Borrowing the styling of a Bluetooth speaker or soundbar, Silverstone's GD11 is a Home Theater PC (HTPC) case which Silverstone describes as compact and "stereo shaped." Despite the lack of verticality this case looks to be a capacious option for HTPC builders, offering room for up to a full ATX sized motherboard, standard ATX PSU, 240mm radiator, and up to 340mm GPU. The front 'speaker mesh' is in fact used for air intake, providing a full width air-flow source.
At the time of writing Silverstone doesn't have any details of the GD11 on its official website. Instead, our source is a Weibo social media post and an Australian retailer, which has kindly shared specs, data sheets and pricing.
With capacity for full sized ATX components and beefy graphics cards, this 'compact' desktop chassis is of course not one of the smallest around. It looks big, even among the Grandia series. However, with it hidden in plain sight as a Bluetooth speaker lookalike, its bulkiness doesn't affront your sensibilities – or that seems to be the theory. It certainly looks more stylish than the similarly sized Silverstone GD10 (from 2014). We've described the size and appearance of this HTPC case, and you can see it in various images in this article, but now it is time to share some cold hard specs.
|
Specs |
Silverstone Grandia DG11 chassis |
|---|---|
|
Material |
Steel mesh, plastic front panel, steel body |
|
Motherboard |
SSI-CEB, ATX, Micro-ATX |
|
Drive Bays |
Internal 3.5” x 3 (compatible with 2.5” x 1) |
|
Air Cooling System |
Front 120mm x 2 (120mm x 1 fan included), Rear 80mm x 2, Right Side 120mm x 1, Left Side 120mm x 2 |
|
AiO Radiator Support |
Front 120mm / 240mm |
|
Expansion Slots |
7 |
|
Front I/O ports |
USB Type-C x 1, USB 3.0 x 2, Combo audio x 1 |
|
Max compatibility |
GPU: Length 340mm (2nd – 7th slot), Width 151mm CPU cooler: Height 146mm |
|
Power Supply |
Standard PS2 (ATX) |
|
Dimensions |
440mm (W) x 176mm (H) x 399mm (D), 30.9 litres 17.32” (W) x 6.93” (H) x 15.71” (D), 30.9 litres |
|
Other |
Support Kensington lock *Silverstone recommends installing a motherboard with PCIe x 16speed on the 2nd slot |
is worth highlighting here that the 440mm (W) x 176mm (H) x 399mm (D) and 30.9 liter capacity of the GD11 is quite sizable, but it is indeed compact for an ATX case in our reckoning. Those dimensions are probably more in keeping with a Micro-ATX case. The other aspect of this case is that Silverstone uses a horizontal desktop form factor rather than the much more common tower.
If you are considering an HTPC build and find yourself steering towards more sizable and powerful components, the new Silverstone GD11 might be a good choice, if you like the style. Given that, it seems to check the boxes for expandability, accessibility, and cooling. The huge choice of desktop PC components that is open to the GD11 builder is another plus point.
In the Australian listing, the Silverstone GD11 has a price of AUD$205, which is $144 at today's exchange rates. Those that are in the market for a PC case, but don't see the appeal of the GD11, might be advised to have a look over our recently updated Best PC Cases of 2022 guide, with 11 great designs for your consideration.
