Lenin22
May 28, 2006, 05:43 PM
[page=Introduction]
Introduction
I would like to thank CrazyPC (http://www.crazypc.com/) for providing the review sample.
Sunbeam Tech was founded in 2000. They specialize in computer accessories, and some hardware. Sunbeam is known for their case lights and cooling products, including the well known Tuniq Tower. Most of Sunbeam’s products focus on cooling PC components, and quietness. Other products that they make include fan controllers, power supplies, keyboards and mice.
Today, we’ll be looking at Sunbeam’s Silent Storm case. The name is an oxymoron, as storms are quite loud. The name also suggests cooling while maintaining quietness, both Sunbeam’s main goals.
Features
Tool free installation for 5.25”, 3.5”, hard drives and expansion cards
Optional acrylic window.
3x120mm fans (including Core fan)
Front USB and Audio
5.25" Drives Bay x 5
3.5" Drives Bay x 5 ( External x 2 + Internal x 3 )
Packaging
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/21.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/115.JPG) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/22.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/116.JPG) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/23.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/117.JPG) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/24.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/118.JPG)
The box came in pretty good shape. There was a dent in the box, but the case turned out in perfect condition. As with most other cases, the Silent Storm arrived in a plastic bag and Styrofoam holding ends. The box also had a convenient plastic handle, but again, this is expected, nothing out of the ordinary.
[page=Exterior]
Exterior
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/12.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/036.JPG) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/1.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/017.JPG) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/2.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/018.JPG) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/3.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/020.JPG)
This Silent Storm comes with an optional window. You can see the side 120mm fan and ventilation holes for the video card. The other side is nothing special. From the front you can see a thick door with ventilation holes. I couldn’t see a reason for them being all over the door, since the front intake fan is toward the bottom of the front panel. The door is held magnetically to the front panel. Both the front panel and door are plastic. They seem flimsy, but you’d have to try a bit to break them. Ordinary use won’t result in damage. Once the door is opened, five external 5.25”, and two 3.5” drive bays are revealed. There are also ventilation holes for the front intake fan. The back shows the expansion card slots and covers, which are removable, unlike most cases, where you have to punch the covers out. There is a 120mm fan on the back as well. Just on the bottom left side are two USB2.0 ports, a headphone port, and microphone port.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/8.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/031.JPG) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/9.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/033.JPG) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/10.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/034.JPG)
[page=Interior]
Interior
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/4.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/021.JPG) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/5.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/022.JPG) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/6.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/023.JPG) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/20.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/114.JPG) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/11.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/035.JPG)
When we open the side panel, we see the Silent Storm’s unique feature: the Core fan. It is a slow spinning quiet fan mounted on a bracket in the middle of the case. Its purpose is to bolster the airflow of the case. This might help cool the CPU and motherboard. The fan is adjustable, so you can move it down to bracket to cool the video card. We'll see how it performs later on in the review. The side panel has ventilation holes for your video card, and a 120mm intake fan with bright blue LEDs. At the back, you see another 120mm fan, an exhaust. All of the three included 120mm fans come with a 3 pin to Molex adapter. This is extremely convenient if you want a tidy case, and/or want to control the fan speeds.
Tool Less Features
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/14.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/039.JPG) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/15.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/040.JPG) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/16.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/042.JPG)
Drive and expansion card installation is completely tool less. This type of system was first implemented in Cooler Master’s Cavalier and Centurion towers, and proved to be very effective. For external drives, just insert the drive, slide the locking mechanism to the right, and lock it by moving the small tab downward.
For expansion card installation, insert the card and lock it down with the bracket. For hard drives, just attach two rails to each side of the hard drive and slide it in. Installation was breeze, taking only 25 minutes to move a complete system into the case. The only thing that could ave been improved to make installation even easier would have been a removable motherboard tray.
[page=Testing]
Testing
Test Setup:
AMD Sempron 2600+ @ 2.4GHz
Biostar 6100-M7
1GB Corsair Value Select PC3200
Hitachi 160GB SATA
MSI 6600GT (long PCB)
BenQ DQ60 DVDRW
Antec Smart Power 2.0 400W
As I said before, relocating the components was a very short process. All of the above was moved from a stock Antec SLK3700-BQE case. That case has a 120mm rear exhaust fan only. As I mentioned before, the Silent Storm has three 120mm fans. Let’s see if the other two fans were positioned correctly enough to make a temperature difference.
I tested the temperatures with the following methods:
CPU Idle: Let the system sit for 30 minutes with a maximum CPU utilization of 1-2%.
CPU Load: Run Prime95 for 30 minutes, and record the maximum temperature during that time period.
VGA Idle: Let the GPU sit for 30 minutes under no load.
VGA Load: Run an Age of Empires 3 time demo for 30 minutes and record the maximum temperature during that time period.
Hard Drive Idle: Let the hard drive sit for 30 minutes under any load.
Hard Drive Load: Copy 25GB of data from one folder to the other and record the maximum temperature during that time period.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/silentstorm.jpg
As you can tell from the above graphs, the Silent Storm is no different than any other case with one 120mm exhaust fan. There were no improvements in temperatures except for the hard drive. There, the silent storm absolutely shined. With the Core fan the temperature dropped 8C! That’s amazing. Even without the Core fan, hard drive temperature dropped 4 degrees Celsius. The Core fan helped circulate the air inside the case. There were a few problems I found though.
First of all, the Core fan cannot cool long video cards. Usually longer cards are the more powerful one, and they need better cooling, but the Core fan cannot be adjusted down there because the cards are too long.
Secondly, the Core fan and bracket make the case very cramped. You have to unscrew and remove the bracket every time you need to install or remove hardware. This might get on your nerves if you're always inside the case.
Lastly, the case was nowhere near silent. Without any background noise (with nobody else home) I could hear the case fans. The Core fan did not only run faster than advertised (1250RPM or 25% faster), but it was also louder, since the sticker on it said 16dB which is silent, while I could hear it with a closed case.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/19.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/113.JPG)
[page=Conclusion]
Conclusion
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/17.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/111.JPG) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/18.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/112.JPG)
<table width="100%" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" id="result">
<tr><th>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/dollar.gif</th>
<td>
The Sunbeam Silent Storm can be had for about $65 online.</td>
</tr><tr>
<th>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/thumbup.gif</th>
<td>
Great price
3 120mm fans
Solid Construction
Great hard drive cooling
Completely tool less installation
Core fan helps circulate air
Great looking LEDs on the side 120mm fan
3pin to Molex converters on each fan
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/thumbdown.gif</th>
<td>
Cooling of CPU and VGA not improved
Plastic front and door
Core fan takes up too much space
Not silent as described
</td></tr>
<tr><th>8.3</th>
<td>Sunbeam produced a great case for gamers and enthusiasts. It is high quality, relatively inexpensive, and incorporates many user friendly features, such as tool less installation everywhere and 3 to 4 pin (Molex) adapters. The case has much potential to fully utilize the Core fan. There wasn’t anything else that I found special or unique about this case. It’s well built, easy to set up and has potential to cool components much better. The good hard drive cooling is a beginning. This is a great start, so with a little work, Sunbeam can produce a great price/performance case.</td></tr>
<tr><th></th><td>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/recommended.gif</td></tr>
</table>
Introduction
I would like to thank CrazyPC (http://www.crazypc.com/) for providing the review sample.
Sunbeam Tech was founded in 2000. They specialize in computer accessories, and some hardware. Sunbeam is known for their case lights and cooling products, including the well known Tuniq Tower. Most of Sunbeam’s products focus on cooling PC components, and quietness. Other products that they make include fan controllers, power supplies, keyboards and mice.
Today, we’ll be looking at Sunbeam’s Silent Storm case. The name is an oxymoron, as storms are quite loud. The name also suggests cooling while maintaining quietness, both Sunbeam’s main goals.
Features
Tool free installation for 5.25”, 3.5”, hard drives and expansion cards
Optional acrylic window.
3x120mm fans (including Core fan)
Front USB and Audio
5.25" Drives Bay x 5
3.5" Drives Bay x 5 ( External x 2 + Internal x 3 )
Packaging
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/21.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/115.JPG) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/22.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/116.JPG) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/23.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/117.JPG) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/24.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/118.JPG)
The box came in pretty good shape. There was a dent in the box, but the case turned out in perfect condition. As with most other cases, the Silent Storm arrived in a plastic bag and Styrofoam holding ends. The box also had a convenient plastic handle, but again, this is expected, nothing out of the ordinary.
[page=Exterior]
Exterior
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/12.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/036.JPG) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/1.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/017.JPG) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/2.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/018.JPG) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/3.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/020.JPG)
This Silent Storm comes with an optional window. You can see the side 120mm fan and ventilation holes for the video card. The other side is nothing special. From the front you can see a thick door with ventilation holes. I couldn’t see a reason for them being all over the door, since the front intake fan is toward the bottom of the front panel. The door is held magnetically to the front panel. Both the front panel and door are plastic. They seem flimsy, but you’d have to try a bit to break them. Ordinary use won’t result in damage. Once the door is opened, five external 5.25”, and two 3.5” drive bays are revealed. There are also ventilation holes for the front intake fan. The back shows the expansion card slots and covers, which are removable, unlike most cases, where you have to punch the covers out. There is a 120mm fan on the back as well. Just on the bottom left side are two USB2.0 ports, a headphone port, and microphone port.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/8.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/031.JPG) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/9.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/033.JPG) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/10.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/034.JPG)
[page=Interior]
Interior
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/4.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/021.JPG) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/5.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/022.JPG) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/6.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/023.JPG) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/20.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/114.JPG) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/11.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/035.JPG)
When we open the side panel, we see the Silent Storm’s unique feature: the Core fan. It is a slow spinning quiet fan mounted on a bracket in the middle of the case. Its purpose is to bolster the airflow of the case. This might help cool the CPU and motherboard. The fan is adjustable, so you can move it down to bracket to cool the video card. We'll see how it performs later on in the review. The side panel has ventilation holes for your video card, and a 120mm intake fan with bright blue LEDs. At the back, you see another 120mm fan, an exhaust. All of the three included 120mm fans come with a 3 pin to Molex adapter. This is extremely convenient if you want a tidy case, and/or want to control the fan speeds.
Tool Less Features
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/14.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/039.JPG) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/15.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/040.JPG) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/16.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/042.JPG)
Drive and expansion card installation is completely tool less. This type of system was first implemented in Cooler Master’s Cavalier and Centurion towers, and proved to be very effective. For external drives, just insert the drive, slide the locking mechanism to the right, and lock it by moving the small tab downward.
For expansion card installation, insert the card and lock it down with the bracket. For hard drives, just attach two rails to each side of the hard drive and slide it in. Installation was breeze, taking only 25 minutes to move a complete system into the case. The only thing that could ave been improved to make installation even easier would have been a removable motherboard tray.
[page=Testing]
Testing
Test Setup:
AMD Sempron 2600+ @ 2.4GHz
Biostar 6100-M7
1GB Corsair Value Select PC3200
Hitachi 160GB SATA
MSI 6600GT (long PCB)
BenQ DQ60 DVDRW
Antec Smart Power 2.0 400W
As I said before, relocating the components was a very short process. All of the above was moved from a stock Antec SLK3700-BQE case. That case has a 120mm rear exhaust fan only. As I mentioned before, the Silent Storm has three 120mm fans. Let’s see if the other two fans were positioned correctly enough to make a temperature difference.
I tested the temperatures with the following methods:
CPU Idle: Let the system sit for 30 minutes with a maximum CPU utilization of 1-2%.
CPU Load: Run Prime95 for 30 minutes, and record the maximum temperature during that time period.
VGA Idle: Let the GPU sit for 30 minutes under no load.
VGA Load: Run an Age of Empires 3 time demo for 30 minutes and record the maximum temperature during that time period.
Hard Drive Idle: Let the hard drive sit for 30 minutes under any load.
Hard Drive Load: Copy 25GB of data from one folder to the other and record the maximum temperature during that time period.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/silentstorm.jpg
As you can tell from the above graphs, the Silent Storm is no different than any other case with one 120mm exhaust fan. There were no improvements in temperatures except for the hard drive. There, the silent storm absolutely shined. With the Core fan the temperature dropped 8C! That’s amazing. Even without the Core fan, hard drive temperature dropped 4 degrees Celsius. The Core fan helped circulate the air inside the case. There were a few problems I found though.
First of all, the Core fan cannot cool long video cards. Usually longer cards are the more powerful one, and they need better cooling, but the Core fan cannot be adjusted down there because the cards are too long.
Secondly, the Core fan and bracket make the case very cramped. You have to unscrew and remove the bracket every time you need to install or remove hardware. This might get on your nerves if you're always inside the case.
Lastly, the case was nowhere near silent. Without any background noise (with nobody else home) I could hear the case fans. The Core fan did not only run faster than advertised (1250RPM or 25% faster), but it was also louder, since the sticker on it said 16dB which is silent, while I could hear it with a closed case.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/19.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/113.JPG)
[page=Conclusion]
Conclusion
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/17.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/111.JPG) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/18.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sunbeam/SilentStorm/images/112.JPG)
<table width="100%" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" id="result">
<tr><th>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/dollar.gif</th>
<td>
The Sunbeam Silent Storm can be had for about $65 online.</td>
</tr><tr>
<th>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/thumbup.gif</th>
<td>
Great price
3 120mm fans
Solid Construction
Great hard drive cooling
Completely tool less installation
Core fan helps circulate air
Great looking LEDs on the side 120mm fan
3pin to Molex converters on each fan
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/thumbdown.gif</th>
<td>
Cooling of CPU and VGA not improved
Plastic front and door
Core fan takes up too much space
Not silent as described
</td></tr>
<tr><th>8.3</th>
<td>Sunbeam produced a great case for gamers and enthusiasts. It is high quality, relatively inexpensive, and incorporates many user friendly features, such as tool less installation everywhere and 3 to 4 pin (Molex) adapters. The case has much potential to fully utilize the Core fan. There wasn’t anything else that I found special or unique about this case. It’s well built, easy to set up and has potential to cool components much better. The good hard drive cooling is a beginning. This is a great start, so with a little work, Sunbeam can produce a great price/performance case.</td></tr>
<tr><th></th><td>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/recommended.gif</td></tr>
</table>