Reviewed by Barry Little - January 22, 2007

Manufacturer: Cooler Master

Model: NV-830-KKN2-GP

Price: $299.00 at The NVIDIA Store

Since its introduction, the Cooler Master Stacker 830 has become one of the most popular, high-end enthusiast cases on the market with its spacious interior and excellent cooling capabilities. Since then, the Stacker 830 has gone through a number of much-needed revisions to keep up with the increasing demands on power, space, airflow and cooling brought on by the latest dual and quad-core processors, and next generation GPUs. Today, we’ll be looking at the first SLI-Certified case that’s the result of a joint venture between Cooler Master and NVIDIA—the Cooler Master Stacker 830 NVIDIA Edition.

About Cooler Master

Cooler Master is responsible for some of the most highly awarded and widely used computer cases and cooling products in the world. Take a look at many of the PCs built by the do-it-yourself crowd, as well as some of the top custom PC Boutiques in the country, no doubt you'll find "Cooler Master Inside—and Outside!"

Our Mission

Cooler Master was founded with the mission of providing the industry's best thermal solutions. Since its establishment a decade ago, the company has remained faithful to this mission, emerging as a world leader in products and services for companies dealing with devices where heat issues must be resolved. 

In pursuing this mission, Cooler Master is absolutely committed to delivering solutions that precisely meet customer requirements for features, performance, and quality. Moreover, we strive to be a reliable long-term partner for our customers that they can truly depend on. It aims to be the first and foremost name that comes to mind for companies around the world seeking thermal solutions, and seeks to build such a reputation through outstanding technology, sophisticated design, and superior service.  

Cooler Master's current business encompasses a comprehensive lineup of thermal solutions for a full range of applications. Its products range from heat sinks and fans to component housing, chassis, and ducting for computers, industrial machinery, telecommunications equipment, and many other devices.

About NVIDIA

NVIDIA is a company that really needs no introduction. Their GeForce video cards, SLI and nForce technologies have become legendary among PC enthusiasts everywhere. Look on the boxes of some of the hottest PC games around, and it’s no coincidence—or surprise—that you’ll see the famous NVIDIA “The Way It’s Meant To Be Played” logo.

NVIDIA Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA) is the worldwide leader in programmable graphics processor technologies.

The Company creates innovative, industry-changing products for computing, consumer electronics, and mobile devices. The NVIDIA^® graphics processing unit (GPU) and media and communications processor (MCP) brands include NVIDIA GeForce^®, NVIDIA GoForce^®, NVIDIA Quadro^®, and NVIDIA nForce^®. These product families are transforming visually-rich applications such as video games, film production, broadcasting, industrial design, space exploration, and medical imaging.

Additionally, NVIDIA invents and delivers industry-shaping technologies, including NVIDIA SLI™ technology, a revolutionary approach to scalability and increased performance; and NVIDIA PureVideo™ high-definition video technology.

SLI Certified Cases: Marketing Hype or Necessity?

For general purpose computing and for someone who rarely opens the case of their PC except to swap out a defective part or perform infrequent upgrades, your average, low-buck case will do just fine. But for enthusiast, a case has a much tougher job to live up to:

● Must have quality construction

● Must have a spacious interior that is easy to work on and accommodates full-length video cards and power supplies

● Must have superior airflow and cooling characteristics

● Must provide good expandability and flexibility for frequent upgrades

● Must look good while doing all of the above

This narrows the case selection process down quite a bit to a smaller, select group of premium, hi-performance cases. Now throw a single or a pair of NVIDIA’s longer-than-average (10.5 inches) GeForce 8800 GTX cards and a full-length Quad SLI-ready EPS power supply to feed them, into the equation. Suddenly your list of cases just got shorter. Even then, there’s no guarantee that a design element of the case you select—like the positioning of the hard drive bay or a top-mounted exhaust fan—won’t ruin your installation plans.

To make finding a case that GeForce 8800 GTX video cards and EPS power supplies will fit a less aggravating, time-consuming (and expensive) task for enthusiasts, NVIDIA has added cases to their SLI certification program. It should be no surprise that the first case to earn SLI certification from NVIDIA’s stringent battery of tests was Cooler Master’s RC-30 Stacker Evo—a retooled and updated version of the original RC-30 Stacker. Celebrating the launch of their GeForce 8800-series video cards and (680i motherboards), NVIDIA teamed up with Cooler Master to create a special edition SLI certified case—the Model NV-830 Stacker 830 NVIDIA Edition.

You may recall that this isn’t the first time Cooler Master and NVIDIA have joined forces to bring unique, branded products to the enthusiast market. Cooler Master offered limited edition ATC and Wave Master Tower cases featuring windowed side panels with the NVIDIA’s signature TWIMTBP (The Way It’s Meant To Be Played) logo. The TWIMTBP side panels were even offered separately, quickly selling out and becoming collector’s items.

Packaging

Every case manufacturer should adopt NVIDIA’s approach to packaging and shipping a case. A heavy cardboard sleeve protects the sides, top and bottom of the box. The corners are reinforced with thick, stiff cardboard channels, while reinforced nylon straps holds everything in place. If you’ve ever ordered an expensive case only to receive it with massive punctures in the sides of the box, worn tape just barely holding the flaps closed, and damaged product inside, you’d really appreciate the extra steps NVIDIA takes to make sure your NV-830 arrives in one piece at your doorstep.

No doubt this kind of protection costs NVIDIA a few extra bucks over shipping the case without it, with some of that being passed on to the consumer. But as far as I’m concerned, if it lowers the odds of shipping damage and all the associated hassles of getting a replacement, it’s worth having $5 -$10 added to the purchasing price of the case.

Looking at the purple and white Cooler Master box, you’d think that you were getting a regular, black RC-830 Stacker Evolution case—or not. On one hand, EPS power supply support and a top-mounted rack for the Western Digital Raptor X hard drive are listed as “optional.” On the other, they are show as “supported.” In spite of the somewhat confusing and conflicting display of the specs, both the hard drive rack and EPS power supply support are indeed part of the Stacker 830 NVIDIA Edition package. Obviously, posting the full specifications of the NV-830 on both NVIDIA and Cooler Master’s website is cheaper for Cooler Master than the costs associated with printing up a completely new box with amended specifications and updated pictures of the case. On closer examination a green sticker with “Green Product” written on it in English and Chinese, is the only indication of what’s really inside.

Once you’ve removed the extra protection around the box and open it up, you’ll find the NV-830 secured between a set of thick, Styrofoam packing blocks and sealed in a bag. Cooler Master uses a better-quality Styrofoam protector that doesn’t break or disintegrate as easily as the cheap stuff used by other case manufacturers. The bag is a heavier grade plastic as well. Underneath, you’ll notice that the front door is secured at multiple points with Cooler Master’s green tape (which has nothing to do with NVIDIA’s branding, by the way), to eliminate any chance of it popping open and being damaged during shipping—even though the contoured Styrofoam blocks the NV-830 is sandwiched between, would prevent that. The tape that Cooler Master uses sticks and holds securely without leaving behind any gummy residue to mar or gunk-up the surface of the case when it’s removed—a much better alternative to the cheap, messy hardware store masking tape that some case manufacturers use for the same purpose. The Stacker 830 NVIDIA Edition’s installation hardware and parts are shipped two boxes taped securely inside the drive bays.

You’ll find a Cooler Master Stacker 830/831 Installation Guide sealed in a cellophane bag written in English, which is a lot thinner with fewer pages than the multilingual version that came with the original RC-830. The guide relies more on illustrations and diagrams to aid you in the assembly process, rather than illustrations, diagrams and written instructions (apparently a picture is worth more than just a thousand words—it saves a bundle on printing costs too).

Part of a premium case’s price tag goes towards the quality of materials and care used in boxing it up and getting it to you in pristine condition—which is clearly evident with the Stacker 830 NVIDIA Edition.

The Case

After getting a lot of feedback from users, Cooler Master made a number of changes to the original Stacker 830 (you can check out my review of it here), breaking it into several models as you can see here.

Courtesy of Cooler Master USA

Although you might be able to find some of the original RC-830 Stackers left in the retail channel, the RC-830 has been replaced by the RC-830 Stacker Evolution (or “Evo” as it is commonly called). In addition to the Raptor X rack and upgraded EPS power supply support, a set of wheels have been included to make moving the Stacker 830 NVIDIA Edition a lot easier to move around—particularly across carpeted floors

The NV-830’s black anodized finish gives it an imposing, powerful appearance like a Stealth Bomber. The side panel and upper exhaust fan mesh has the official NVIDIA green finish. Although it looks like it, I should point out that the Stacker 830 NVIDIA Edition is not a RC-832, but an RC-830 Evo with an 832 door. In addition to looking a lot sleeker and lending itself better to the silk-screened NVIDIA and Cooler Master logos, the vents cut in the lower portion of the door allows better airflow to the intake fan than the door on RC830 and 31 cases. You’ll find a set of USB 2.0, Audio and IEEE-1394 Firewire jacks right above the door. Move further up and you’ll come across another set of USB 2.0 ports, the Reset Button, HD Activity LED, and the Power Button with the famous CM Stacker logo nestled inside the plastic cowl.

Nine 5.25” drive bays protected by mesh block-off plates with removable and washable dust filters, greet you when you swing open the reversible front door. Magnetic latches hold the door shut firmly enough to keep it from flying open when moved without requiring a screwdriver or some other blunt instrument, to pry open. The inner flaps on each side that allow you remove the block-off plates when opened, and the lower part of the front bezel, are left in their natural aluminum finish.

Flipping the case over, we see another new development besides the mounting holes to install the included wheels, that wasn’t on the old RC-830—a Bottom Inlet for improved air circulation inside the case. Unfortunately, it looks like Cooler Master has given up on those high quality, brass and rubber “Audio Cabinet”-style feet for the Stacker though, and are sticking with regular rubber pads.

Although it could be just the particular case I got, the side panels seem to go on and off a lot easier than they did on the RC-830. The levers for locking the side panels are located at the back of the case on each side of the opening for the power supply. The side panels fit so snugly, you’ll probably be tempted—or simply forget—to lock them. A buzzing sound I detected during my tests was eliminated when I locked one of the panels I had inadvertently left unlocked—so I guess they’re good for something after all.

Everything else out back is unchanged from the RC-830. The latches for locking and unlocking the Removable Motherboard Tray are on the right-hand side, with the handle used to pull it out and the little lever inside it to disengage it, on the left. There’s the 120mm Exhaust Fan Grille, and the obligatory but useless Motherboard I/O Shield that you’ll replace with the one that comes with the motherboard you’ll be installing.

Inside, the removable Side Fan Tray (also known as the Multi-function Fan Bracket) looks the same, with four tool-free fan brackets with washable nylon filters that accept 120 x 25mm fans. Remove the brackets, and you can bolt 80, 92, 120 and now 140mm fans directly to the tray. With four 140mm fans mounted, you should have no trouble keeping all but the most extreme overclocked components cool—though without the benefit of filters, you’ll be allowing a little more dust into the system.