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PC accessories vendor Cooler Master has refocused its business to "break new ground in the way PCs are designed, made, bought and used".
The firm has kicked off a drive to rekindle the ‘maker spirit’ in its products and community – by unveiling a customisable MasterCase and a new ‘Make It Yours’ slogan – at the Computex 2015 trade show in Taipei.
Cooler Master describes the MasterCase, due to launch this August, as ‘the world’s first mid-sized modular tower with exterior expandability’. It’s the start of a new family of PC cases, and came about following a concept.
"The MasterConcept and MasterCase break new ground in the way PCs are designed, made, bought and used. Fundamental to this reimagining is FreeForm. Cooler Master wants users to have absolute control over how their case looks and functions," the firm said in a statement.
"So FreeForm provides options to adjust the case exterior via the replacement of panels and doors, while also offering unparalleled flexibility for a mid-sized case in terms of interior layout."
Computex 2015 will see Cooler Master debut the MasterCase 5, a 460mm tall modular tower that comes in three iterations: MasterCase 5, MasterCase Pro 5 and MasterCase Maker 5.
Users can choose from the MasterCase 5’s dual top handles and standard door, the MasterCase Pro 5’s elevated mesh top cover, or the lines, top cover and open-vent front door of the MasterCase Maker 5.
In the MasterCase, FreeForm allows a single case to support a range of configurations, enabling users to upgrade rather than replace their case and system. Through a clip-and click panel, FreeForm also lets users vertically adjust or entirely remove drive cages, allowing for multiple system configurations like home servers, water-cooled workstations, or gaming rigs with dual-slot extra-long graphics cards.
Earlier this year, Cooler Master invited a team of PC industry veterans, including Richard Surroz from the US, Peter Brands and Richard Kier of the Netherlands, Mathieu Heredia of France, and Ronnie Hara of Brazil (by way of Japan), to Taipei for a week-long workshop on the future of case technology.
The result was the development of a concept case: the MasterConcept (which paved the way for the final form – the MasterCase).
Cooler Master said in a statement: "The MasterConcept is the ultimate makers’ case; its super flexible interior and exterior modularity allows anyone to create a PC that is uniquely theirs in form and function."
The ideas incorporated in the MasterConcept led to the creation of the MasterCase, which is being showcased by eight makers this week inside the Cooler Master booth at Computex. These include case modder Lee Harrington, artist and sculptor Ron Lee Christianson, independent games designer Dave ‘drdavient’ Cooper, as well as industrial designer Lawrence Lee, and makers Yu-Kai Tai and Kai-Yu Kamm of MakerBar Taipei.
“The MasterConcept represents a vision that every person’s PC case should be unique, and is a first step in a fundamental reimagining of our relationship with our fans and supporters,” added PS Tang, VP at Cooler Master.
“Inspired by the MasterConcept’s revolutionary approach to interior and exterior modularity, the MasterCase represents the crest of this new wave of case technology.”
“The maker spirit is that curiosity to know how and why things work, and the satisfaction that stems from taking ownership of something you make,” commented Roger Lin, Cooler Master’s CEO. "People want unique products to express themselves, that’s human nature."
