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SilverStone PS11B-Q Review

Hi everyone,

 

Welcome to my review of the new SilverStone case, the PS11B-Q.

Hope you enjoy it and if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to let me know in the section below. 

 

Full photo gallery can be found at: http://imgur.com/a/2TIIW

Additional photos are available at request. If you'd like to see something in particular, I'll be glad to take a picture and share it.

 

 

Introduction

Keeping up to par with the expectations placed upon them, SilverStone constantly tries to innovate and to introduce new products to the market, raising the bar at every turn not only for themselves but for all the competitors. This time, SilverStone introduced a new duo of cases aimed at the builders with a budget in mind but who will not forego quality or the possibility to choose between silence and performance.

 

The case up for review here is the aptly named PS11B-Q, an ATX mid-tower case oriented for silence, lined with noise reducing foam on both sides, front and top. Its brother, the PS11B-W, is designed with airflow in mind, with a large front mesh intake, vented top and a snappy looking windowed side panel. The differences between both end here as they are seemingly identical on the inside but more on that later. To start off, let’s take a look at the box in which it came.

 

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Both cases use the same box model, as it features information and picturing referent to the differences between them. Information and details can be found on the sides in several languages, along with a small introductuon explaining the reasoning behind the development of these cases. And yes, “introductuon” – Someone must have missed this during spellcheck, but hey, who even bothers to read what’s on the box anyway? Let’s jump straight into the unboxing.

 

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Unboxing & First Impressions

First thing you’ll find right after opening up the box will be this great looking product booklet, showing off all the new developments that SilverStone has been working on. Great paper and print quality, which when in contrast with the provided manual for the case might leave you wishing for a compromise between these two things – Don’t take this as a sign of a poor manual but rather as a testimony to how simple and pain free it is to build on the case.

 

 

A quick look at the protective elements reveals that the thickness of the box is a regular two layered piece of cardboard and that the case itself comes protected by two blocks of hard Styrofoam. Not the best solution but both elements seem to hold up quite well. After fully unwrapping the case any concerns that one could have of shipping damage completely disappears.

 

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The first impression I got was of solidity – Starting at the front, the plastic construction imitating brushed aluminum looks elegant and attractive with a very eye catching silver stripe giving a chrome effect, bearing the SilverStone logo. Two 3,5” bays are present here and above them is the front I/O port where two USB 3.0 ports can be found, spaced apart by the headphone and microphone jack. On the right there are two LED activity indicators, an absolutely impossible to press by accident Reset button, due to being so small and recessed and lastly on the left side the Power button which feels a bit weird as you sort of have to bend in the right side of the button to activate it – I didn’t see this as a negative point as it pairs well with the reset’s button difficulty to be pressed unwillingly.

 

Bellow we can see the ventilation points for the front intake, which can be fitted with either dual 120 or 140mm fans. Keeping with the clean and sleek look of the case, these vents are placed on the sides, offering a very discreet look. Upon removing the front panel to reach the included 120mm fan, we begin to see the foam pads present on the inside to minimize noise and the available room between the fans and front cover, which is considerable and should allow for good airflow

 

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Around the Case

Moving away to the body of the case there was a noticeable difference between the color of the front panel and the finish on the steel body, but it is only visible under direct light and hardly a reason for concern. Matching both to look uniform would prove to be significantly expensive and given the quality and feel of both sides, SilverStone can hardly be blamed for leaving them different at this price point.

The finish on the case feels and looks good, taking quite a bit of effort to scratch it “accidentally”. Both sides, offering close to no flex when subjected to a rather strong twisting force, feature an identical bulge, lined on the inside with foam pads and as a treat, the thumb screws can remain attached to the panel after being unscrewed – Nicely done. The top is smooth and plain, with no ventilation options.

 

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Switching to the back side, we find 7 PCI covers, two holes with rubber grommets for external water cooling and a small grill to fit either a 120mm or what seems to be a 80mm exhaust fan – It is unfortunate however, that no fan is included in this position, leaving the air to be exhausted passively if the case is left in its default configuration.

Flipping the case over and taking a look at the bottom, the first thing that pops out is a rather large mesh filter, covering the PSU and an optional fan mounting position. Despite lacking the drawer style removable tray and being only accessible by flipping the case over, having a filter to protect your components is a must and this one will certainly keep your power supply dust free. Four solid rubber feet elevate the case off the floor. No foam padding or other noise reducing materials are to be found at the bottom.

 

 

 

 

On the Inside and beyond

Now finally on the inside, the same nice black finish of the outside coats all areas, creating a uniform look. There is a large cutout for the Motherboard and several other cutouts for cable management. No rubber grommets are present to help manage and hide cables but given the vast number of cable tie points and the absence of a window to show the interior, I hardly see the need for them – Being a budget case, this is a good place where SilverStone can keep the production costs low in order for the final price to be so as well. It should be noted that almost all cutout and edge areas of the case have the metal folded in, so as to prevent accidental cuts to yourself or damage to your components – I literally tried and forced my hands in as much possible edges just to test this personally.

The Motherboard tray feels a bit flexible and did not come with any standoffs pre-installed nor does it offer a guiding pin for provisional placement. On the plus side, SilverStone includes a handy tool to install the standoffs and after placing the motherboard in, the tray became rigid. Support for long GPU’s is more than evident at this point, being able to accommodate a graphics card up to a whopping 400mm – If you can find one of that size.

 

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Something that stands out immediately are the I/O cables. With the exception of the USB 3.0, all others are quite colorful but not very pleasing to those who prefer them all black. Again, not having a window on the side panel effectively nullifies this issue, as the cables won’t be visible. A small issue I noted during system construction was that the HD Audio connector could have used another 2cm. Depending on how well you manage your cables, the standard length should suffice, but try to pre-route this one just in case.

Looking at the bottom area we can find an odd 3 rubber standoffs for the PSU which do a fine job at preventing unwanted vibrations. PSU’s of any length will fit but if you’d like to take advantage of the optional fan mount right next to it, something closer to 160mm would be ideal.

On the right, a tool free dual 5,25” bay area is present on the top and beneath it is an HDD bay area that can hold up to 3 drives – No caddies or screws are needed here, just slide the drive in. In the area between the bays, two 2,5” caddies can be found in an interesting disposition – Top of the HHD bay and bottom of the ODD bay. I would advise however, to use the one placed above the HDD’s as to simplify cable routing.

 

Taking a look at backside of the motherboard tray I have to admit that the space provided is not much - barely 9mm - and adding into consideration the space provided by the slight bulge in the side panel, 13 to 14mm will be the total room available. Pre-emptively routing your cables before installing components would be highly advisable, especially in the case of the 8 pin cable for the CPU. Fortunately there are more than enough cable tie points to make everything nice, tidy and very well organized to make the most out of the available space.

 

 

 

Building a system

After taking everything into consideration, building a system inside this case was a breeze. Let’s take a look at the nuts and bolts that came with the case first.

 

From the left, 4 cable zip ties, 9 MB standoffs, 1 socket wrench for the standoffs, 1 security lock, 14 screws for the PSU/MB/HDD and 12 SSD/5,25” screws. Simple, and with no excess of little plastic bags.

 

 

After rolling my sleeves up and grounding myself, I began by installing the PSU, fan facing down, and pre-routed all the necessary cables into position. Installing the provided MB standoffs using the provided tool was simple but really made me wish that they had been installed during manufacture. Dropping the motherboard into place and securing it, followed by connecting the 24 and 8 pin cables felt simple and looked clean. Slide the HDD into position, along with securing the boot SSD on top of the HDD bay was also pain free. Lastly, I fitted in the case the largest graphics card I have access to – Even though this particular GTX780 takes up 295mm, there is still quite a bit of room.

Although not visible here, the stock cooler employed does not make justice to the maximum 162mm of clearance for CPU coolers. Close it all up and we have a very nice, powerful, compact and quiet system.

 

 

After the completion of the assembly process I was somewhat curious as to if it would be possible to fit an AIO cooler in the front of the case. It just downright looks like a radiator belongs in that front space. Despite this not being a characteristic advertised by SilverStone for this particular model, the results to be found were rather surprising.

 

 

 

If it fits…

Taking the front panel off reveals that to reach the included fan it is necessary to fully remove the front plastic cover. Doing so seemed simple at first, with the front I/O being my only concern as I didn’t want to dislodge or break anything. Looking at the way the cover is secured, I spotted three plastic pins on each side plus an additional two smaller ones. Slowly pushing them out I noticed that one of the smaller ones was slightly larger than the others, forcing me to file it down slightly on the sides as to be able to push him out. After that, the cover came off easily, needing only to be careful with the attached cables. At this point I noticed an interesting thing - The top of the case is removable. Being held only by screws, it is possible to fully take it apart from the main body of the case, discovering the foam pad attached to its underside. Modding the case seems like a very possible feat given the great deal of flexibility. Strangely enough, the 5,25” bay area does not come off. I’m assuming all this is to simplify factory construction due to the alternative model of the case, which has a vented top but shares the rest of the body.

 

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Carrying on with the quest to fit an AIO liquid cooler, the next step was to remove the HDD bay. This is done by removing two screws on the left side, four in the front of the case, flipping it over, and removing 4 screws beneath it. Not simple, but at least I know that the bay was more than secure. Finally, with everything out of the way, the cooler is placed in and secured. It fits almost perfectly. I had to wiggle the radiator quite a bit until I found the best possible way to align and hold it in place. Should you attempt to do something similar, the best possible way would be to try and use a radiator no longer than 270/275mm – Even so, this is highly dependable on what you have to work with as not all radiators or AIO liquid coolers will work.

 

Despite the success with fitting it in, I wasn’t very fond of having lost the possibility of properly fitting an HDD, to which after a little thinking, the SilverStone SDP10B occurred to me as a possible solution. Being a 5,25” bay converter that can hold up to one HDD and two SSD’S at the same time and as I don’t use any of the bays, it would be a neat pair. As this is obviously an added expense to those who would like to fit an liquid cooler in the front of their case, it would be interesting to see SilverStone offer pre-adapted 5,25” bays. Perhaps, a compromise between the dwindling ODD presence in computer systems and the general end user requirements in term of data storage, coupled with the increasing presence of SSD’s, could lead to the adaptation of 5,25” bays into half ODD and half storage bay, effectively removing the need to include the standard HDD bay. Such a move could offer better space management, more cooling options and possibly reduced manufacturing costs. This is however, only food for thought.

 

 

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In conclusion

It is only fair to give very high praises to SilverStone. Aiming for the budget market, they managed to deliver a functional, silent and good looking case with great build and finish quality. Versatility is definitely a key point here, as the case can house a rather powerful ATX machine while keeping a moderate size and reduced audible footprint. Storage and expandability are well covered, offering more than enough space to house all your HDD/SDD needs. Two 5,25” bays prove to be more than enough nowadays and the inside room provides clearance for insanely long video cards should you feel the need for it. On the not so bright side, the small available room for cable routing behind the motherboard could prove to be an issue for some, especially with the 8 pin CPU cable mentioned earlier. The single 120mm fan provided, although capable and silent, ideally should be paired with another fan, exhausting out the back, but very positively there is no compromise on possible mounting places for later expansion.

In the end, it’s hard to fault the PS11B-Q when you look at it as a whole. The overall quality and possibilities outweigh any possible negatives at this price point, effectively making this a spectacular value for money case.

 

 

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Very nice structure and just excellent as a whole. Didn't read the whole thing but from what I saw I was very impressed. 

CPU: i5-4690k GPU: 280x Toxic PSU: Coolermaster V750 Motherboard: Z97X-SOC RAM: Ripjaws 1x8 1600mhz Case: Corsair 750D HDD: WD Blue 1TB

How to Build A PC|Windows 10 Review Follow the CoC and don't be a scrub~soaringchicken

 

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Being a personal friend of NothingSpeaks, and as biased as I may sound, knowing of his passion for the computer world and his amazing writing skills I'm not amazed (of course I am!) that he has been able to pull a review as thorough as this one: detailed, straight to the point and an amazing overall structure.

 

I really hope you succeed on writing many more reviews for years to come, and that this is just the beginning of a successful career on the hardware review business!

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Nice review, looks like a nice budget product as well

n0ah1897, on 05 Mar 2014 - 2:08 PM, said:  "Computers are like girls. It's whats in the inside that matters.  I don't know about you, but I like my girls like I like my cases. Just as beautiful on the inside as the outside."

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Thank you all for the kind words.

I hope to be able to produce more reviews such as this one, in the near future.

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