Silverstone Tek Micro-ATX, Mini-DTX, Mini-ITX Small Form Factor Computer Case, Compatible with ATX PSU Cases SG11B

So I’ve been building computers since the mid ‘90s and got CompTIA A+ Certified in 2002. When I read some of the reviews from obvious novices complaining about the layout and room in this case it just made me laugh. This is an old school case design based off the Shuttle cases which dates back to the late ‘90s. The Frag Box from Falcon-NW is another great example of the lineage this case comes from. This design was originally intended for use as a portable desktop for LAN parties. This is a great small case but you must pre-plan your build to avoid headaches. Don’t get a CPU cooler with heat pipes and expect it to fit because I promise you it won’t. This may be the only time I can actually recommend using the intel stock cooler because anything much bigger just won’t fit between the motherboard and power supply. Also, don’t buy a video card with more then one fan on it and expect it to somehow “work out”. Buy the case and motherboard first, then MEASURE before picking out a video card. I built an Intel Core i3 10th Gen PC using this case. I used a simple “downblower” aftermarket cpu cooler that is probably only marginally better then the stock intel cooler. I didn’t use this cooler because I wanted to, I used it because I knew it was the best I would be able to do in this case. I also was able to fit a GTX 1070 Founder’s Edition video card with a little finagling. I would recommend that you get the shortest video card that you can possibly get in whatever GPU your buying. A one fan card is best (size wise) but a shorter twin fan card may also work out ok. Like I said just pre-plan before you purchase the graphics card by measuring. I would also recommend a modular or semi-modular power supply unless you are going to leave the 5.25 drive bay empty to tuck in the unused wires from a non-modular power supply. Which brings me to cable management. The only place to get cables out of the way is the 5.25 drive bay (which is what I did). Cable ties are going to be your best friend when building in this case. You absolutely have to put a lot of effort into getting cables out of the way so air can flow freely thru the case. The two “optional” empty fan slots are not optional unless you want your PC to be an oven. Silverstone is being cheap for not providing them. They are a must! Also, don’t even think about tucking cables away into the hard drive caddy because fresh air must flow thru it from the (only) case intake fan. If you have never built a PC before or if you are on the novice side of PC building this case is probably not for you. However, experienced builders may enjoy the challenge of building a great small PC with this case (as I did). My CPU never thermal throttles and my GPU stays within reasonable temperatures because I made sure there is good airflow thru the case. Hope this helps :-)

This is a nice, small, clean and simple-looking case. I was looking for an unobtrusive mATX form factor case that I could use underneath my sit/stand desk and this fits the bill perfectly (the case sits on a short IKEA five-drawer cabinet underneath the desk). It's a relatively sturdy case with a decent-looking front and matte paint finish to the side panels. The shoebox format is better proportioned with the micro-ATX form factor instead of mini-ITX alternatives like the SG08.Like most Silverstone cases this one is "tiny-screw-happy" in that you have lots of little screws around for every little thing; it is what it is. The hard drive fan is pretty quiet as well when running at lower speeds and it also does a good job of pushing air. The support brace running through the center helps reinforce the case.I didn't really care for the vertical 2.5" cage - you have to either pre-connect your SATA cables on the drives before installing the cage or fish at them blindly if you install the bracket/drives first. I will most likely be annoyed down the road by the 3.5" setup, as you have to pull out your video card and the 2.5" drive / fan bracket if your video card is over 9.6" in length to get at the 3.5" drives. This is not a case to do a quick swap of anything in, so if you are a tinkerer just remember you'll probably be taking more than the cover off to do any work.I also highly recommend buying a power supply that is compatible with Silverstone's PP05-E short cable kit. One SATA cable in the kit matches up perfectly with the two top 2.5" drives and the single CD-ROM drive. The rest of the cables are slightly shorter than with my Seasonic and their flatness makes routing MUCH easier in this case.For my niche setup the case worked out well, and if my situation changed I would gladly put the case out in the open on top of my desk. It's a good price at the $67 I paid for it, and I would pay up to $75 or so for the case.

I had a very specific need for a case that was exactly this size. There are very few SFF cases that fit a mATX with room for an Optical drive, that have good circulation and look nice... I had to put off my build until this product came to the US.I ended up making some custom air filters for the side panels to keep dust and cat hair out. System stay's relatively cool. Make sure you get the compatible SilverStone CPU cooler (or similar). You really need to do your research to make sure all your components fit. It's snug, but should hold everything you need.Couple Issues: 1) The SSD cage gets in the way of my EVGA gtx 960, so I can really only fit 3(2) HDD, and 2(3) SSD rather than the maximum 9 or whatever... boo hoo... 5 storage drives is plenty for most users.2) Other thing, is that my front panel audio connector is kinda busted... I tried using it, and it required incredible force to plug in, and unplug the audio jack. I think I damaged it trying to get it out one time. That is kind of obnoxious, but there are many work-arounds for this (i.e. headphones go in through my monitor instead, which is almost as easy to access).Nice inclusion: Sticky tape, and simple instructions to ghost your Optical drive. Works well with minor tinkering. I used AutoHotKey to make a macro to open the drive. Pretty spiffy.EDIT: I bought this case for $67 here on Amazon. The current price of around $90?... maybe not worth it, but I probably would still have purchased due to how perfectly it fit my needs. But there are much better cases out there for the $90 mark.

I bought this case to set up an NAS I needed space for 4 hard drives and this came up in the search results. Unfortunately it only has space for three 3.5" HDD. An adapter for the 5.25 bay is easy enough to install. The mounting of parts could be better, not taking advantage of the newer ideas for mounting hardware in the case, but for an inexpensive case its OK.