Introduction

Love computer gaming and lan parties? If you do then you are one of us. Back in the day when the lan parties were the hit point of all of the gaming, we always tried to come up with some crazy ideas for the pc cases. One of the key features of any lan party is the cool case contest. I ve seen hundreds of cases and let me tell you, all of them have something in common. Once in a great while we would come across a case that would open eyes and mouths. Today we are going to take a look at a new model of cases from Cooler Master, Sniper Black Edition. Sniper is a pc case which was inspired by some of the weapons in the warfare. As we go deeper in to our review, we will show you some of the signature features of Sniper.

About the Product

Following information is taken from the Cooler Master website.

Features

Now that we got basic information out of the way, lets take a closer look at Sniper Black.

Closer look

Sniper Black Front Shot		Sniper Black Side Shot

First impressions of the boxed Sniper Black was rather surprising. I have seen pictures of this unit before hand but never realized how heavy this case is. Prepare yourself for the one of the heaviest cases on the market. Sniper Black is about 27 pounds without any additional parts being inside. So by the time you install your hard drives and power supply with dual video cards, this case is going to get heavy. Lets get back on track. The box is very eye pleasing as it combines blue, white and black colors along with some of the vivid images of the case and its special features.

Gamers Recommendations		Specifications

Sniper Black has been recommended by some of the best gaming teams in the world, such as Fnatic Team and Kode5. These teams are oriented towards gaming and gaming only. So their recommendations are very much valid in the gaming world. On the side of the case, Cooler Master listed some of the features and specifications of the Sniper Black. Very helpful information when you are shopping for a gaming rig.

Out of the box		Front access ports

The Sniper Black has very significant features that we should keep in mind. Majority of the Sniper Black is made of the steel, that's where the most weight comes from. There are some parts of the case where you will find ABS plastic, like the top of the case and the bottom. One of the features that do stand out is the front mesh bezel. Very stylish design if i may add. The front of the Sniper Black is also featured with a front access panel. This comes very handy when at a lan party. The front ports are very usefully for gamers. In addition to the helpful ports, there is a stylish power button and a fan speed controller which controls the speed of your fans. Cool hu? But wait, you can also control the lightning of the case with the push of the button.

ABS Plastic		Thumb Screws

The top of the Sniper Black is made out of the ABS Plastic. ABS Plastic is a stronger compounded plastic which looks and feel as it was metal. Very cool stuff. The roof of the case resembles the heat sink on m4a or something like that. Under that grill is a 200 mm fan which helps to move heat out of the case. Sniper Black is water cool ready case with two sets of the water cooling access holes located on the back to and back bottom of the case. The case has thumbscrews for the easy access to the inside of the case. Very helpful in a lot of situations.

Stylish legs		Rubber

All of this is held on the four stylish legs. Lets take a look at them a little closer. The legs are made out of ABS plastic as well as the bottom of the case. On the bottom of the legs Cooler Master added rubber for stability. I think its a good feature considering this case will be heavy and stability is important.

Unique Design		Opened Case

Bottom of the Sniper Black has a lot of holes. These are honey combs style holes which provide great air transfer throughout the case. The ridges on the bottom also reflect on some of the modern warfare weaponry style. Very interesting design. Inside of the case is plenty of room for a standard size atx motherboard, power supply and all of the hard drives you can fit. As mentioned before this case supports 6 hard drives including the hardware to have a SSD.

Side Panel		200 mm fan

The side panel comes with 1 200 mm fan which is enormous! Having so many holes in the case require some heavy air flow moving. There are 3 200 mm fans in this case and you can adjust the speed and the lightning of them. You will have some noise from these fans but it could be regulated.

200 mm fan		Hard Drive trays

The 200 mm in the front of the case is designed to cool your hard drives which are right behind of the fan. Proper cooling is always a good idea when it comes to the hard drives and keeping them nice and cool.

3.5" mounting hardware		120 mm rear fan

There are 5 exposed 3.5" trays with quick release mechanism. There are no screws to tie down, just pop your cd drive in and it will lock in the place. Great design! In the rear of the case there is a 120 mm fan for the exhaust air to be pushed a way from the heat source, CPU/Motherboard. This is not a clear fan with led's, the difference between this fan and others is that it runs slighted faster and pushes more air out.

Motherboard guided tray		Clear fan with blue LED's

The motherboard tray is not removable one however, it has a CPU cooler replacement hole. Let me explain what it does. This hole allows the access to the motherboard from the opposite side of the case for the CPU cooler installation. A lot of CPU coolers require to hardware to be screwed in, so this motherboard tray makes it much easier installation.

5 Spacious 3.5" Slots		Additional bottom cooling

So how are all the molex cables are planned out in the Sniper Black? The front panel has about 10 wires coming from it to the motherboard. All of them are neatly wrapped with zip ties. What would be a great addition to this case is some cable sieving for better looks. If you are looking to purchase this model with the window case, think about how to make the cable inside look good.The bottom on the case has additional space for another fan. What cool about this case is that we can take the top fan off and put a radiator in its spot, if we decide to go with water cooling.

Screw less pci slot design		Opened back

The expansion slots on the back play a bit role in the case, i would say. Sniper Black has a total of 8 slots all together. When running x fire set up and audio card and physix you would need all of these slots. No need for screws again hahahha. Sniper Black has a screw less design for the expansion slots which is very helpful for a quick release and replace.

Neatly packed wires		Hard drive tray

As i ve mentioned earlier, Sniper Black is rather spacious and has a lot of room for expansion. You will not find any cramped up space in this case that is why it makes it pleasure to work with. Lets take a look at the unique design for the hard drive installation. The hard drive sled is a removable sled which could be removed rather easy from the case.

No screws needed		Installed Hard Drive

The hard drive sled does not require any screws. The sleds have rubber/metal tabs if you will to hold the hard drive in the place. After securing the hard drive in its sled, it is pretty self explanatory on how to slide it in the proper place. Great design. I love the ease of use of this case.

Accessory bag		Front filter

Sniper Black comes with a special SSD mounting hardware which allow us to mount SSD in the case. Great feature but i wish there were more that 1 options for the SSD drives. Since the world is moving to SSD technology, this might play a big part in the upcoming hard drives. So how does this case keeps dust out? Throughout the case Cooler Master included filters. Its is advised to clean these filters periodically to keep the air flow going.

Some one asked me: "How loud is this case or the fans?" Well lets take a look at fans and how much noise do they really make.

Front: 200x30mm Blue LED Fan x 1 (500 - 1000rpm, 17 - 23 dBA)

Top: 200x30mm Blue LED Fan x 1 (500 - 1000rpm, 17 - 23 dBA)
(can be swapped for two 120mm fans or 120x240mm Radiator)

Side: 200x30mm Blue LED Fan x 1 (500 - 1000rpm, 17 - 23 dBA)
120x25mm Fan x 2 (optional)

Rear: 120x25mm Standard Fan x 1 (1200rpm, 17 dBA)
(can be swapped for 90mm fan or 80mm fan)

The large fans (200mm) run anywhere between 500 and 1000 rpms and generating 17 dBA @ 500 rpm and 23 dBA @ 1000 rpm. The Rear fan seems to be only have one speed and it is at 1200 rpm. So by running at 1200rpm it generated 17 dBA.

Ok so most of you have no idea what the heck these numbers mean. Lets take a look at a reference dBA graph and see how loud this case is.

Decibel Chart

So as you can see by the graph Sniper Black stands between 20-30 dBA at highest rpm and 10-20 dBA or Quiet Office/Library. Very impressive.

Conclusion

Approved by gamers, Sniper Black is held together by strong steel and never ending respect for the modern warfare weapons. This case definitely stands out in the crowd and of course by itself. The ease of use and that stylish look brings out some of its greatest features and specifications, well they speak for themselves. I absolutely loved this case and writing on it as it deserves nothing but the best! There are no negative factors of this case except the weight issue. Once this case is loaded, expect it to be about 40 to 45 pounds. But if you don't have a problem with the weight, then there is no other concern. Having a window mod (sold separately) I strongly believe that this case is a winner at any lan party contest. With the price tag anywhere between 150 and 170 USD its no brainier who is the winner. It gives me a great pleasure to award Sniper Black with the highest rank 10/10!! Awesome case!

Some pros we found:

Easy to use and modify your case.

Water cooling support.

Great front panel for easy access.

Rear cable management.

Screw less design for hard drives and 3.5" devices.

Great airflow within the case.

Stable and will not move.

Easy access motherboard tray.

Some cons we found:

Heavy.