Quick review of the CoolerMaster N400 Windowed

dragoon20005 · December 18, 2014

I got this case for my dad new PC as the current PC was showing it age and its a huge workstation power by dual CPU dual core AMD Opteron

http://www.cnet.com/products/hp-workstation-xw9400-opteron-2-8ghz-4gb-ram-73gb-hdd-xp-pro-64-bit/specs/

comparing the HP casing to the N400

this casing is way smaller and lighter than the full steel chassis of the HP

What I got is the Windowed version

The front has your usual audio ports and 2 USB 2.0 and 2 USB 3.0 ports, Power and Reset switch

The case comes included with 2 casing fans which can be powered by the mobo FAN Headers

but this casing has some drawbacks but it understandable considering the low price of the casing

First the HDD is mounted the old fashion way with screws instead of using drive caddies and slide in method as show in the image below

if you noticed the area where you would install the mobo is sunken, this will cause issue with mobos which use the flat down method for the USB 3.0 header connectors and SATA connectors as shown in the other picture which is the mobo I used with this casing. My dad managed to press down the area under the USB 3.0 header so it could fit in nicely.

Another problem I encountered was when I was installing the DVD-writer and need to remove the cover, I have to use a lot of force to pry the clips till it got bent just to remove the cover.

The other problem I encountered was the lack of gaps or hole to route the 4 pin power cable which is usually located near the IO Panels, I have to route the cable via the big hole beside the drive bays

I will upload the actual pictures of the build with the parts inside soon so stay tuned

Regards

Dragoon20005