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Design & Features
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Starting with the exterior, the front of the this chassis sports a quality
brushed aluminum finish. The rear of the chassis may look quite standard but
what is important to note here is the area that supports a full ATX power
supply. Everything else is what you'd expect from a MicroATX chassis
with the exception of the two exhaust fan brackets. Silverstone
actually includes both 80mm fans standard that run at low rpm's to keep
noise levels to a bare minimum.
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Despite its form factor, the case is well designed and has plenty of features
to help dissipate heat. This includes vented top and bottom side
panels.
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The
only issue I have with this case is the small power button. Coming
from a number of other HTPC cases that sport a much larger button like the
nMediaPC 180BA. The power button is so small that I failed to turn on
the system at times. Yes, it works well, but its small size will take
a bit of getting used to. You will also find both the power and
activity LED's right above the power button, both of which are blue but the
activity LED may emanate a purple glow depending on the components you
choose.
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If
there is one thing I really like about this case, it is the stealth cover on
the bottom of the chassis. Press slightly on the lower right and it
will gradually slide down to reveal not only the front expansion ports, but
an additional 3.5" bay. It is hard to describe, but the bottom cover
slides down slowly as if it was automatic. The lower
left of the case is where you'll find the expansion ports. You have
your typical audio jacks, along with two USB ports and one Firewire port.
One the bottom right is where you'll find a 3.5" brushed aluminum bay cover
to indicate support for an additional internal or external 3.5" device.
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Finally, a look at the front optical drive stealth cover. At first
glance, and after opening up the bay door, it appears to be of the highest
quality and unlike most featured in other cases. However, as I will
comment later in this review, I didn't feel the same after installation.
Now
lets move to the interior design...
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The
Silverstone GD02 sports a unique design in order to support a number of
components that other MicroATX cases are simply not capable of. In
order to accommodate such components, a number of features where implemented
in its design. When you remove the raised top panel via the tool included, you'll quickly be shocked by the large, removable optical
drive bracket that runs across the center of the chassis. There's a
reason behind this and when you factor in full-sized component support,
you'll quickly realize why and accept this somewhat awkward design feature.
This is also why the top removable panel is not completely flat either.
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Starting with the front interior, you'll find all the internal cables
supporting both the motherboard and extension jacks on the left front of the
chassis. On the right side, you'll find the internal drive cage that
supports two internal and one external 3.5" drive or accessory.
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Looking at its rear interior, the case has four standard PCI slots to
support any MicroATX motherboard. The difference here is that due to
some compromises in its design, it can support PCI-E 2.0 graphics cards up to
11.5" long. The other unique feature in terms of component support is
the capability of supporting a standard ATX power supply. There are
even some rubber cushions on the bottom to aid with the install and
eliminate unwanted vibration and/or noise. Also standard with this
case are two quality 80mm exhaust fans that are rated to run at 2050rpm's.
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