COOLER MASTER CM Storm Scout 2 SGC-2100-GWN1 Gunmetal Grey & Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Pros: after watching multiple YouTube case reviews, i chose this one. It has everything you would ask for in a mid tower in the price range it is in. I think its worth more, but I'm not complaining :)

I love the carrying handle, and i even use the side rails that sort of act like the cosmos 2 rails to carry it as well. using all 3 optical drives. i had to modify the nzxt lcd fan controller by putting screw on other side (not cases fault!). but other than that, the tool-less switches worked as intended.

It didn't have enough fans. I could have gotten the white with more, but I could spend less and get more. So i got the CM 140mm for the front and the CM 120mm 4pack for the door and top. Don't forget the case comes with extended screws for the front fans! I would have put another 120mm on the bottom but my PSU (Corsair HX750) takes up the majority of the bottom space and a 120mm i tried did not fit. With that said, I wanna mention the larger grommet cable hole by PSU was a great change from the first scout!

Cable management was cake with 1in. of working space and extra since the door panel is sort of popped out. I don't use the stormguard, but just want to say all those brackets in the back are really good quality metal. i thought they were plastic! and speaking of quality. the doors are pretty great too. not flimsy at all.

And lastly, an aesthetic plus, i wanted a side panel that had a window. and the design was flawless compared to other windows i saw. it perfectly shows the heatsink, RAM, and GPU just fine. and the space for the 2 120mm fans is great placement.

Cons: Ok, the reasons why I took 1 egg off my rating.

1) once you install the top fans, putting the top cover back on makes it pop out towards the back. It is locked in place in all 6 spots though! but like in the middle of the mesh grill, it has a slight issue being flat. but you do not notice it unless you press down. no biggie.

2) Mentioned above in pros, the tool-less design for the optical drives is great. just wish it was the other design from their other cases to match its sort of sleek/rounded corner, feel.

3) I know some people just toss or take out fan filters, but would be nice if they had an option to buy more. On that subject. Why only 1 fan? especially with the LED power button capable of turning on 2? But thanks for sort of solving it in the White version :)

4) I see the CM HAF922 & CM Enforcer (both same price range) having esata port in the front. why not add it here? I haven't done the research, but i guess its something outdated and why they removed it from storm stryker. I love the front port cover though!

Other Thoughts: for the next case (storm scout 3?), I have a few suggestions from what i've seen you do with your other CM cases.

-Change tool-less optical drives to the ones you got in the other cases. you know exactly which ones im talking about!
-make HDD drive bay cages rotatable, so they can become hot-swappable from the front maybe? not sure if this was CM or if its beneficial.
-add an esata port to the front just like the other cases around this price point.
-the drive sleds from the HAF922. I like how it covers them. or add another ssd-friendly sled :)
-more top room for long radiators. especially if you want push pull. (i've seen people mount fans on opposite side where it almost touches the top handle. so it's still doable with this case! just looks funky)
-fan filters (the removable bottom one only covers the psu. however i do want to point out you can use same filter on the bottom middle if people were wondering.
-and lastly and its been said before... more fans!

Easy fixes for current scout 2 owners, but I dont see them selling them as spare parts on their website :(

Pros: Where to start? This case comes with everything that I wanted in the Scout, while keeping out the parts I didn't. It has an enormous amount of cable management space in the back, along with rubber grommets in the case for your cables. I went from a Rosewill Blackbone case which had about the width of the side panel on this case for cable management, and still somehow managed to get my cables through. After using this one, I will never go back to one without enough space in the back. Another thing is that the top fan cover, which is mesh, comes off easily to help put in the CPU power connector (Tremendous help). Last major pro is that the one Hard Drive cage can be removed if you have a giant GFX card, but this isn't a problem for me.

I also love the fact that it gives you one fan, which could have been a con if I hadn't had some from my previous case. My build went in near perfect, and I had no problem with it overheating like in my other case. Build on other thoughts.

Cons: Only comes with one fan, and the LED fan button has an odd connection that I do not have anything to match up to.

Other Thoughts: Price is a little much for my budget, but it is worth it considering I will not be replacing my parts due to overheating from my case.

Build (Budget gamer build):

MOBO: ASRock H61M/U3S3
PSU: Corsair CX 500
CPU: Intel i3 2120 3.3 Ghz
Ram: G-Skill Ripjaws 8gb
HDD: Western Digital 320gb sata III
SSD: Kingston 90gb sata III
GFX Card: HIS Radeon HD 6870 Ice-q x

Pros: Solid, spacious, and versatile... yeah baby! This case has all of the things a full size monster tower has. It is little wider than say a lan-buddy, but that is where the space really comes from. Cable routing was a breeze and the mobo tray hides all the excess cables. The back panel is stiffer than most stamped steel cases and all of the pci slot screwa and case case screws are knurled thumb screws. The front plastic bezel is nice and thick. The top handle does not flex or creak when slinging the pc into the back seat of the car. The power and reset buttons feel solid too. It took me 30 minutes to assemble everything... and I think 10 of those I just spent admiring the black interior. I installed 4 extra fans, (that makes 6 all-together including the power supply) and it has space for 2 more! Awesome! Although it seems to stay much cooler than the previous case even with the fans turned down to about 1/4 speed. If someone is disappointed with Storm Scout 2 case, they are probably used to spending more money... this is a great case at a fair price. Good work Cooler Master! Boo Ya!

Cons: The butch-ness that makes this case great is also the source of its immense weight. I have had full tower cases that don't weigh as much. No 3.5" front bay for media reader or other accessory. The 3 full size bays have a nice screw-less retaining system, that absolutely would not hold the fan controller. I had to remove one of screw-less retainers so I could access the front screw holes on either side of the drive bay for mounting the fan controller, and then they were not accessible either. I had to poke out the grounding tabs to get a screw driver in at a reasonable angle to turn the screw heads. That said, I have paid more for money for much worse cases in the past.

Other Thoughts: I bought this case because my video card was smoking hot in the old case despite having 3 fans to exhaust the heat... So I went ahead and bought four 120mm Cooler Master LED fans to go in the top and front of the case. I also bought a Cooler Master 1300 Watt power supply that came with a fan controller. The fan controller only runs 3 fans, so I put 1 top fan and both front fans on the controller, then I connected the other top fan to the mobo. This arrangement seems to work well since the second top fan controlled by the mobo is directly over the CPU. Also the all black version was $30 cheaper, but all my PC cases are black, this gunmetal grey looks real good and the red LED fans give it a nice mill spec night time illumination feel.

Pros: Looks great, awesome side window showing just what you want, handle is niiiiccce, can fit just about anything you put in here, good cable management.

Cons: only comes with 1 stock fan, yeah I realize price is then dropped but I think it should still come with 2... not a huge deal though since you can buy a good one to add for like $13

Other Thoughts: bought with combo deal as first build, was a little skeptical because I was unsure about the gunmetal grey color and I must say that I love it!

Pros: Improvements from original Scout include:
-Rubberized handle makes it more comfortable to carry around
-Much better cable management. Grommet-ed holes, more space in back of the motherboard tray, and even a hole to route the CPU cable from the power supply.
-Larger CPU heatsink cutout hole
-Support for more hard drives
-More space for long graphics cards, even with the removable hard drive cage installed
-Holes for water-cooling (I use one for routing a cable from a single fan controller)
-2.5" adapter supports 2 drives vs. 1 for the original Scout.

Cons: -Hard drive rails are the same design as the original Scout. The only drawback is that there is no native 2.5" HDD support which some other cases in the same price point have.
-No USB 3.0 to 2.0 adapter. If you're building a new system nowadays this isn't a problem, but if you're putting in an older motherboard, it's an extra investment.
-Stock cooling comes with only one rear exhaust fan.
-No eSata port. I use eSata via a front panel card reader from Rosewill, so not a huge loss.

Other Thoughts: If you were like me and are an owner of the original Scout (and judging by the amount of Newegg reviews that product has, there are quite a few of you), you are probably interested to see what improvements were made in this design. For the most part, Cooler Master delivers a quality product. Considering that both products started at around the same price point, I can understand some of the sacrifices that Cooler Master made, especially with the stock cooling. However, it is still an awesome case, and a more than worthy successor to the Scout 1.

Pros: I built a gaming rig for a friend of mine and we originally had the HAF-912 picked out...but I found this one...

The overall build quality of this case is amazing. The weight and feel of it feels like it's been made out of very good material, and it's incredibly sturdy. Even the plastics on it are really tough. Just the overall quality of this case is hard to match...they really did a good job on it.

Acrylic window that shows the CPU cooler. Would look nice with a LED fan CPU cooler on it peakin out at you.

Ruberised handle that doesn't feel like it's going to snap off and catch on fire.

I/O Cover is a really nice touch. I like when they put the I/O's at the top-front of the case, and I like how the shield folds back into itself, so it's not a pain in the rear.

The entire front Bessel snaps off. I assumed this was that it could when I got it, seeing how it had a hole at the bottom to get a grip on it. But I was skeptical at first, seeing how the front Bessel feels just as heavy and well made as the rest of the case. And it lines up seamlessly with the curvature of the rest of it.

The tooless design is the best I've seen so far. The HDD mounting brackets aren't made out of playdough, and the locking mechanisms for the 5.25" drive bays don't feel like I can break them if I breath on them.

Probably one of the easiest cases I've done cable management with for a mid tower. There's a LARGE amount of open space to stash wires in.

When I look at the case I just think it looks beastly. The color design and curvature make it look like it's a tough little b**ard...and it is. Looks even sweeter with the red LED's in it.

Just an overall easy case to do a custom build...if you're a first timer and you're interested in this case, go for it man. You'll love it. Insanely easy to build.

Cons: Red LED for the 120mm rear fan is really dim. But, red LED's are usually pretty dim. If you want a nice looking glowing case, I would recommend throwing some more LED's in there. Maybe a cathode kit, or another fan. Light this sucker up.

I want a different design for the PCI covers than a f$#@ thumb screw that's impossible to get off with your hands, and equally impossible to get at with a screw driver. But...I can't blame them for it...it's a common design. Just a stupid design. Fire whoever came up with it.

Other Thoughts: My build:
Asrock Z77 Extreme4
Intel core i5 3570k - Stock intel cooler (didnt fit the budget)
Gigagyte GeForce GTX 650 Ti
Cooler Master Silent ProM 600W Fully modular
G.Skill Sniper Series 2x4 (8GB installed)
Seagate Barracuda 1tb 7200RPM
Asus DVD burner

I also purchased a bulk of 4 "Cougar Turbine 120mm fans" which I HIGHLY recommend with this case. The option to mount two 120mm's at the top shouldn't be a chance to pass up. And these fans push an INSANE amount of air at ridiculously low RPM's. Really helps with the garbage stock intel cooler.

Pros: Very good layout. Removable secondary HD chassis to accommodate large graphic cards. Great cable management options with rubber buffered cable ports. Great options for multiple fans. Solidly built. A nice side panel that is not too garish. Well built handle to carry a full and heavy PC.

Cons: Doesn't have a complete array of motherboard mounting holes for risers (the back end of my mobo floats).

Pros: Finish is top notch military grade gun metal grey matte finish with black mesh on the front, rear, and top. Interior is full on black which will allow any leds to highlight the guts seen through the window in the left side panel.

The case build is solid throughout in both metal and plastic construction. The handle on top of the unit is solid to carry around to lan parties ecetera.

The wire management with the rubber grommets inside is awesome removing any doubts of having a rats nest or blockage of air-flow from front header, PSU wiring, or sata cables. The removable HDD rear bracket allows longer GPU's to be used my card is almost 10" very close to the HDD cage.

Airflow is bountiful with 9 mounting positions for fans for additional cooling. I'm using 6 of them. Grommets on the rear of the case will also allow for water cooling if so desired.

The side panels are punched out to allow better wire management on the right side of the case and a larger CPU cooler on the left. I purchased the CM Hyper TX3 which has a 92mm fan leaving over 50mm of clearance with the right panel on. An aftermarket CPU cooler with 120mm fan should fit easily into this case.

Cons: Picky I know . . . not really cons to remove any eggs.

My previous case a Raidmax Smilodon came with a hard plastic case for the hardware for the same price I bought this one.

1 x 120mm rear fan with led control instead of 2. CM should have provided another one on the front of the case to utilize the led power on/off button.

Other Thoughts: It was either this case or the Rosewill Blackhawk gaming w/ 5 fans. I'm glad I waited for this one to go on sale!!!

The hardware case and an additional front 120mm red led on/off fan under $100 would have really put this over the top. CM almost thought of everything with this unit.

I purchased additional fans CM 2 x 120mm blue led fans for front and rear. Also purchased CM 4 x 120mm black fans for the side and top locations. Added 3 startech 12" wire splitters for my 6 fans. This should be sufficient cooling for my build!!!

>>>PS long screws for the front fans are in the hardware provided in the cardboard box inside of the case . . . please look before installing front fans. In addition, the front panel is removable for installing the front fans. Some complained of having difficulties mounting front fans from the inside of the unit!?!<<<

Unfortunately I found out about the long screws after I removed the front panel, drilled out the holes, mounted my led fan and replaced the front panel to its original position.

My Build:
CM Storm Scout 2 - Gm/Blk
Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3
AMD Phenom IIx4 965 BE
G Skill Ares 2x4Gb DDR3 1866
Sapphire Radeon HD 6870
Rosewill Stallion 600w PSU

Pros: Black interior, solid build, roomy. Good deal considering price and quality. If you like the looks you won't go wrong with Scout 2

Cons: Only 1 Fan, but easily negated by getting a couple more.

Pros: Great case! My main priority in buying a new PC was making it LAN ready. The handle on this thing is incredibly sturdy and I've taken it a few places already and love that I can carry it and my monitor in one trip. The build was easy, has good cable management, good everything really. Overall it feels like a quality build, with the only bit of cheap plastic really coming from the front panel area.

Cons: I wish it came with another fan or two. My AMD FX 4.0 ghz CPU has been getting a little hot this winter if I have the heater on in my room and the single fan doesn't cut it.

Other Thoughts: Buy this case if you want to have it be easy to take to LAN parties, or just to have the mobility general. If not, buy it anyways!