Operational Specs

Silentium T2 Specifications
M/B Formfactor	Micro ATX / Full ATX (except for boards with downward facing floppy cable)
Dimensions	18(W) x 43.5(H) x 46(D) cm
Weight	11.5kg (Net.) 13.8kg (Shipping)
Drive Bays	2x5.25 (open) 2x 3.5 (open) 1x 3.5 (internal) 1x 3.5 damped HDD cover
Power Supply	Seasonic/ARCTIC, active PFC 3.3V: 28A, 5V: 30A, 12V:17A -5V: 0.5A, -12V: 0.8A, 5Vs: 2A 450 Watt max. / 350 Watt continuous Power
Cooling (Fans)	4x ARCTIC Fan 3, 1000 - 1900 RPM Ceramic Bearing
Front Panel I/O	2x USB 2.0, 2 x Audio, IEEE 1394 (optional)
Case Material	0.8 mm SECC
Warranty	2 Years

One area of concern I must bring attention to were the case edges. Almost every edge was very sharp this was made even more dangerous by the fact the sharpest edges where those one would naturally lift or re-position the case. I must caution anyone whom purchases this case to be VERY careful when handling the unit.

This is an area for safety which Arctic Cooling must work. In their defense they haven't completely overlooked the issue protecting edges where one would reach in to connect cables to drives, however; deeper cuts would be trying to lift or re-position the case at the top. I've indicated edges which were sharp enough to cause a serious cut with red arrows and yellow arrows where they were beveled.



The included Seasonic may be considered underpowered for today's standards, however; it’s adequate if you don't plan on trying to stick an Athlon FX-57 with SLI graphics inside. The HDD does have SATA connectors and Seasonic PSUs are known to be reliable and conservatively rated, meaning your most likely going to be OK even if you decide to do some overclocking. The rails are decent considering today’s CPU's draw from the 12V rail which is to remain below 18A, the Seasonic 12V is rated at 17A.



Below are the connectors on the case floor you can see the single SATA connector.





Case mechanics and Test system

I had to go to some length to find a system which would fit into the Silentium luckily I'd recently donated an old ECS K7S5A mated with a Palomino 1800 (1533MHz operating speed) and 768Mb of SDRAM PC100. The CPU was cooled via an old Thermaltake Volcano 6CU. Below we have a photo of the system installed and ready to run.

Test System
CPU	Athlon 1800 Palomino (1533MHz operating speed) HSF - Thermaltake Volcano 6Cu
Motherboard	ECS K7S5A Rev.1.1
Graphics	ECSXabre 400SIS 64MB 4X VGA
Memory	Hynix PC133 512MB & 256MB SDRAM(718MB total)
Power Supply	Seasonic/ARCTIC, active PFC 3.3V: 28A, 5V: 30A, 12V:17A -5V: 0.5A, -12V: 0.8A, 5Vs: 2A 450 Watt max. / 350 Watt continuous Power
Cooling (Fans)	4x ARCTIC Fan 3, 1000 - 1900 RPM Ceramic Bearing
HDD Maxtor 12GB ATA100	2x USB 2.0, 2 x Audio, IEEE 1394 (optional)
Operating System	Windows ME

The case and CPU temps as well as PSU voltages were monitored using several methods simultaneously. First by entering and checking "System Health" in BIOS (temps/Volts), secondly using the software monitor MBM5 and finally utilizing a FLUKE-187 digital multimeter. Readings were taken at Load and Idle using S&M CPU stress tester. The screenshot below exemplifies the lowest temp of the testing process. Ambient room temps were 22C, the PC is running at default specifications.








Conclusion

Arctic Cooling has endeavored to give the PC-Lover a case which is both quiet and cool in their Silentium T2, however; it's a difficult call to make when compared to other brands. Arctic Cooling classifies their T2 as a "Full ATX Midi Tower Case" which is where some ambiguities begin.

Does "Full ATX..." pertain to dimensions or ATX standards? Does "Midi Tower" pertain to Mid-tower or Mini-tower? Since the unit only accommodates one HDD albeit in an ingeniously designed "HDD muffler" which aids cooling the HDD as well as isolating HDD vibration, this does eliminate those intending to run RAID arrays. Another HDD can be mounted in a hidden bay, however there's no isolation technology for that one. The case is virtually dead silent during operation and does succeed in keeping an air-cooled system quite cool.

Given the air-flow dynamics I was surprised a "dead-zone" doesn't form directly over the CPU and mosfet area. It would seem logical twin exhaust fans on the PSU evacuating heated case air down through the front bottom vent may counter-balance air drawn out the top rear of the case via twin exhaust fans there.

While I was concerned the 350W Seasonic may be underpowered it did performed well enough, Seasonic has a good reputation and are conservatively rated. As I mentioned case edges were very sharp, they did bevel certain edges along the optical bay area, however; I'm forewarning anyone to be careful. While the case has good intentions, I wouldn't recommend its purchase at a price of $129 (Frozen-CPU) in the USA. There are alternatives in the States such as the Antec Performance Series TX1050B which includes an Antec Smart Power 500W PSU (dual 12V rail ATX.2.0) for $125. Or a "true mid-tower" Antec Sonata with a 400W Smart Power PSU for under $100.

In the UK however I would recommend this case based on its cooling and noise attributes albeit limited in the expansion sense. Overclockers-UK sells the Silentium T2 for €73/£49, at the same store the Antec TX640B with 8-expansion slots filters and a 400W Smart Power PSU can be had for €103/£69.

I want to thank Arctic Cooling for sending their Silentium T2 for review.

Questions/Comments: forum thread