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Reviews
1:30 AM - May 13, 2008 by
Bill Lake
Source: Tom's Hardware – Keywords: silverstone, cw03, case
Topics: Build Your Own
Syndication:
Source: Tom's Hardware – Keywords: silverstone, cw03, case
Topics: Build Your Own
Syndication:
Table of Contents:
Conclusion
Conclusion
The Silverstone CW03 has proven it is a king of the HTPC market, with only a few minor flaws that can either be fixed or worked around. This is a truly professional level case and should be considered for any high-end HTPC.
The Good
- Great touchscreen LCD display
- Software works well with touchscreen
- Professional quality fit and finish
- Excellent construction makes unit stackable and rackable
- Stylish enough for high-end home theaters or A/V
- Supports ATX motherboards
- Includes solid IR remote and receiver
- The WOW factor from your guests
The Bad
- Price
- Fan noise
- No PSU
- Eject button issue
- USB header issue
- VGA header instead of DVI for LCD
The Silverstone CW03 is the highest quality case I have seen in a long time. It was extremely easy to install all components, and the quality of the construction is exceptional.
That said, it would be nice if Silverstone could do a few things to make this case even better. They could replace the two fans under the HDD cage with one 120 mm fan; if they could find a way to replace the two rear 80 mm fans with a 92 mm or 120 mm fan, that could also help lower fan noise. They need to fix the optical drive eject button on the case. It would also be best if they would provide a single-headed USB solution to support both the IR unit and LCD display. These are not deal breakers, though, as I was able to work around the last two issues, and by installing fans with speed controls I was able to force them down to a very quiet level without sacrificing performance.
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For anyone building an HTPC with this case, they would probably want cooler, larger HDDs. The GP series from WD would be better for that.
The CPU and GPU are probably overkill unless the person using this is an avid gamer.
You did not say much about the touchscreen and how it works with Vista's built-in Media Center software. You stated that the instructions say to set it up as the secondary display in an extended configuration. Does the touchscreen echo the information in Vista's MC? Or did you use iMedian?
The CPU and GPU are probably overkill unless the person using this is an avid gamer.
You did not say much about the touchscreen and how it works with Vista's built-in Media Center software. You stated that the instructions say to set it up as the secondary display in an extended configuration. Does the touchscreen echo the information in Vista's MC? Or did you use iMedian?
I actually used Vista MC, iMedian and the HDMedian also. They all have their benefits and weaknesses. When connected to the big TV, I used Vista MC, it worked better for me with the remote, when connected to a local LCD the others worked better as they really like the use of the touch screen. Going back and forth was easy with the software, sorry I did not put more on that in the article but I wanted to keep it more about the case than software because that can be tweaked and changed. I can say when connected to my big TV, I really like the little LCD show one thing and maybe have something else on the TV. Kind of like Picture in a picture.
As far as more on HTPC, check out Tom's other articles as there are several and this was just about this case. You can compare them there, same for the software as there are articles on that too. As for the cost of this case, they usually use the search engine to provide that but just google it and you will find prices running about $699. http://www.google.com/products?q=s [...] UTF-8&um=1
As far as more on HTPC, check out Tom's other articles as there are several and this was just about this case. You can compare them there, same for the software as there are articles on that too. As for the cost of this case, they usually use the search engine to provide that but just google it and you will find prices running about $699. http://www.google.com/products?q=s [...] UTF-8&um=1
resonance451
05/13/2008
8:29 AM
I've been building MicroATX HTPC's, and find them just as quiet and operational, and a lot cheaper, even with adding a screen (and why would I even want that, as I've got a 56" 1080p HDTV?!)
I have an Ahanix mce701 (not sure if they make them anymore) for my htpc. Very similar to the Silverstone, but not the same high level of quality. At less than half the price, I am extremely satisfied with the Ahanix. The touchscreen is wonderful for doing everything that the television isn't needed for, such as selecting and playing music, catching the latest weather forecast, or simply looping a slideshow of the kids while it's idle. The screen also adds a certain geek-cool touch to my entertainment center. I keep my components at eye-level, but if it were stacked below the tv, I could see the benefits of the little touchscreen greatly diminished.
While this article is fine for reveiwing the case itself, it really falls short on the build aspect. Tom's Hardware is far too long overdue for an updated HD HTPC build. It seems like they are focused just on gaming. With DVD recorders with built in HDD's pretty much banned in the U.S., HTPC's are really becoming popular.
I have a Coolermaster CM Media 282, you can use 4 120mm fans in this case. Its not the most stylish, but with Noctua 120mm fans it is exceptionally silent (due to the position of the fans I run passive cooling on an EVGA 8600 gt GPU, & AM2 5200 CPU). Plus I built this system for probably the cost of the silverstone case... Not a power house system, it is only a PVR.
boysdaddy: I used the stock cooler on the Q6600. I thought it was very quiet even under load and was impressed with it. It is not a highend cooler but I did not have time to do much more.
niknik, I was going to do a Blu-Ray drive with some results of it but the Pioneer blu-ray software did not work, it said not a supported pioneer system and then the replacement did the same. I am investigating it further before I say any more but I think an HD HTPC system is a good idea.
I build a PVR on the KPC system like I reviewed, it works great, is quiet and I spent less than $400 on it
niknik, I was going to do a Blu-Ray drive with some results of it but the Pioneer blu-ray software did not work, it said not a supported pioneer system and then the replacement did the same. I am investigating it further before I say any more but I think an HD HTPC system is a good idea.
I build a PVR on the KPC system like I reviewed, it works great, is quiet and I spent less than $400 on it
shadow2get
05/15/2008
7:16 AM
I wonder if anyone heard of this HDD model:
"Seagate WD5000AAKS"
Looks like a typo error here.
Located here: Page 5 - Making an HTPC, Table 1: System Components
"Seagate WD5000AAKS"
Looks like a typo error here.
Located here: Page 5 - Making an HTPC, Table 1: System Components
Just a short note, you stated you used a Seagate harddrive with partnumber WD5000AAKS. Of course, this is not a Seagate drive but a Western Digital Caviar SE16.
yes it was a Western Digital hard drive and I used a standard 7200 RPM HDD becuase eventually I want to do mirroring of this system and the GP drives do not work for any RAID duties. WD even says this and I would assume that this is due to the variable speed causing the data to get out of sync. This is supported by reports from users who have tried to use the GP drives in RAID configurations. I would recommend a large GP drive if you want to save energy and perhaps soon Toms will do a test of the energy saving in the motherboard and HDD that claim energy savings
Bill, you might be interested in the WD7500AYPS at http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Pro [...] iveID=384. It has RAID-specific TLER and is part of the GP family. I'd love to see where they say not to use it in RAID arrays, because I was about to buy two for that purpose.
The RE2 version of the drives do support RAID with TLER and RAFF but the AACS and EACS models do not support these features. Sorry again for the miss information.
I bet a good portion of the cost is in that LCD screen. All and all that's a pretty sweet case. I too would be curious on a HD HTPC build, maybe even a couple of different affordability levels.
For anyone interested I installed a Blu-Ray drive to watch Blu-Ray movies, the small LCD would play the movies without any problem but I ran into trouble with the Pioneer software it does not support being installed on the secondary SATA controller from Gigabyte. Then I learned that my about a year old Sony LCD TV is not HDCP enable so I can not watch the Blu-Ray movies on my 42" TV which really sucks. So the moral to this story is make sure your TV will support PC Blu-Ray before you build a HTPC like this or you might be wishing you did not waste the money on a Blu-Ray drive.
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Maybe I didn't read carefully enough, but I didn't see what the street price of this case is. Also, are there competitive alternatives worth considering?
I'm not here to shoot this article down, but I was hoping to see some of these issues addressed after reading 7 pages.
Th