Head on In, The Dust Filter is Fine
The Cooler Master C700M is a case that promises options for consumers and delivers them in spades. Just by unscrewing two screws the motherboard mount can be oriented in two additional ways: chimney and inverted. The Chimney layout would allow your motherboards I/O to face upwards to the top of the case, while the inverted layout would be the opposite. Looking at the case you might think doing an inverted orientation would present a problem, given the PSU is located at the bottom of the case, but the PSU and the entire shroud can be relocated to the top of the case. That’s one of the beauties of this case - almost everything can be relocated and almost everything was designed to fit anywhere.
The horizontal surface of the PSU shroud is covered in mounting points, which presents different options to the user. For me I got the option to move my graphics card away from the rear of the case, giving it more prime real estate for all the glamour shots I needed to take (and surprisingly didn’t effect thermals much), but for others would be extra spots to mount SSDs, pumps and reservoirs, or even additional fans for more airflow. All these accessories can additionally be mounted on the vertical bracket that runs next to the motherboard tray because the entire case was designed using the same screws and with modularity in mind.
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Detachable PSU shroud allows easy access to drive bays, PSU cables, and front I/O cabling. Additionally, removing bottom dust filter allows direct access as well.
All the detachable and modular parts means an added benefit to the potential builder: ease of cable management. The PSU shroud, for example, is actually two separate pieces so the horizontal surface can be detached to allow for access to the PSU cables, SATA, I/O, etc that you’ve routed on the backside of the case. Or if that’s not enough and you need even more access the entire bottom dust filter slides out and will leave the bottom of the chassis open for even large hands to work in.
While on the topic of cable management, the design behind the motherboard tray can be just as important as the front and while it’s mostly praise again I do have to issue one demerit. If you remember on my C500M review the backside had three separate panels for hiding your cable management, largely due to the back panel being tempered glass. Since we only have one tempered glass panel on this case Cool Master cut those cable hiding panels down to one which mostly hides the pre-routed front I/O cables. The solution for routing these is well conceived, with each having their own path - though the weird velcro system they have to make those individual routes is unwieldy and doesn’t favor going back to add a cable to the mix.
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Pre-routed Front I/O cables help keep things neat. Fan/RGB Controller placement contributes to difficult cable management from lack of adequate cable length to reach the controller and practice best routing techniques.
We have our standard cutouts for routing cables to the motherboard, and the multiple hook areas for tying down cables with zip ties, blah blah. All really standard stuff. What really gets me with the C700M is how much Cooler Master missed the mark on their placement of their fan/RGB controller. It’s quite literally smack dab in the middle of the motherboard tray area. So not only are they using YET ANOTHER different controller, but they’ve placed it in a position that forces me to route cables in a way I, and most, otherwise wouldn’t. In addition this position creates a weird situation where most of the fans and rgb cables being routed to it are different enough in length to make routing them together a near impossible chore, let alone routing them in anything but a straight line to the hub.
Thermals and Final Thoughts
A case can be made out of platinum, gold and unicorn bones but if it has crappy airflow and bad thermals it’s not going to be worth it. The dual front panels is an issue you’ll have to seriously consider. The RGB front panel is mostly closed off in the front but has two large, filtered gaps on the side to allow air through. The inner flat panel is a very large dust filter in itself and using the two together can really stifle air flow. Enough to where I noticed a 7-8c increase in GPU temps during general gaming. Testing between both neither seems to be markedly better than the other so as long as you use one, either the RGB panel or the dust-filter panel, and not both you aren’t adding any additional thermal load to your rig.
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The GPU mount allows for various orientations of your graphics card including a unique diagonal orientation that offers good compromise between thermals and aesthetics.
My last words on thermals are in regards to the GPU mount. Having your GPU mounted in the traditional fashion - horizontally and directly on your motherboard - still provides the best thermals and for the purpose of what comes next will be the baseline temperature. Using the included vertical mount and riser cable with the GPU in a completely vertical position gave me the worst thermals on my graphics card, measuring in at 6-7c over baseline. I didn’t think I was going to get much improvement over vertical temperatures by using the diagonal orientation but I was pleasantly surprised. While still not as good as our baseline temperatures, the diagonal orientation measured in at 2-3c over baseline - something I personally found completely acceptable for the benefit of product shots of GPUs in the future… and my vanity. I know, completely impractical but I’m human - I don’t have to make sense.
When it comes down it the Cooler Master Cosmos C700M offers a lot to the end user - more than I’m able to put in an article and hope for it to not put people to sleep. It’s clear that a lot of thought went into correcting the issues consumers had with the C700P and on how to offer the best PC building experience to users. But the question still remains - is it worth the price tag? It’s a question that’s impossible for me to answer for you. Had I not been in a position where I was able to dive into this case and get hands on I would have been really apprehensive about spending that kind of cash on a chassis. Fast forward to a week of messing around in the case and swapping out components and I can safely say that had I made the purchase I would be completely satisfied with my choice.
Pros
- Extremely Versatile
- Includes GPU mounts and Riser Cable
- Completely Modular
- Tasteful RGB
- Good execution of curved glass panel
Cons
- RGB/Fan Controller is positioned oddly
- Honeycombed Top Panel doesn’t fit design
- Included fans seem cheap for price tag
The product discussed in this article was provided by the manufacturer for the purposes of review.
Want to see more of the case? You can do so in this overflow gallery!
