Silverstone Grandia GD05B mATX HTPC Case 1X5.25 3X3.5 Hot-Swap 2X2.5 3X120MM USB 3.0 Fan No PS Black

Comment:
When you spend $105 on a case (price matched) you can have faith that you bought a great product. The case is so sturdy that I could drop  a 20lbs weight on it and the case wouldn't even dent.There is alot of room although be careful with cable management. I just gave up and stuffed them in the corner. Hot swap bays work perfectly, but its more a gimmick than anything else. How often are you gonna be taking out your hard drive on a HTPC? The foldable front panel is stylish and opens/closes like an IKEA kitchen set. The blue led light is not bright at all. It brings a nice ambient to the room when all other lights are off. The 3..yes 3 120mm fans!!! come standard. Its a nice upgrade from my usual of 0. They all suck air in, rather than out - so it keeps less dust from collecting.All in all; I would definitely recommend this to a friend and I can be sure that my next case; HTPC or standard; will be a SilverStone.

Comment:
The 120mm fans are the loudest part of the system, but I can't hear them as soon as the movie or music starts playing. I do suspect I'll end up replacing them in the future.I moved the air filters to the outside of the case for easier cleaning.I didn't bother to hook up the front light, and the closed door blocks the light from the Samsung BluRay player.

Comment:
I really love the look of this case, nice blue light for power in a V configuration. Can be a bit bright though. I can easily fit 4 Hard drives in it, will accept 5. Lots of room to work with for an HTPC case. Need a shorter powersupply though; can be tricky. I bought a silver stone modular one and i had to mount it upside down so it would clear the HDD cage. I would buy a short power supply so there are no issues. USB 3 is standard. Fan filters are a challenge to clean. So far i haven't had any issues with cooling and it is very silent with all 3 fans going.

Comment:
This case is very nice looking. There are only a couple things that I wasn't pleased about: - The power supply space is very limited, you need to be careful in your selection - or else you risk it not fitting inside the case at all. I ended up buying one that was too big and now I have to run the power supply from outside the case (Good thing it's well hidden by my TV Stand) - Also this case comes with front ports for USB 3.0 which I thought was great, but after ordering the case, I soon learned that mATX boards that have a USB 3.0 header are nearly non-existant. I only found 1 board that had it (I think it was by ASROCK) and it did not fit my other needs by any measure. Luckily the case comes withb a converter so you can use the front panel as USB 2.0. - The hotswap bay doors can be tricky it seems once you have the hard drive inside, it doesnt close easily.Aside from all that - It's a great case! Fans are quiet and it looks awesome!

Comment:
I love this case. It looks so good with my receiver.The three fans were noisy at first, but they became quiet once I changed the voltage to 7v. (This mod was easier than I thought. See http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/other/137).