CoolerMaster MasterAir MA410M Review

CoolerMaster MasterAir MA410M Review 

The Build

There’s no easy way to say this, no way to dress it up, no way to polish the turd, so we’ll just come straight out with it.  The MA410M is a pain in the arse to fit.  Granted, it’s not such a big problem if you’re fitting it to a motherboard before installing it into the case, but if your mobo is already in the case then it’s a proper ball ache.  Why so?  Well partly because CM are using a really ineffective and fiddly clamping method, but mainly because both the fans have to be removed so that you can access the threads that clamp the cooler down onto the CPU.

CoolerMaster MasterAir MA410M Review  

 

Now, had CM used traditional spring clips, this would have been bad enough, but no! they’ve decided that they’re going to have the fans screwed to the cooler housing in much the same way that they’re screwed to an AIO Radiatior.  10/10 for Aesthetics chaps, 0/10 for practicality.  Why, because although there’s a bit of room at the front to access the screw heads, there’s bugger all round the back, unless of course you happen to have a long shafted screw driver and a case with hex holes that are both big enough to fit your screw driver through and also vaguely line up with the heads you’re looking to access.  Really CoolerMaster, didn’t you think that one through?  And the reason the photo below is a bit blurred is because I was absolutely fizzing with the ridiculousness of the situation, you do though get the idea.

CoolerMaster MasterAir MA410M Review  

 

If anything positive comes of having to take the fans off, it’s that out of the box they’re actually oriented so that their wires are facing towards the GPU as opposed to upwards into the roof of the case as is more logical. 

CoolerMaster MasterAir MA410M Review  

 

Once in however we think you’ll agree it looks quite smart and well proportioned in a case of this size.

CoolerMaster MasterAir MA410M Review  

 

RAM encroachment is minimal although if you’re using tall RAM you might want to check your tolerances on the first slot.

CoolerMaster MasterAir MA410M Review Â