From a manufacturer that made cooling systems exclusively, especially fans, Cooler Master has developed into a company that provides all sorts of devices, ranging from PSUs, over peripherals, to enclosures. The latest instalment in the company’s portfolio is the special Storm enclosure series, which is supposed to represent a brand instantly associated with gaming. Today, we are presented with the latest in the aforementioned series, which instantly gives the impression of the best member of the family so far. Is it just marketing and effective packaging, or is there really a product to fully recommend?

Goliath

The first clue you’ll get about this enclosure is when you realise that you’ll need the help of a family member or co-worker to get the damn thing out of the box, as it weighs 13.7 kg on its own, mostly in metal. This soldier is really huge, and most of all robust, so that you know from the get-go that you have an extraordinary product in your hands. The entire military look is just phenomenal, in our opinion. If you want to carry it around, the rubber-coated handle on top will be of aid.

The top panel contains a plethora of buttons and connectors, including a total of four USB ports, headphone and microphone connectors, eSATA, a huge hexagonal power button, and of course, the reset button. The thing that’s slowly becoming a trend in the upper middle class of enclosures is fan controllers, and Trooper is no exception. Besides all the said buttons, there are three additional ones for controlling RPM rates of any connected fan (+/-), as well as turning off LED lighting on the fans themselves. As there are four preinstalled fans in the enclosure upon shipment, the controller is able to handle exactly as many.

The front is entirely covered in net, which is a must for any enclosure trying to increase airflow efficiency. There’s a total of nine 5.25” slots, plus a tenth one behind the Storm logo on the bottom which contains a preinstalled tiny box for keeping your stuff in (such as extra screws or a mini screwdriver, useful when opening the case for a minor intervention). On the very top, almost unnoticeable, the X-Dock provides ready space for 2.5” HDDs/SSDs.

The sides are very similar in appearance, the only difference being that the left side has more holes, i.e. the net is more extensive than on the right, in order to accommodate for two optional 120 mm fans, which creates some serious draft when combined with the preinstalled ones.