Does anyone still use a Coolermaster 201?

Skree

Skree

Skree

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Back in the day i purchased a early Coolermaster ATCS 201. This was, at the time, widely accepted to be the best alu chassis on the face of the earth. Mine is still absolutely standard, and houses the last desktop rig i built for myself. It's still in daily use but is a little long in the tooth now:
DFI Infinity
XP-M1600 @ 2.74
CM air hsf
Tagan 480w psu
1gb BH5
GF4 TI4200 128mb @ quite overclocked

etc etc

It's still a pretty good pc but it's time to be upgrading I think. Trouble is the 201 was V expensive, and is still gorgeous, even now people comment on its beauty. It still gets REALLY low temps too. 44c cpu @ full load - quietly

I want to build a new rig, and i'm thinking along the lines of C2D or C2Q. I'd be using a rear extraction graphics card heatsink.

Now, the 201 was used for overclocking 75w AMD athlon chips far.

It seems to me that the newer 95w efficient C2Q chips should actually still be fine in this case - The fans i have in at the mo are 7v'd REALLY cheap (like, 74p) green LED fans from when the rig was built, so i could probably do with a fan update

Does anyone run modern rigs inside a CM201? can you impart me some experiences plz? particularly with these ridiculously large heatsinks we use today. Mine is one of the old 80mm castle type sold base non heatpipe hsf, with the dead spot mod and a 5v'ed cheap 120mm fan - twice as tall as it should be and it is small compared to the stuff on sale now. Obv i'd buy a new hsf but will they fit and work right in a 201? :confused:

any help much appreciated
 
Absolutely.

Right, 120mm fans give better flow at lower noise etc etc, but 80mm fans do move air, and plenty of it for case fans.

Get some 80mm Yate-Loon, Nexus or Sharkoon Silent Eagles for your case.
Check the case width, will a Ninja/Tuniq/Noctua fit ? If so, bobs your uncle, if not, consider an XP120 style HSF.

At the end of the day what matters most ? Overclock ? Noise ? Looks ?

You MIGHT lose a few Mhz (probably not IMO) but it will look better, and can be as quiet as any other PC if you choose components carefully.
 
Well, i've been doing silent very overclocked pc's for years, in fact, i was modding up my own adjustable speed 120mm fan psu's back in the days of Pentium2, years before such things were heard of on common sale. I'd be looking to do largely the same, previous pc's of mine have relied entirely (or almost) on the PSU fan - in the early days these were often enough, with a cpu fan for the whole system.

I've got to be aware of the airflow restraints of the case, but I thought, if i use a rear extraction graphics cooler, and rig up a duct to take away hot cpu air out of the rear 80mm fan hole of the CM201 - i was looking at one of those integrated TEC coolers recently - titan amanda -.. seem impressive nowadays (they were carp when first introduced) was hoping maybe a decent 120mm psu fan would be all i'd need, or nearly so...

Mind you that Tuniq does look good, the reviews look good too - wonder how hard the fan'll be to change when it wears out.. ultra 120 extreme looks good with a lap too :D
 
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I had a CM 201 but swapped my pc into a CM 101 as newer graphics cards are too long to fit in a 201 you'll find.

sid
 
I have a CM 101, its a really nice case but using 80mm fans is a no no.

I just couldent get the airflow I wanted through the case without it sounding like a hair dryer and the top 80mm just messed up the airflow.

DeadMan
 
DeadMan said:
I have a CM 101, its a really nice case but using 80mm fans is a no no.

I just couldent get the airflow I wanted through the case without it sounding like a hair dryer and the top 80mm just messed up the airflow.

DeadMan
Click to expand...

Ah but I just put 120mm fans in there,

One blow hole at the top above the CD rom bays and One blowing over the HDDs (not fixed in place)

sid
 
I'm still using a CM Coolermaster 201.
I just cannot find a case out there that I like as much.
If I could find something as nice looking and as light weight maybe I'd consider swaping.

Zalman with a 120mm fan was extremely tight with my Gigabyte I965 based motherboard.
However on my Gigabyte P35 motherboard they appear to have lowered the CPU socket so there is hardly any overhang - so this case is perfect once more.
Can get a little tight around the top blow-hole and the PSU if it's modular - although My Corsair 620w is in just fine.
I'm also running an 8800GTS which fits in just fine with plenty of space.
 
201 owner here!! :D

I just upgraded mine, had a FX51 on a Asus SK8N, now its a E6320 in a Gigabyte 965-DS3 v1 running under a Thermaltake BigTyp 120 VX CPU Cooler at 3.2Ghz :)

Think I have the YS-Tech fans in mine. Anyway the BigTyp only just fits in the case but it seems to do the job well enough. 8 hours Orthos stable and temps of 41-45 degrees under full load. Stock voltage too.

Just about to swap the CPU in it for a E6420 :)

For extra cooling I was thinking of getting one of these:
Scythe Kama-Bay System Cooler
 
Yeah, I've got this case as well. For a few months, I've been contemplating getting the Silverstone TJ09 but I've decided to stick with the Coolermaster because I love its appearance. I've installed 2 SilenX blue LED 80mm fans at the front and a 120mm blue LED fan at the back using a 80->120mm fan adaptor fitted outside the case. All the fans are connected to a fan controller so the noise level is pretty quiet. It was a bit tight when fitting the Zalman CPU cooler though but thankfully it was OK in the end.
 
Hmm I'm presuming, looking at the measurements, that if a Big Typ only just fits, a Tuniq will not. Durn it all and such.

Got to be looking at this, because.. i guess i'm too old for games these days, i only ever have a quick play on my Ps2. I dont need a powerful graphics really. Want a powerful CPU for conversion of files and such though

TBH i'm thinking about getting an ICYDOCK 5 bay hd rack, and leaving the current hardware in there, just downclocked a lot, and making the whole lot a file server. I don't want to get rid of the 201, but i want to minimise the "geeks corner" look of the house. we've got piles of computer stuff in 4 rooms and loads more in the garage, and the old caravan we use as a shed.

i'm an old skool case modder, and was thinking about building a HTPC to go under my new tv, if i made it powerful, i could VNC this laptop to it, and use it for conversion of files, as well as media playing

Core2Quad htpc anyone? lol :D

That'd be quite cool actually. Use the lappy where my current rig (and the resultant mess of prehipherals, cables, ashtray, old drinks cans, half bottle of bourbon, books, dvds, cds etc) are, to master control everything else :D

I'm growing out of games :( - Could this spell the end of my overclocking? You dont need to overclock to play videos and mp3s, and i'm sure a C2Q will do the conversions i need like poopie from upon the surface of a shiny earth-moving manual digging type device. I used to overclock because pcs were so slow, i needed the extra performance.. and i used to game.. but not now. it might be a case of buying a lower rated chip and clocking it to the same frequency as the top end chip at the time only.. might not even get that far..

Yours, very depressedly,

skree
 
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Skree said:
Hmm I'm presuming, looking at the measurements, that if a Big Typ only just fits, a Tuniq will not. Durn it all and such.

Core2Quad htpc anyone? lol :D

Yours, very depressedly,

skree
Click to expand...

Don't get too depressed, there is actually only 5mm difference between the Tuniq and the Big Typ.

The full height of the Big Typ is 150mm vs 155mm for the Tuniq.

Core2Quad htpc should be doable, I've just done a C2Q mATX setup thats overclocked to 3.2Ghz here

Know what you mean about changing tho, I used to be an avid gamer, now all I use my computer at home for is work, browsing and banking :(

Don't even have a PS2 for games, still got a Dreamcast tho :D
 
I was using a 201 till 4 days ago. Replaced the top blow hole fan with a 120mm fan (mounted inside so line of the case wasnt altered) and fitted a 120mm fan to the side around the Graphics card area.(black filter on the outside of the case).

I also later fitted a perspex panel in the side and refitted the 120mm fan into that but I severely regret doing that, nice looking at the insides of the case but it lost a lot of its elegance, felt dirty.

Now have a Mirage 62. I keep thinking it wants to call me Dave.
 
I still use my 201 Black Widow as a media server:

11330704a3904966381b892549123l.jpg


11330704a3476802941b783377927l.jpg


If you're looking for a 201 replacement, in my experience, Silverstone comes closest to replicating the feel and function of the old ATC cases.
 
EWWW!!

What a waste of a black widow,

I hope it was the mixed race one with the silver front.

sid
 
that yellow thing is a travesty and the git who destroyed it should be executed. NOW. Brutally.

Hmm. am still wondering what to do with my 201. it's the silver one not a BW.

I could stick a P4 type thing in it for a user rig downstairs, or i can use it as a file server. My main user (net/chat/banking etc) rig is probably going to be this laptop, and there isn't provision for a tower type case where my HTPC is going.

I guess the sensible thing to do would be to pack it up snug, clean, and safe and keep it till i need another top looking tower. But somehow I just can't bring myself to do that

i dont want it to get damaged sat in a corner though :(
 
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