Cooler Master Storm Sniper (Review)

tofucake

Hyrule19228 Posts

August 26 2010 01:42 GMT

The Storm Sniper! It just looks cool.

When I built my computer, I went with an Antec 902. I've used Antec products before, and they've all been great. The 902 has great build quality, except for a few small things which really ticked me off:

1. The LEDs could not be turned off, short of severing the wires

2. To remove the top panel (required to replace the top fan), you have to bend 4 little clips on the inside of the case. The problem here is twofold; bend the clips too far and they break, and one of them is impossible to bend at all because the motherboard mounting plate blocks it. This makes the top impossible to remove, so if the fan breaks you're SOL. As I understand it, the 900 did not have this problem.

3. It was 7438975289304523465789 pounds. Roughly. But seriously, it was really heavy, but I knew that before I bought it.

4. The faceplate for my motherboard did not fit properly, as in, if it was in place, I could not actually fit the motherboard in the case. Problem with case or problem with motherboard? The answer is case (you'll find out why later).

5. I mean really not being able to turn off the LEDs is super annoying, especially at night.

6. Fan speeds. The front 2 and back 1 fan had little nobs to control their speeds. The top did not.

Badass fan controller knob

So I did some research and picked up a Cooler Master Storm Sniper. While the name is a little cheesy, it's got some nice features that I didn't realize I was missing. Namely, it has a fan control panel (pictured above) that allows me to adjust all fan speeds AND turn on and off the LEDs. No more night light! Additionally, the CMSS comes with a side fan, where the 902 only had a vent.

So, I opened it up, and the first thing I noticed was that it's very long. I saw the specs when ordered it, but now it really started to sink in.

(boring part: I took all the guts out of my 902)

The CMSS comes with a lot of wires. There's a daisy chain set up for the fans already (very nice) with 2 extra connectors for fans you can add later, along with 2 front panel USB wires, the 1394 connector, and the audio connector....and the power, reset, and HDD lights....and the LED lights. And there's also the fan LED lines. And the front panel SATA cable. Just look:

A fuckton of wires...

It's a lot of wires. But that's okay! They are all handily zip-tied for you, and the cable management compartment is nice and roomy. All the connections were straightforward, which was due to each and every wire being labled.

My motherboard's faceplate fits. So there.

Anyway, everything got put together quite easily. The locking drive bays (as opposed to screw-in bays) were quite nice.

There are only 2 problems with this case:
1. It's LONG. Seriously. It's 4 inches longer than the 902. But that's fine. My Radeon HD 5870 fits with plenty of room to spare, whereas in the 902 it was a little cramped.

2. The manual needs some serious work. None of the wires are labeled at all (which was a problem, as apparently it's 50/50 whether you get physically labeled wires or not), and all of the instructions are pictures. Very SMALL pictures. Very small and CLUTTERED pictures.

The 902. Looks cool, but it's a pain.

I definitely recommend the Storm Sniper. It's a bit pricier than the 902 (by $20). Its larger size makes it more accessible on the inside, which means getting some of those fiddly connections is easier. The fan controller is also a great plus.

a176

Canada6688 Posts

August 26 2010 01:51 GMT

so you like it ... but hate it?

ghermination

United States2851 Posts

August 26 2010 02:05 GMT

The storm sniper is one of the best "no nonsense" cases out right now, in my mind only dwarfed by the NZXT Gamma. Both of them are awesome cases without a lot of frills that have everything you need.

The Storm Sniper has the advantage of the built in fan controller but you pay a bit too much for it, compared to the money you can save by adding your own.

If it were up to me right now i would buy the Gamma though, simply because it can support a larger number of fans and is only $39.99

[image loading]

sLiniss

United States849 Posts

August 26 2010 02:45 GMT

I have this, the Antec 900. Cheaper than both of those, I think. Also seems like it is lighter than both of those.

OblivionStarcraft

United States43 Posts

August 26 2010 03:39 GMT

The Storm Sniper is a nice case, but i prefer the two im using
Haf 932
+ Show Spoiler +

And the Haf X
+ Show Spoiler +

Loser777

1931 Posts

August 26 2010 04:16 GMT

I have the Storm Sniper's little brother, the Storm Scout... which is basically an Antec 900 clone with only 1 intake at the front (obviously not as good as the 900 in terms of airflow)
The only problem I noticed was that the expansion slot screws just didn't really fit (I ended up using the hard drive screws or something to screw in expansion cards)

I'm surprised that you said the storm sniper doesn't allow you to turn off LEDs, because there's a switch for that on the scout.

Kiante

Australia7069 Posts

August 26 2010 04:19 GMT

I have an antec 900 and its been a great case. great ventilation, nice big fans so its quiet. Never tried to turn the LED's off but it never seemed like something i wanted to do ^_^

ghermination

United States2851 Posts

August 26 2010 09:03 GMT

On August 26 2010 11:45 sLiniss wrote:
[image loading]

I have this, the Antec 900. Cheaper than both of those, I think. Also seems like it is lighter than both of those.

The Antec 900 costs $100+. It's more than $70 more expensive than the NZXT Gamma Classic and $50 more expensive than the Storm scout. It's also a heavier and larger case.

tofucake

Hyrule19228 Posts

August 26 2010 13:31 GMT

On August 26 2010 13:16 Loser777 wrote:
I have the Storm Sniper's little brother, the Storm Scout... which is basically an Antec 900 clone with only 1 intake at the front (obviously not as good as the 900 in terms of airflow)
The only problem I noticed was that the expansion slot screws just didn't really fit (I ended up using the hard drive screws or something to screw in expansion cards)

I'm surprised that you said the storm sniper doesn't allow you to turn off LEDs, because there's a switch for that on the scout.

You got that backwards (or did I actually write that?). The Sniper has a control to turn on/off the LEDs, but with the 902...if it's on, so are the LEDs.

On a slight side note, I had to put a bit of electrical tape over the power on light. Since I did that, I love it.

tofucake

Hyrule19228 Posts

August 26 2010 13:35 GMT

#10

On August 26 2010 10:51 a176 wrote:
so you like it ... but hate it?

I really like the Sniper. The 902 was a PITA.

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