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Cooler Master Storm Scout Mid-Tower Case
This case relies almost exclusively on thumbscrews and tool-less hardware, which is par for the course. All are black, good. I say good on the basis that these drive clips are actually well-made, with a smooth action and latches that pop in and out of place. Like the handle, it may as well be metal.
Everything inside the case got the same powder-coat style matte black finish. It’s definitely scratch-resistant, and you know you’re going to hit it a few times with the tip of a screwdriver, but I wouldn’t worry about leaving marks. And even though the case is on the small side, it’s not for lack of bays. There are five 5.25” bays (including the one with the 3.5” adapter) and five 3.5” hard drive slots. To remove the bay covers you have to pry off the front bezel, with pry being the operative word. It uses Cooler Master chunky plastic friction mounts to stay in place. I don’t like ‘em too much, but they’re so standard it’s almost hard to complain. At least almost isn’t a stretch for me.    Motherboard Tray While the motherboard tray might not be removable, they did pay special attention to it. It’s surrounded by cable-management holes and the area behind the CPU is punched out for third-party coolers that may stick out too much as well as ventilation for the potential dead spot full of hot air. It is a tight layout but clever positioning of those cable routes I think makes up for it. The final nice touch is the center motherboard mount is just a pin. Power Supply The mount for the power supply is underneath the motherboard, which is always a trade-off. Obviously it’s better balanced, whose importance should be clear when talking about a case with a handle, but it sometimes makes cable length an issue. I’d say that’s minimized by the compact nature of this chassis. The power supply has a vent through the bottom of the case and can be installed either way. Unfortunately, there is no vibration-dampening to speak of, just steel raisers. Drive Bays I have to speak well of the tool-free clips the 5.25” bays use. Unlike the rest, these really do drip confidence. They’re simple, thick jobs that make up for being plastic with a lot of mass. The 3.5” drive cage uses clippy rails to hold the drives in place, and they hold reasonably well but I would still use caution (and maybe a little tape) if I was hauling my PC to a LAN party or something. One of the cool things is that Cooler Master includes a set of rails designed for 2.5” drives, which should endear them with the SSD crowd.
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4 User Comments 1 - Posted by
Icejon
on April 10, 2009 - 5:48 pm Dude this review sucks. It is like a copy and paste from the Sileo 500 review with scout pictures. WTF, get it right!
2 - Posted by
Brian
on April 10, 2009 - 6:20 pm There was an error in communication and the wrong review was posted under the Cooler Master Storm title. This has been fixed and the correct review is now posted.
3 - Posted by
Kurtis
on April 12, 2009 - 8:36 pm Yeah that was a bit of an OOPS on our part. That would be pretty sad if the review was meant to be that way, eh? Sorry for the confusion.
4 - Posted by
Max Slowik
on April 12, 2009 - 11:18 pm Yeah, actually, blame me. I was dead at the time.
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