COOLER MASTER Storm Sniper SGC-6000-KXN1-GP Black Steel, ABS Plastic, Mesh bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

Great Case

Reviewed By: Trickshot on 3/13/2009

Tech Level: high - Ownership: 1 week to 1 month

This user purchased this item from Newegg

Pros: -Sexy looking case
-fan controller w/ led control
-dust filters
-bubbled side panels for better cable management
-good cooling and room for more

Cons: -HD activity light is pretty bright for my liking
-difficult to remove top panel but easier (looser) after the first time
-took a little time to figure out the connections for the fan controller

Other Thoughts: For those who are confused about the fan controller not working: after about 5 minutes of staring at the connections, there's a 4-pin molex that is seperate from the others for the fan power, which is the power for the fan controller. Glad to help :)

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Almost a Bull's Eye

Reviewed By: Noir on 3/10/2009

Tech Level: somewhat high - Ownership: 1 day to 1 week

This user purchased this item from Newegg

Pros: *Roomy interior
*Nice presentation - mature look with subtle bling but not as severe in style as, say, Lian Li. Refreshing change from gaudy, adolescent cases.
*Inputs well organized on the front, drive bays easy to utilize.
* Good build quality and intelligently designed.
*Built in fan controller.
* Hard drive caddy system/mounting mechanism for 5.25" and 3.5" drives works well, is tool-less and allows for ventilation, unlike some cases.
*Feet have rubber bottoms
*Good assortment of front ports including eSATA.
*Can turn LEDs on/off
*Reinforced handles to carry case

Cons: *PSU slot on the bottom - con if you have this case on a the floor because it will suck up a lot of dust, etc. especially if you add optional fans.
*Not so easy to work with this case as the reviews might indicate - cable management somewhat challenging and there is no slide out mobo tray.
*Clips for tool-less expansion slots are cheap and break off easily.
*Needs side fan (not included) for decent GPU thermal performance at a comfortable auditory level, esp if you are doing SLI or Crossfire. I agree with other reviewers who say this should have been included. You can get the single side fan from CM, and it is huge, and be aware that install is off-center and a little tricky.
*Overpriced at full retail, given that you have to add fans, no sliding mobo tray, and fair amount of plastic.
*Dust filters not a slide in/out system - uses tabs that will eventually fatigue - and some openings have none.

Other Thoughts: Great if you like a rugged, quasi-military look. Would have liked a black interior. Based on my research, I decided this case needed the two additional optional fans. Problem here is there is no grill to protect them, esp the bottom fan, so wires can get caught or things can fall into them. Be careful, especially if you are moving this case around alot. Almost went with the CM Cosmos, which is a great case, but price and hard drive cage heating issue resulted in this purchase. I read in one review that standard fans would be incompatible with the Sniper's fan controller because they use a 2 pin fan connections, but this is not true. They use a four pin connector, two of the pins for the fan and two for any LED light. Be careful inserting your hard drives into the caddy system - you have to align them with the pin that holds them in place. Overall, happy with this purchase, even though it was chipped on delivery.

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Great Case - Wire harness horrible

Reviewed By: Romadness on 2/8/2010

Tech Level: high - Ownership: 1 week to 1 month

This user purchased this item from Newegg

Pros: I really like the looks of this case. It has an almost military grade hardware look to it. If you take the time to route your wires carefully, you can do great pro looking job that you will be proud of. I got the new ASUS P6X58D Premium MB with Cooler Master V8 and they look fantastic in this case.

Cons: The worst thing about this case is the fan wiring harness. It really stinks, it seems like an after thought. The design should have been much cleaner, however the wires and molex connectors are all daisy chained together in a big mess. I had one issue when I plugged in my Side Door Fan and light, the way it was wired it may have caused a short to ground and fried my hard drive. The hard drive was working fine until I plugged in the side door fan and lignt. Be advised and be careful.

Other Thoughts: This is my 9th computer build. First one with this case. To improve the wiring I would suggest one length of wire to the three fans with lights. The rear fan can just plug into the motherboard. The fan controller could have extra connection for users who want to add more fans.

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Reviewed By: Calam1tous on 2/6/2010

Tech Level: high - Ownership: 1 month to 1 year

This user purchased this item from Newegg

Pros: -This case looks very stylish when set up on a desk
-Support feet that can be rotated out hold the case well on a surface like a table and are scratch resistant.
-Lights look good at night
-On low and medium settings, case is very quiet and modest
-Black interior looks great and there's a ton of room for cable management
-Hole in m.tray for cooler back plate
-Handles on top are very sturdy and useful
-Screw less add-on card design works fairly well, but isn't as good as the one by Lian Li; can break easily if you don't do it right (plastic)
-Good security addons for LAN parties

Cons: -HDD & Power LEDs are insanely bright. I bought this case thinking i wouldn't mind, but they're really bad. Every time the LED blinks, it sends a flash through the entire room and puts a 3 foot circle of light on the ceiling
-Cable setup for the case fans and their LEDs is confusing and required some research before I could understand how to hook them up.
-There's a weird way to open the addon clips, and if you don't do it exactly as the directions say, you'll probably break one.
-Scratches show easily
-Dials on the front fan controller are a little sticky.
-No removable m. tray, but I knew this when buying it (doesn't affect score)

Other Thoughts: -Case is fairly heavy. With all the internal components, it's no easy lifting, but it's not unbearably heavy at the same time.
-I found that when I was playing a game, unless I had my case fans on the medium setting, I would get lockups. Make sure you keep it cooled well when running stressful applications. I have a water-coolered CPU, but a stock fan on the GPU, so that may be the source of the lockups.
-There's a ton of cables that run from the fan controller / io panel that are annoying to manage, but can be hidden away if you take the time.
-Rather large case for a midtower

All in all, i really like this case and it definitely fills the position of my old NZXT Alpha. I liked the rough metal feel on it and it had a nice blend of steel and plastic. It's very sturdy and has great security which makes it great for LAN parties that I frequently attend. It's not as high quality as a LIAN LI, but it's one of the best mid towers I've seen so far.

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wow

Reviewed By: hellmaker on 2/3/2010

Tech Level: high - Ownership: 1 day to 1 week

This user purchased this item from Newegg

Pros: well they say bigger is better :) and this things big..with big fans no fear of over heating now and picked up on deal..over all a lot of room had np fitting all my gear inside and looks very cool

Cons: not a one love it

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