Any reason this wasn't tested with a reference fan in the optional rear position? It'd be an easy, noiseless add that many of us would be interested in.

Thanks a lot for the reviewed, this imo is the hottest case around for micro atx, i like it so much that im building around it and dropping my big 1200 tower.

Would been interesting to see HR02 passive just with frontal fan, maybe the optional fan and a passive gpu like the Powercolor 6850 to see how the case handle it.

Thanks again for sharing your pov on this case.

Nice review. This case is much easier to modify than other micro-ATX cases.

Did you have the power supply facing upward or downward? The booklet says if the power supply has a 120mm fan, it should face into the case. I'm curious if this is accurate.

I would also mention that the hard drive cage is suited much better to 2.5" drives. I'm using SSD's and notebook hard drives.

Consistancy. It's not really fair to start adding fans to some cases and not to others.



Upward. Otherwise the vent at the top would be pointless.

Gotcha - In your professional opinion, , would adding a rear fan make a substantial difference?

The only reason I can think of for Silverstone recommending facing a 120mm power supply fan into the case is dampening noise from the power supply. I dunno ... maybe it would also help add circulation to the power supply fan and efficiently route it quickly out of the case.

Not sure if the added heat in the case is a worthy tradeoff for dampening power supply noise.

Edit: Here is a link to a PDF of the manual. The recommendation is on page labeled 6 (page 7), step number 4:
http://www.silverstonetek.com/downloads ... Manual.pdf

Quick read, I'm a bit baffled
Heat rises up but the intake fan is on top and blows down?

Best to compare to the venerable Antec mini-P180 - quiet and huge airflow with that 200 mm fan when undervolted, which exhausts up!

I'm thinking that it is more of a typo.

Fan facing down could mean fan blowing downwards.

It's a bit different have to say but I'm not sure I'd be happy to use a case like this some odd design elements and questionable thermal choices.

Great layout IMO. I love how airflow from that huge fan passes to all components directly. Who needs another drive cage? If you want a server, then wouldn't you instead get something more server oriented? Though there's probably flaws in that logic =P. The Seasonic is perfect for this case too, since the fan powers down when most systems would be idle, so when the fan is off, there'd be no concern of heat rising into it, it'd get the freshest air it could, and I won't have to worry about direct noise from the fan, since again, it'd be off.

MicroATX should really be the new standard. This case does make the most out of the space, but I'd like it to be a little more comfy with space, e.g. wouldn't want to have to worry about tall ram fitting, or maybe my accelero S1+120mm fan fitting in at the top, with room to spare for decent air flow. My favorite thing Silverstone is doing, that may draw me in to buy one day: Positive airflow.

Lastly, as soon as I saw that CPU HS/F support leg, I thought, why didn't they do the same for the graphics card? It always bugs me how long cards droop. I think they could easily add one right above the HDD cage, which is ideal since that's where a long card would be hanging over.

They did. See pages labeled 33 and 34 (pages 34 and 35) of the linked manual above. The top of the hard drive cage lines up with graphics cards that have a backplate. If the card does not have a backplate, a 3mm pad that is included can be placed on top of the hard drive cage. The card has to be about 9.5" or longer to use this support, and the graphics card has to be installed in the first PCI slot, therefore too the motherboard has to have a first PCI slot for a graphics card (which most newer ones do).

I read that and must not have registered in my head =P. Yeah, I must have gone off the board used in the review, in which it's in a lower slot, thus higher in this case, err, this motherboard. heh

Why not test with the HDD Cage removed? Should yield better airflow and allow Noctua fan in correct orientation. Just as your argument for MATX is that most don't need lots of expansion cards, most also don't need lots of of HDD.

Also don't buy your argument for not testing with different fans. You have reference 120 and 140, both compatible. Why would you test heatsinks with reference fans and in various configs, but not cases -- not asking you to mod the case, just use a fully sported accessory. Seems less dubious than testing upside down . . .

Wow, thank you so much for reviewing this case. I've had my eye on it for some time, researching a build (my first ever!). Any thoughts on a build like so -

Case: Silverstone TJ08-E
MB: Asus Maximus IV Gene-Z
CPU: i5-2500k
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12P SE2
PSU: Corsair AX-750
GPU: MSI GTX 560ti Twin Frozr II OC
RAM: G.Skill RipjawsX 2x4GB DDR3 1600 (F3-12800CL7D-8GBXH)
HDD: 2x 2.5" Western Digital Scorpio Black 500GB (WD5000BPKT)

Let me know if you see anything wrong here.

Not sure if a single 3.5" HDD mounted at the bottom of the case would fit, bearing in mind that the Noctua NH-U12P SE2 has 2 fans. Would be easier / cheaper and probably better to eliminate the drive cage all together.

Why you no put SSD there? [insert why-you-no pic here]
This just begs for a Crucial M4 or some such.
Also, you could save a few bucks / gold pieces with "ordinary" 1333 mem sticks - there's no practical & visible advantage to memory faster than 1333. Also, 750 is double overkill for this build - could go with KW Lazer Platinum if your vendor has it.

Typo/coherence patrol - 2nd page of the review, 2nd pic - is it just me, or this is awkwardly phrased "Magnets keep power supply the air filter in place, but is easily dislodged."
duh...

I would probably go ssd + 5400rpm hdd (you can install a 3.5 and 2.5 at the bottom i believe), and CPU cooler, if you can wait a little, maybe the HR02 Macho might be a better option, if you still like dual fans, then just install the optional 120 on the back the cooler should be pretty close.


I think you should be fine if you placed it on the bottom slot (not the usual hdd cage), here is a pic with the ND14 witch the 120mm noctua fan on the front and still with 3.5 hdd on the bottom.

Thanks for the review. I really like this case. It's so small. It would be perfect for the casual builds that I sometimes do for friends. I am amazed at the smart cable management options here. Nicely done. It looks like that one intake fan should be adequate for most everyday computing needs (for non-gamers, web surfers, etc.). This case is smaller than the Fractal Define Mini and Arc Mini, but as functional.

Besides the structural integrity, I only really see one problem (more like feature they didn't exploit for the sake of modularity/efficient design), and it seems unlike them as it's something you see so often now. Why didn't they make the drives mount towards you, that is so that you insert them from the opened side of the case, rather than them pointing towards the CPU/Board. It seems the case is wide enough for this. It goes that much further with their concept of modularity and making the most out of the smaller given space. You'd have to take the cage out every time you'd want to remove any drive.

Drives cages in that orientation tend to block the intake more, and this case by default is an intake-fan-only setup.

Followup to power supply orientation. I sent an email to SilverStone about it and got this response:


So I guess the reasoning is that the power supply will pull in air from inside the case, adding circulation inside the case, and push it out the back of the power supply and out the case. How logical does this sound to you guys?

I'm not sure if this is a good idea if I have a graphics card fan near it pulling air in the opposite direction. I can flip my graphics card fan, but I'm not sure if that's a good idea either.

If you build a PC with SPCR logic in mind for every single component it won't matter much which way you put the PSU in.

1. Your PSU will be fanless, have a fan that only runs above certain temps, or have a fan that runs at such low speeds under normal use it won't affect temps noticeably.

2. You'll choose a low TDP CPU, a low TDP video card (or use an APU with no discrete video card), low power SSD or low power HD. All leading to less heat in the case to begin with.

Personally, i think its best to place the psu fan facing up, specially for my case, with a PSU like Seasonic X660 being passive under light load, the heat will rise up and go out through the TJ08E upper hole, and when needed it will start up and pull fresh air to cool itself, the other way around idk, bieng passive and heat of the case raises to psu might not be ideal, i like the psu being a semi independent system from the case, specially for a semi passive psu, like the ravens. By the SPCR review and other users, i see the 180mm case fan does a great job, at least on the gpu side, better than average, so i dont think i want to tamper with a PSU or that will need the PSU to help the case, that said, maybe a fully active psu would help clear warm air, although i seen this is not always the best route. The positive pressure will exit air through all the holes around the case, and with help of the optional 120mm, at least thats what i think.

Anyone did compare this case with fractal design define mini or arc mini cases?
I plan to add gtx460 1GB(replace gaming rig gpu) next year so this means goodbye for sugo SG05(300W).
I'm getting rid of atom 330/2GB and replacing with i5-2500k/8GB inside of SG05 atm.
Since SG07 costs a lot I started considering microATX case with ATX PSU for ITX board.
SG08 will most likely cost a lot as well and it's specification is unknown.

Great to see more mATX cases being reviewed, especially if they're winners like this one.

I'm personally not a fan of flimsy ones, as mine tend to receive a few bangs and knocks as they get moved around. I'd rather pay the extra buck or twenty to get something that can survive a fall on a hardwood floor from chest height - holla atcha Antec P180B!

I just hope SPCR gets their hands on a Fractal Design Arc Mini case soon ... from the "outside" I like it better then Silverstone case but I would love to know how the Arc Mini performs. The Arc Midi gets quite good scores so I can only hope the Arc Mini perfroms similar .

g.

The Arc Mini is huge HUGE compared to this case. I mean, its as large as the PC-A05N. It's amazing that they even call it 'mini.' It is a nice looking case though along with the Define Mini.

true TRUE

Looking at the specs and dimensions it seems like it should be possible to mount a Corsair H80 or one of it's smaller siblings in this case. Any chance someone tried? Perhaps SPCR can try it if you still have the case and a watercooling kit lying around?

heh no different than another of my favorite cases, the Antec Mini P180