Hey all, its Austin here back with another review this time it's the first one written to the blog site. Some of you may be wondering "Hey, If this is Austin why does it say Charles Frazier at the top?" Well, there's a simple answer to that. It's my actual name and Austin is simply my middle name, I just prefer it as my alias. Now as many of you don't know I'm currently building a computer for gaming and such. I will post videos and reviews to the products I buy so you can get a better look and feeling at the products (if you decide to buy them) before you buy them.
So, without further ado let's begin the review. The very first thing I Notice about this case is that "Wow this thing is huge for only a mid-tower case!" This case will fit approx. 10-10.5'' video cards and an ATX motherboard as well as all of your other stuffins'. At the front of the case you have a Power button, Reset button, headphone and microphone jack, as well as 2 USB connections. As we move the case around to its side, you will notice a rather large side panel window. This is excellent for showing off all of your l33t hardware that you spent so much money on. The side panel also holds an area for you to add another 120mm fan (the front also has one with a removable dust filter as well as red LED's), anyway back to the side panel window. It also has a light automotive tinting so you don't get glares when looking into it or taking a camera to it. It also looks nicer than a standard clear window. As we head to the back you would notice that there's not much there. All that's there is another 120mm Red LED fan set as an out fan. There's also the place where your motherboard I/O shield plate gets installed. (One doesn't come with the case so if there's not one, don't worry). Also on the back is 5 or 7 expansion slots for sound cards, video cards, SATA controllers, you get the idea. There's also another grill where hot air gets expelled this also doubles as a good place to tie cables down (that's what I did). Yet another "cool" thing on the back of this case is an area where you would loop your USB cables through so your peripherals don't get snatched up on your way to a LAN. As we take our journey to the top we don't really notice much other than the traditional storm series branding as well as a nifty handle that can help you carry your rig to LAN parties. Secondly there's also a large 230mm fan set as exhaust. This handle is pretty sturdy and will support as much weight as you can fit in it. (Disclaimer: I'm not responsible for anything that happens to your case or components because we have different experiences with them and the outcome could be different). The front of this case is very easily removable and grants access to the 5.25'' drive bays and a 3.5'' drive bay.
The inside is easily accessible with four thumbscrews that are conveniently placed on both side panels. Simply unscrew the side you wish to access and you're in. Once inside you'll notice that there isn't a tremendous amount of room for cable management only a couple holes, that really isn't that big. I found it quite a hassle to route my 24 pin motherboard connector through as well as all of my other cables. On the motherboard tray you'll notice that there's a relatively big hole for the motherboards retention plate to install. This comes in handy greatly! The case is a completely tool less design from the outside in, apart from the fans. The case comes with HDD rails and a 3.5'' to 2.5'' mount.
Altogether, I would rate this product 7/10 the reason I deducted three points is for 1) No removable motherboard tray. 2) It can get a little bit crowded if you have a big graphics card, a big CPU fan, or a lot of stuff in general. 3) I felt that they could have added better air circulation. There's only 1 120mm fan on the back, one in the front and a 230mm fan on the top. They added places for you to install them yourself but it would've been better if they added them into the price. I would've paid for it. It's more of a convenience issue I guess.
After all of the scoring I would defiantly recommend this to all of my friends or as Rodney Reynolds would say a "Great Product."
Rating: 7/10
Price: Depending on where you get it $73-110 USD
Rank: Great
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