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Silverstone LC17 HTPC Case Review

Cases & PSU/Cases by terangreal @ 2005-11-22

Since their launch in 2003 we?ve seen many innovation and high quality products from Silverstone. Today we take a closer look at one of their most known case series: Lascala or LC for short. With more than 17 variations available their aim is to please almost everybody out there. The LC17 is one of their latest full size ATX HTPC cases, to accommodate standard size computer equipment the LC17 is one of the larger members of the LC family and it comes with the usual splendid looks.

[M] testing & Conclusion

Test Results

A perfect fit in our home entertainment setup

We launched the following applications to cause a high system load:

4x Prime95 sessions to stress the CPU

DVD Shrink was repeated to stress the Hard Drives

Live For Speed was run with maximum graphical detail to stress the VGA card with maximum amount of AI players driving 500 laps to further stress the CPU

Room temperature during testing was ~20°C, we have kept the default fan configuration: 2x80mm fans at the back. Here are the results:

Madshrimps (c)

Silverstone’s in-house test was with a 3.6Ghz P4 which gives of quite a bit of heat, the LC17 was able to keep it running cool; in our tests we see that it handles even a Dual Xeon system without problem! That’s an impressive outcome for a HTPC desktop case.

The noise level is harder to gauche since there are many factors deciding this bit; we did not have 3rd party Xeon CPU coolers, the standard ones at 100% fan speed are quite loud, cutting the speed down to 55% with Speedfan makes them very silent, but the CPU’s under full load become overheated after 1 hour stress test (70°C+). The power supply from Antec is not known for ultra silence either, the video card cooler makes quite a bit of noise, all things together makes this setup not very silent so there is work that needs to be done.

Not to leave you without any data we measured the dBA level at 170cm (a healthy distance for a HTPC) - Ambient noise: 32dBA:

Noise @ 170cm with CPU fans at 100%: 46dBA

Noise @ 170cm with CPU fans at 55%: 38dBA

Conclusion

At the end testing day we can tell you that the LC17 is a more than just a good product, its sleek looks and excellent thermal performance are its main attraction points. A few nitpicking here and there about compatibility can not spoil the fun for us.

If you are building a home theater PC which must be able to pack a punch by including some high end hardware, then this case is ready to handle it. Make sure you select the correct components and installation will be trouble free, the only real drawback we’ve found is when you want to install a 5.25” device that is not an optical drive. The front panel does not allow you to install a nice LCD display or fan controller due to its design, so depending on your needs this can be a deal breaker.

PRO
Brushed aluminum, great design and quality
Excellent thermal performance
Included 2x80mm fans are silent
Accepts full size ATX systems
Lots of drive bays

CON
Front panel only allows 5.25” optical drives, no other devices (fan controller, LCD,….)

We like to thank Silverstone for giving us a chance to evaluate the LC17.

Question/Comments: forum thread

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