If there’s any hobby that comes close to PC gaming in terms of obsession (and perhaps flagrant disregard for practicality), it’s sneaker culture. Cooler Master has decided to combine the two, showing off an eye-catching Mini-ITX case and components in the shape of a massive tennis shoe in the halls of Computex. If you’ve been waiting for it to arrive, wait no more: The Cooler Master Sneaker X goes on sale today, with a base model starting at $3499.99.
Three and a half grand doesn’t get you much in terms of pure specs. The Amazon listing (spotted by Tom’s Hardware) says it can handle “60+ FPS on High+ settings on 1440p,” which is nice, but not super-duper-premium nice. The internal components include a Core i7-13700K, RTX 4070, 2TB of PCIe 4.0 storage, and 32GB of DDR5 memory, plus Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and a 360mm AIO cooler. An even more premium option with an RTX 4070 Ti costs $3800.
But this sort of design isn’t for the frugal or the practical. At over two feet long, it’s not even that small. But surprisingly, it should work with most off-the-shelf components — that Z790 Mini-ITX motherboard and parts like the visible exhaust fan aren’t especially custom, even if the case very much is. Surprisingly, this is the second variation of the Sneaker X PC on offer. Cooler Master said that a barebones kit would cost $6000 when it was announced in May, but apparently they didn’t have many takers.
In that context, the $3500 Sneaker X might be called a “deal.” Sort of. By my estimate of the parts, you’re still paying the better part of two grand for a case shaped like a shoe. To each their own.
Author: Michael Crider, Staff Writer
Michael is a former graphic designer who's been building and tweaking desktop computers for longer than he cares to admit. His interests include folk music, football, science fiction, and salsa verde, in no particular order.