CM Storm Trooper review

Supaaahdupaaa-supadupaa-troopaaah -- oh hey all, anyone remembers that 70'ies band Abba ? Seems that Cooler Master designed a chassis after that song.

Oh hell no of course not. But it was the first thing that popped into my mind alright.

And one of my staff members reminded me of a golden rule: Star Wars Rule Number 137: You cannot call a case Storm Trooper and make it all black ! Hehe.

Hey yeah so Cooler Master released another chassis in their CM Storm series. Now let me first state that admittedly, the pictures you are about to see do not do the chassis justice. Somehow photographed the looks seem a little less than when you look at the gobbler sitting next to you, as it is quite a massive and impressive chassis -- as you are about to find out.

Cooler Master has unleashed its “CM Storm Trooper” Case. The chassis, as you noted is branded under the CM Storm series. The case features an all black and bulky design with a cool front panel at ... well the front side.

Keywords are: room for extreme cooling, water-cooling, superb cable management, space, features and high airflow. Now imagine all that in a full-tower that you like to carry around to LAN parties.   For LAN gamers with extreme needs, mobility simply is an issue. Cooler Master will try to remedy this with the Trooper. It combines the best in features that we are accustomed to from Cooler Master and then some more. And yah for them LAN parteeeh goblerzz, this full tower case has an integrated rubberized handle located at the top.

But wait, there's more Dave -- you'll also spot features like dust filter coverage everywhere, a fan controller, an external SSD drive hot-swap dock and two rather distinctively designed modular hard drive cages. Two modular HDD cages which can hold 4HDDs and a 120mm fan for cooling each. These modular units can be rotated, front to back, side to side or removed altogether. CM Storm Trooper is the first chassis to allow fully modular hard drive configuration with no modification required.

Features

• Damage resistant rubberized outer surfaces with a built-in digital fan controller
• Supports high-end hardware such as XL-ATX motherboards, multiple GPUs in SLI or Crossfire
• Room for future upgrades with support for up to 14 HDD or SSD
• Dust filters on every intake that are removable to allow easy cleaning
• Support for several 240mm radiators (some larger radiators supported)
• 6 fan speed settings and fan LED control via fan controller
• Front I/O panel with 2 internal USB 3.0 connectors
• Easy transport with handles and a hidden tool box for carrying accessories
• Easy cable management and routing
• Two 90 degree removable and rotatable HDD cages each with an attached 120mm red LED fan

Another plus for the extreme enthusiasts is that there is room for not one, but wait for it ... wait ... wait ... yep there it is -- two  radiators ! You can mount a vertical water-cooling radiator by removing the hard drive cages and panels.

The Trooper comes with a nice, nine expansion slot space, providing support for multi-GPUs in SLI or Crossfire. In total there's space for 14 hard drives and the motherboard tray even supports XL-ATX form factors.

But let's head over to the next page where we'll talk some more and then startup an extensive photo-shoot.