Conclusion:
If you are looking for a case that is not meant to be seen or heard, the
Sunbeamtech Silent Storm is a great option! It has a very plain look to it, but has the added benefit of being silent, while keeping your gear cool. This case is virtually tool-less, with the only tools being needed to install the motherboard and power supply. The extra fan bracket can be configured for almost any layout you desire and will give you an extra 120mm fan inside your case to help improve airflow and your case temperatures, without increasing the noise level.
The only negative I can find to the Sunbeamtech Silent Storm is that my Cooler Master CoolDrive IV would not fit into the drive bay. I've had this problem before, so it's not a new issue. If the drive bay was widened just a little it would slide in. One other little change I would recommend, would be to allow you to change the orientation of the vertical bracket and allow you to turn the fan to be parallel to the motherboard.
The
Sunbeamtech Silent Storm is just hitting the market and I was unable to find an online price for it using
PriceGrabber. However, I would expect the price will be under $99, which is pretty common for a mid-tower case, the Silent Storm has the added benefit of three silent 120mm case fans, so that should be taken into consideration.
The price to performance ratio scores big points, but a few points are lost due to the issue with the drive bay (could be an isolated incident though). Overall I have to give this a final score of 4.5 out of 5 stars... "Recommended".
Final Rating (4.5 out of 5 stars):
Pros:
» More classic design
» Good cooling performance
» Quiet, high performance fans
Cons:
» 5.25 Drive bays (possible isolated incident)
» Core Fan bracket in one configuration
Special thanks to
Sunbeamtech for providing the Silent Storm ATX Case to Bigbruin.com for review!
