Cooler Master CM Storm Enforcer Case Review

1. Introduction2. The CM Storm Enforcer: Packaging, Bundle and Exterior3. The CM Storm Enforcer: Interior and Installation4. Testing Methodology and Performance5. Final Thoughts6. View All Pages

We dedicate a lot of our time to reviewing PC cases as there are so many different models on the market, making the choice of which one to buy very difficult indeed.  Around the £80 – £100 mark there is a huge amount of competition from manufacturers such as Antec, Cooler Master and Fractal Design.

Today we are going to look at the latest CM Storm case by Cooler Master, the Enforcer.  It has a recommended retail price of €90 which translates into about £78 at the time of writing.  This puts it up against some very strong performers like the Fractal Design Define XL which costs £83 and Cooler Master's own 690 II Advanced.

Specification

• Available Color: All Black
• Dimensions: 229 x 484.5 x 523.5 mm (WxHxD)
• Net Weight: 8.9 kg
• Motherboard Type: Micro-ATX, ATX
• Case Materials: Steel body, ABS plastic, Mesh bezel
• 5.25″ Drive Bay: 4 Exposed (one could be converted to 3.5″ bay)
• 3.5″ Drive Bay: 1 Exposed (converted from 5.25″ bay) / 6 hidden
• 2.5″ Drive Bay: 4 Hidden (two converted from 2.5″ bay
• I/O Panel: USB3.0 x2 (internal, USB2.0 x2, Mic x1, Audi x1
• Cooling System (Front): 200 mm Red LED fan x1, 1000 RPM, 19 dBA
• Cooling System (Rear): 120 mm black fan x1, 1200 RPM, 17 dBA
• Cooling System (Top): 200 mm black fan x1 (optional)
• Expansion Slot: 7 +1
• CPU Cooler Support: Up to 175 mm height
• VGA Card Support: Up to 270 mm with HDD Cage, 390mm without
• Power Supply: Standard ATX PS2 / EPS 12V (Optional)

The Enforcer is supplied in a sizable cardboard box that should provide a good level of protection for the case.  Inside the box, the case is wrapped in an anti-static plastic bag and is sandwiched between two large slabs of polystyrene for extra protection.  CM Storm have used a red and black colour scheme.  The box is decorated with a large product photo on either side.  Inside they include a variety of complimentary accessories such as cable ties, a case speaker and a 2.5″ drive adapter for the 3.5″ hard drive bays.  They also include some 3.5″ hard drive brackets and a expansion card cover that lets you secure peripherals to the back of your computer.

Cooler Master have decided to use a combination of plastic and steel in the construction of the Enforcer which is normal at this price point.  It isn't quite as desirable as the brushed aluminum and steel construction of Fractal Design's cases, which aren't much more expensive.  Like many cases on the market, the Enforcer's 5.25″ drive bays are hidden behind a plastic door which is held shut using a magnet.  Due to the shape of the door, it is impossible to open it if the case is pushed up against a wall or the side of the desk, so you may want to consider where you're going to put it before buying.

The power button and front panel connections are conveniently located on the top edge of the case where they are easily accessible. In total there are four USB ports, consisting of to USB3.0 ports and two USB2.0 ports.  The Enforcer uses the new internal USB3.0 header rather than a long cable which plugs into the rear I/O connection.  This means you need a motherboard which has the internal header to enable the USB3.0 ports on the front.

Below the drive bay door there are four vents which feed the sizable 200mm intake fan in the front of the case with cool air.  This fan spins at 1000 rpm and has a noise rating of 19 dB.  For those who want to cool their system as effectively as possible, there is also space for another 200mm fan or two 120 mm fans.  Despite being spaced appropriately for a 240 mm radiator, there isn't enough room above the motherboard for a radiator with fans and there is no trick removable top cover that has space for fans inside like we've seen on other cases.

Cooler Master have embedded an acrylic window into the left hand side panel which lets you see all the equipment inside.  Moving round to the rear of the case, there is a 120 mm rear exhaust vent which is populated by a fan spinning at 1200 rpm, generating 17 dB.  This could easily be replaced by a factory-filled watercooling unit like the CoolIT Vantage or Corsair H70.

To access the inside of the case, we only need to remove two thumbscrews from the left side panel.  Unfortunately these aren't thumbscrews.  The inside of the Enforcer is painted black throughout which will compliment almost any colour scheme that you choose to follow when building your rig.

Below the 120 mm exhaust fan in the rear of the case there are seven expansion slots along with a single vertical one for further expansion if required. Cooler Master haven't chosen to use thumbscrews here either, opting for standard screws.  The Enforcer supports all standard ATX power supplies although you may need to remove the 2.5″ drive bays at the bottom of the case for longer ones.

There are no fancy tool-less installation mechanisms here; Cooler Master have opted for the the traditional approach which requires four screws to secure the power supply to the back of the chassis.  We installed a Corsair HX850W modular power supply for our test system.  There are numerous cable routing holes surrounding the motherboard tray so you can achieve a very tidy build if you have the time.  There are also a generous number of points on the back of the motherboard tray to secure all the cables down to.

Before installing the motherboard, we first have to install the motherboard standoffs.  Cooler Mater supply a small tool which lets you screw these tightly into the motherboard tray.  After installing the I/O shield, we can then secure the motherboard down to the standoffs using the provided screws.  There is a large cutout in the motherboard tray which means you can install the CPU cooler after installing the motherboard into the case.  If you install the CPU cooler first, though, it can be quite difficult to get all of the motherboard screws in due to the lack of space inside.

We installed a Gigabyte P67A-UD3 motherboard for our testing, combined with an Intel Core i5 2500S processor.  Kingston kindly supplied us with 4GB of their high quality HyperX Genesis DDR3-2133 RAM for our testing.  There was plenty of room in the case for our AMD Radeon HD 6790 graphics card and there should be enough room for larger 6970 graphics card without removing the top hard drive bays.  If you use a HD6990 however you will need to remove the drive bays.

On the right hand side at the top of the case we find optical drive bays.  Installation is very simple as there is a tool-less mechanism for securing the drives in place.  Below the optical drive bays there are six 3.5″ hard drive bays, four of which can be removed to make room for longer graphics cards.  There are also two 2.5″ hard drive bays in the bottom of the case which are ideal if you plan to use an SSD in your system.  We installed a Kingston SSDNow V+100 128 GB solid state drive for our testing.

We decided to use the Intel Core i5 2500S processor and Gigabyte P67A-UD3 motherboard for testing (reviews coming soon), cooled using the impressive Thermaltake Contac 29 BP CPU Cooler.  We also installed an AMD Radeon HD 6790 graphics card as it offers a good balance between price and performance.

Test System

Chassis: CM Storm Enforcer
Motherboard: Gigabyte P67A-UD3
CPU: Intel Core i5 2500S
Memory: Kingston HyperX Genesis 4GB (2x2GB) 2133MHz
PSU: HX850W
Graphics Card: AMD Radeon HD 6790
Cooler: Thermaltake Contac 29 BP
Thermal Paste: Arctic Cooling MX-3
Hard Drive: Kingston SSDNow V+ 128GB

Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit
Furmark v1.9.0
Prime95
Everest Ultimate

We recorded the load temperatures using CPUID Hardware Monitor while stressing the system using Prime95 and Furmark for 15 minutes.  For the idle temperatures, we left the system idling at the desktop for 30 minutes before recording the temperatures.

The temperatures we recorded are very impressive all round with the CPU reaching a maximum of 51 degrees C under load.  The AMD Radeon 6790 reached 79 under load which is maintained using fan profiles.  For those who want to improve the temperatures slightly, there is space in the roof for an additional exhaust fan.

In our noise level testing we recorded a result of 33.1 dBA when the system was idling at a distance of 1 m from the front of the case.  The noise level was increased slightly under load but this is a result of the graphics card fan spinning up rather than the case itself.  There is no inbuilt fan controller so the fans spin at a constant speed. They are very quiet, though, so we cant see them causing any issues.

The CM Storm Enforcer seems to share quite a lot in common with Cooler Master's 690 II case but there are some key differences.  The Enforcer feels much more cheaply made than the 690 as a result of the vast amount of cheap-feeling matte black plastic used for the front panel of the case.  Additionally, the 690 has room for a 240 mm radiator in the roof whereas the Enforcer only has room for fans.

Out of the two cases, the 690 seems like the better option.  But when we compare these two cases to the likes of the Fractal Design Define XL which only commands a £10 price premium over the Enforcer, we cant help but feel slightly disappointed with the Enforcer.  For the extra, you get a much more attractive and better built case that has more space to work with inside.  It also features sound proofing throughout and better overall airflow.  The Fractal Define XL is currently available for £84 at Overclockers.

As the CM Storm Enforcer has only just been released, it is not yet on sale anywhere online.  But with a recommended retail price of £78, we feel it is around £15 too expensive.  At around £60, the Enforcer would offer much better value for money, as it stands however there are better options out there.  For those in the market for a case at this price point, we would also recommend the Cooler Master 690 II which can be purchased for £75 at Overclockers.  This is a much more flexible, attractive case and it supports water cooling.

Pros:

• Attractive Design
• Low-noise fans

Cons:

• Doesn't offer as much for the money as other cases at this price point
• Cheap Feeling Plastics
• No support for watercooling

KitGuru says: A good case overall but would be much more attractive if they could drop the price a little.

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