Cooler Master Silencio 550 Chassis Review

At this price point competition is high, but in actuality there are very few cases which have impressed us as much as the Cooler Master Silencio 550. At only £67 in the UK this is easily one of the best cases I have reviewed in the last year, it combines a very attractive exterior design with a well thought out interior.

The design is certainly straightforward, but like many things in life, the simple things can often be the best. There are no ugly glowing lights, or fancy ‘out of place' sculpted plastic panels – it conforms to a subtle, but extremely effective design. As standard, Cooler Master supply the case with two very low noise 120mm fans and more can be added if the need arises. As this is being sold as a modest minimal cost case focusing on lowering noise emissions, the inclusion of two ultra silent fans is welcome and adds some value to the overall package.

On a cooling level, we would assume that this won't be bought by the high end SLI or Crossfire enthusiast – something like the Lian Li X2000F would be better suited. For the rest of us, the Silencio 550 proves to be a most appealing design and one which doesn't make its presence known by generating a racket when you enter the room. I actually couldn't tell the system was powered on with my choice of hardware inside it, although if you want to run a high end graphics card then the noise will rise. The panel dampening, without question, does work, and lowers dBa emissions while dulling the pitch of irritating high spinning fans.

If you are in the market for a new system build, and are limited by budget to the sub £100 bracket then this deserves some serious consideration. I really do like the overall design and found it was more than capable of handling an overclocked AMD Phenom II X6 1110t with the Antec Kuhler in place. For under £70 it is hard to go wrong with the Silencio 550.

Pros:

• attractive and easy on the eye
• inclusion of two ultra silent 120mm fans is a bonus
• side panels have foam dampening to lower noise emissions

Cons:

• I would like another few holes inside to help with cable management
• Another silent 120mm fan would be beneficial as an intake.

KitGuru says: a stunning, low cost, low noise enthusiast case. Ideal for a 24/7 workhorse system build.

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