Cooler Master Silencio 650 review
Testing
The installation went without a hitch, there's enough working space and the tool-free installation options work well. Perhaps the only thing that could be better is the amount of room behind the motherboard tray, I've seen worse, but more room would make cable management easier. There's also enough room for large graphics cards, especially if you remove the middle HDD cage.
Test system
The three included fans can all be controlled via the fan controller in the top I/O panel. At minimum fan speed, they're very hard to hear, at maximum speed they're more audible but still very quiet, your PSU or HSF will likely produce more noise than these fans. In idle mode the Silencio 650 is a very silent case and even in load it performs well in terms of noise insulation. In terms of thermal performance, the case doesn't deliver any wonders, the noise insulation and the silent low-RPM fans lead to higher temperatures than what you'll find in cases that focus on high air flow. If extreme overclocking is your thing you will need to look elsewhere, but if silence is what you're looking for then the Silencio 650 is definitely worth your attention.
Conclusion
The Silencio 650 leaves a splendid impression, Cooler Master has delivered a case with fine aesthetics, excellent build quality and whisper-quiet performance. I highly recommend this case to people who're looking for a silent mid-tower case capable of cooling high-end hardware. Due to the focus on silence, the cooling capabilities of this case aren't top-notch, but still more than adequate for most enthusiast configurations that aren't heavily overclocked. The biggest downside perhaps is the somewhat limited room for cable management behind the motherboard tray and the lack of space for a dual-radiator watercooler. The official MSRP of 129EUR is rather high, but the Silencio 650 can already be found for around 105EUR, which is a good price for a case with this type of build quality and a great set of features and functionality.
The Good Stuff
- Very quiet
- Classy design
- Excellent front door
- Good overall build quality
- Tool-free installation
- Hot-swappable X-Dock for 2.5" and 3.5" disks
- SD memory card slot
- Dust filters
- Built-in fan controller (only for three fans though)
The Bad Stuff
- Boot selector switch seems to add unnecessary cost
- Somewhat limited space for cable management behind motherboard tray
I give the Cooler Master Silencio 650 a 9/10 and our Editor's Choice award.
Previous Page (3/4)Added: December 25th 2012
Product reviewed: Cooler Master Silencio 650
Reviewer: Thomas De Maesschalck
Score: 9/10
Page: 4/4
