Today I’ll be reviewing the Cooler Master Storm Sniper case. This case has proven itself in many different areas, performing while maintaining a high level of quality is the Storm brands goal.

Storm is a division of Cooler Master offering high performance and highly modular computer cases for a relatively low price. This review was conducted using both air-cooling and liquid cooling.

Come on in and see how the Sniper stacks up to our test.

Introduction

When building a PC, most generally focus on the internal parts, such as the processor, RAM, the motherboard and so on. Many don’t realize just how much more performance you can get out of a custom system, or even an OEM, by using a performance case.

When choosing a case there are many options to look at, whether you want high air-flow or lots of screw holes and mounting points. Heck, even a system built for cable management will help performance. I’m here to tell you that the Storm Sniper has all of these functions, and more.

Storm is a sub-division of Cooler Master, and currently only carries two PC cases. Scout and Sniper are the names of these cases. Both designed and inspired by military weapons. Today I’ll be reviewing the Cooler Master Storm Sniper, which can be bought from Newegg.com for $179.99. The Cooler Master Storm website can be seen here.

A computer case does much more than keep your system cool; it protects it. It will protect your components from daily threats such as moisture, dirt, dust, animals and insects, and finally little kids running around knocking stuff over. With the Cooler Master Sniper, you won’t have to worry about any of these destructive elements. Offering protection with pinpoint accuracy, this series was built and designed by skilled gamers and engineers.

The Sniper series offers a screw-less/tool-less design, providing you with convenience and reliability. And who said being modular was a bad thing? This case can be used seamlessly and efficiently with both water and air cooling solutions. The high modularity of the case allows for countless upgrades, and the size of the case allows you to upgrade to bigger and better things.

A Closer Look (The Outside)

The retail box is actually quite aesthetically pleasing: A mostly black/dark blue box, which displays all of the specifications and features of the case. The most noticeable graphics are the new CM Storm logo, and the cleverly placed sniper towards the bottom half of the box. The box has diagrams that explain how the bottom of the case pulls in air, while the top pushes it out. By several laws of science, hot air rises, meaning that this case will help the naturally occurring flow of heat.

To protect the case during the rough shipping process, it is enclosed in foam inserts.

With the Sniper case, Cooler Master has introduced new methods of reliability, security, performance, and control.

When I finally opened the case, it was apparent how large it was. Cooler Master’s Website describes it as a mid-tower, yet it seems like anything but. Coming in at a whopping 21.7 inches in height, 22.3 inches in length, and 10 inches in width, and weighing in at 24lbs, this heavy hitter can really pack a punch. The black matte finish is very professional looking, perfect for complimenting LED’s, UV light, or those exotic colors you may find on your components.

One thing I didn’t realize when I was looking at the overview is that it has handles. The handles are built into the chassis, and the plastic casing is made to flow with it perfectly. When first looking at it, it’s hard to tell that there was a handle. The handles are located on top, and also serve as a type of exhaust vent. The handles are just the right length and size; It’s not too tight as to put pressure on your hands/fingers when moving it, and it’s not too loose (you don’t want to drop your case on accident). The handles are also very sturdy, and can support the entire weight of the case when all of your components are installed, including a liquid cooling system.

The Sniper case has (5) 5.25” drive bays. One of which can be converted into a 3.5” drive bay for either a FDD, or a media card reader kit, or anything else that you can fit into it.

The drive bay covers are made of plastic with a tough metal mesh to hold it together. The holes aren’t big enough to let anything damaging into your case, but provide excellent air-flow. There is almost no place on this case air can’t travel through.

Below the drive bays is a huge air intake that is capable of being used with a 200mm fan. The intake provides the ultimate air flow for your hard drives and components. The outermost part of the cover is hard metal mesh, while just on the underside of it is a layer of micro-mesh, which helps prevent dust and insects from reaching the side of your case. This cover can also be easily removed with a few clips moved from the inside, and it comes right off for easy cleaning.

Pre-installed on the case are two 200mm fans. The fan’s dimensions are 200x30mm. Not your average fan, huh? A 120mm fan is also pre-installed on the back exhaust. The 200mm fans are clear with blue LED’s while the 120mm rear fan is flat black.

On the top of the case are the front panel controls and ports. The panel has the usual power button, HDD LED, and power LED. It also has (4) USB 2.0 port, (1) Firewire port, (1) External SATA port, and a microphone and headphone jack. External SATA is becoming more and more popular due to the increased speed when compared to USB drives. Some companies have even made E-SATA thumb drives.

One of the most notable things on the front panel however, is the fan control/light control knob. It is basically a big knob, commonly found on home theater systems that can control the speed of several fans. The knob is satisfyingly easy to turn and smooth. A dial on the knob shows you where the speed is currently. In the center of the knob is a button which can turn on and off lighting, depending on how it is connected. The button is much like the power button, but this time for lights.

In my honest opinion moving the knobs, buttons, and ports to the top of the case helps minimize accidents, such as breaking off a USB drive, or knocking off a knob, or the accidental push of a button (especially the power button). It is also pleasant to see the brushed aluminum look of the backplate of the controls.

On top of the box is the exhaust/handles. The exhaust flow was thought out very thoroughly; you can see this by mere common sense. As a computer runs is puts off hot air, and hot air rises. The top comes pre-installed with a 200mm fan, which pushes out a significant amount of air. The plastic casing has many, many slits; which are about an ½” apart each. To protect your innards however, Cooler Master has fitted these slits with hard wire mesh, providing excellent support with a great amount of airflow.

The solid side panel extrudes out about 1/2”, which gives you more room for wiring and cable management. No more tight spaces! On the side panel is the brand new elegant CM Storm logo, which has a slightly brighter tint of black than the case, and a nice glossy finish so the logo both blends in and sticks out. Go in the right lighting and you can clearly see the new raved about logo.

The other side panel has the same shape and form as the other side, however, the extruded part consists mainly of the hard wire mesh found on the rest of the case. This is lined with micro-mesh just as before to protect your components. There are several mounting positions for fans on the side panel: You can have either two 120mm fans, or one 200mm fan. There could even possibly be many, many more positions if you get creative with it.

Unlike many other cases, this one is built for both air and liquid cooling. The back of the case has (4) pre-made holes for external tubing. One set of holes are already pre-fitted with rubber o-rings, and that set can accommodate up to ½” tubing. This set is located at the top of the case, just above the 120mm exhaust fan.

At the bottom of the case, where the power supply goes, you’ll find the other set of external tube holes. These, unlike the previous, are not punched out and fitted. These are an optional set that is still sealed with the metal circle that can be easily removed with a screwdriver. In the accessories box, there are rubber o-rings for this set that is located just to the right of the power supply.

The PCI slot covers are made just like the rest of the case, sturdy and full of air flow. The slot cover is full of holes (15 each to be exact) which provide maximum air flow.

The bottom of the case is the most interesting part of it. There are many, many holes that use the previous hard wire mesh and micro-mesh, allowing your computer to pull up cold air, and push the hot air out from the top. Each end of the case is an inch or two higher than the center, allowing for more airflow to crucial components such as hard drives and the power supply. Since the power supply sits at the bottom of the case, the air intake of the power supply faces downward and pulls air up out of the colder room, and out the back of the case, which prevents any more hot air from reaching most of the interior areas of the case.

The case is also lifted up off of the ground by feet with rubber pads, giving your PC more room to suck up air, and in the mean time, preventing it from sliding off the workstation.

A Closer Look (The Insides)

Now here’s the fun part, taking the case apart bit by bit. The chassis is constructed very well, and looks pretty good too. The only rant I have about it is that only half of the chassis is black, while the other half is just galvanized metal. I guess it is a type of originality, but it would look much better fully black (would also appeal to enthusiast me thinks).

The chassis itself is full of holes, everywhere you look. There are many, many fan mounting positions as well.

One thing to note is that the screwless design of the case allows you to swap/remove/add components to the PCI slots without using any tools what-so-ever. The plastic clips hold the components in very securely as well.

One thing I noticed on many other cases is that the components tend to be a bit wobbly due to the clips. On this case, they don’t seem to move at all.

The chassis has 10 drive bays, (5) 5.25”, and (5) 3.5” drives. A unique thing with Cooler Master cases is the 5.25” lock mechanism. A simple push of a button will either lock or unlock your component, by inserting/removing pins that are located at the exact position of the screw holes of a 5.25” component. The lock is secure, although the installed components do move around a bit, although it’s not significant enough to complain about.

The 3.5” securing devices are also quite unique. They consist of a front plate that clips into the chassis itself and secure the device, and a tray that uses the hard drives existing screw holes to firmly contain the device. The tray simply slides into the slot in the chassis. There you have it, an installed hard drive.

As part of Cooler Master’s StormGuard™ ideals, this case has a vertical PCI slot that serves as a holding plate for your gaming peripherals. By entangling your Peripherals into the plate, you can safe-guard against accidents and component damage. This plate is held in by a thumbscrew. The plate is made of a flexible aluminum which bends easily; a simple wire-pull test revealed that the aluminum bends a little too easy, but I’m not sure whether or not it’s supposed to.

The motherboard try has two holes for cable management, one at the top, and one at the bottom. The holes are fairly large, giving you extra space for extra cables. The edges of the hole are bent over and smoothed, a safety feature that prevents you from accidentally cutting the insulation of the wires.

The motherboard tray also has a hole where the backplate for your motherboard is, for both LGA-775 and LGA-1366. This allows for easy removal/addition of a new or old backplate. This also makes it easier to change your entire cooling system.

This case is compatible with both standard ATX and EPS 12v power supplies. EPS 12v power supplies are found in high-end workstations and server motherboards. They use an 8-pin P4 connector.

Installation

Testing components

• Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 motherboard
• Intel Core i7-920
• 6GB OCZ Intel Extreme XMP 1866MHz
• A-Power 800 Watt PSU
• XFX 9800GTX
• Western Digital SE16 500GB

The hardware I used to test out this case is listed above. All of the components stay the same throughout the review, except for the CPU cooling. In this review I will be using both a air cooling kit and a liquid cooling system. The air cooling kit consists of Noctua's NH-U12P SE1366, and the liquid cooling consists of the following components: Swiftech Apogee GTZ, Swiftech MRC220 radiator, Thermaltake P400 pump, and a PrimoChill 120x Typhoon reservoir (1/2" tubing was used).

Installing the motherboard was quite easy, especially with the ease of access. The screw holes lined up perfectly. You can see that the layout of the motherboard tray was thought out very carefully and successfully. Something that you might find quite handy that is not found in many other cases is the paper layout for the screw holes. The paper layout tells you exactly where to put the motherboard risers for your specific type of motherboard (both ATX and m-ATX are described).

I decided to install the backplate and socket clips after installing the motherboard, just to test out the backplate hole. The hole is positioned quite well. A few turns of the screws and I was ready to install the heatsink. Later on, I was able to easily remove the backplate to install the liquid cooling system.

The cables and wires that come from the front panel are already zip tied and ready to go. Pre-made cable management, it's a thing of the future. The wires were neatly placed along the edge of the chassis. If needed, you can cut the zip ties, and re-do the cable management.

Everything else really just slipped into place. I had no trouble installing the graphics card, hard drive, DVD burner, or power supply. Conveniently enough, the way the power supply is positioned allowed the cables to go right through the bottom cable management hole, keeping those pesky cables out of your way.

The bright sky-blue LED's immediately caught my attention. A consistent glow from the LED fans are in the front and on top, which compliment the matte black paint job. The fans could hardly be heard as well.

As soon as the case fans power on, you can feel the air flow in several places, including the top and back exhaust, but if I didn't see the lights on, I wouldn't have really noticed them.

Possibly one of the most ingenious parts of this case would have to be the hard drive caddies. Most cases have the hard drive I/O connectors facing towards you, or towards the inside of the case. Not this one however; the hard drives connectors face towards the back, which can be a good thing, keeping more cables out of the way and providing more room for other things. Putting the cables at the back of the case can also help maximize air flow to your critical components.

The side panel fan should be perfect for supplying air to the graphics card.

At the very bottom of the case is an optional dust filter that attaches to a fan, then attaches to the case. The filter is made up mostly of that micro-mesh we saw earlier in the review, allowing for superior air flow, while protecting your components.

Installing the liquid cooling system was a snap as well. This case is made for performance. Pre-drilled holes at the top allow for either a 200mm, or two 120mm fans. Then again, it allows for a 240mm x 120mm radiator. Eight holes secure the radiator into place.

With the backplate hole in the motherboard tray, it was a cinch to un-install the Noctua heatsink and install the CPU water block.

Field Testing

Just looking at it, I immediately knew this case would pump quite a bit of air. It also looks pretty good in the process. Now it's time for some good ol’ testing.

When at stock, your components really don’t put off much heat. So, with many cases you can’t really notice a difference in temperatures at stock. However if your an overclocker or enthusiast, every little feature makes a difference.

While using the Noctua NH-U12P SE1366 I noticed a 3 degree Celsius drop in temperature at idle compared to my Alienware ALX case. This is while the Core i7-920 was at stock (2.67GHz w/HT). The Noctua heatsink is also a good example on just how much room this case gives you. The Noctua heatsink is 158mm in height, much more than your average heatsink.

When overclocked, the CPU remained stable. Throughout the test being clocked higher and higher, the temperatures seemed to stay low compared to the ALX. The ultimate test however, was with the Core i7-920 clocked at 4GHz. The Cooler Master Sniper dragged away heat like a cold night, never reaching above 58 degrees Celsius.

When using the liquid cooling system, temperature were not a dramatic as I have found with other systems. Usually, when comparing air to liquid cooling, you find quite a difference. With this case however, the difference was not quite as large. With temperatures never going above 55 degrees Celsius, this case kept the overclocked Core i7-920 at desirable temperatures.

With two 120mm fans on the radiator, and two 200mm Cooler Master fans, the combination is successful. Adding an 120mm case fan to the optional brackets at the bottom of the case can help decrease temperatures on a graphics card, thus increasing performance.

Conclusion

The overall design and performance of the case is top notch, bringing the best of airflow, and modularity. This case is almost perfect for any type of build, whether you just want a new case for your OEM PC or a full-blown watercooled custom rig with top notch components, you’ll find everything you could need with this case. The price is just about unbeatable as well, there are many features with this case that you don’t find on cases under $200.

Pros:

• Great for either air or liquid cooling
• Modularity
• Excellent air flow
• Tool-less design
• Handles
• Easy to take apart and clean

Cons:

• Fan not pre-installed at bottom
• StormGuard PCI slot made of very flexible aluminum, bends easily

Overall Rating: 4/5

Some Final Images