A quality case that provides you with both ample room for your components as well as diminished noise can be quite a rare find. Cooler Master has set out to create the perfect silent case for system builders in need of a silent, mid-tower solution, and, in pursuing this, they created the Sileo 500; a mid-tower case built with the intention of giving you ample room for your components, as well as decreased noise.
The Sileo 500, boasting acoustic foam sound insulation padding is built for silence, while still attempting to provide ample room for the components that enthusiasts need to build relatively powerful systems. While for truly beastly systems a full tower case is obviously recommended over a mid tower offering such as the Sileo 500, this case is good for most configurations you throw at it. In this review, we will house the following components in the Sileo 500:
- Ultra 350 watt ATX PSU
- Asus P5QL PRO Micro-ATX Motherboard
- Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
- 4GB of G.Skill F2-6400CL4D RAM
- EVGA GeForce 9600GT
- 120GB HDD
- ThermalTake MaxORB EX CPU Cooler
Manufacturer Specifications:
| Model | RC-500-KKN1-GP |
| Color | Black |
| Dimension | (L)480 x (W)200 x (H)432 mm |
| Weight | 17.6lbs; 8 kg |
| M/B Type | Micro-ATX, ATX |
| 5.25″ Drive Bay | 5 Exposed |
| 3.5″ Drive Bay | 1 Exposed; 4 Hidden |
| Cooling System | Front: One 120 x 25 mm silent fan 800 rpm Rear: One 120 x 25 mm silent fan 800 rpm |
| I/O Panel | USB x 2, eSATA x 1, Mic x 1, Audio x 1 |
| Power Supply |
Standard ATX PS2 (optional) |
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Continue reading this GeekSmack review to discover whether or not Cooler Master succeeded in balancing performance and silence. |
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A Closer Look: The Exterior
Unlike many cases out on the market today, the Sileo 500 lacks a side panel window. Instead, it buffs a minimalistic yet elegant design with a sleek, brushed aluminum front panel.
The left side of the case is shown above. The left side panel is secured with thumbscrews, meaning that, to remove it and gain access to your machines guts, you dont have to bust out the screwdriver.
The right hand side of the case only needs to be accessed if you use the cable management technique I used (and will mention later on in the review). Its not secured by thumbscrews like the left panel of the case, so youll need a screwdriver to remove the panel.
The front panel of the Sileo 500 case contains what may be expected on a front panel; the power/reset buttons, 2 additional USB slots, an eSATA port, a headphone jack, and a microphone jack. The front panel also buffs a brushed aluminum finish, giving the case an elegant yet minimalistic design.
A Closer Look: The Interior
Upon first glance, you will spot the padding in the case. Theres padding on the top of the case, on the bottom of the case, and behind the motherboard area for optimal noise blocking. The only places that dont have the padding is the back of the case due to the fact that the PSU, fan, and expansion slots are there, and the front, obviously due to the drives, another fan, and the usual front panel stuff.
With the exception of the aforementioned padding, the Sileo 500s interior is similar to most other mid-tower cases out there. It has a fair amount of space, 5 5.25 drive bays and 5 total 3.25 drive bays, and it supports either a Micro-ATX or ATX motherboard. In short, this case has a sufficient amount of room and expansion slots for most systems that you may wish to build.
Above, you can see some additional shots of the padding found in the Sileo 500. As you can see, theres padding on the bottom of the case, the top of the case, and behind the motherboard area, as revealed by a little piece of metal sticking out that helps to support the PSU once its installed. Later on, that little hole above the piece of metal will be used for cable management, as I will elaborate on in the Installation page ahead.
One of the prominent features with the Sileo 500 is the tool-less installation for drives and expansion slot items such as GPUs and sound cards. All you need to do is slide it into place and lock it with the built-in securing mechanism.
The Sileo 500 comes with 2 fans: one at the back of the case and one in the front. Both of the fans are 120 x 25 mm in size.
In the above shots, you can see the drive bays in this case. 2 of the 3.25 drive bays have a tool-less installation method thats built into the case, while the other 3 that are below dont, but you use these side rails that you attach to the HDD that allows you to slide it in with ease.
Installation and Testing
Installing the components in this case was quick and easy. First, I began by installing the power supply. To do this, I simply put it in place, did some wire routing (which I will elaborate on in the next page), and secured it in by screwing it into the case. Next, I installed the brass standoffs. On the case lies simple instructions telling you of where to 
place each standoff depending on the motherboard size, so after referring to that, I went about placing each standoff accordingly for an ATX motherboard. After this was done, I screwed in the motherboard that already had the CPU and RAM in place. Next was installing the ThermalTake MaxOrb EX cooler.
Seeing that it was a relatively big fan, my concern was whether or not the case could accommodate it. After installing it, I saw that, while it slightly touched the bottom of the PSU, it fit snugly and fine in the case. Next, I went about installing the HDD and DVD drive. For the HDD, I had 2 possible options; I could have attached the siderails and slid it into the lower bay, or I could have just installed it in one of the 2 3.5 drive bays that have a tool-less locking mechanism in place; I tried both, but decided to stick with the latter as I used the area of the other 3 drive bays to hide excess SATA cable.
Installing the HDD was simple; I just slid it into place, and slid the locking mechanism to secure it. I did the same with the DVD drive, except I obviously inserted it into a 5.25 drive bay. Finally, all that was left was the graphics card along with the wireless networking card. To install the graphics card, I just inserted it into the PCIe slot, and locked it into place using the tool-less install mechanism. Something that I noticed, however, is that it didnt feel secure, and the mechanism was flimsy and easy to break. It held the graphics card fine, yes, but not as tightly as Id like.
Same with the wireless network adapter; I inserted it into the PCI slot and used the securing mechanism to secure it into place, however, it just felt a bit more loose than Id like. A solution to this is to simply use a screw to secure your component into place compared to the securing mechanism on the expansion slots (not the drive bays, those are secure, but Im referring specifically to the ones for the expansion slots). Once the installation was complete, there was ample room in the case left. The only thing that was a bit cramp was the ThermalTake MaxOrb EX which slightly touched the PSU, but that wasnt necessarily a problem. Something else that I noticed is that the paint is rather prone to scratches. My IKEA EXPEDIT deskwhich isnt a rough desk at allmanaged to somehow scratch the paint on the right side of the Sileo, which was the side it laid on while I installed all the components.
Now that the build is ready to be fired up, just how quiet was the Sileo 500? It actually is surprisingly quiet in comparison to other cases Ive used in the past. I barely hear the sound of the 2 case fans, or the MaxOrb (which is running at the highest fan speed it possibly could be set to) whilst going about my work. In fact, Ive honestly even gotten comments from some people who pointed out that my PC is pretty silent. Seeing that I generally leave my PC on 24/7, keeping the computer silent is definitely a good thing. With the Sileo 500, I barely notice that the PC is on when I use it, and, when its on standby, its almost as though it isnt even on. Im actually impressed at how good of a job the Sileo 500 does at keeping my PC silent.
Cable Management
Cable management is essential if you want optimal air flow, general tidiness, and some breathing room in your case. Theres a variety of ways to go about thisand it really depends on the case and the technique you intend on using (some drill holes in the motherboard tray, some use zip ties, some use sleeves, etc.)but whats interesting about the Sileo 500 is that a hole already in place on the motherboard tray makes cable management a cinch. The one hole thats above the PSU support slit is what I used to route my cables behind the case, and its resulted in a much cleaner case.
The wires exit the case through that little hole, and any necessary wires re-enter the case in an open area around the hard drive bays. The wires routed this way supply power to the DVD drive, hard drive, and graphics card.
With power being supplied to the drives and graphics cards, all that left was the 2 fans that came installed with the Sileo 500. To eradicate the need to roll in ugly, mostly unnecessary wire just to power some fans, I simply routed the fan power connectors to the back of the case, and connected them to the PSU there. This resulted in a very clean, spacious case done without the need to bust out a dremel and cut a hole in the motherboard, or shoving wires in a sleeve.
Above is a picture of the wires that are routed and hidden. If you want the right side panel to close and fit properly, youre going to have to lay out the wires in a neat and orderly fashion, which I did, but opening the panel to take the above pictures essentially ruined that. I recommend that, if you wish, you use tape or something to keep the wires placed correctly in a manner where the back part of the case closes correctly. Its definitely possible as Ive done it, but it just requires some time and patience to place everything correctly.
Conclusion
All in all, I definitely recommend the Sileo 500 to anyone in search of a silent mid-tower offering to house their components. Cable management is really easy in this case, as all you really need to do is route cables through the back of the case using a hole thats already in place. Most of the installation is also tool-less as well, as all expansion slot components and drives can be secured in place without screws.
While the expansion slot securing mechanisms were a tad flimsy, they were okay, and, if it were to bother you, you can simply use a screw instead. The paint also scratched easily, as I somehow managed to scratch it when setting it on my IKEA EXPEDIT table. Perhaps there was a very small object below the case, or perhaps the scratch was caused by something else that I didnt notice in that time, but the fact is that I did nothing of significance that would cause it to be scratched; I handled the case with care.
Just remember to take caution when handling the case to avoid scratches.
Pros:
- Minimalistic brushed aluminum design
- Easy cable management
- Noiseblocking padding reduces system noise
- Ample space after installation
- Nearly tool-less installation
- HDD drive bays are cooled by fan
Cons:
- Paint scratches easily
- Expansion slot securing mechanisms are slightly flimsy
Rating: 4/5