Cooler Master Cavalier Case Review

We looked at Cooler Master’s Centurion 5 case a few weeks ago and found while it looked nice on the outside, was not the best overall case for the hardware enthusiast. Selling for around $ 15 more than the Centurion 5, what do we think about the Wave Master inspired Cavalier 1? Let’s take a closer look…

Introduction:

Imitation is a way of life in the computer industry. When new products are launched successfully into the market, a frenzy of imitators soon follow with similar products aimed to retake valuable market share. We’ve seen this both on a large and small scale, with Shuttle’s small form factor PC’s a great example of this imitation. When Shuttle first launched their line of small form factor barebone systems a few years back, the market had not yet seen such a product, and Shuttle’s SFF line was embraced by the hardware community. Fast forward to present day, and almost every motherboard manufacturer has their own line of SFF barebone systems, competing for the market Shuttle created a couple of years back.

This is also true in the computer enclosure market. A couple of years ago, a mid-sized computer cooling product manufacturer named Cooler Master launched the ATC brand, a high end line of cases. Made of aluminum, these cases looked good, were light, and were very easy to work with. Soon thereafter, dozens of other companies launched aluminum based cases to take some of the high end enclosure market share away from Cooler Master. In 2003, the ATC line was retired and a new case was introduced by Cooler Master, The Wave Master. The Wave Master has been Cooler Master’s most successful case to date, earning many Case of the Year awards from various publications and an Editors Choice award from VR-Zone.

The Wave Master’s success made it a case that would be the "inspiration" for many high end cases to come, much like the old Alienware Chenming ATX-601 design was the inspiration of countless cases by companies like Antec, Thermaltake, Chieftec, and others. The Wave Master was targeted at the enthusiast market and sells without a power supply for around $ 150 + shipping. Since Cooler Master has ventured into the mainstream market within the last year, they have recently announced a Wave Master "inspired" case named the Cavalier 1.

But be warned, the Cavalier 1 isn’t your standard Wave Master inspired case. Cooler Master has added some new unique features to the case we’ll be looking at today, and has priced this product at around $ 110 + shipping, while including a 350W power supply.

We looked at Cooler Master’s Centurion 5 case a few weeks ago and found while it looked nice on the outside, was not the best overall case for the hardware enthusiast. Selling for around $ 15 more than the Centurion 5, what do we think about the Wave Master inspired Cavalier 1? Let’s take a closer look…

Specifications:

Package Contents:

•Installation Guide
•Power Cable
•Cooler Master 350W Power Supply
•Bag of Screws

Like the Centurion 5 we reviewed a couple of weeks back, the Cavalier 1 includes a 350W power supply to give the case a better overall value in the mid-ranged case market.

Aside from the power supply, the rest of the bundled contents are the standard items you would need to start working with a new case: instruction manual, screws, and power cable.