The IT168 evaluation center looks at the entire chassis market, due to the huge difference in user demand at different levels, gradually divided into low-end and high-end users, as for the positioning of the awkward mid-range chassis but no one asked for it. High-end chassis quality is certainly excellent, we will not comment on this, mainly entry-level users to buy chassis is too sloppy, and this part of the user does not understand the importance of the chassis, just the pursuit of low-priced mentality to buy chassis will only lead to the love of the machine will cause endless trouble.
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The low-end chassis market is filled with a lot of poor-quality products, and the general price range for entry-level users is 150-400 yuan, with products retailing for less than 150 yuan having shorter lifespans, rough workmanship, and sharp edges that can scratch users. Recently, CoolerMaster has launched a mid-tower chassis for the mainstream market. The Pathfinder, a cool-looking chassis with excellent expansion capabilities, has become CoolerMaster's strongest weapon in the mainstream market.
"Cooler's Pathfinder: An All-Around View
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The Pathfinder is Cooler's mid-tower chassis for the mid-range market, and it features sleek lines, a handsome design, and a sturdy and stable chassis made of high-quality galvanized steel, and an ABS+ perforated mesh front panel that provides excellent dust protection and ventilation.
Top and bottom of the chassis (click here for a larger view
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The external ports of the Cooler Pathfinder are located on the top of the chassis, which means that the chassis can only be placed on the ground, and the bottom of the chassis is equipped with rubberized feet, which increase friction on the bottom and ensure that the chassis can be placed in a more secure manner.
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The Cooler Pathfinder is a mid-tower chassis with dimensions of (L)508x(W)214x(H)483mm, and weighs 9kg due to the 0.8mm high quality galvanized steel used throughout the entire chassis. The thicker baffles ensure that the structure of the chassis is more stable. The chassis side baffle applies the Intel TAC2.0 new specification, the side panel is equipped with an 8/9/12cm fan mounting position, this new side panel ventilation design is conducive to high-end CPU and graphics card cooling, a larger area of perforated mesh can be for the chassis to bring excellent ventilation capabilities.
"Chassis exterior detailing
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The 5.25-inch mounting baffles are all designed with perforated mesh (click here for a larger view
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The front panel is also designed with perforated mesh underneath (click here for a larger view
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The front panel of the chassis features a large amount of perforated mesh design, which maximizes the system's ventilation capabilities. Maximize. Readers should not have realized where the COOLERMASTER Power and Reset buttons are located, but the COOLERMASTER logo is the Power button, which is large enough to be user-friendly, and there is no Reset button on the chassis.
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The top function panel and front panel of the CoolerMaster chassis are made of ABS plastic, and the entire panel is designed with smooth edges. The front ports include USB ports with enhanced power supply design, normal USB ports, front audio input/output ports, eSata data transfer ports and eSata power supply ports, and such a rich set of features have reached the industry's top level.
"Chassis Internal Structure
Introduction of Chassis Internal Structure (Click here to view larger image
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When removing the chassis baffle, we can see that Cooler Pathfinder's internal space is relatively spacious, and the surrounding edges have been designed with neatly and uniformly designed EMI shrapnel, which makes the layout of the hardware mounting design very reasonable. The overall design follows Cooler's usual style of using the popular power supply underneath the chassis, and the tool-free installation design with cable management clips makes it easier for users to organize their internal cables.
Four 5.25-inch bay (click here for larger image
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Five 3.5-inch bay (click here for larger image
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From the images above, we can see that Cooler Pathfinder's chassis has excellent expansion capabilities, and this series of storage devices can be mounted with special grommets that make assembly easier for users. It's easy to assemble.
"Expansion capabilities and accessories"
Rear 8/9/12cm fan mounts (click here for a larger image
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PCI expansion bays are also available in a perforated mesh design (click here for a larger image
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Power supply undermounted (click here for a larger image
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This is the first time I've seen a Cooler Chassis with the eSATA cable, power supply cable, and power adapter. eSata cable, power cable and floppy drive bezel (click here for a larger image
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Device mounting hardware (click here for a larger image
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In addition to the screws, the case comes with an eSata cable, power cable, device mounting hardware and a floppy drive bezel, but it only comes with three 3.5-inch device mounting hardware. It's not enough.
"High-end accessories box test
Chassis air duct schematic (Click here to view a larger map
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We applied today's mainstream LGA775 platform for the onboard test, the standard large board design of the I45 motherboard and the top of the line 4890 graphics card assembly, the internal feeling is not crowded. The front panel of the Pathfinder is designed with a 12cm fan, which provides significant cooling for hard disk drives, while the rear panel is fitted with a 12cm fan for air blowing, allowing the entire chassis to naturally create a well-rounded ventilation system.
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The chassis also features a back panel cutout for the CPU, which helps to dissipate CPU heat and makes it easier to remove and install the cooler, and a power supply outlet, which prevents the 8-pin cables from straddling the motherboard.
"IT168 Review Center Opinion
In the past, only high-end chassis will have a spacious internal space, excellent ventilation performance, reasonable installation layout, powerful expansion capabilities, full tool-free assembly and other advantages, through the on-site testing, we learned that Cooler's Pathfinder chassis integrates a variety of advantages mentioned above. Although the performance of Cooler's Pathfinder is excellent in all aspects, there is still room for improvement in some details, such as the Reset button, which is a bit less user-friendly, and the over-excellent ventilation design, which only leads to an increase in dust inside the case.
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The Cooler Pathfinder has a public retail price of $399, and in all honesty, this chassis achieves the perfect level of performance for its price point in terms of materials, workmanship, appearance, expansion performance, and user-friendly design. Even though the expansion performance of similar products and Pathfinder is similar, excellent workmanship and outstanding design are the most fundamental pursuit of users for chassis products. Adhering to the excellent pedigree of Cooler's Pathfinder has been officially listed, the price of low-end chassis can buy high-end configuration of the product, Cooler Pathfinder is definitely the most cost-effective products in the mainstream market in 2009.