Wave Master by CoolerMaster

The case comes with a door which when opened reveals the external drive bays. The sharp angles of which are a stark contrast to the rest of the cases curves. When I say sharp I meant it! Those drive bay openings have been cut so precisely square that the edges are like razor blades. A downside of the door is the likelihood of it catching on bay devices with protuberances such as fan controller knobs. With the door shut there is a small gap between it and the drive bay panels of about 6.5mm which is not enough to clear most controllers although, thoughtfully, it will not foul with Cooler Masters own function panels such as the Aerogate I/II or CoolDrive 4.



The door has a magnetic catch to keep it closed. Unfortunately it cannot be reversed to open from the other side.



For many, the interesting bits are below the waist and here the Wave Master will not disappoint. Down below, the stylish contours of the door are continued plus the addition of a chunky erect slab of aluminium cannot help but impress all those who see it.



Here you can see just how chunky that piece is. Behind the slab is a series of holes in the case which form the intake grill for the cooling fans. Over a few weeks of use, dust builds up around these holes and needs to be cleared to maintain air flow. Also mounted behind the slab are a pair of blue LEDs to act as power on indicators.



Getting to the fans for replacement or cleaning involves removing a tiny hex screw from the top plate of the lower front section and a similarly placed Philips head screw underneath the case...



...to swing the lower section open for access. The two red arrows indicate
the locations of the screw holes.



The power button is made from machined steel. It has a light action but feels solid with no side play. A small detail but one which serves to illustrate the underlying build quality of the Wave Master case.



Below the power button is the blue disk activity LED and a tiny reset button. The usual power LED has been made redundant by the pair of blue LEDs mounted behind the chunky slab.



These LEDs do not connect to the mainboard power LED connector but instead each has its own 4 pin Molex connector to allow direct connection to the computers power supply. Since these connectors are of the pass-through type they can be piggy backed off disk drive connectors if preferred.