I am currently working on a home server/HTPC article and wanted a nice desktop case for it. I was very impressed with SilverStone’s TJ04 case that I reviewed back in October and figured they would be a good choice for a desktop case as well. SilverStone was nice enough to send over their LC03V case for me to review and use in the upcoming article. This case is designed to mainly function as a HTPC case however you can use it for anything you desire. So rather than possibly dragging this introduction on, lets get down to business.
The case comes packaged in a thick cardboard box and within is padded with a few inches of foam that protected it during shipping. The case is also wrapped in plastic and the drive bay doors are taped shut so nothing gets scratched or damaged. Inside the box with the case is a bag that contains a manual and some hardware for your system installation.
The front of this case looks really nice and clean from a design standpoint. The case has dimensions of 425 mm (W) x 160.5 mm (H) x 415 mm (D) which is a pretty large desktop case in comparison to some of the other slim line ones out there. However this case will allow you to use all of your PCI slots rather than using a riser card. From the back of the case you can see that the parallel cable for the VFD runs through one of the I/O back plates which will result in you losing one space. There is also a 60mm exhaust fan that will pull hot air out of the system.
The case has 2 3.5″ and 2 5.25″ external drive bays for your drives and accessories. The doors that cover these external bays have a neat feature. Instead of the doors just falling quickly they have a small gears built into them to slowly lower the door like a drawbridge. This feature is so simple but extremely cool in my opinion. Not only does it look nice when they are opening but they don’t slam down and eventually wear away at the metal.
The front of the case features a built in VFD which makes this a perfect case for a HTPC or server. Unfortunately the case did not come with any software for the VFD which means you are left to find something on your own. The power button is solid to say the least and has a good click to it if that makes any sense to you.
There is a power and hard drive LED next to the button that will illuminate with system power and hard drive activity. The reset button is about the same size as the LED which means you will need something like a paperclip to reset if you need to. On the underside of the case there are aluminum feet that have a rubber sole on them to raise the case from the surface and prevent scratching.
Both sides of the case have holes in them for ventilation which is nice if you are trying to make your system silent like I am. With the cover removed I got my first look at the internal design which looks pretty nice overall.
The power supply mounts vertically rather than horizontally like it normally does to save space. Next to the power supply cutout there is a 3-pin, 60mm exhaust fan to pull air out of this desktop case. There are 7 slots for your expansion cards which is perfect for a HTPC or server. One of the slots is occupied but the cord for the VFD however we will take care of that later in the review.
There are 3 5.25″ drive bays total, 1 of which is hidden. Below the 5.25″ bays is a single removable 3.5″ bay for a hard drive. On the other side is a removable drive cage for 3 3.5″ drives, 1 that is hidden. Having these removable drive cages should make installation quicker and easier. Below both drive cages is a punchout for an 80mm intake fan so that you can get some cool air into your case. This fan would also do a good job cooling your hard drives which are right above it.
The VFD has a single plug on it that has a parallel cable and 4-pin Molex power connection on it. The jumpers are nothing special and typical of most cases, sleeving or some form of cable management would have been nice to see but that can be added later.
One of the best features that a case can have is a removable motherboard tray. Being able to remove the tray makes installation of your motherboard and expansion cards much easier. I’m happy to see that even in a desktop environment SilverStone went with a removable motherboard design. I also took out the single 3.5″ drive cage but left the other one in for the time being. The 60mm fan that comes with the case is an Everflow F126025SL which runs at 3600rpm, 25dBA as stated on SilverStone’s website. It does not say how many CFM it pushes however with a little Google research I believe that it pushes 16CFM (but don’t hold me to that).
The removable motherboard try made installation of my motherboard much easier and faster. With my processors, heatsinks, and memory installed I mounted the motherboard to the tray then installed the tray back into the case.
As I mentioned before the parallel cable for the VFD runs through one of the PCI slots which makes that particular slot unusable. Because I want the ability to use all of my PCI slots I rerouted the cable. On the back of the case next to the 60mm fan is a punch-out that looks to be for a gameport. Seeing how I have no need for this punch-out I put it to use and ran the cable through it. To do this I just unplugged the VFD and ran it through the back of the case since the parallel connector is much to large to fit through the hole. With that done I installed my Plextor PX-708A DVD±RW and Thermaltake 350w PurePower Fanless PSU, both went in without a problem. Next were all of my PCI cards which included a video card, modem, gigabit NIC, and SATA RAID card.
Installation of my hard drives is where I ran into some problems. I was unable to use the 3.5″ cage below the Plextor drive because a capacitor on my motherboard was in the way. This particular motherboard is somewhat old in comparison to many of the newest boards on the market but I still should have been able to use the cage.
Because of this I had to mount both 400GB SATA Seagate hard drives in the front 3.5″ cage. I ran into another problem here because when you use two hard drives you are not able to use both bay covers which makes it so you can see the drive with the door open. I am quite sure that this cage is supposed to be able to hold more than a single hard drive because on the side it is marked for hard drives and floppy in each of the three openings.
VFD Functionality
a VFD is a great piece of hardware to have especially for a HTPC or server. This particular VFD is a 16×2 line that uses a NEC D16314AGJ chip. Nothing included with the case was provided that even mentioned the VFD or how to setup and use it.
On SilverStone’s website is a link to a manual that describes how to setup and use the VFD. You will first want to power down your system and connect the parallel cable to your motherboards port and plug a 4-pin molex connector in to power the unit. With the unit hooked up you will want to go into your BIOS and set your parallel port to EPP.
After you have done this and booted into windows you will need to install the driver file. You will need to fill out a small form and click submit which will allow you to download the EXE file. After installing the driver you will want to download and install LCD Smartie which is an open source LCD/VFD software program.
After installing LCD Smartie you will need to configure it, set the scroll interval to 300, the LCD Size to 2 x 16, and the LCD Settings to Parallel (HD44780). With this all setup you should be able setup your VFD to many different things. Below are two pictures of the VFD in action, you can set it up to do just about anything and if it doesn’t exist you could always write a plugin since its open source.
Conclusion
Overall this is a really good case and would be great for your HTPC or server if you plan on building one. The paint job on this case is amazing and the aluminum bezel will really stand out in your house.
The removable motherboard tray and drive cages make installation much easier and faster which is always a good thing. The VFD and bright blue LEDs will add a lot to the case from a functional and aesthetic standpoint.
For my project I hope to have it be silent and use no fans, however if needed there is a 60mm exhaust fan as well as a punch-out for an 80mm intake fan below the drive cages.
From a end user standpoint this case is great and would be a great choice, however since I am a reviewer I must also point out the flaws. The fact that the VFD software was not provided is very disappointing, especially with the cost of this case. SilverStone should really have included a CD with the software, driver, and documentation for it. They could have also done a better job routing the cable for the VFD.
Most of the time not all of your slots are going to be used, however if you do need all your slots and one is blocked you wont be happy. Finally there is the 3.5″ drive cage flaw, at least in my opinion. I was not able to use the single 3.5″ drive cage, which I will give fault to my motherboard. However I should have been able to use all three slots in the larger 3.5″ drive cage. Either I am totally missing something or there is a design flaw with this setup, and yes I did read the manual.
So taking all of these pros and cons into consideration I am going to give this case a 8/10. I would like to thank SilverStone for making this review possible.
Pros:
- Mirror coating paint job
- Brushed aluminum bezel
- Removable motherboard tray
- Removable 3.5″ drive cage
- Built in VFD
- Bright blue power and HDD LEDs
- Great external 3.5″ and 5.25″ design
- 60mm exhaust fan
- Optional 80mm bottom fan
Cons:
- VFD manual & software not included
- 3.5″ cage design flaw
- Parallel cable poorly routed