FRONTPAGE Cooler Master Storm Stryker Case Review

lol i dont think i have ever used or attempted to use or even known the use of an esata port. has usb3 even hit mainstream devices yet? like phones or ipods, or is it still just the expensive thumb drives, and a few usb hard drives?
ptsh they just need to come up with a super port that everything can plug into usb could handle the bandwidth of most everything besides graphics cards lol

eSATA is just external SATA, you can plug an SSD there an boot from it if you want to.

USB 3.0 hasn't yet hit mainstream devices, becauase, honestly, I don't think there's a need for them to use such a high bandwidth bus. Maybe for phones and portable media players it's useful for shortening transference times, but, most times it just isn't worth the extra hassle a USB3.0 controller is for the device manufacturer, not to mention the different (read, weird for the masses) port the USB 3.0 uses. Plus, I don't remember if USB 3.0's Micro-B is backwards compatible with USB 2.0's, something that, if lacking, would render it useless at least for European usage, since all mobile devices that can be connected to a computer for data transfer must be able to be charged from the same USB connector and from any USB wall charger sold for a similar device since 2010, IIRC. Some kind of smart law to stop the lot of useless chargers that old cellphones leave behind them.

Now, speaking of that superport, Thunderbolt could work for that. It has a huge amount of bandwidth, and it has some sort of PCIe lanes that would allow a GPU to work outside of the computer case. But I think Thunderbolt will share Firewire's fate. A couple of uses for professional for some years and then it will go to the "ports that looked nice but were not used" lot.

It is very nice case except it does not have eSata port. How does it compare with Nxzt switch 810?

Sheesh, all those fan wars. My next case will be a Lian Li.

2 intake fans chassis attached (140 mm Lian Li)
1 outtake fan chassis attached (Noctua NF-P14 FLX)
1 pull CPU fan chassis attached (be quiet! Silent Wings 2 140mm).
1 CPU fan board mounted (Noctua NF-P14 FLX)
1 PSU fan which is in the same time acting as a outtake for chassis (Sanyo ball bearing)
1 GPU fan (Sapphire)
= total of 7 fans... if that isnt enough?!

Ultimately, quality of fan more important than raw size... its my ears not yours. Main reason why i passed on the Silverstone case because its fan had more noise in a review (and replacing them all with new fans is pricy... a good fan cost 20-30$ in my country.)

Not to be underestimated those notorious noisy GPU fans, but it helps a lot having a well ventilated case and a mid class (instead of a high end) GPU which got a oversized cooler hooked up, because GPU fan may not spin up that much under such conditions.

wagex said:

ptsh they just need to come up with a super port that everything can plug into usb could handle the bandwidth of most everything besides graphics cards lol

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txus.palacios said:

Same here, I prefer USB/USB3 instead of eSATA.

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eSATA is outdated tbh, although still useful to power up a temporary "raw" backup drive. In the future a NAS will take over that function and it will be backed up to many machines in the network, at that point a eSATA becomes meaningless. The old USB 2.0 is only useful for Keyboard/Mouse and stuff like that, so it still may have uses but not for data transfer... thats gonna make me ZZZZZZ. Although the 1 Gbit LAN is already used at its limits even by many home NAS, and in future we should get a new LAN standart such as 10 Gbit LAN which is already used in server environment. But it does never hit the "trash market" because no one calling for, the mainstream user even got hard time knowing the meaning.

USB 3.0 is the future and could solve all the problems. It can handle more speed than most MB attached chipsets are capable of. Having 2-6 onboard, and inserting such a adapter... = the ultimate ePEN. If it works that is... its always bit difficult with non native stuff, although its speed may exceed native solutions. Up to 2 GB/s total bandwith by using SSD RAID over USB 3.0 RAID, thats the future of the enthusiasts who want to copy data quick. What it takes is a adapter who got 4x USB 3.0 chips, and a fast interface such as PCIexpress x4 and up.

Thunderbolt ist interesting and even faster yes, but its currently only used on Apple and Apple is kinda a closed system. Its not good to serve a open system and USB 3.0 will totaly blast away Thunderbolt i feel, no matter how much Mac zealots there gonna be. Because USB 3.0 is even downward compatible, its a format suited much better for open systems and all the free systems from the world.

Ivy said:

Sheesh, all those fan wars. My next case will be a Lian Li.

2 intake fans chassis attached (140 mm Lian Li)
1 outtake fan chassis attached (Noctua NF-P14 FLX)
1 pull CPU fan chassis attached (be quiet! Silent Wings 2 140mm).
1 CPU fan board mounted (Noctua NF-P14 FLX)
1 PSU fan which is in the same time acting as a outtake for chassis (Sanyo ball bearing)
1 GPU fan (Sapphire)
= total of 7 fans... if that isnt enough?!

Click to expand...

FAN WARS!!!

my chassis:

SLIPSTREAM 1900 x 2 Pulling top rad
Reeven 2000 x 2 Pushing top rad
Ultra Kaze 3000K as pure intake
AP-15 as HDD cage intake
Cooljap 2400 x 2 Pushing bottom rad
Enermax Duo x 2 Pulling Bottom Rad
Enermax Duo pushing BACK rad
Reeven 2000 pulling back rad
Enermax 1500 x 2 as side panel Push
Scythe 40m small fan, as backside VRM active cooling

and with acoustics done correctly and a fan controller, as quiet as a bird. I sometimes need to walk over to check if the computer is on or not. (that's how quiet it is.) but of course, on full load when all fans are roaring, then it does sound like a small hairblower turned on. But I am alright with that.. only P95 and other benching activities has even caused it to go over 85% load. =)

I can spare me the VRM backside blower because my CPU fan is a "top blower" and at the same time pushed from the upper CPU fan, so 2 fan at once are blowing at my board and the RAM/VRM backside is at the edge of those fans. The trick is that i combine many spots at once, which is making my fans a multitask engine. Thats the only way how to make a pretty packed case able to be more effective.

For very huge systems, another setup could be more effective and its less effective making area related combos (except pull/push teams) because its harder to cover the required area. Anyway, such a huge amount of fans still looks crazy... indeed.

yeah true. my front VRMs are actually water cooled.
and it is fine all the way to 1.47V Vcore. However above that, my VRM keep throttling the CPU, and it took me a while to realize it is the 'backside' of the VRMs that's over heating. in the end, I did a simple mod to add a 40mm fan in the right side panel, and the problem was immediately solved, but I can go full load up til 1.59Vcore and still have no throttling issues. but of course, I try to limit myself at 1.52V, as that is already playing with fire already for a 24/7 system. lol.