Robilar

Picked up the new revision of the Coolermaster Storm Sniper today.

I owned the original Storm Sniper (and later sold it).

What's new:

Black interior; Finally... When the Storm Sniper was shown at the shows prior to release, it was demo'd with an all black interior. CM finally got around to bringing it back.

Additional 200mm BLUE LED door fan. Prior, the original Sniper provided mounting options for either a 200mm or two 120mm fans (which is how I configured the old one).

An important thing to note regarding these fans; They are much more powerful than the 200mm fans included with the HAF932 (my most recent case). The integrated fan controller (which also turns their LED lights off and on) allows you to dial them down to silence but at full speed, you can definitely hear them.

SSD Hard drive mount. The Sniper includes a mounting bracket for a single SSD.

Extra mounting holes on the floor fan. Originally, you could mount a single 120mm fan in the floor of the case (as you can see in my pic). CM added mount holes for both 120 and 140mm fans in this position. Bear in mind that if you are using a longer than standard power supply, a 120mm is the only size that will fit.

The benefit of a fan here (given that the underside of the case is highly elevated and mostly open) is that it blows air straight up into my video card fan.

All black screws and accessories. I'm not kidding here. Every single screw included is black (except the copper motherboard mounting posts). The only dumb thing is the zip ties they include are white...

You will also not from my pics the length of the case. I actually have more space between the end of my 5870 and the hard drive cage than I did with the HAF932 (and definitely my Antec 1200).


Negatives: Really only one. The wires for the fans, USB etc are not sleeved. I did some sleeving of my own (and will do more when I have more time).

Also the rear 120mm fan is not a blue LED model They really should have put in a blue LED unit to match the system).

Considering that this case only cost me $140 CAD, I'd say that is a minor quibble and easily fixed with a $12 sleeving kit.

I took the liberty of adding a floor fan and replacing the back non LED fan with a pair of Antec Tri-cools (they are much more powerful than the CM stock 120mm fans as well).

On a side note, the supplier I buy from is the main distributor for CM in Canada and they indicated that the Black Edition will be replacing the original Storm Sniper (the original being discontinued).

To know which is which, look at the part number:

SGC-6000-KKN1-GP Original Unit

SGC-6000-KXN1-GP Black Edition

Tigerdirect is listing that they have the Black edition (the KXN1), but this is an error on their website.


Kudos for CM taking an orginal design and making it better (and blacker...)

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JDMfanatic

Looks like a real solid case, but I went for the Storm Scout because I wasn't sure if I'd get the black edition.

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Robilar

Here are some more pics:

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ROM3000

Great case Robilar. I have the Sniper's little brother, the Scout. What are the two black boxes on the back of your case with wires coming out of the watercooling holes?

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Chunky_Chimp

Sweet. If only they'd make all-black HAF and ATCS cases, they'd be in real business.

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HAFenvy

I like this Sniper case and wish all the CM cases came as a black option. Here is a little known fact about this case and the HAF 922... they share the same design. When you compare the guts of both they are basically identical except for the extra top and bottom plastic and bezel on the Sniper. This has turned out to be a great thing as the current on sale $10 side window panel option for the Sniper fits the HAF 922 too. The rear thumbscrew holes don't line up so they don't list the 922 as supported anymore but we already have some OCN members who have installed it on their 922 for a full side window (on a water cooling build by Triggs75 - awesome setup ... EDIT: His BUILD LOG link where you can see the Sniper window panel on his 922).

The 922 still doesn't have a black interior and had this case been available prior to building my now all black 922, I would have bought this case instead.

Other notes... I believe the front fan filter panel pops off so you can clean it which you can't do with the 922 or 932 cases.

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Robilar

Yes, all of the filters are removable for cleaning (front pops off, side window filter comes out easily, bottom fan intake, if used pops out).

I noticed the similarity in cases as well.

I personally wouldn't choose the window option as I prefer airflow to esthetics but that's just me.

allenkane

Thanks for posting this. I was trying to figure out whether the black edition
came with the side fan included.

That's too bad, I wanted to buy it from them since Newegg wants to charge me $35 for shipping

Hopefully I'm allowed to ask this; does anyone know of any sites that sell the black version without charging an arm and a leg for shipping?

HAFenvy

NCIX, based in Canada who I buy my parts from (because they are local with a retail store literally minutes from my house ), has a US web site as well... not sure how much the shipping would be to your location but you could give it a try: Storm Sniper Black Edition

EDIT: Only 2 in stock at their warehouse btw.

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salamooch

Robilar, I'm curious... did you have any trouble with the fan wiring? The old case seems to have 2 spare led wires and a couple of spare molex ,,, the black edition (which I got today) has only 1 spare led wire and one spare 4pin molex.

I haven't started my build yet but my build wants to look like yours when it grows up!

It looks nice.

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