Page 2 - Physical Look - Outside
One of the very first things your friends will notice about your Cooler Master Storm Enforcer is not only the overall "hardcore" looks of it, but also the fact that your computer has a legitimate side window and theirs do not. Here, we can see that Cooler Master has implemented an unobstructed and rather large window on the left panel of the Storm Enforcer, providing the opportunity for you to show off your hardcore internals (Or lack thereof, *hem*). On the right side, we can see the unique grooves, as well as the curve of the front panel. If you like the style of the Enforcer, this is the side that you should take note of. The other thing I want to say is, as not necessarily a bad thing, is the design offers a minute hint of simplicity as well. It's aggressive, yet restrained. It has a slick and smooth look without tacking on too many fancy curves.
On the front panel, you will find a clean, hard plastic door on the top half situated right below a row of USB ports, 3.5mm audio jacks, power button, and reset button; in which I will be discussing shortly. This door can only swing to the right, which proves to be somewhat inconvenient for users such as myself, since this property cannot be modified. The hard plastic also feels a bit vulnerable at times. Although it is true that I rarely access my optical drive or any other such devices for that matter, I personally prefer to see a bit more flexibility in this area.
Taking a sneak peek behind this door, you will be presented with four 5.25" drive bays; no 3.5" bay converters are included. This more than sufficient for any average user for optical drives or other peripherals such as the NZXT Bunker reviewed by yours truly not too long ago. If you ever decide that you would not need such drives or peripherals anymore, dust filters are there in place of it. Last but not least, a whopping 200mm red LED fan hides behind a grille with what I found that resembles a fish gill turned vertically. A mesh and dust filter is there for extra intake of air to cool your internal hard drives, while keeping out the dust. If you ever decide to swap out this fan, you are free to do so, once you have access to the inside. However, being a picky person that I am, I have noticed when the door is closed, there is a slight inconsistency in the gaps on both sides. The gap on the right side measures to approximately 1mm, whereas the gap on left side measures to approximately 0.5-1mm more because a rubberized bumper is wedged into the edge of the door to dampen the shock when closing the door. Just a minor panel gap complaint, but no big deal.
Angled off at the top of the Storm Enforcer is an array of standard case controls consisting of four USB ports, two 3.5mm audio jacks, power button, and reset button. To be honest, there is not too much to talk about here, so I will try to take up as little of your time as possible. We are able to access two blue colored USB 3.0 ports on the outermost sides, followed by two black colored USB 2.0 ports as well as a mic and audio port, respectively. All of this is situated above the big trapezoidal power button in the center, with the circular reset button to the left -- which would be hidden once you have the front door closed. One thing good to note here is that there is a red LED beam positioned in between your power button, USB ports, and audio jacks. This is meant for you to easily spot the power button is in the dark.
Taking a look at the rear now, Cooler Master has implemented pretty much an industry standard configuration for a case with a bottom mounted power supply bay. A honeycomb grille is also placed in front of the rear 120mm fan adjacent to the motherboard I/O backplate for maximum airflow and heat dissipation. Three pre-drilled water cooling holes can be spotted just above this fan. Both side panels slide back and forth very easily when you decide to access the internals; and are held closed with two thumbscrews for the left panel -- whereas the right panel is held closed by two Philips head screws, so having a screwdriver is handy in this situation. Seven ventilated plates are available for any expansion cards that you decide to include in your system, and are all painted black to match the overall color scheme of the chassis. An additional eighth one on the right side in a vertical position, in which Cooler Master provides you with what they call a Storm Guard to lock your expensive gaming peripherals in order to prevent those opportunity thefts.
Cooler Master also gives you the option of installing an additional 200mm on the top of the chassis, near the back. Although this gives the chassis extra airflow for cooling, I would much rather not have such an option (Or at least seal it off by default), because as dust likes to settle on top of my computer, an opened area like this provides dust to settle straight into my computer as well. This is definitely one aspect I would recommend many companies to take note of, not just Cooler Master.
The Cooler Master Storm Enforcer features no fancy legs. Purely made of hard black plastic, the legs raise it no more than 1.5 cm off the surface. A fan filter is installed under the position of the power supply to prevent dust from entering.
In general, the Cooler Master Storm Enforcer mid-tower case is pretty solid in terms of build. All panels fit and slide together nicely with minimal gaps for the most part, and well aligned screw holes for the thumbscrews. It was near impossible to find a sharp edge or corner. In general, nothing feels particular cheap or flimsy, other than the front door. Although it provides a pretty hard shell as far as physical attributes are concerned, I find that it is somewhat flimsy at the hinges. It would be nice if Cooler Master reinforced this area for it to be sturdier.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Installation and Conclusion
