Performance -
Like most things that I review I tend to look at more than one aspect of performance. For me a case has to offer several things before it makes the cut. One of the first things it has to do is be easy to work with. It can be the best looking case on the planet, but if you cannot get your parts installed properly well then it is useless. The next thing it has to do is keep your parts cool this is the air flow test. Lastly (in my book anyway) it has to look good.

Ease of Build -
For our build we went with the Asus Rampage III Extreme. It is a board that is a little wider than many and also has full support for four-way SLI and Crossfire. We were happy with the ease of use with the Stryker for the most part and only ran into problems when we tried to keep the 2.5-inch drive cage in the bottom. The Corsair AX1200 gold was so long that the cage actually made cable management a problem. Once we had all of the cables connected and pushed through the back panel opening we were able to get the 2.5-inch cage back inside, but in the end we took it out so that we did not have to worry about damaging the cables.

Overall the build process was quick and easy, there was plenty of space to work with and although our cable management skills are not the best out there we had no problems in keeping things very clean in our build. We can see the Stryker being a truly magnificent case for some of our modding friends out there as it offers a lot of space and potential.

Air Flow -
Even loaded up like our build is we found that the Stryker is able to keep things cool. Oddly enough it also seems to be perfect to help prevent hot air build up around the user. With many cases you send up with a lot of warm air pooled at the back of your case making the vents at the top work harder to try and pull all of that hot air out (which is why vertical cooling works so well). With the Stryker the cross ventilation of the drives helps to pull some of the warm air out of the case making reducing the amount of air that gets pushed out the back of the case and also out the top. It is a much more efficient system and helps to keep internal temperatures under control even in a multiple GPU configuration.

Aesthetics -
Aesthetics is a rough subject; what I think looks good might be unattractive to others. Because of this I usually do not subject you to just my opinion of how good or bad a case looks. I tend to ask a wide array of people and get their input. This should give you a much more broad impression on why people might find this case good looking or not. We use out standard 1-5 (one being terrible and five being awesome) we ask two questions. On a scale of one to five rate the CM Storm Stryker for coolness and then we ask the same question for overall looks. Then we ask for a one or two word statement that best describes the CMStorm Stryker for them.

The CMStorm Stryker is a nice looking case as we have already said it caught our eye back at CES 2012 when we saw it in the Cooler Master suite. It has a clean and sleek look to it that we used to associate with all black cases. There is just something about it that stands out. Everyone that we have shown the Stryker to has loved it. Many also agreed with our calling it the Storm Trooper (although Cooler Master does keep correcting me on this). The large Windows on the side and the white LEDs combine to round out the whole impression of style. The LEDs also happen to be enough light to show off the items inside the Stryker without the need to throw more in. It really is one very cool looking case.