Contents
Internals
Upon removing the “lid”, we can see the case basically consists of the base tray which also holds the motherboard. This piece is tough (unlike many trays in ordinary tower cases, floating in a space above the side). Then we have the front and back panels and these two cross bars holding it together. Everything is just riveted and the bars have a smooth (but not shiny) finish, and they use 0.7mm steel (while the rest of the case is from 0.8mm steel).
To the crossbars is attached a strange housing for the drives, which consists of two parts: the main cavity for one 2.5″ and one 5.25″ drive, and below it a cavity for a single 3.5″ drive. It is as though the case itself was designed first, and the drive enclosure was only an afterthought. The 3.5″ cage sits in the airflow path, which serves to provide cooling for the drive, in theory. In reality it just blocks the airflow outright, as it sits too close to the fan.
Once it’s removed, you immediately realize that they’re using it to reinforce the structural integrity of the case. Without it installed, the case bends easily, especially in the diagonal directions. And it does initially have to be removed if you want to do anything in there. This design is just way too overly-complicated, just look at it.
It’s also a bit inconvenient when attaching the drives to them, as you have to use a very thin screwdriver to get through the narrow holes. I think that given more thought, this part could have easily supported two 2.5″ drives instead, saving a lot of space. Just look at all that empty wasted space next to each drive.
I know the case design is 4 years old, but even back then, the prices for 2.5″ drives were already quite reasonable, and these days a 1TB drive costs almost the same in both 2.5″ and 3.5″ format. I think that if Silverstone is trying to be so ahead in terms of innovation, they could have thought about that even back then and just omitted the 3.5″ factor completely.
To reach the fan and its filter, you need to remove the front panel. I found another problem here, on both the cases I had with me: the front panel uses pins on three sides. On both occasions, one side was already slightly shifted and some of the pins were stressed more. Basically at least one of them is already visibly bent. This shows that they allowed for too great manufacturing tolerances, and also that the pieces do not match to each other as good as they should. In my opinion if you are not extra careful, or if you remove and replace the panel more than a few times (which you would have to do to access the filter), the pins will eventually break, and the panel won’t sit properly after that.
You’ll also notice that this front panel is intended for more than one case design, as there is also some kind of 3.5″ position, which isn’t being utilized here. For which other product though, I’m not certain.
Loading ...