The Storm Scout 2 Advanced is a beast of a case (in a good way), the case is very obviously aimed at gamers especially LAN gamers with an extra sturdy rubberised carry handle to make the job of transporting it about a breeze, it balances evenly and is very stable whilst in had due to being solidly built into the structure of the cases frame.
The case itself has very clean and simple lines without a sharp pointy edge in sight, the plastic fascias on the top and front of the case are far from flimsy and have been very well colour matched to the rest of the paint job, the front port panel resides above the top of the front panel featuring 2 usb 2 ports,2 usb 3 ports and headphone and microphone sockets (supports AC97 / HD Audio) with a sliding dust cover which clips very positively into both open and closed position, the front panel is a very plain but not unpleasant mesh with honey comb pattern behind with 3 removable panels for the optical drives, the mesh has a logo badge at base and is nicely lit in red when the led's on the 2 front fans are operational.
The left side panel is partially windowed over the motherboard below that is space for another 2 fans (optional) the panel is secured in place 2 thumb screws as is the right side which has an ample space behind the motherboard tray which has been increased further by a quite deep embossing providing more than enough room for all your cable running needs, the base has 2 dust filters and features four raised circular rubberized feet.
The top panel features 3 flush fit buttons the 1st is fan led on/off, the 2nd and largest the power and the 3rd being the reset, underneath the carry handle is a removable plate with space for 2 more fans.
Once the case is opened there are even more options for cooling all in the case supports up to 9 fans (3 included as standard) and has 2 grommets on the rear for water cooling options, the hard drive cages run from side to side making cable running easier keeping airflow optimal, the bottom cage is removable to allow for longer graphics cards, when first opening case there is a brown box clipped in with the 2 of the 14 quick release tool-less rails the box contains everything else needed including the rest of the rails, motherboard stand offs,and screws, motherboard speaker, cable ties (for cable running), some spare fitting screws, a Phillips head socket (for mounting motherboard stand offs), a bracket for security cables, there a re also 2 brackets for 2.5 inch drives to fit the 3.5 inch cages.
After the motherboard and PSU are fitted pretty much everything else is tool-less, making installing and changing drives a breeze, the PSU follows the modern convention of being bottom mounted over one of the dust filters, the cable running holes to the side of the motherboard are fitted with rubber grommets to avoid any cable wear and tear.
The rear panel comes fitted with another fan, 7 expansion ports each with its own thumbscrew and a peripheral cable securing plate meaning your favorite gaming mouse and keyboard are safely attached even if unplugged.
In conclusion this is a lovely addition to the Cooler Master gaming range and has improved on the success that the HAF range blazed in the gaming enthusiast world, this case is a pure pleasure to work in and around and has enough options built in for almost any user moving my current system into this case took little more than 20 minutes (all done without managing slice my hands to bits on sharp metal), the case is very well built and finished and has amazing airflow throughout, suffice to say I have already recommended this case to others and at around the £80 mark i think its well priced considering quality and features.
little video once over: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zbG4_0AxTU
