Remember when it was tough finding a good modded computer case? Now, vendors are each making their own special flavored enclosures like Baskin Robbins offers up ice cream. With so many different tastes and needs in the marketplace, vendors hope to design something that will appeal to you in order to get your business. The trick is to develop a design something that separates itself from the rest and leaves a lasting impression. That’s a tough objective when it happens to gaming cases.
Cooler Master is very well known amongst the gaming community. We’ve all seen many a Cosmos 1000, Stacker, and HAF 932 enclosure offering most if not all the bells and whistles that the most serious of gamers expect in a case. However, that wasn’t good enough and so they embarked on a journey, hanging around some of the best PC gamers around the world, observing how they lived, how they played (even how they slept).
After gathering enough intel, Cooler Master designed some very unique enclosures under the new CM Storm name, which they debuted earlier this year at CES 2009. The CM Storm series comes in two different forms: the Scout and the Sniper. Today, we have the Scout locked, cocked and ready to rock! Let’s see if the intel is good, or if the mission is headed for a scrub.
Features and Specifications
The CM Storm Scout offers many very up to date features that are required if you really want to appeal to true gamers. The most noteable are its design features that allow for mobility which is what gamers who attend LAN Parties can appreciate. If it can’t be small and light weight, at least it can be manageable. Here are some of the other many features:
- Reinforced handle for mobility
- Black interior chassis
- Motherboard tray cut out for CPU access
- Supports standard 2.5″ HDD & 1.8″ SSD
- Wire management design
- Controllable LED cooling fans
- 140mm front intake fan
- 140mm top exhaust fan
- 120mm rear exhaust fan
- Option 120mm mounting
- Unique tinted window design
- Storm Guard PCI and Panel Lock Security
Some of the points not mentioned are the four USB ports available on the bezel as well as an eSATA port for extra expansion and connectivity. It’s also a tool-less internal chassis requiring nothing more than the bundled brackets for assembly. The front bezel is also fully meshed with filtering to cut down on dust bunny infestations.
What’s in the Box?
Along with the nicely packaged Storm Scout enclosure are a few of the standards that accompany a quality designed case. There are extras for tidying up wiring, tooless hard drive rails, SSD hardware, screws, and standoffs for mounting your system inside the Scout.
Seeing extras like this really completes the package and makes you feel very confident about what you can accomplish with the enclosure. The only thing not in the box that you can see in the box picture is an included red LED fan. Of course, this is just a rendering of what your own system could look like. Fans are so cheap these days, we won’t hold it against Cooler Master.
What can we say that a picture doesn’t? This is a well crafted and designed recon killer enclosure. The black theme is perfect all around from top to bottom. The panel and bezel seams are neat and aligned. The overall design and finish exude a certain sense of pride in this creation. The finish is perfect for the purpose of the theme. The unique window design is simply elite. Too often we see window designs that are “safe” and somewhat uninspiring. However, the Scout’s window is aggressive, yet militant. It’s a well manicured vented window with all the trimmings of a top rate chassis. Even the left side panel matches the design which has offers extra internal space for managing wires.
The front offers nothing more than a very clean meshed bezel. It’s perfect for drawing large amounts of cool air to assist in cooling off the entire system. Behind the bezel at the bottom is a large 140mm red LED cooling fan which have proven to be very capable of moving large amounts of air without much fan noise.
The top of the chassis features a similar concept found on the Cosmos whch has two hand rails of sorts running the depth of the case. The unique feature here is that the Storm offers a cross beam which acts as a handle as well as reinforcement. The handle and rails feel very sturdy. While the very latest fully loaded gaming system can top 50 pounds, these should easily support anything upwards of 75 pounds. Coolermaster has done what they need to ensure you can transfer the case from your desk to the nearest Intel sponsored LAN Party.
Below the handle, you’ll find an internal black 140mm cooling fan installed to expel hot air as it rises. It’s the easiest way to ensure hot air leaves the chassis as quickly as possible. It also means you don’t need faster and louder front or rear cooling fans to keep up. If the included fan is too large for your liking or perhaps it just gets in the way of the motherboard, you can swap it out for a 120mm fan with the holes already there. If you were expecting a bland chassis back, you’re mistaken. The black chassis finishes off the overall look in the back. Everything continues to blend together following the theme. About the only missing here would be any grommet filled holes for running tubing for a custom water cooling system. Granted, this isn’t entirely a necessary feature since a small percentage of gamers will actually liquid cool their systems. Feeding the tubing through a PCI slot wouldn’t be the end of the world.
Capitalizing on those Expansion Points
Expansion is a big bonus these days and something that RTS gamers in the crowd are big on. In general though, gamers always have a lot to connect to their systems at any given LAN party. The last thing we need is to take along USB Hub adding one more piece of hardware to already limited table space. The less we have carry around with the LAN parties or events, the better.
Cooler Master’s research came to the same conclusion and that’s why you’ll find audio, eSATA, FOUR USB ports, power, and reset buttons all conveniently located at the top of the front bezel. Common cases typically offer only two USB ports. Remember, gamers have a lot of cool devices that aid them in “pwning” their opponent like USB powered rocket launchers and USB powered beverage coolers. The LED light control can also be found above the audio ports. If you don’t want to see the LEDs, simply press the button and they turn off. This is good for those close quarters LAN parties where the lighting could annoy your neighbor. However, the fans will keep spinning and continue cooling the chassis. Enthusiasts who don’t want the lighting will find this very useful as well. Scout! Inspection, arms!
A couple thumbscrews later, the Scout submitted its internal aresenal for a detailed inspection. It’s much easier to see just how nice the black interior is versus the standard gray steel. Donning a white glove (without Rhine stones), a quick handling of the chassis revealed it to be extremely clean and well fabricated. For quick reference, Coolermaster includes a motherboard template so you know which holes to use for your motherboard. The last thing they want to hear is that someone shorted their system even by accident. The template is only paper and requires care when removing lest you tear it like our’s. Some thin construction paper would have been perfect. The Scout’s PCI Features
The rear of the chassis that holds the PCI cards in place is pretty easy to use. Each clip is tooless and should hold even the largest of video cards securely in to position. However, these did feel a little weak when a bit of pressure was put on them. They can be pulled loose to the inside, but not pushed to the outside. So, they do work, but require a little attention to detail. The plastic tooless drive locking slides are much studier than seen in some other cases. The PCI slotware appear equally improved which is one feature that can wear out with some light abuse. It’s nice to see some added attention given to these two items which should last your many future systems or upgrades. You’ll also notice the appearance of the Storm Guard Security System (SGSS). It’s basically a PCI slot with hooks it is that allow you to wrap the cable for your keyboard and mouse inside the case so they cannot be pulled out without having to go inside the case, which is typically locked in a LAN party setting. One nice touch is the extra venting on the bottom of the chassis intended to give you some flexibility no matter how you install and orientate your PSU. And there’s plenty of space for installing large PSUs as well.
CPU Access and Wire Management
The Scout hits a 1000 yard target with their CPU access cut out. It’s very nicely machined with nice buffed edges so you won’t get scraped up during CPU cooler installation. It allows you to easily get to the back of the motherboard to help fasten most top end aftermarket CPU coolers which almost always require back plates. Totally one of those “why didn’t they do this before?” ideas. Removing the left panel allows a better look at how much extra space is provided for more cable management. Molex connectors of any type will easily fit behind the tray as well as any power supply cabling if needed. There aren’t many PSUs that offer super long cabling, but it’s still a very nice touch. You’ll also notice the many buffed ports and cut outs for feeding any wiring. An even better feature is the Front Panel wire bundle which is long enough to run down the back side of the motherboard tray and then out at the bottom for clean access. Are there any improvements that can be made to the interior? Perhaps in a future case revision, engineers could offer another vertical oval cut out where the top three small holes are located. This would allow the largest main PSU power connectors to fit through to the motherboard. It’s not detrimental, but it would be an excellent touch. For those adventurous types, a Dremel Tool could perform the same operation. Mustering Our Equipment
In order to see how well the case does in our next areas of assessment, we needed to select components that reflect real world conditions. Parts selected for this installation included:
- Intel I7 965 3.2GHz
- Zotac Geforce GTX 295
- 2 x 500 GB Seagate SATA II
- Kingwin 1000 Watt Mach I PSU
What could be hotter than an Intel I7 based system inside the Scout? Literally, nothing once all four physical and virtual cores are running 100% along with some extreme graphical testing in the back ground and will be the basis for our thermal testing. Installation Notes The chassis made quick task of the installation. The PSU mounted nicely on the lower deck and as you can see above, though a modular PSU is very ideal in this kind of chassis if you’re shooting for super neat and elite.
Now, you’ll notice that our Zotac GTX 295 just barely fit in between the hard drive cage and PCI case frame. It took a little maneuvering, but it did fit with about a near 1/4 inch to spare. Knowing Coolermaster, you can expect the next generation chassis will offer a bit more space. But, for the time being, it’ll work, but do be careful with monstrous cards. There was one issue getting the side panel on due to the placement of the hard drive. It sits far enough forward that the power cabling interferes with the panel. There’s quite a bit of space behind the drive. So, maybe a little change to the tooless hard drive rails will set hard drives farther back.
The Objective: Cool the System Efficiently!
With an ambient temperature of 22c we proceed to our target objective. The test system was allowed to idle for an hour before the exercise began. Once the reading was taken, a bit of light system use like gaming ensued to see if there was any noticeable variation in temps during typical use. Next, the computer was put through a full 100% load.
It took some time before the internal temp hit 28 C under gaming. The fact that the video card expels air out the back helps greatly. Full load pushed the internal temp to 35 C mainly due to the extreme load placed on the quad core I7 processor and heat given off by the video card’s PCB. The enclosure had no problems handling my patented 50 C heat gun test as well. While the gun was billowing hot air in to the chassis, the fans brought the internal temperature back down to 36 C at its highest point. This more than proves that the Scout can handle cooling anything you can put in it. Also, the case fans remained extremely quiet the entire time which was really nice.
Final Thoughts
There’s a lot about the Cooler Master Scout that simply makes it a great computer case. Let’s cover the things that could use a quick touch up.
First, it would really be awesome if the chassis included another cut out just to the top right of the motherboard tray for a 24-pin PSU main power connector. Second, the PCI clips could use a little beefing up to handle the abuse they’ll undoubtedly be put through. And third, we’re going to need another 1/2 inch or so to allow these “aircraft carrier” video cards the room they need for a successful installation. While most computer enclosure companies continue to create much of the the same thing, the Scout offers a very unique, aggressive, yet attractive design that incorporates an integrated handle feature that actually works. Some of those aggressive features include its black steel chassis, stronger tooless hardware, larger cooling fans, wire management, and extra USB ports.
The Scout sets one strong precedent with its new “Storm Guard Security System” and CPU back plate access. Even though the SGSS is nothing more than a PCI bracket, it does keep your gaming peripherals from being disconnected without opening the chassis. The back plate access through the motherboard tray should absolutely be an industry wide standard. It’s a simple and cheap modification that shouldn’t affect costs. One of the best features of the Scout is obviously the price.
The Scout is scheduled to weigh in at about the $100 to $110 level. Shooting for this mile long target price and hoping to secure it is an especially difficult shot. Judging by the spotter’s reaction, the Scout hit it!
Pros
- Unique case design
- Great overall theme
- Innovative motherboard tray
- Black chassis
- Lightweight for its materials
- Wire management
- Great cooling performance
Cons
- Could use another hole for 24-pin main cable
- PCI clips need some beefing up
- Very tight fit for the largest video cards
Overall Rating: 9.0 / 10.0
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