. As you can see, because the drive cage goes all the way down, the right side of the window doesn’t light up very well. I dismantled this test setup, but I will look into this further. We want that entire window glowing ^_^ Check back soon to see what happens.

Edit: (14-sep-04) I took another look at the lighting setup. There is a space on the side of the drivecage that accepted a 4" Cold Catho nicely. There is plenty of room to route the wires from it as well. Here is another pic:


Added a 4" cct next to the drive bay.

As you can see, this is MUCH better. The single 4" tube puts out plenty of light. If you plan on lighting your case, I strongly advise picking up an additional 4" catho for the drive cage area.

You could also mount a 12" catho along the front of the cage vertically if you desired to.

The sliver of light in the top right corner is from my monitor, sorry.

Conclusion:

The Windowed Side Panel make a perfect addition to any Stacker case. It maintains a clean, streamlined look, while giving us a clear view of our components. If you don’t want to make your own, this window is a must have for anyone wanting to show off their computer to the world.

I give the Cooler Master windowed Side Panel a 10 out of 10!

Pros:

• Clean-cut, beveled edge acrylic with a nice logo.
• No molding!

Cons:

• None I can think of.

Additional Notes:

• Remember that by using the windowed panel, you loose the side ventilation and optional fan mount. (drelem correctable)
  
• Some chemicals may damage acrylic. Avoid using strong or abrasive cleaners on the window.
  
• Picking up an additional 4" Cold Catho for use in front of the drive cage will give better lighting.

[end]

I withdrew the score for the cross flow fan. It was based upon initial install and observation. After accurate temp testing has been copleted, I will re-score this product. Expect that to be done sometime within the next week or so.

I am fairly sure it will do its job quite well. It pulls air nicely through the back of the case and blows it directly onto the motherboard.

As for the side panel, I am not pleased with that giant bark patch on the right side when lighting the case. The drive cage blocks all of the light. I am going to play with that alittle more tonight and see if i can get that side a little more lighting. I am fairly sure I can mount a 4" CCT on the side of the cage, but we'll see. I'll keep you posted!

cool review bro. we should have more reviews done by the "normal" guy
i saw your other one also. very professional

ok, so that window looks perfect.. i never guessed that it would look that nice... only question is where the heck did you get it and how much? i've looked everywhere.... (hopefully they will ship to canada too lol)

Bad_Boy said:

cool review bro. we should have more reviews done by the "normal" guy
i saw your other one also. very professional

Click to expand...

Thank-you ^_^ This was only the 2'd review, so I have a lot of work to do. I gotta be careful about writing at 3am too haha. Tend to make more mistakes.

sK8z said:

ok, so that window looks perfect.. i never guessed that it would look that nice... only question is where the heck did you get it and how much? i've looked everywhere.... (hopefully they will ship to canada too lol)

Click to expand...

The side panel came fron FrozenCPU. They come and go, but they are in stock at the time of this writing. (link)

Good luck.

The Window review was updated. Adding a 4" cold catho to the fron of the drive cage eliminated the dark areas. Take a peek at the added pic to see how much nicer it is.

Keep up the good work SelRahc. These are great reviews, definetly as good as any I've ever seen on someone's own website. And what a great place to have them too!

Review edited. Added CFF install problem information and a pic.

Quality reviews chucky, cant wait to read your next review. I see you have most of the parts in for you and your wife now. Off to go read up!