Pros: If you are searching for a tiny, mini-itx / small form factor case that provide support for all of your home theatre needs as well as provide a low-profile expansion slot for your tv-tuner or video card, then this is the case to buy. For me, I have always wanted a mini-itx case that allowed a single-slot, low-profile video card so that I can having a gaming htpc case for my bedroom. However, I had already purchased a silverstone ft03-mini and went ahead and got a full size card. Therefore, I purchased this case more on an impulse buy and I was not disappointed. I decided to use it for a build for my brother for multi-media use for his chess class. I needed to have a semi-powerful CPU for the chess software but also needed to keep the energy and noise level down. I chose these components: Silverstone Ml05b Gigabyte h77-itx wifi mini-itx motherboard Intel core-i5 3350p Silverstone NT06-E G-skill Ares 2x4gb 1600mhz ddr3 Sapphire low-profile 7750 Silverstone 450w 80+ bronze sfx power supply 750gb 2.5" Western Digital Black 7200rpm hdd Silverstone Air Penetrator 120mm fan 2x 80mm Arctic fans SIlverstone 80mm and 120mm fan filters *No optical drive* Unfortunately, the NT06-E was too high, even with the air penetrator mounted on the bottom of the heatsink, so I had to use the stock cooler for now. In the future, I might try the cooler master geminii m4, but for now the stock is fine. All the components fit like a glove. One positive about such a small case is that every component is so packed in that it looks like it is a perfect fit and that everything is where it needs to be. All in all though, everything fit and is functioning properly. For the most part, the case is quiet. Not whisper quiet, but enough (see cons). My fingerprints did not leave too many smudges, and it comes with included feet so prevent scratches on surfaces or itself. But I digress. The pros: - Tiny! (7 liters, a few inches less than the depth of a pillow). - Black matte finish, except for the glossy plastic front. Still looks good, gives off a mirror sheen. - Cheap! $45 for a case like this? Really impressive. - Thermals. Plenty of airflow for the major components. - Portability. Will be able to take this anywhere you want to go.

Cons: If you are looking to purchase a mini-itx or small-form-factor case (sfx), then you already know that it will aleady come with some issues, such as cable management, airflow, and finding correctly-sized components. So I can't dock anything for that. These are a list of minor issues, but they are not anything worth subtracting an egg for. Just comes with buying a sub-$50 case. - The decision to use a slim, slot-loading optical drive is the current trend for Silverstone's sfx cases. Silverstone themselves sell both a slot-load DVD and a slot-load Blu-Ray drive, so they are probably doing it for marketing reasons. Unfortunately, it's hard to find these drives for any reasonable price: Silverstone's slim, slot-load dvd drive: $70 Silverstone's slim, slot-load Blu-ray drive: $170 - Top panel requires a lot of force to remove it, almost to the point of being afraid if I will bend or warp it. Don't be scared - just pull it off! - A little more difficult to install motherboard I/O shield; little metal clips were in the way and had to snap it on with more force and a little maneuvering, but it worked out alright. - A lot of venting can be too much venting. The case's noise was my main concern when buying. I have set the fans on low and have filters, and with the two 80mm fans and the 120mm fan installed, the sound would be imperceptible from just a few feet away if it wasn't for the sfx power supply. Silverstone knows that their line of SFX power supplies are almost exclusively the only ones that are of quality and match the case. Unfortunately, their models include an 80mm fan that doesn't have any thermal sensor to throttle it when it's not needed. Therefore, the 80mm fan is on a high setting all the time, which produces unnecessary noise. Otherwise, it is actually pretty good (I set all the fans with filters and on intake to get positive pressure). - Video card airflow? (see other thoughts).

Overall Review: I have been searching for a tiny, gaming htpc case like this for literally years. You can search through mini-itx cases over and over but you won't find anything similar. You can find the Inwin BP-series, which offer extremely compact dimensions but are extremely limited on power supplies and airflow, especially for the graphics card. (Pixxo's mini-itx cases are very similar but do provide the venting on the side for the video card, in case anyone is interested. Buy that one rather than the Inwin). You can search for mini-itx cases that provide single-slot graphics solutions, but they are either full-height (Lian Li) or have no venting on the side to provide enough air flow to prevent overheating. The only exception is the Antec ISK 300 series, but the power supply is so shabby that you have to mod it to get it to be enough. You can search for mini-itx cases that accomodate TFX or larger power supplies, but they generally come with full height graphics solutions and are much too large (Cube or square shaped, targeted towards having high-end components rather than low power, quiet parts. Can you say Lian Li, Silverstone Sugo, Thermaltake SD101, etc?) I believe that this case fufills the gaming htpc niche for cases that are horizontal and give the standard theatre look. I would highly recommend this case - fantastic features, great price, and looks nice!

Pros: - Slick, Beautiful Brushed Aluminum finish! - Includes an ODD (a plus for me, as I have a large collection of blu-ray to burn and play)! - Recessed and subdued logo / buttons! - Really good airflow for a 14L case! - Very well thought out interior, and once you’ve removed all the interior pieces, you’ll find plenty of room to install components. Just be careful with the order of operations for installing everything! - Lots of passive ventilation for positive pressure cooling design! - Keeps pretty quiet under load when using good components!

Cons: - The included rubber feet are pretty basic. They will definitely do the job, but you wish they were nicer and a bit bigger to allow for more height / airflow when placed in horizontal position. - The included GPU securing bracket is a nice touch, but it won’t fit all GPUs - not Silverstone’s fault bc they can’t possibly make a solution for every card, but it didn’t work on my card, even with the included rubber adhesives, so just something to think about. - No cable tie downs for managing cable routing, encourages the “rats nest” storage which can potentially fall into fans depending on the case orientation.

Overall Review: - The other button next to the power button is not an eject button but a reset button, so in case you were thinking it is an eject button, think again! - Always make sure to measure! - Doesn’t include a slim ODD adapter cable, make sure to get your own if you want one! - If you’re using a dual slot GPU, you will have enough room in front of the GPU to install full size fans with about 1-2mm inbetween the GPU and fans. With the included slim fans, you’ll have closer to 11-12mm free space. - CPU clearance is 83mm. When using a full size fan, you’ll have 58mm clearance for either a heatsink + fan, or make the full 58mm the entire heatsink. - The case looks better in person!

Pros: - A bit faster than the average sata SSD - Cheap - Fairly neutral color scheme

Cons: - Runs warm, as all m.2 drives do, but just give it a tiny bit of airflow and should be fine - Only 120gb vs 128gb or more of similar prices 2.5” SSDs

Overall Review: Typically I would purchase a 250/256 gb drive for $79.99, which is a bit less than double the cost, so provides more value. However, if you’re like me and just needed a simple boot drive for the OS and have a different drive for main storage, and you want to spend your money on other portions of the build, then this drive is a great choice. It’s nothing fancy or flashy, but it’s not intended to be. Props to silicon power for offering a pretty decent drive for $44!

Pros: - Small size - Gigabyte Quality - Tasteful flare, but not too much - Performs admirably, trades blows with GTX 1050 - 0db fan mode when under 55c

Cons: - No LEDs - No 6 pin connection - Limited OC ability due to only motherboard power draw - 4GB VRAM will only help in certain situations, most of the time the card won’t take advantage of it.

Overall Review: I purchased this card to replace a GTX 1050 so I could use Freesync. This card does a great job, not skipping a beat with performance - no noticeable changes in general use, gaming, or work applications. Interestingly, my start up bios logo shows up in correct resolution now and boots into windows quicker. Was able to overclock GPU Core, but not able to overclock memory with Asus GPU TweakII. Will try other programs later on. Note: This is revision 2.0. Apparently, 1.0 came with a different setup of fans and also came with a 6 pin connector. That version probably overclocks a bit better, but might have had worse cooling. This version comes with dual fans and no 6 pin. If you’re looking for the 6 pin, try looking at the revision 1.0.

Pros: - Beautiful RGB coloring, very similar to G-Skill's Trident series - RGB bar extends the entire length of the memory heat spreader - Solid Black heat spreader to blend in behind the lighting - Overclocks easily!! - Says it is supported by nearly every motherboard's QVL, so you should be able to overclock it no problem. - Has support for Asus Aura (states it on the package, but says it requires updates by Asus to be fully functional. Not sure if that means bios updates or what. However, it does state that T-Force is working on a standalone RGB software).

Cons: - Has a "T-Force" logo on one side of the light bar. Its very classy and tasteful, but some may want just a blank RGB light bar - A tad large

Overall Review: I originally had a 16gb kit of G-Skill Trident Z memory running at 3000 mhz, with beautiful RGB. On my Intel Z170 platform, it overclocked to 3700+ mhz almost effortlessly! When I switched over to the Asrock ab350 itx board, however, the memory kit was not listed on the compatible vendor list, so it was stuck at 2133 mhz. I tried everything, couldn't get it to budge at all. So, I had to sell the memory, and I guess it turned out okay because ddr4 is going up in price so I actually got more money back than what I paid. I decided to buy this stick as a temporary placeholder until ram went down so I could buy another 16gb kit of RGB. Turns out, this stick is actually incredible value. For only $50, you are getting G-Skill quality RGB lighting, with timings only slightly worse, which can be remedied in bios for those who want to tighten timings and overclock. Oh, by the way, I set the XMP profile to 2933 mhz and it had 0 issues. Didn't have to do anything else. I did try 3200 mhz and the system was unstable. 3066 might be in the works, but I'm perfectly content with 2933! I couldn't get that with G-Skill, which is disappointing. To be fair, I didn't check the QVL before I bought the motherboard, so its mostly Asrock's fault, not G-Skill, but for ram that's that expensive and from a reputable company, I don't know why their promiment RGB series wouldn't be on the QVL when smaller brands like T-Force are! T-Force has won me over with their fantastic memory. Why pay $100+ for G-Skill when you can buy this brand and get the same quality and Aura support? I'll now be buying a second stick and have 8gb for the foreseeable future, and eventually upgrade to 16gb! THANK YOU for helping me reach the DDR4 sweet spot for Ryzen!

Pros: See previous post

Cons: See previous post

Overall Review: Forgot to add other thoughts hah! Just wanted to share some opinions for those who are considering buying this card. Also wanted to mention this card runs within 5% of a stock gtx 960 due to the overclock! Wow. If you are interested in this card, you probably fit into one of these scenarios: 1) You have a budget on your build / GPU and are looking to get a budget gaming card for cheap, especially towards 1080p or lower gaming purposes, or 2) You are looking to upgrade from an older GTX 600 series or AMD equivalent and wanting to not spend over $200, or 3) You are looking for a budget card to run multiple monitors at high resolution for business or professional use. If you are looking to the best GPU for the money, this is not it, look at the GTX 970s. If you are looking for something that will play newest AAA titles at ultra at 2k or higher, again, this is not the right card for you. If you are looking for the best card around the $150-200 range, this is not it - try a Radeon r9 380 on sale or a gtx 960, and you'll get better performance for the same money. However, If you are looking for a card that can play most titles on high or ultra @1080p on fluid fps, especially titles that are less taxing on GPU, like a few year old or older games, and really enjoy the gameresque look and features of the card, then this is a great card to add to your short list. I personally picked this card because I didn't need anything more powerful for my current use, and the extra features such as Titan X chokes, customizable LED, and 0db fan mode for this card really pulled me in! I have used an Asus strix 750 Ti and I can see a noticeable improvement in frame rates over 1080p (10-25 fps more) in the games I play (Blizzard games, Minecraft, steam games, other indie titles). You can't really go wrong with this card if you know it's power and if your intended use is similar to mine. However if performance is more important to you than fancy LEDs and pretty back plates, then a gtx 960 can be had for very little more money and offer better performance, even with this card's huge OC. Happy buying!