I finished my HTPC build in the GD04 and it is a good case. The regular Shuriken does fit with an optical drive, with some room to spare. The Big Shuriken might fit - it would be close. Some observations:
- Have a #6-32 tap on hand. One of the welded-in motherboard standoffs had either a lot of paint or metal on the threads. It was completely unusable until cleaned out.
- The stock 120mm fans are very loud. I will replace them with 800 RPM units or add some FanMates.
- I didn't have an issue with the power or reset buttons like others, but the soldered connections are very exposed and easy to damage, so be gentle in that area.
- I really like the modest "AV receiver" look, positive pressure design, layout, fan filters, and unrestricted internal airflow. Like most cases it's not perfect for quiet/silent use out of the box, but has a lot of potential.
Silverstone GD04? Release?
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Devonavar
I also settled on the GD04 after waiting forever for the GD05, then had trouble getting it since it was in limited retail distribution at the time.
Calling the 120mm fans very loud is a bit ridiculous - you standards must be much higher than mine. They're certainly audible, but if you just spin them down with something like SpeedFan, they're basically inaudible.
My power button had the excessive glue behind it that caused it to get stuck when pushed, like others have reported. I had to take it apart and chip away all the extra epoxy; after reassembling the switch all was good. (But I did mar the front's black finish a little bit poking around the switch.)
The LED on the front panel is perfect. However, these things must be very bright behind the panel, since in a dark room they light up the wall behind the case and throw a shadow of the rear fan grills.
The double sided 3M tape used on the optical drive drawer is super strong. I had thought I might upgrade to Bluray a year or more later down the road, but I'm wondering how to remove that trim piece without damaging either it or the current DVD drive. It's so strong that you better have the trim perfectly aligned when you put it on; if it's a bit off and the adhesive touches the drive drawer, fuggetaboutit - it's on there for good. This was one of the reasons I had wanted to wait for GD05.
Calling the 120mm fans very loud is a bit ridiculous - you standards must be much higher than mine. They're certainly audible, but if you just spin them down with something like SpeedFan, they're basically inaudible.
My power button had the excessive glue behind it that caused it to get stuck when pushed, like others have reported. I had to take it apart and chip away all the extra epoxy; after reassembling the switch all was good. (But I did mar the front's black finish a little bit poking around the switch.)
The LED on the front panel is perfect. However, these things must be very bright behind the panel, since in a dark room they light up the wall behind the case and throw a shadow of the rear fan grills.
The double sided 3M tape used on the optical drive drawer is super strong. I had thought I might upgrade to Bluray a year or more later down the road, but I'm wondering how to remove that trim piece without damaging either it or the current DVD drive. It's so strong that you better have the trim perfectly aligned when you put it on; if it's a bit off and the adhesive touches the drive drawer, fuggetaboutit - it's on there for good. This was one of the reasons I had wanted to wait for GD05.
We wouldn't be here if we weren't ridiculously obsessed with silence.tsanga wrote:Calling the 120mm fans very loud is a bit ridiculous - you standards must be much higher than mine. They're certainly audible, but if you just spin them down with something like SpeedFan, they're basically inaudible.
Since my mobo only has one case fan header, I was worried about putting three fans on it. Otherwise, SpeedFan could be a good solution. The heat output of a simple HTPC doesn't rise and fall dramatically so permanently slow-speed fans seems like a better idea anyway.
My solution for this was to cut the tape into a smaller piece and put in on the center. This allows you to align the trim a bit more before the tape takes hold. Hopefully a smaller piece will be strong enough over time.tsanga wrote: The double sided 3M tape used on the optical drive drawer is super strong. I had thought I might upgrade to Bluray a year or more later down the road, but I'm wondering how to remove that trim piece without damaging either it or the current DVD drive. It's so strong that you better have the trim perfectly aligned when you put it on; if it's a bit off and the adhesive touches the drive drawer, fuggetaboutit - it's on there for good.
True - silence is golden.Plissken wrote:We wouldn't be here if we weren't ridiculously obsessed with silence.tsanga wrote:Calling the 120mm fans very loud is a bit ridiculous - you standards must be much higher than mine. They're certainly audible, but if you just spin them down with something like SpeedFan, they're basically inaudible.
I have one header on my mobo and I just split it 3 ways. I kept the 3rd pin for RPM sensing on only one fan so SpeedFan can read the speed. The other two fans are voltage controlled and wired up with only positive voltage and ground.
Seems to work fine.
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Baboonanza
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Thu Feb 18, 2010 2:58 am
- Location: London, UK
I've got a system in the GD04, it's a lovely case and I'm generally very happy with it.
The only problems I had were fitting the Blu-Ray drive and mounting the plate on the front. You're right about the 3M tape being sticky, but it is possible to remove it and after a few stick-on/removes (it took a bit of fiddling to get it on right) it reaches a sensible level of adhesion. The bigger problems were:
- The prong on the case that presses the open button was too large for the drive's button, even with facia removed. To fix this I had to hack at the plastic to make it small enough. No biggie really.
- Getting the drive placement correct was very fiddly. In order to have the button work correctly AND have the draw sit flush with the front of the case I had to leave the facia on the driver and the tray. This caused further problems and further hacking at plastic to make the tray facia fit through the smaller driver tray opening in the case.
My system:
Athlon II 240e
Titan TTC-NK95/HS CPU heatsink (fanless)
MSI 785GTM-E45 (onboard HD4200)
2 Gb DDR2 5300 (had it sitting in my attic)
LiteOn IHOS104-37 Blu-Ray drive
WD Green 750 Gb HDD
PEAK Dual Tuner DVB-T card
Silverstone Strider 350W PSU
I'm only running 2 of the 3 case fans. The 1 under the HDD drive and 1 of the 2 next to the CPU. Since I'm not using a CPU fan I've replaced the case fan next to it with an Akasa Apache to get PWN control (the original was a 3-pin fan). The PSU also has a 120mm or 140mm fan (I forget). The last case fan I just leave unplugged since it's unnecessary.
This setup is pretty quiet, but I'd like it quieter. You can tell when it's at high load because the fans spin up and it becomes more audible, but that's ok. At idle I've got low temps and both fans at 550rpm and annoyingly I can still just about hear it from the sofa if the room is silent. I think I'll need to replace the other case fan and re-mount the Apache using rubber mounts to fix that though (this looks like it may involve removing the mobo which is why I didn't do it before).
The only problems I had were fitting the Blu-Ray drive and mounting the plate on the front. You're right about the 3M tape being sticky, but it is possible to remove it and after a few stick-on/removes (it took a bit of fiddling to get it on right) it reaches a sensible level of adhesion. The bigger problems were:
- The prong on the case that presses the open button was too large for the drive's button, even with facia removed. To fix this I had to hack at the plastic to make it small enough. No biggie really.
- Getting the drive placement correct was very fiddly. In order to have the button work correctly AND have the draw sit flush with the front of the case I had to leave the facia on the driver and the tray. This caused further problems and further hacking at plastic to make the tray facia fit through the smaller driver tray opening in the case.
My system:
Athlon II 240e
Titan TTC-NK95/HS CPU heatsink (fanless)
MSI 785GTM-E45 (onboard HD4200)
2 Gb DDR2 5300 (had it sitting in my attic)
LiteOn IHOS104-37 Blu-Ray drive
WD Green 750 Gb HDD
PEAK Dual Tuner DVB-T card
Silverstone Strider 350W PSU
I'm only running 2 of the 3 case fans. The 1 under the HDD drive and 1 of the 2 next to the CPU. Since I'm not using a CPU fan I've replaced the case fan next to it with an Akasa Apache to get PWN control (the original was a 3-pin fan). The PSU also has a 120mm or 140mm fan (I forget). The last case fan I just leave unplugged since it's unnecessary.
This setup is pretty quiet, but I'd like it quieter. You can tell when it's at high load because the fans spin up and it becomes more audible, but that's ok. At idle I've got low temps and both fans at 550rpm and annoyingly I can still just about hear it from the sofa if the room is silent. I think I'll need to replace the other case fan and re-mount the Apache using rubber mounts to fix that though (this looks like it may involve removing the mobo which is why I didn't do it before).