Results Analysis

We were rather surprised to find that the Sniper, despite its generous use of ventilated mesh and 240mm cooling fans, was a real mixed bag in thermal testing. CPU performance was a highlight, as thanks to the close proximity of the top 240mm exhaust fan to the CPU cooler, it was afforded excellent performance at both idle and load.

Impressively CPU temperatures only rose 2°C as we dropped the fan speed from full speed to low and the combination of the 120mm and 240mm exhausts worked in tandem to keep the CPU cool just as well as the same setup did in the HAF 932.

Sadly though GPU thermal performance was very disappointing, something which came as a bit of a surprise considering the apparently beefy cooling layout on show. Even with the dual 240mm fans at high speed the GPU cooling performance of the Sniper was disappointing, and is comfortably bested by a wide selection of less glamorous chassis. Inevitably dropping the fan speed only worsened the issue as well.

In fact, with the dual 240mm fans set to half speed, the Sniper posted the highest GPU Delta T value we’ve yet seen using our current testing setup, and was incredibly a full 4°C hotter than the NZXT Whisper – a case that uses just a single 120mm cooling fan!

Initially we were mystified with this, but it seems the problem is one of design. The cooling layout of the Sniper means that air from the front intake is pulled upwards towards the top exhaust before it even has a chance to reach the GPU, creating a zone of dead air around the GPU that leads to an increase in temperature. In addition to this the sheer volume of internal space the single front intake has to accommodate causes a drop in the “wind tunnel” effect narrower cases, like the NZXT and Hiper, tend to see more easily.


While the problem is less serious when the intake fan speed is higher (and so blowing air further into the case), slowing down the fans using the inbuilt fan controller leads to some very disappointing temperature results.

With no side panel mounted fan to stimulate airflow over the GPU the meshed side panel is of little use, and despite the negative pressure cooling layout designed to passively draw in air, the sheer size of the side panel ventilation means that passive airflow into the case is unfocussed and ineffective.

Of course this problem is easily remedied by fitting a pair of 120mm cooling fans, or even a 240mm fan into the side panel fan mountings, but the fact that the Sniper seems to perform so poorly without them is still of some concern. We really have to question Cooler Master’s decision here to omit the 240mm side panel fan from the retail box of the Sniper – it would have had an enormously positive effect on the cases out of the box cooling.

Acoustically the Sniper was, rather predictably, a mixed bag as well. While the rear 120mm fan is practically silent (just as well, as you’re unable to connect it to the fan controller due to its use of only 2-pin fan connections), the 240mm fans are very audible at high speed. Thankfully dropping the fan speed down to medium makes it much more pleasant, with just a low and very tolerable air rush. Dropping them down further to its lowest settings at half fan speed makes the Sniper all but virtually silent. However, with the poor GPU thermal performance when set to low, we feel the medium setting is probably the best bet here, delivering reasonable cooling and unobtrusive sound.