In a move that should surprise no one, the shipping container that the MasterAir MA824 uses is basically an up-sized variant of the Hyper 622… which in turn is an upsized variant of the Hyper 212 Halo Black edition. This clarity and consistency across the entirety of Cooler Master’s air-based cooling solutions does make perfect sense… as it is a perfect example of product branding. No matter how big the pile of boxes, with just a quick glance one can easily sort out the Cooler Master products from the rest. With that said, purple and black may not be everyone’s cup of tea… and having a ‘loud and proud’ shipping container for a stealth edition is a bit ironic.
In either case, we do like Cooler Master’s latest generation of shipping containers. After all, when one peels everything back to basics they do what they should do: protect, educate, and advocate. All of which this big boi box does with equal aplomb. Before moving on, the above photo shows exactly how much bigger this box is compared to the various Hyper models previously reviewed. Yes. Its big. It so big it all but dwarfs the (already large) Hyper 622 Halo Black.
The reason we say ‘variant’ when describing this shipping container should be self-evident once you open it up and look inside. Unlike the Hyper 622, Cooler Master has given this premium priced product… premium protection. The most accurate way to describe it, is to say Cooler Master is using a defense in depth strategy. The first layer is the thick cardboard of the box itself. This is followed up by generous amounts of full coverage medium density foam. Followed by internal carboard boxes (one for the accessories, one for secondary fan, and one for the MA824 itself)… which (with the exception of the accessories box) also uses another layer of foam. Thus, you can rest assured that your newly purchased MA824 Stealth will arrive safe and sound even if it is used for football practice by Mr. Shipping agent.
The accessories included are nearly everything one should expect to find with a flagship model. First and foremost is they are broken down into types and by components. Need AMD hardware? Open up the clearly labeled AMD baggie and get started. Need the added fan brackets? Look for them in their own compartment inside the accessories box. Clear, easy to understand, and extremely refined is the name of the game Cooler Master(fully) played when designing the accessories. Mix in the fact that the hardware itself is made from real steel (as verified by ourselves via strong magnets) and you have an excellent list of accessories.
The only minor to moderate issue we have with the accessories is the fact that ThreadRipper hardware nor a second set of fan clips (to mount a third fan) is included. The latter of which is easily explained by the fact that… you cannot (easily) mount a third fan to this device. On the surface that is indeed a headscratcher, but as we will go over later this should not be considered a deal-breaker with such a massive (and advanced) cooling solution.
The former? Well that is puzzling. The base of this unit is 38mm wide by 58mm long. No. That is not big enough to give full TR4 IHS coverage… but it is overkill considering even an Intel LGA 1700 IHS is only ~1/4 millimeter longer than this base is wide (LGA 1700 is about 38.25 x ~28mm). The upside to this oversized base is that N/S or E/W mounting will give you “full” coverage on even the biggest of consumer grade CPUs.
Before moving on, if one pays careful attention to the accessory list another ‘issue’ is also readily apparent: the lack of included additional TIM. Yes. Unlike its cheaper Hyper siblings Cooler Master is downright stingy on the CryoFuse front. So instead of including a tube of TIM like everyone else… they pre-apply (in a funky pattern we might add) TIM to the base for you. Some will like this. Some, such as ourselves, will be disappointed. We really, really like the new CryoFuse Violet and think that this cost cutting is unacceptable on a hundred dollar cooler. Thankfully, in the grand scheme of things this is not a deal breaking issue. Just one that leaves a slightly bitter taste in our mouths.
