Cooler Master Storm Scout II Advanced Case Review: Falling Behind the Curve
by Dustin Sklavos on March 19, 2013 12:01 PM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Cooler Master
- ATX
Testing Methodology
For testing full ATX cases, we use the following standardized testbed in stock and overclocked configurations to get a feel for how well the case handles heat and noise.
| ATX Test Configuration | |
| CPU |
Intel Core i7-2700K (95W TDP, tested at stock speed and overclocked to 4.3GHz @ 1.38V) |
| Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD4H |
| Graphics Card |
ASUS GeForce GTX 560 Ti DCII TOP (tested at stock speed and overclocked to 1GHz/overvolted to 1.13V) 2x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 in SLI (full fat testing only) |
| Memory | 2x2GB Crucial Ballistix Smart Tracer DDR3-1600 |
| Drives |
Kingston SSDNow V+ 100 64GB SSD Samsung 5.25" BD-ROM/DVDRW Drive 3x HGST DeskStar 3TB 7200-RPM HDD |
| CPU Cooler | Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo with Cooler Master ThermalFusion 400 |
| Power Supply | SilverStone Strider Plus 1000W 80 Plus Silver |
Each case is tested in a stock configuration and an overclocked configuration that generates substantially more heat (and thus may produce more noise). The system is powered on and left idle for fifteen minutes, the thermal and acoustic results recorded, and then stressed by running seven threads in Prime95 (in-place large FFTs) on the CPU and OC Scanner (maximum load) on the GPU. At the end of fiteen minutes, thermal and acoustic results are recorded. This is done for the stock settings and for the overclock, and if the enclosure has a fan controller, these tests are repeated for each setting. Ambient temperature is also measured after the fifteen idle minutes but before the stress test and used to calculate the final reported results.
For the "full fat" testbed, the GTX 560 Ti is swapped out for a pair of GTX 580s, and three hard disks are added to fill out the case.
Thank You!
Before moving on, we'd like to thank the following vendors for providing us with the hardware used in our testbed.
- Thank you to Puget Systems for providing us with the Intel Core i7-2700K.
- Thank you to Gigabyte for providing us with the GA-Z77X-UD4H motherboard.
- Thank you to Crucial for providing us with the Ballistix Smart Tracer memory.
- Thank you to Cooler Master for providing us with the Hyper 212 Evo heatsink and fan unit.
- Thank you to Kingston for providing us with the SSDNow V+ 100 SSD.
- Thank you to CyberPower for providing us with the Samsung BD-ROM/DVD+/-RW drive.
- Thank you to HGST for providing us with the trio of hard drives.
- And thank you to SilverStone for providing us with the power supply.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
16 Comments
View All Comments
Donniesito - Wednesday, March 20, 2013 - link
Just an FYI: The gallery isn't working at all for me in Chrome. Works fine in Firefox - haven't checked IE.Blibbax - Wednesday, March 20, 2013 - link
"This is not a case suitable for overclocking, at least not unless you're planning on adding additional intake fans to the side panel."So why didn't you? I can't imagine many users putting a powerful system in this case without installing 2 or even 4-5 extra fans.
milleron - Saturday, March 23, 2013 - link
Cooler Master got it right with the Storm Sniper for this class of enthusiast. It has 3 large-diameter, low-RPM fans in place of all the little yippy fans in this thing, and it has sturdy handles. My Sniper is a laid-back Golden Retriever to the Scout II's terrier. Sniper does not have front-panel USB3 ports, but it's otherwise perfect for anyone looking for a very portable mid-tower. I keep my fans on low all the time -- just barely audible and niece and cool. Sure hope they make a Storm Sniper II with USB3 ports, but CM's not advertising the Sniper at all, so I'm not optimistic.mikeymop - Wednesday, April 3, 2013 - link
What ODD is that in the final picture?smellykaka - Friday, May 31, 2013 - link
The problem here is that few (or none?) of the alternatives you mentioned have carry handles. Since my PC travels with me 2-3 times a month, that makes them no good to me.Protocol48 - Saturday, March 7, 2015 - link
I would rather buy a "handled" case than mod my own.I need a mid-tower case with carry handle(s).
If this case is so-so, what is the best mid-tower case with carry handles?