CoolerMaster Sniper Black Edition Review :: System Build

• Cooler Master Sniper Case
• 36GB WD Raptor SATA HDD
• XFX nForce 790i SLI Ultra motherboard
• Intel QX9770 CPU
• 2GB of Corsair XMS DDR2-1066MHz memory
• 700W Cooler Master PSU
• Cooler Master V8 CPU cooler

The Cooler Master Sniper Edition is easy to work with. Starting off with the nForce 790i SLI Ultra board, there was plenty of space to install the board without problems. There is a paper insert with ATX and Micro-ATX board layouts. For an ATX motherboard simply do A B C D E F G H and I holes. For an ATX layout do A B C D E F J K L letters.

System build

DVD install

HDD tray)

HDD install

The HDD installation is also easy. Remove the HDD tray from the HDD rack by opening the door and sliding it out of the rack. Installing a HDD into the case is also simple, the sides of the HDD tray have built-in screws just align the drive with the screws slide it back into the HDD Rack and close the front cover. No screwdriver is required to install the HDD.

Motherboard/video card

cables connected

Cable mess

cable management

The first step is to open the case and remove the ODD and HDD brackets. This gives you access to install the PSU into place. If the PSU is longer than 160mm remove the 120mm left case fan to install it first. Otherwise, simply mount it into position as a normal PSU install. Note you can install the PSU either orientation by using different mounting holes.

The next step is installing the Motherboard. Make sure the orientation of the I/O is correct, screw in the standoffs and mount the board with the included screws. The e-7150/630i motherboard from EVGA fit easily without problems into the case. This particular board has a PCIe 2.0 x16 slot, a PCIe x1 slot and 2 PCI slots. The ThermoLab cooler is typical of the LGA-775 coolers, but realize that there is a limitation of a maximum 70mm height cooler if an optical drive is installed and 120mm if no optical drive is installed.

Front

Rear ¾)

Rear

Installing the HDD is easy. Simply mount the HDD or SDD onto the HDD bracket using screws. The screws are used to isolate the HDD from the bracket to maximize the vibration pad’s effectiveness. This helps prevent data loss as vibration is one of the leading causes of HDD data loss. There is room for two HDDs on this case. The optical drive installation is also simple as mounting the drive and screwing it into place, mounting the optical drive door using the adhesive. At this point you should connect all of the wires from the PSU to the motherboard, install the add-in cards and do wire management. Putting the HDD bracket back, then the center brace then the optical drive bracket, connect all of the wires for those devices and you are done.