Sunbeamtech Silent Storm ATX Case Review

Cases & PSU/Cases by easypanic @ 2006-03-21

Is the Silent Storm case from Sunbeamtech able to live up to its name? The Silent Storm has some innovative features which aim at improving the airflow; we take it for a spin and compare its performance to that of a worthy competitor.

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Inside

Inside:

Once opened, I got a "deja-vu" feeling. Looking from the side of this open case I realized it reminded me a lot of a case reviewed by another reviewer of Madshrimps. First let me show you the Sunbeamtech case:

Madshrimps (c)


And compare it to the interior of the Coolermaster Ammo 533 case:

Madshrimps (c)


Three differences:
- The Silent Storm has one 120mm fan right in the middle of the case, while Coolermaster takes uses a 120mm fan as intake fan, to cool the hard disks.
- The AMMO 533 has a grill at the top which allows hot air to escape.
- The hold down system is in a different color.

Madshrimps (c)


A single, vertical rail keeps the core fan in place. In the following pictures you see how it is attached:

Madshrimps (c) Madshrimps (c) Madshrimps (c)


One single screw at the top and two screws at the bottom keep this rail on its place. Not much, but less screws mean less work to take the structure out of the case!

Here you can see that the core fan can be place higher or lower. Good thought, as nowadays Intel and AMD have different motherboard layouts. The processor socket isn't always placed on the highest spot of the motherboard. You can put the fan anywhere on the bar up/down or even add a second fan.

Madshrimps (c)


A close up on the core fan shows us that it spins at 1000RPM. Not fast but this case is called "Silent Storm". If the fan produces a nice air flow, it's all we need. Next to the close up is picture of the molex adapter that is used with all three fans. The three pin molex goes into a molex which you can put between your other peripherals.

Madshrimps (c) Madshrimps (c)


Magical things will happen once you give some power to your system:

Madshrimps (c)


The 120mm fan on the plexi window lights up blue. It's not disturbing and it adds a nice touch to the case. Do note that the two other included fans do not have LEDs.
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