I have been a home theater enthusiast for many years (even before DVD became available) and have always been interested in the home theater PC (HTPC). HTPC is really the only way to get cutting-edge home theater technology before it becomes available to the public. Many years ago, HTPC was the only way to achieve progressive scan, scaled and line-doubled digital video, but is now available to the average consumer with HDTV sets. Before HDTV tuners became affordable, HTPCs were the only way to go. Even still today, the only easy way to record and edit high definition TV is from a HTPC, as no consumer appliance exists, or is cost restrictive.
The crowning touch of a killer home theater system is a professional presentation. What good is it to have the best image quality and newest features if an ugly beige box invades your sacred rack? A good HTPC must have appliance-like features (and look like an appliance). It must be controlled through a remote, but have the flexibility to plug in a keyboard and mouse when configuration is necessary. I have been searching for a HTPC case for many many years, and only recently have good products become available. Silverstone Technology has been producing quality home theater PC cases for a few years, and their products range from slim low-profile cases to hefty amplifier-like enclosures. Today we are reviewing Silverstone’s LC10 home theater PC case.
Features
The case comes packed in a thick corrogated cardboard box and is padded with custom-molded foam that protects it during shipping. The case is also wrapped in thick plastic. Enclosed within the case itself is a small white box that contains the installation manual, drive bay cover and various screws.
| material | aluminum front panel, 1.0mm SECC body |
| color | black, silver |
| motherboard | ATX, Micro ATX |
| drive bays | 5.25″ x 2 3.5″ x 4 |
| cooling system | 80mm intake, 2000rpm, 21dBA 2 x 60mm exhaust, 3600rpm, 25dBA |
| expansion slots | 7 |
| front i/o | USB 2.0 x 4 firewire x 1 headphone x 1 microphone x 1 |
| power supply | optional standard ATX |
| weight | 18 pounds |
| dimensions | 430 x 429 x 163 mm |
The case is built like a tank and weighs in at 18 pounds! Although the front panel is aluminum, the rest of the case is steel, is painted silver and matches pretty well. The steel is 1.0mm thick, much thicker than standard CE used in many PC cases. This will certainly make sure no radio frequencies generated by the PC will interfere with the rest of your audio equipment. Silverstone even includes a ferrite ring for the front connector cables to keep the wires from acting like RF antennas.
The front bezel is absolutely beautiful with a clean brushed aluminum finish. The design is simplistically elegant with oblong power and reset buttons, blue LEDs, four USB ports and a single 5.25” external drive bay. The front panel consists of two thick pieces of aluminum, one of which can be unscrewed and slid out of the way for easy drive installation. There is a decorative strip carved horizontally down the bezel for a simple professional look. The front USB ports have a similar recessed oval carved around them. These front USB ports adds to the appliance-like factor of the unit, as a USB keyboard and mouse can be hot-plugged here when configuration is necessary. Firewire and front audio ports are cleverly hidden away on the left side of the front bezel. Rounded rectangular air intake holes also appear here (as well as on the bottom) to assist the 80mm intake fan on the inside.
The bottom of the case is fitted with four rubber feet, each surrounded by an aluminum ring. Three of the feet are firmly attached with screws (which extend into the case’s interior, but the fourth is attached with a plastic pin to avoid interfering with power supply installation and spins freely. Both sides of the case have an array of hexagon holes stamped out of the sides, and they are strategically placed to assist with airflow. The left side’s venting is near the back with add-in cards, and the right side’s venting is stamped near the front, avoiding the power supply and helping to cool the drive bays. The lid of the case is a shallow “U” shape that covers the top, left and right sides of the case.
Opening this lid reveals a standard desktop layout. Two 5.25” bays are flushed against the left side of the case, a removable 3.5” drive cage adorns the center, and an 80mm intake fan is attached to the right. Below the 5.25” bays is an additional 3.5” bay that can be unscrewed and slid out. The main bed can accept any size ATX motherboard, and there is enough room for a standard ATX power supply. Above the IO panel are two 60mm fans, made by Silverstone. They both have standard 3-pin fan headers. The 80mm front intake fan is a generic brand, and requires a 4-pin molex connector from the power supply.
Installing a standard motherboard reveals some of the flaws of this generic desktop layout in a HTPC application. Most motherboards will extend under the drive cages, which may present a problem depending on the location of your power connectors and memory slots. Since there is no external access to the 3.5” bays there is no reason for the drive cage to be perpendicular to the front panel. There is plenty of room for the hard drive cage to have been installed parallel to the front, making better use of the space available and would not crowd the motherboard. The current standard layout just wastes space that could otherwise accommodate internal components.
The DVD drive must be installed from the front, and Silverstone has made that easy. The bezel in front of the drive bay can be slid out (after removing two affixing screws) allowing easy front drive installation. Once the drive is slid in, the bezel must be closed to position the stealthed eject button. With the eject mechanism placed we can then secure the drive with screws. The hard drive cage to the left of the optical drive bay much be removed to access the DVD drive’s left mounting holes. Stealthing can be completed by taping an included aluminum plate to the DVD drive’s tray with included double-sided strip. I chose to place the hard drive in the center position of the 3.5” cage. Cables for the hard drive and DVD drive were tucked under the drive cages, keeping the airflow open over the motherboard.
The video card, CPU and other internal cards were then added. The position of the 3.5” drive cage places it in line with the motherboard’s AGP slot. My video card almost touches the hard drive, which creates a wall restricting the airflow from the intake and the rest of the system. The GeForce 4200 card I used is not as long as more modern video cards, so this may be an issue with your installation. I installed a Pentium 4 2.53GHz processor with a Vantec AeroFlow heatsink. I used AOpen’s AX4PE Max motherboard and utilized their onboard audio with SPDIF support.
After the hardware was installed I began to install Windows XP. I connected a USB keyboard and mouse to the front, and noticed that the USB ports are installed upside down! Since the shape of the standard USB port does not visually indicate the direction of the port, I always feel for the raised dot on many USB plugs to know which way is up. The standard USB port is confusing enough without having to remember to turn it upside down again. This issue cannot be corrected without removing the front bezel from the main case. After removing the front panel it is made clear why the USB ports are installed in this manner. The USB board’s leads are soldered on the bottom, and there is no room to position it any other way.
During installation of the software I noticed another problem: there was no way to control the unit with a remote control. There was no IR sensor integrated into the front panel, and no holes or ports to install one. The only option for remote control is to use a radio frequency remote, which will have to be connected to the back of the unit. Users could use an IR dongle, but having an ugly dongle destroys the OEM look that we are going for. While this is not a huge problem, buyers of this case should be prepared for this out-of-the-box issue, Silverstone’s LC10-M resolves this issue by integrating a front-panel Vacuum Fluorescent Display with an IR sensor, but costs nearly $100 more.
Also during installation I was able to evaluate how noisy the unit will be in a living room setting. The choice of hard drive and heatsinks are one consideration, but the case’s fans also contribute. Although two 60mm fans were spinning at 3600 rpm, only a little noise of rushing air could be heard from them. The included 80mm fan spins at 2000rpm, and also makes a little bit of noise. Together they are not noisy, but not totally silent either. These fans may be acceptable in an ordinary desktop application, but silence is key in a home theater appliance. This noise can be rectified by installing a fanbus in the extra internal 5.25” bay. Reducing the fan speeds had no noticeable impact on system temperatures and made the unit quiet enough for the living room.
After everything was installed this baby weighs in at 26 pounds, making it the heaviest piece of equipment in your theater rack.
Silverstone chose a standard desktop layout for this HTPC case, which is not entirely friendly with this application. Space could have been better utilized by placing hard drive cages in the ample unused front of the case, freeing up space around the motherboard and increasing airflow. Silverstone was concerned enough about airflow to implement fans in their design but has ignored the layout choices that can still choke airflow and makes installation difficult. Nearly any modern video card will touch up against the hard drive, segmenting the airflow inside.
The outside of the case is absolutely stunning and will definitely match your other equipment. External design looks very professional and is well implemented. More thought should have been put into the needs of the home theater enthusiast, as the bar is raised for professional home theater equipment. What is acceptable for a standard computer will be scrutinized by an audiophile. The final score for this product is broken down into different categories:
SilverStone LC10 HTPC Case
This case will certainly make your computer look like audio equipment, adding the crowning touch to the appliance which is your customized home theater computer. Silverstone’s LC10 can be easily recommended with a 4 out of 5 rating.
Pros:
- Professional polished OEM look
- Brushed aluminum panel
- Extremely sturdy contruction with thick CE steel
- Uses standard PC equipment
- Bright blue LEDs
- Removable 3.5” drive cage
- Dual 60mm exhaust fans
- Stealthed front air intake design
Cons:
- No power supply included
- USB ports installed upside down
- Wimpy-looking standard front audio connectors
- Drive cage layout not customized for HTPC (hard drives could be parallel to front panel)
- No front IR support (only option is RF or IR dongle)
- Fans a little too loud for home theater at full speed