June 20, 2009
Product Review: SilverStone CW03 HTPC Computer Case
For the past few days, Stu and I have been mulling over how best to describe the Silverstone CW03-MT Home Theatre PC case. We’ve been discussing the clean lines of Silverstone’s masterful aluminum case design in yet another eye-catching form factor, and we’ve chatted about the perfect fit and finish of the mesh side panels, the intelligent design and placement of the six-drive-capable hard drive cage, and the extra space designed for the monster graphics card you know you want to include in your home theatre PC.
We’ve been considering the incredible ease with which we disassembled the entire case in less than 30 minutes, surprised that the initial system installation took only 60 minutes, and how the 1080 HD touch screen brings to life the PC for software installation even before hooking up a monitor or TV.
Many other sites like to start out a case review by discussing the packaging of the product. Let’s be honest here… it’s a box with some pretty pictures on it and a perfectly designed foam suspension system inside to hold the HTPC case. Silverstone goes out of their way to ensure the case arrives safely and unscuffed, going so far as to wrap the case in a black sleeve (works nicely to keep the dust off, too) but what you really want is INSIDE the box, not the box itself. If you want reviews of the packaging, you’ll have to go to another site. If you are looking for a practical, down-to-earth review of the Silverstone Crown Series CW03-MT Home Theater PC case, then you have come to the right place...
Really, it’s hard not to be complimentary about such a simple and well designed case. But honestly, when we open most cases, we’re looking for ways to make it into something a bit different. We often find many design “features” that make it hard to customize or really make the piece personalized. With the CW03 case, we were not looking for reasons to not like it, we were just preparing ourselves to see another component case with little in the way of “wow-factor.”
Maybe we’d be disappointed in the construction. NOPE. Perhaps the brushed finish, form-factor would look out of place on a desk or in a corporate setting (nope) or next to the CD jukebox (nope), DVD player (nope), XBOX Elite (nope), Wii (nope)… well you get the picture. A few items about integrated, preinstalled components have us a bit puzzled, but all things considered, before we even get into the juicy bits, we’d recommend this case to anyone looking for a top-notch HTPC case. After all, when you expect the best, who wants to tell their friends that they bought a cheapo wannabe HTPC case when they could have bought one as impressive as the CW03?
More on the pre-installed components later.
The CW03 looks good just about anywhere you have your electronics. Paired with your DLP projector, LCD or plasma TV, the CW03 brings your digital media to life in ways that - until now - you’ve only imagined. Whether using a wireless keyboard (not included), the integrated front-panel buttons, or the included IR Remote to operate the system, you’ll have fast access to everything on your HTPC with the touch of a finger or the press of a button.
You may not find yourself using this PC just to play the latest DVD or HD movie on your big screen, oh no. You will quickly find yourself looking for excuses to use it for a variety of things, crazy things, like home video conferencing, streaming on demand video to your main TV (it’s time for you to get comfortable on your sofa or easy-chair and finally get away from your desktop PC media player), storing massive digital media libraries for your home network. For greater functionality, include a multi-card/media reader in one of the 5.25 drive bays and you’ve also transformed your home theatre to an instant-replay room for home videos, vacation pictures, and much more. Don’t break out a laptop to showcase those beautiful photos and videos, put them on your own home theatre screen with the CW03!
With digital media usage eclipsing almost every other format (video and audio) the HTPC is the logical next step for everyone who is ready to bridge the divide between traditional and new media. For ANYONE with a desire to have a fantastic home theatre, the CW03 is the must-have component you’ve been wondering about because it brings together into a single package all those components you’d otherwise have taking up 5x as much space. Once you’ve chosen your TV, your second choice needs to be the CW03 (silver or black or even a custom color from Kikboxes) and the HTPC components to make your media experience one you’ll never forget. The CW03 case comes equipped with feet for use in standalone mode AND rack-mount brackets (ears) to install the case in a rack mount system (great for home and office installations!) so it’ll find a home quickly in any serious home theatre or business setting.
Home PC and Home Theatre enthusiasts alike will fall in love with the CW03 because it is so easy to in install components and get the system up and running fast. With an easy, open assembly field, the case lid is easily removed but is still strong enough to hold heavy A/V components on top. Take off the lid and the case practically yawns open to reveal a cavernous space for oversized components, massive storage arrays, large power supply, and more! Designed for ATX and Micro ATX motherboards, system builders (novice or professional) will be able to find hardware components to support almost any need.
Our initial system build uses components most PC gamers would use in their rigs, powerful dual core processors, buckets-o-RAM, dedicated OS drive and media storage drives. Dolby 5.1 sound, HD graphics, and topped off with new, nearly silent LED fans. The case comes alive with the integrated seven-inch touch screen LCD, the icing on this already sumptuous cake. While you may not frequently watch movies on the small screen, it’s easy to set the screen as the primary display for the operating system, set your big-screen as the “extended desktop” (if in Windows) and let the HD glory come to life while the 7″ screen displays your email alerts, Facebook or Twitter updates, or even a smaller, second media element. Who needs picture in a picture when you have picture AND a picture on two beautiful screens? Of course, we started playing FPS games as a small test, but the HD video samples looked phenomenal even on the small screen (it’s MUCH bigger than an iPod, too)!
At nearly 18 pounds right out of the box, the case is not a lightweight, but with all your media stored inside, the strength of the case helps build confidence that what’s inside is safe. And let’s face it; you are probably not worried about carrying this case around to LAN parties’ right? Four pre-installed 80mm fans help to keep the air flowing across the hard drive cage and out past the processor. While we’re pleased with this setup, version 2 of this system build will include a liquid-cooled processor and solid state drives to boost performance and mitigate the heat bloom found in many audio and video components.
The 80mm fans were one of the concerns we had with this case, knowing that in many settings, the fans would be audible and might not be powerful enough to keep the machine cool when surrounded by other hot audio/video components.
We initially found only one thing we did not like about the CW03… that the box contained only ONE CW03 case (wink). Functionally, the case is solid. Cooling performance is good despite the 80mm fans, and the VGA connection for the touch screen seems a bit behind the times, but those items are easy to remedy. A few simple modifications to the case allow for greater video quality to the touch screen, the replacement of 80mm fans on the bottom of the case with 92mm or 120mm fans is no great task when using the right tools (and a bit of patience to ensure the structural integrity of the case is not compromised), and the cooling capacity of the rear 80mm fans can be easily upgraded with a small liquid cooling unit such as CoolIT Systems’ Domino. The case wall dimensions make the installation of the Domino an interesting challenge, but the cooling potential and sound mitigation will make the installation well worth the effort.
Wrap-up
Designed to look great with a existing home audio/video system, as a standalone desktop PC case, or as a high-quality addition to the corporate office for media display, the CW03 is a clear indication that you’ve made a choice to bring your digital media to life in a big way. Whether using it as a dedicated media center jukebox to play your extensive music library or combined with your digital home theatre, the CW03 will make a statement that nobody can ignore. When connected to your home computer network and the internet, the CW03 brings the world to your home theatre, music from around the planet to your ears, streaming media to your fingertips and access to your email and office apps in case you need them. You will be very surprised at the ease of installing components in the CW03 and at how quickly you can be up and running with your new HTPC. We’ve been building PCs for years and this build was one of the easiest to accomplish, hands down.
Need mobile computing power? Get a laptop. Want an awesome home theatre experience that will have your friends begging for another movie night at your house? Get the Silverstone CW03. You’ll be glad you did!
This review can also be found at kikboxes.com.