A Look Inside

With the side-panel removed you can begin to see why this case has become so popular with computer enthusiast and overclockers alike. Mounted on a removable swing-out panel you have openings for a total of four 120mm fans.  These fans combined with the 120mm fan at the rear of the case, the 120mm fan at the front of the case and the optional 120mm that can be placed at the top of the case will guarantee the the best possible cooling for your system.  The fan tray is also capable of holding a 140mm fans which would greatly reduce the noise produced by four 120mmm fans.

To remove the fan panel all you need do is press down on the spring-loaded pin that the panel rotates on, this will allow you far better access to work on your system whether it be installing video card or memory sticks.

When it comes time to install your optical drives leave the screw driver in your toolbox since the CMStacker allows toolfree installation of all six of the 5.25" drives thanks to sliding locking latches used on the CMStacker.

With fan removed from the case you can see that you have a very large area to work in. The case will accept even the longest of video cards without worrying about the ends of the card hitting something.  Cooler Master has added a piece of cardboard to the motherboard tray that should the correct location for placement of the standoffs and to eliminate the chance of your motherboard shorting out against the motherboard tray.

You will need you screwdriver when it comes time to install your video or NIC card since each of the cover plates are held in place with thumbscrews.  In my opinion this is still the preferred way of fastening video cards into your system, simply because you do not have to worry about the card coming loose once they have been secured with the thumbscrew.

As we mentioned earlier the rear exhaust fan is a single 120x120x25 fan that is centrally located on the rear of the case and it will help remove warm air that is produced in the area surrounding the heatsink on the motherboard.

Do you need more fan coverage for your case?  If so there is a 120mm bracket located at the top of the case for which you will need to purchase a fan for placement in this bracket.  This fan will serve the same purpose as a case that has been mod with a top mounted blow-hole.

If you wish to install 3.5" hard drives the CMStacker has a removable hard drive cage where three hard drives can be added.  Surprisingly this drive cage does not feature a quick-release of any type.  You have to remove both side panels and then remove two Phillips head screws on each side of the case to remove the cage. Then reverse the steps to re-install the cage.

Here you can see the motherboard tray after it has been removed from the CMStacker.  This feature makes installing a motherboard far easier than reaching inside the case to install all of the components.  One feature that I noticed is the padding that has been added to the contact points on the motherboard tray, this is a nice feature since I have in the past had motherboard trays that vibrate terribly.