CM Storm Sniper Black Edition Case Review

Posted by: David Mitchelson (Mishima) on: 10/06/2009 02:20 PM [ Print | 0 comment(s) ]

Exterior

The CM Storm Sniper Black arrives in a typically sized chassis box, printed on the outside are CM Storm graphics. There are also images present, showcasing the CM Storm Sniper. On the front of the box is a small sticker informing me that inside there is a CS-M Storm gaming surface mouse pad. Over on the back side of the box there is a features list along with sneak preview images of certain of these features. There are also testimonials from gaming prodigies fnatic and mousesports as well as gaming federation KODE5. It looks as though this case is fully endorsed by the gaming scene as being a recommended product.

Sliding the box out of the case, immediately I noticed it was very sturdy. It stands there in authority as looking like a powerful case. The feel of the panels which are made from Steel and ABS plastics have been nicely crafted. On the top side of the case there is some ribbed mesh panelling to allow air to ascend out of the chassis. Behind the buttons and on the adjacent side there are hollows to allow you to pick the case up easily. This makes moving the case around very easy, perfect if you are at LAN events from one week to the next. In the same way the CM Storm Sniper has some rubber feet, so that surfaces this case is placed on are not scratched as well as allowing it to be stood a few inches off the floor to avoid dirt etc. Focusing on the front panel there is an assortment of buttons and ports. Going from left to ride we have the small reset button, larger power button, next to the power button is a large wheel type knob this is in fact the fan control management for the whopping 3 x 200 mm case fans inside – turning his knob to the left will turn off all the fans whilst turning all the way to the right will turn the fans onto full power. There is also an option to control whether the blue LED’s illuminate the case or not by pressing the center of this knob. The batch of ports we have on the front of the CM Storm Sniper are 4x USB, 1x eSATA, 1x Mic, 1x HD jack, 1x IEEE1394.

Moving further down to the drive bays we have 5 visible bays and a large area for the internal 200 mm fan to draw in cool air. If we move around to the back side of the case, there are outlets for watercooling should you wish to install a unit inside. Along with the 3 mammoth fans, there is a 120mm CM fan just in case those other fans aren’t able to shift unwanted heat. With all this cooling potential I’m anticipating some significantly lower temperatures later on in the testing stage. Lower down the back side of the case there are the expansion slot plates, I notice that there may well be some quick release tool-less design work that has gone into this area with the buttons immerging out of the right side. Lastly the opening at the very bottom for an ATX PSU.

So we’ve seen that the CM Storm Sniper Black so far has really nice build quality, looks and features on the outside. But since the case will be hosting all our expensive kit, over the page we will be examining how well the Sniper accommodates our hardware.