Cooler Master Silencio 550 Chassis Review

1. Introduction2. Cooler Master Silencio 550 Chassis (External) 3. Cooler Master Silencio 550 Chassis (Internal)4. Cooler Master Silencio 550 Chassis (Installation)5. Testing Methodology and Performance Results6. Acoustic Performance7. Closing Thoughts8. View All Pages

Enthusiast users with a constrained budget often have to make compromises in regards to quality, building a PC around a chassis that emits a lot of fan noise due to thin panel design and the inclusion of low quality fans. Enter Cooler Master with their new Silencio 550, a case set to redefine noise emissions for the low end market.

KitGuru first saw this case in March this year, when it was going under the name ‘Project Silent M‘. While there have been some changes since then, the price point has still be held at under £70 … £67 to be exact.

Is it possible to make a high quality case with low noise emissions for such a competitve price? Cooler Master claim a ‘near silent' operation with sound proofing on both side panels. They haven't sacrificed the looks, with a mirror like finish on the front panel enhancing the appearance. With a built in SD card reader, Super speed USB 3.0 support and a 3.5 inch HDD hotswap they seem to be covering a lot of bases. But is it worth the money?

Cooler Master Silencio 550
Colour	Steel body, Plastic front bezel
Dimension (W / H / D)	(W) 210 x (H) 415.5 x (D) 505.2 mm / 8.3 x 17.8 x 19.9 inch
Net Weight	9.2kgs (20.3lb)
Motherboard Type	Micro – ATX / ATX
5.25″ Drive Bay	3 (without the use of exposed 3.5″ drive bay)
3.5″ Drive Bay	7 Hidden
3.5″ X-Dock	1 Exposed (converted from one 5.25″ bay)
2.5″ HDD	1 Hidden (converted from one 3.5″ bay)
I/O Panel	USB3.0 x 1, USB2.0 x 1, Mic x1, Audio x 1, SD card reader x 1
Expansion Slot	7
Cooling System:	Front(Intake): 120mm x 1, 800rpm silent fan pre-install(Support 120mm fan x 2 or 140mm fan x 1 optional) Rear (Exhaust): 120mm x 1, 800rpm silent fan pre-install
Maximum Compatibility	CPU cooler height: 6.10-inch (154mm) VGA card length: 11.10-inch (281mm) (With HDD cage) 15.80-inch (400mm) (Remove HDD cage w/120*25 fan) 16.80-inch (427mm) (Remove HDD cage w/o fan)
Power Supply	Standard ATX PS2 (optional)

The Cooler Master Silencio is supplied in a simple box with polystyrene panels for protection. Inside is a user manual to help when building the system. There are also screws, a PC speaker, cable tidies and 12 rails for drive installation.

The Silencio 550 is formed around a steel frame and is completely black. The front of the chassis is home to a high glossy style door to improve the appearance. Behind it is a foam insert to help with noise dampening. The door opens to expose three 5.25 inch drive bays and the bottom one is ready to support a 3.5 inch drive with the supplied X-Dock. It is a substantial case, weighing 9.2 kg.

The front of the case has a dust filter, which is easy to remove for cleaning. There is a single 120mm fan here which is a silent Cooler Master design, with a rotational speed of only 800 rpm. There is space here to add another if you need to improve the cooling prowess.

Along the top of the case are a single USB 2.0 port, a single USB 3.0 port, an SD card reader slot and 3.5mm audio ports. At the far right are the main reset and power buttons. There is no fan at the top of this case.

Along the bottom of the case are four rubber feet for stability and a dust filtered PSU zone at the back.

The rear of the case is neatly laid out. There is a silent 120mm fan at the rear, positioned as an exhaust fan.

Each side panel is held in place with two thumbscrews. Underneath are seven expansion slot slots, and two rubber mounted holes for watercooling kits.

The side door has thick foam on the inside to help with noise dampening. This does add extra weight to the panels however, but once positioned it isn't noticeable.

All of the insides are painted black which helps improve aesthetics.

At the bottom is a filtered grill to help with power supply cooling. The PSU is raised off the bottom of the chassis with four rubber feet which help reduce vibration and subsequently noise.

At the top of the case is the 120mm exhaust fan which expels heat out the rear. There is also a cut out hole in the motherboard tray to make life easier with backplate mounted CPU coolers.

Seven expansion bay slots are available and these are sealed with simple thumbscrews, no fancy locking mechanisms with this particular design. The top right of the case has room for three 5.25 inch optical drive bays. We never use internal optical drives anymore, opting for an external bluray unit and several USB drives for moving items back and forward quickly. Under the 5.25 inch bays are seven 3.5 inch bays. One of these can be converted to a single 2.5 inch bay using the plastic caddy supplied.

The other side panel also has a foam padded back to ensure noise is trapped as much as possible.

With both side panels removed we can get a better overview of the design. The fan at the front is connected via a 3 pin header to a molex, meaning that both options are possible, depending on the specific build demands. There are several areas at the right side of the case for cable routing, mainly near the bottom.

Cooler Master have also catered for long video cards, meaning the top four bays can be removed to accommodate video cards longer than 11.1 inches. The bottom 5.25 inch optical bay has a pre installed X Dock included which converts it to a 3.5 inch bay.

The power supply is easily fitted, by sliding into the bottom slot. This is then locked in place with 4 screws. The rubber feet here help to dampen vibrations. We used the quiet Chill Innovation 520W power supply for this particular build.

Installing our Solid State Drive was a straightforward process. The drive is slid into the tray then mounted into position with 4 screws.

With the two side brackets attached, it then slides into place, and locks with a reassuring click.

Cooler Master supply standoffs, with a handy little spacer, which slides over each stand off screw. This means a screwdriver can be used to tighten each into place firmly.

It only took a literally 30 minutes to install the system and we had to remove the rear 120mm fan to use the Antec Kuhler 620 H20 unit as seen in the image above.

For today's test we have built a performance oriented rig, with a high end CPU and mainstream graphics … ideal as an everyday, quiet workhorse build.

Processor: AMD Phenom II X6 1100T
Motherboard: ASRock 890GX Extreme 4 motherboard
Cooler: Antec Kuhler 620 Liquid Cooler
Memory: Kingston T1 8GB 1600mhz DDR3
Storage: Crucial SSD
Graphics: VTX3D HD6670
Power Supply: Chill Innovation 520W power supply

Windows 7 Enterprise Edition 64bit

Thermal Diodes
Raytek Laser Temp Gun 3i LSRC/MT4 Mini Temp
Digital Sound Level Noise Decibel Meter Style 2

Firstly let us have a look at the chassis design and airflow, as it comes ‘out of the box’.

The airflow of this case is very simple. Cool air is sucked in from the front then passed over the components and circulated out the rear of the case. As we are using a self enclosed water cooler, the fan on the Kuhler 620 has replaced the Cooler Master silent fan mounted at the rear as an exhaust system.

We have placed thermal diodes in 5 internal positions to measure the ambient case temperatures. Ambient room temperatures were maintained at 23c throughout. We overclocked the AMD Phenom II X6 1100T to 4.2ghz. Temperatures below are the maximum we recorded over an hour long stress test.

Even with only a few fans in operation, the system remained well within safe parameters, thanks in part to the excellent Antec Kuhler 620, which is both quiet and very efficient.

We take the issue of noise very seriously at KitGuru and this is why we have built a special home brew system as a reference point when we test noise levels of various components. Why do this? Well this means we can eliminate secondary noise pollution in the test room and concentrate on components we are testing. It also brings us slightly closer to industry standards, such as DIN 45635.

Today to test the chassis we have taken it into our acoustics room environment and have set our Digital Sound Level Noise Decibel Meter Style 2 one meter away from the case (in front). The room rates as 21dBa before powering on the system (air conditioning unit in the far corner of the room causes this).

As this can be a little confusing for people, here are various dBa ratings in with real world situations to help describe the various levels.

KitGuru noise guide
10dBA – Normal Breathing/Rustling Leaves
20-25dBA – Whisper
30dBA – High Quality Computer fan
40dBA – A Bubbling Brook, or a Refridgerator
50dBA – Normal Conversation
60dBA – Laughter
70dBA – Vacuum Cleaner or Hairdryer
80dBA – City Traffic or a Garbage Disposal
90dBA – Motorcycle or Lawnmower
100dBA – MP3 player at maximum output
110dBA – Orchestra
120dBA – Front row rock concert/Jet Engine
130dBA – Threshold of Pain
140dBA – Military Jet takeoff/Gunshot (close range)
160dBA – Instant Perforation of eardrum

We have replaced the graphics card with a Sapphire HD5670 Ultimate edition.

This is a marvellous result and our dBa meter never registered 30dBa even under load. Generally the system was reading under 29 dBa at all times, meaning it is almost inaudible. In a normal room environment you would be hard pressed to hear it.

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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