Internal Inspection:

Removing the side panel reveals that the monochrome matte black theme continues to every internal surface, as well. Another interesting feature is that the "front" (120mm) intake fans are actually mounted on the side of the case, and will draw air in through the case's side panel and blow it directly into the lower drive bays. The below right image takes a closer look at the bottom of the cage, where we see the power supply mounting area, as well as an inverted U-shaped cage. This is intended to be a 4-bay 2.5" drive cage, but it seems like an afterthought given its odd location and less than convenient configuration - but we'll see how it works when we get to the installation.



Moving up the back of the case we see the ventilated expansion slot covers held in by black thumbscrews, as well as the all black 140mm exhaust fan. At the top of the case (below right image) we see the 200mm exhaust fan, which is the one with the dust filter we saw earlier in the review.



Next we see the drive cages from a different angle, where it is now clear that those two 120mm intake fans might not contribute all that much air to the motherboard area of the case. With a fairly closed up drive cage area, and ventilation on the opposite side of the case, the air may be more inclined to go straight across and out the other side. It was also interesting to realize that drive installation occurs from the backside of the case, although it will help to keep the wiring neat since it will all be on the unseen side. That said, Cooler Master does list the drive cage as being rotatable by 90 degrees, so you could have the fans blowing from front to back, and the drive data/power connectors exposed inside the case - both of which are more traditional orientations. But, the change over is not tool-less, and I decided to leave it as assembled at the factory.



The below left image takes a closer look at the two 120mm fans (which do feature red LEDs) that blow across the drive bays, while the below right image shows the opposite side. Eight 3.5" drives can be slid into these bays thanks to tool-less trays which we will look at next.



Below we see a stack of eight drive trays, which allow standard 3.5" hard drives to install without tools thanks to pins in the four points where screws go. Then you simply slide the filled tray into the drive bay and it pops securely in to place.



In the final view in this picture we see the backside of the motherboard tray, where we see a handful of popular and useful features. First, the tray itself has a large cutout to allow for the installation of aftermarket CPU coolers without having to remove the motherboard from the system. Second, the tray is decked out with three different oval shaped rubber grommets for wiring to pass through, allowing you to make your installation as neat as possible. And finally, and perhaps lest obvious, is that there is a bit of space between the back of the motherboard tray and the side of the case. This allows you to route all your cables behind the tray, even if they are fairly thick, without getting in the way of the side panel.