Review: CM Elite 430 with Intel Core i7 2600K

My System Configuration:



Bold = I installed the part myself
Red = Incompatible part

Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Cooler Master Elite 430
Processor: Intel Core i7 2600K 3.40GHz
Motherboard: ASUS P8P67 Deluxe (Intel P67 Chipset)
System Memory: 8GB DDR3 1600MHz Corsair Dominator DHX
Power Supply: 750W Corsair TX (Dual SLI Compatible)
Expansion Bay: Internal Digital Media Card Reader (Black)
Hard Drive Set 1: OS: - 2x Intel 510 Series 250GB SSD (RAID 0)
Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: - Seagate 2TB Barracuda XT HDD
Hard Drive Set 3: Backup\Misc.: - Seagate 1TB Barracuda 7200 HDD
Optical Drive 1: DVD-R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 24x / CD-Writer 48x)
Video Card(s): - EVGA NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti 1GB
Add-on Card: EVGA 2 Port SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Host Card (PCI-E Slot)
Add-on Card: Belkin 4 Port (+1 Internal Port) USB 2.0 Host Card (PCI Slot)
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Extreme Cooling: H20: Stage 2: Corsair H70 Liquid CPU Cooler
Chassis Airflow: Upgrade Chassis With LED Performance Fans (Blue)
Noise Reduction: Noise Suppression Package Stage 1 (Optimized Airflow & Fan Speeds Only)
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-Bit Edition)
Exclusive T-Shirt: FREE: Digital Storm T-Shirt - Grey (Large)
Warranty: Life-time Expert Customer Care with 3 Year Limited Warranty



Order in process:
My system ran into problem during Stage 3, I was original using Corsair A70 CPU Cooler but due to the height of Corsair RAM, I have to change my CPU cooler to Corsair H70. I wasn't expect that to happen considering I submit my configuration to tech support for review before I place my order.

Cable Management:
Most of the cable was neatly tie up to increase better airflow except for my Memory Card reader cable connected to one of the USB header was blocking one of the four internal 3.5" Drive Bay so I have to reroute that USB cable a bit to clear up space for my 3.5" Drive Bay.

Performance:
It was a high performance system as I have expected and of course considering running with SSD which make it no comparison to my 4 years old gamin PC.

Noise Level:
I was a little bit disappointed on this regard, I paid extra for Noise Suppression Package Stage 1 yet my system was not exactly quiet due to two high performance fans running on radiator from my CPU cooler while all other fans on the chassis was optimized though I felt somewhat defeat the purpose of adding noise suppression package in the first place, at the very least they could installed resistor cables on those fans that included with the Corsair H70.

Add-on Card:
I purchased EVGA 2 Port SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Host Card, I thought I could use 2 extra USB 3.0 port in the rear of my computer but it would only worked with USB 2.0 device. I spent over an hour on the phone with tech support, they remote access my system to troubleshoot the problem but they couldn't get my USB 3.0 host card to work. At the end they concluded the USB 3.0 Host Card was not compatible with my system.

[Update] Faulty design on the USB 3.0 front bay while it is working it is quite to difficult to get my USB 3.0 external hard drive to work in USB 3.0 speed. I have lift up the USB cable up a bit to stay connect in USB 3.0, as soon as my hand let go of the USB cable, it dropped USB 3.0 mode to USB 2.0 mode.



Overall:
For most part I am happy with the system I got, game performance increase 2x-3x compare to my 4 years old gaming rig. The chassis is much lighter as well compare to my older chassis which weight almost twice as much. My order took a bit longer than expected, it was well-packaged when I received my system though I got the wrong CPU cooler manual and I didn't get my free t-shirt, I did sent an emailed to customer service about it, they did send me the CPU cooler manual I need and my t-shirt right away.



[UPDATE] Both fans on the radiator was surprising noisy, even at IDLE both fans are constantly running between 1950RPM-1980PRM and QFAN or Fan Xpert didn't seen to be able to adjusted that either. This isn't a big issue, nonetheless it is quite an annoyance. I installed resistor cable on each one of those fans so it is much quieter now.









Edited by heoban89 - 27 Jul 2011 at 1:32am

Originally posted by DST4ME Congrats I wish you had talked to us first, we could have helped you with some of the parts. for example the noise package we could have told you about.

Thank you.

Yeah, I should have done that instead of depending on tech support for any advice on my configuration. I must say customer service is good but tech support is mediocre at best.

nice man! post up some more pics

Originally posted by Alex Thank you for providing such a detailed and through review. Such feedback allows us to constantly improve the customer experience for our valued customers and ensure we remain the best system builder in the market. We strive to do our best to review every configuration for compatibility issues before the units are built, but, due to the nature of how many options we offer, some compatibility issues will only arise once the machine is being built or tested. In the end, we simply want our customers to receive the best system possible. I’m sorry to hear about your disappointment with the noise on the unit. I agree that the unit should have had some sort of modification to the H70 cooler to ensure the entire system was still quiet. I will share your feedback with the team and we’ll find a solution on providing quiet modifications to even the louder high performance coolers like the H70. We are going to issue you a refund for the $49 fee you paid for the noise suppression package. I’ve made notes on your account and our team will contact you to obtain your credit card details for the credit. Also, I am sorry about the compatibility issues with the EVGA SuperSpeed host card on your build. I will inform our team to work out a return for the card so we can issue you a full refund for it, if you are interested. I’m glad our tech team did try to do their best in trying to get the host card to work with your system. I’m also glad that you were able to get the correct manual and free t-shirt with your order. While this doesn’t occur frequently, and only happens rarely, we’ll investigate it internally to ensure our team learns from this mistake to ensure it doesn’t occur again for future customers. In conclusion, thank you once again for your review. I hope you enjoy the system and if you have any other questions or comments, feel free to contact me directly: [email protected]

Thank you, that is great to hear that I get my refund for the noise suppression package and yes, it will be great if you can issue me the information I need to return my USB 3.0 Host Card. Thank you again for your concern and service you did for me really change my negative aspect with DS to a much positive one.

@heoban89, you're most welcome! Our team will contact you on Monday to get all of those things ironed out.

Originally posted by Alex I simply want to say that, we only want happy customers. We want everyone that chooses Digital Storm to be happy their purchase and experience.

That is exactly one of many things that separate DS from others, you guys really want teh customer to be happy and will go out of your way to make them happy, other places don't go that far, nor do they really care like you guys do

LOL so don't thank me, thank yourselves

As a matter of fact let me do it for you

Thank you DS for truly caring about your customers

Edited by DST4ME - 11 Jun 2011 at 9:24pm

Awesome! Thank you for the support and kind words everyone.

Originally posted by DST4ME I know some good techs they have, its a matter of getting one of them I guess.

I guess, you're right about that. I was just calling for customer service about my refund on some parts, everyone from customer service were busy so a tech support, Robert, help me instead. He helped me with getting the information I need for my refund as well as some of the tech support questions I had. He had done an excellent job in helping me in both customer service and tech support.

Robert is a good one, Steve is my fav, really cool nice guy, there are few others

Of course were would we be without Alex

Edited by DST4ME - 14 Jun 2011 at 1:39am

Just to update my issue with USB 3.0 on front, it turned out it worked fine on USB 3.0 flash drive but when come to USB 3.0 cable then it dropped USB 3.0 to USB 2.0 or worse it would connect/disconnect over and over again. This issue happened due to lack of good support on the cable on front ports, if I lift and hold the USB 3.0 cable up on the connector then it stays at USB 3.0 mode but when I let go of the cable or even move the cable slightly it will drop USB 3.0 mode which made front USB 3.0 somewhat impractical. In short, it will works fine as long as you're using USB 3.0 flash drive that is at least they redesign the front ports on securing USB 3.0 connector a bit better.

Originally posted by Dragoonseal Hmm, I'm confused. I wasn't aware the Cooler Master Elite 430 even supported USB 3.0? Isn't it an older cheapy case, from before USB 3.0 even came out? The Cooler Master site lists only USB 2.0 support.I wasn't aware of the EVGA 2 Port SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Host Card coming with a front I/O connection either, but I do see two blue USB ports on the front of your case, is it something extra that DS included?

the deluxe motherboard comes with a usb 3.0 box(cant think of the proper word) that you can put in a 3.5/5.25" bay.

Originally posted by Dragoonseal Hmm, I'm confused. I wasn't aware the Cooler Master Elite 430 even supported USB 3.0? Isn't it an older cheapy case, from before USB 3.0 even came out? The Cooler Master site lists only USB 2.0 support.I wasn't aware of the EVGA 2 Port SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Host Card coming with a front I/O connection either, but I do see two blue USB ports on the front of your case, is it something extra that DS included?

Yeah, other have mentioned USB 3.0 front ports included from ASUS P8P67 Deluxe in a 3.5 USB Box as for the EVGA 2 Port SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Host Card, it is PCI Express x1 card completely unrelated to front USB 3.0.

Wish we could fast forward several months and see how that SSD RAID was holding up over time...

Yeah, too bad there's no way to optimize SSD once it is in a RAID setup not even with Intel Solid State Drive Toolbox, I guess in a long run if the write speed is slowing down too much, the only solution will be backup the entire system and then remove RAID setup and have each SSD optimize using Intel Toolbox provided that you have another computer system you can connect your SSD to optimize it. This method is quite time consuming which it isn't very practical.