I guess it's bigger than it looks. Nevertheless, huge case is huge! Relatively speaking though.

I sure do wish they'd push the envelope more on going small, not big. It's easy to go big. Also, who doesn't want a small case that's more practical, that will house a practical PSU, that can even be TFX please. Practical video card, that can even be low profile. There are plenty of LP or or just plain shorter cards that will handle most gaming tasks well, without having to waste double the space in size. Is it not the niche the ones that go for those huge cards? Or huge PSU's?

Sigh. I want to know it's possible lol. I think Lian-Li is poised, and they come closer than anyone, they can even overprice it and chalk it up to build quality. I want to see a small case and be wow'ed by the efficient use of space. I haven't seen one that doesn't have glaring flaws in this regard.

It looks like the case has a potential that can be unlocked some some modding. Drilling a hole through the front to allow the fan to draw fresh air should help.

This case is nice if you don't need a GPU and can then use a bigger CPU cooler.

But the biggest culprit falls on the mITX mainboards, as you have to go sealed loop water cooling or spend a hilarious amount of money for one of the two Asus boards with different placed CPU socket.

But my guess is that a water cooling solution doesn't help with GPU temps, so the main problem stays about the same.

And here I thought I was the only one who didn't like "shoe-box" style cases.

In my opinion, using such a case for a mini-ITX gaming computer is a bit lazy (especially if it's about bragging rights). As in, it's so easy to do it. Like you say, an actual small case, with a LP video card and a TFX PSU, now that is challenging and proper mini-ITX.

some question
silverstone load CPU temp 37C? while the CM 89C
then Coolermaster GPU temp idle 40C, why Silverstone idle 74C?

CPU Temp
Cooler Master:
idle 40°C
load 89°C

Silverstone
idle 34°C
load 37°C



GPU Temp
Cooler Master:
Idle 40°C
Load 90°C

Silverstone:
Idle 74°C
Load 84°C

Larry did note carefully that the system used in the test for the SG07 2 years ago was not the same as the one used in the Elite 120 test. Specifically it was a HD4870 in the SG07, and that's a GPU which does not have the much improved idle power behavior of more recent video cards. Look at our review of a HD4870 here, and you'll see that the idle power/temp is very similar to what we got in the SG07. Put the HD6850 in there and you'd see the same temp in both cases. IMO, because the side panel of these cases are very open, there should be very little difference in GPU cooling.

I can't quite figure it out from the pics, but might there be room to mount an Antec Kuhler 620 or similar on the back of the drive cage for CPU cooling? It'll possibly be too thick, but just thought I'd put the idea out there .

It also looks like there are some vents in the side of the slant behind the brushed aluminium panels, can anyone confirm that?

As for wanting a smaller "shoebox" case, how about the SG05/SG06, or maybe even the FT03-MINI from Silverstone, or by Lian-Li the Q16 or the Q12 (which I've not seen before I looked).
My SG05 is about as small as I think I'll ever get in a desktop system for me. It is about as small as a GPU can be shrink wrapped. I agree it would be nice to be able to build my own slim HTPC, but at trying to keep things cool will still need some volume for heatsinks, and big slow fans.

Well actually, rpsgc and I don't like shoe-box style cases =P.

Those are attractive, small cases, definitely. The one I'm drawn to is the Q12. It's almost ideal... Except the glaring flaws come in. Like how it doesn't take any PCI/PCIE slots. When it so easily could. A low profile card in there would do wonders. The Q16 also is close, as a little server box, but it only supports a single 3.5" drive.

I will give them credit though with their shift to mATX PSU's. However, I still think they are too big and overpowered with what could fit in there. Unless you're looking at the bigger PC-Q18/08/22, the included 300W? is still a bit much, considering it DOESN'T have a slot for a graphics card. I say go TFX and go smaller! Take the Q02, great size, but again 300W for a case that doesn't accommodate a graphics card. My compulsion with efficiency extends both in use of space but also power consumption. If the build uses nowhere near 300W then go with something more efficient. As for noise levels, I think it's all do-able provided you choose your components carefully, which I think we all do here. I think it's well established that even a very open case can be very quiet with careful selection, however, this is less so the case with extravagant components.

The other thing I'd like to see is better cabling/built-in routing or just smarter by design. It's a tiny case, most boards have a similar layout, so why not take that into account and design small cables, that are appropriate in length and are easily tucked away. Oh, and again kudos to LianLi for these latest cases using slim optical drives. At least it's not a huge waste like the full sized ones.

Unless Coolermaster changed something in the design of the front bezel since I was looking at this case at Fry's around 6 months ago, yes the bezel does have a series of slots cut into it. The slots in the case I was looking at weren't particularly large, but I'd estimate that their combined area was at least as large, if not a bit larger that the one large opening at the bottom of the bezel. Even at that though, the area at the front of the case behind the bezel and where the intake fan is mounted is still very tight and restrictive.

No matter what's actually happening with the airflow at the front bezel, you can't really argue with the so-so temp data that was shown in the review.

That's wider than most towers and a depth of 40cm isn't small, so it's footprint is quite big (9.6 dm^2). I prefer the footprint of the Q12: 1.8 dm^2.
Why does nobody make a cheaper Q12 alternative?

I have run some tests on my own Elite 120 with and without the faceplate. There is definitely a difference.

I am running a Xeon E3-1230 V2 (4 cores, 8 threads total) with a Thermalright AXP-140 (power supply is an external power brick to make this happen).

At the moment, I am running with only two fans total. One on the CPU, the other at the front running as intake. Both of them are Scythe Gentle Typhoon 120mm 1400 RPM fans.

Here is how I tested: I set the fans to run at maximum speed to keep things consistent. I ran Prime95 for an hour with the faceplate and then recorded temperatures. Then I removed the faceplate and let it run for another hour. Results in 22.5C ambient temperature:

Faceplate on:

System: 57C
HD: 29C
Core 0: 81C
Core 1: 81C
Core 2: 82C
Core 3: 80C

Faceplate off:

System: 47C
HD: 26C
Core 0: 70C
Core 1: 70C
Core 2: 69C
Core 3: 69C

I picked this case up about a month ago to do an HTPC build. After assembling the whole thing I noticed these 4 black plastic pins included in the hardware bag, so I decided to look at the directions. Turns out they help securre a 2nd fan in the case.
This case accomodates a second 120mm fan on the other side of the the HDD bay. Right smack dab in the middle of the case and directly in front of the MB. So you can add a 2nd fan or move the front fan to the center. It's brilliant as far as I'm concerned.

I pulled the side fan and run both 120's off the MB.
Normal temps are low 30's and 40's. I've never had any temps above 46 even when pushing it.

There's a ton of space left over for me, although I'm not using a VC
It's a great case for the money and you get to use an ATX PSU.

I'm running an AsRock FM2 MB with an AMD A8 5600K at 3.9 topped with a Cooler Master Gemini II M4 Heatsink (which I think was made specifically for this case, leaves about 15mm clearance). Along with a 60G SSD and a 500G HDD and a 550W PSU