I almost don't know where to start commenting on this case. At every paragraph I find something to add, making me wonder if I should simply write a separate article in "General Discussions".
First, we're treating the CM "Storm Scout" as a standard mid-tower high performance case. It's no such thing.
The original, (which I have 2 of), is intended to be a portable LAN party case. The first one I got for $60.00 bucks a few Black Fridays ago, and the second I got for $32.00 bucks, brand new! (Not a misprint).
So, if we are to believe the Thermaltake Level 1 MK II attracts a certain type of following because of its, "rakish good looks", then either of the Scouts are by any definition, "crowning aesthetic achievements".
The Scouts airflow does not in any way compare to that of the Antec 900 series, (One of the originals I also have).
My unscientific conclusion is based on this; I have two cats, and two litter boxes filled with the cheapest, dustiest, clumping litter I can find. (Walmart's house brand). After a couple days the Antec's grill is loaded with dust, While the Scout could go a couple more days before being hit with the vacuum.
The Antec wins hands down on airflow. Mine is the original model, and sadly the new series are too ugly to be dragged even into my lowly hovel. However, you can't easily pick up the Antec, and cart it over to your friends house for game night either.
I don't know what the spec is on the new model, but the original's published limit on video card length was 10.5", so these case are really designed for mid-line gear, not the extravagant components which were shoehorned into the new model for this test. And the cooling numbers suffered badly because of it. It would have been nice to get the temps compared with the original Scout chassis, but I seriously doubt you could get all of that stuff into it.
I realize testing procedure is dictated by what gear is available to do the testing with, but it's hardly fair to stuff the same gear into a full tower cabinet, as you do into a portable case. If there isn't a huge temperature disparity toward cooler, the full tower is the junker.
The original has a 140mm roof fan as standard equipment, and is a quiet running case in general.
Don't quite know where CM gets the hubris to calls this case "tool-less", but you do have to screw drive rails onto the HDDs to get them into the case. Maybe, "sorta tool-less" would be less of a stretch.
I love the Scouts blackout interiors,. (Both models have it), and I've seriously toyed with the idea of yanking my Antec 900 apart and gunning its interior flat black also. (I think the new 900s have a black interior, the old ones didn't).
The CM "Storm Scout" relevance, (or lack thereof), is really based on a comparison with cases designed to the same purpose, which this review didn't quite establish.
As to its price, this new model is likely to become the same type of promotional football as its predecessor. I picture it to be a decent to great buy in the $60.00 to $70.00 range. Of course even at that price, the original Scout is a better buy because of the supplied fans.
If you intend to equip this case with a more reasonable rig, perhaps a 500 watt PSU, a GT560 card and 2 or 3 HDDs, you'll be operating in its comfort zone.