Ask Me Anything - Official Cooler Master Representatives

[Jon_CM]

Hello cooler master gurus! Would you mind telling me which of your products would be best for a 4.5ghz 4770k overclock?

Thanks you very much...

I'd recommend a CM V1000 80 plus gold power supply. You would have <1% voltage regulation, reliable output and extremely low ripple for better overclocks.

 

[CM-Nate]

Do you plan to add USB3 functionality to the HAF series cases?

Yes all future HAF Chassis will include at least one (usually two) Front USB connection.

 

[CM-Nate]

I saw your guys' V8 GTS at computex and thought that it looked absolutely amazing, I also just recently saw that you have a new V4 GTS in your products. When are you going to actually release these two in the US and what prices are they going to be? Or at least estimates if you can't say exactly!

The V8GTS will be released stateside in a couple weeks. Price will be 89.99-99.99,

We don't currently plan on bringing the V4 to the US.

 

[Jon_CM]

Planning on opening a few retail shops?

Just a quick tease: You will see Cooler Master products in your North American Apple Stores by the end of this quarter.

 

[Jon_CM]

How does CM rate its fans? I remember AnandTech found that the Sickle Flow fans fell well short of their advertised numbers?

In the past there have been some misunderstandings regarding fans which we have addressed by changing the way we test our fans. All new fans are all tested in our windtunnel machines. For example we have multiple testings verifying our new product Jetflo 120 operates at 95CFM at a 2200 RPM. We also have sound chambers to test the DBA in this case it is 36. This fan also has a brand new POM bearing type and is one of the only LED high end fans.

For more information on this fan please see: http://www.coolermaster.com/product/Detail/cooling/case-fan/jetflo-120.html

 

[kcrush]

Any chance that you will release a something that will allow Cosmos users (or any of the older towers) to upgrade the front panel USB 2 with a USB 3 connector without having to resort to a drive bay replacement?

 

[wsiono]

I just wanted to say that you guys at CM are doing a great job. I've been making calls and orders from a lot of different vendors during this recent build, and i really appreciate how "non-mechanical" your tech support is. It feels like i'm talking to someone who's listening and understands, and who talks fluently without coming off as "reading from a checklist i hate my job - what are you talking about, it's not on the list".

Really great support, and fast shipment of OEM fans, and i like that i can ask personal preference questions to your team, and receive honest suggestions rather than being met with an effort to try to sell something.

I lot of the questions i have for you have already been responded to when i've called.

You guys are doing great work, and i really appreciate it, so thanks!

 

[Albert Fallick-Wang]

The HAF XB case is considered one of the most revolutionary cases in your company's history. I would like to learn more about the history of its development. Where did your engineers/designers come up with the idea of having a test bench combined with a cube case? Also how are sales of this unorthodox design faring in the market?

Also do you have any plans to do a micro-ATX or mini-ITX version of this case? (By the way, I really am enjoying your HAF X case even though it was the most frustrating build I ever had done in my life.)

 

[rubix_1011]

Is there any chance you'll post some cooling comparisons of your closed loop coolers (Seidon, Eisberg, etc series) against similar competitors on your website? If I were in the market for these, I would want to see how they compare with with other vendors' offerings of similar specs (240mm radiator vs. 240mm radiator) as well as compared against common air cooling options that are available. It this in the works?

 

[CMRajiv]

Is there any chance you'll post some cooling comparisons of your closed loop coolers (Seidon, Eisberg, etc series) against similar competitors on your website? If I were in the market for these, I would want to see how they compare with with other vendors' offerings of similar specs (240mm radiator vs. 240mm radiator) as well as compared against common air cooling options that are available. It this in the works?

We are working on creating a comparison guide for all of our products for compatibility, but we can definitely look at expanding into the performance as well. It's hard though, because you will always have varying performance factors for each build and we don't want to be told that we're trying to skew the numbers.

 

[CMRajiv]

Coolermaster has entered the peripherals (keyboard and mice) market relatively quickly, to much greater success than some competitors have in trying to gain the enthusiasts favor. Why do you feel this is?
In a similar vain, will Coolermaster continue making new keyboards that use the more "obscure" Cherry MX key switch's outside the standard Blue,Brown, Red and Black?

Yes! We currently have an exclusive product line of CherryMX Greens in the US and will also bring in CherryMX Clear in the future. We have a full break down of these switches at http://www.coolermaster-usa.com/cmuniversity/switches.php

 

[bloodyedge03]

will there be a itx case that can hold tower cpu coolers like 212.. i like air cooling than AIO

 

[CMRajiv]

I just wanted to say that you guys at CM are doing a great job. I've been making calls and orders from a lot of different vendors during this recent build, and i really appreciate how "non-mechanical" your tech support is. It feels like i'm talking to someone who's listening and understands, and who talks fluently without coming off as "reading from a checklist i hate my job - what are you talking about, it's not on the list".

Really great support, and fast shipment of OEM fans, and i like that i can ask personal preference questions to your team, and receive honest suggestions rather than being met with an effort to try to sell something.

I lot of the questions i have for you have already been responded to when i've called.

You guys are doing great work, and i really appreciate it, so thanks!

Thanks for this. We are actively trying to improve in all areas, most significantly in customer service. We've seen a lot of mixed responses in the past, but we've noticed a trend in more positives and that tells us our changes are working.

 

[King Hackintosh]

Hello cooler master gurus! Would you mind telling me which of your products would be best for a 4.5ghz 4770k overclock?

Thanks you very much...

I'd recommend a CM V1000 80 plus gold power supply. You would have <1% voltage regulation, reliable output and extremely low ripple for better overclocks.

Thank you very much. Do you make a cooler that would work for that kind of overclock as well?

 

[Steffen Reutzer]

hi dont know if this have been asked.
but when will you release a new HAF case? one that is somehow better then the HAF X as i got that atm and i love it but want something new from CM =)

 

[CM Nic]

I just wanted to say that you guys at CM are doing a great job. I've been making calls and orders from a lot of different vendors during this recent build, and i really appreciate how "non-mechanical" your tech support is. It feels like i'm talking to someone who's listening and understands, and who talks fluently without coming off as "reading from a checklist i hate my job - what are you talking about, it's not on the list".

Really great support, and fast shipment of OEM fans, and i like that i can ask personal preference questions to your team, and receive honest suggestions rather than being met with an effort to try to sell something.

I lot of the questions i have for you have already been responded to when i've called.

You guys are doing great work, and i really appreciate it, so thanks!

It helps that our top support guys are gamers and builders themselves. We also try to beat it into all of our employees that a customer comes first. As long as were reasonably able to accommodate, we usually will. Should an issue ever come up, you can message us directly through our website or through any number of our forum or social media presences online. We try to be available so you don't have to look too hard for us.

For reference, we're available at these places:
Cooler Master USA Support Page
Facebook (Cooler Master NA)
Reddit (/r/coolermaster)
Cooler Master Forums
Tom's Hardware (message any one of us)
EVGA (You can find me or our Support-CM tag)
Gamespot
GameFAQs
HardwareCanucks
Overclock.net
HardwareSecrets
JonnyGuru
Bit-tech.net
Alienbabeltech

etc.
etc.

 

[manofchalk]

Are there any plans for Coolermaster to release water-cooling products outside of Closed Loop options? So will we see Coolermaster designed radiators, pumps, reservoirs and other components necessary to build a custom loop?

 

[Jon_CM]

The HAF XB case is considered one of the most revolutionary cases in your company's history. I would like to learn more about the history of its development. Where did your engineers/designers come up with the idea of having a test bench combined with a cube case? Also how are sales of this unorthodox design faring in the market?

Also do you have any plans to do a micro-ATX or mini-ITX version of this case? (By the way, I really am enjoying your HAF X case even though it was the most frustrating build I ever had done in my life.)

So HAF Xb was not my brainchild but the that of the original designer of the HAF 932 3 years ago. Back then, the military inspired design was in trend. It started as a pure LANbox design. In 2012 the HAF Xb was basically a big lunchbox. There was a large steel handle on the top and the top panel for 3 sides was one solid piece.

When I became involved we branched the project out because the mechanical engineers provided some ways we could make the chassis easier to build. We had enthusiasts in testing groups build in it, we had our engineers try to carry the box around. We added the removable motherboard tray to make the maintanence easier. We added side panel handles with steel reinforcement to make the XB easier to carry.

If you're an XB owner you would notice the 8 slots in the bottom of the chassis. I initially proposed a universal rifle strap attachment that would be attached through and through the side panels. It worked on paper, but once we attached it to the chassis we found out it was hard for most of our users to carry 50lbs around the back of their necks. Plus, it made the user the butt of many hotdog vendor jokes. We ended up cancelling the sling loops that went through the side panel, added the handles on the side. Later enthusiasts ended up using the holes we had in the bottom to put their thermal probes and other probes through their chassis.

HAF Xb was initially proposed with a removable dust filter frame in the front. We found out that if we had this frame, we would no longer be able to support 2 x 140mm fans in the front panel, or 2 x 120mm fans outside of the chassis. It was a very hard decision, but we decided to vote in favor of water cooling and made the dust filter a part of the front frame. These are some of the hard decisions we have to make every day in chassis development. While we took a few hits on this in the reviews, overall people loved the fact that HAF Xb can fit a large radiator in the front with up to 4 x 120mm fans.

In summary, we toned down the military styling, we gave users a removable motherboard tray, a strong way of carrying the chassis with excellent water cooling support. The result is the HAF Xb is the most unique and only mass production horizontal testbench/LANbox in the market now.

 

[lp231]

Planning on opening a few retail shops?

Just a quick tease: You will see Cooler Master products in your North American Apple Stores by the end of this quarter.

Thank you for the quick reply.

 

[Jon_CM]

will there be a itx case that can hold tower cpu coolers like 212.. i like air cooling than AIO

Yes there will be this year.

 

[urdmiz]

When are you going to release new products such as headsets and mouse padz, I have two old pads that are finally showing wear and tear. Been through two Sirus S headsets and didnt not like the design style of the sonuz and ceres.

ps: when is the aluminum series and white colored series coming out that you spoke of rajiv

 

[bloodyedge03]

will there be a itx case that can hold tower cpu coolers like 212.. i like air cooling than AIO

Yes there will be this year.

i think i should wait for that before buying a new rig ) thnks for the reply

 

[CMRajiv]

When are you going to release new products such as headsets and mouse padz, I have two old pads that are finally showing wear and tear. Been through two Sirus S headsets and didnt not like the design style of the sonuz and ceres.

ps: when is the aluminum series and white colored series coming out that you spoke of rajiv

Yes we heard about the Sonuz design style and we've re-tuned our design focuses on headsets to big improvements.

Our aluminum headset , the Pulse-R, comes out the end of July and I think it's going to very well received. The surfaces we released the Power-RX and Control-RX, both which have been VERY popular with our e-sports teams. The aluminum keyboard will be launched in a full bundle ideally this year.

Sirus will see some updates as well since we feel it has great comfort and sound quality.

 

[JPNpower]

I understand that future HAF cases will include USB3. Unfortunately the fact that current cases don't include it is a dealbreaker for me. Not that it matters, since I won't be needing a case soon, but back to my point...

Will these upgrades just be USB3 upgrades, or will new HAF products with many different changes replace older models?

 

[King Hackintosh]

How will the V8 GTS compare to 240/280mm closed loop solutions?