Silverstone has been making HTPC cases for many years, supporting boards as large as ATX and as small as Mini-ITX, but not always supporting the hardware you want. The company's Milo ML06, a mini-ITX case, was a chassis that had a lot of potential, but the design lacked support for dual slot expansion cards. As a result, it essentially eliminated the possibility of building a compact gaming system.
Back then this wasn't a big deal, but more and more these days people are interested in building compact gaming computers for the living room. Silverstone acknowledged this shortfall of the Milo case and went back to the drawing board to redesign the internal layout, while maintaining the same dimensions (350 x 99 x 205 mm). In addition, the steel construction and aluminum bezel are carried over from the previous version, maintaining the same durability and overall appearance.
As part of the internal shuffle, the power supply has been relocated from the left side to the right. Because of the tiny volume of the case, Milo ML06-E will only accommodate SFX power supplies. Silverstone placed the hard drive cage, supporting up to four 2.5-inch drives, directly in front of the power supply. For additional storage, above the motherboard is a removable tray with room for either a 3.5-inch hard drive, two more 2.5-inch drives, or a slim slot-loading optical drive, which can be purchased as an optional extra. Alternatively, a single 120 mm fan can be installed in the tray for extra exhaust.
With the Milo ML06-E's new layout, the company was able to include the critical second slot needed to support modern graphics cards. Despite the second slot, expansion card options are still very limited. The case is only 90 mm tall, leaving space for only low-profile cards. Any card that does fit, however, will enjoy ample cooling. The expansion slot is positioned directly next to the left side panel, which is fully vented.
CPU coolers are also limited in size based on the configuration you choose. The optional plate holding the hard drives, optical drive or 120 mm fan dictate how tall the cooler can be. A 70 mm tall cooler could fit if the bracket is not present, but if it is installed, then cooler options may be limited to as little as 37 mm of clearance.
The Silverstone Milo ML06-E carries an MSRP of $90 and is available now.
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