Closer Look: Exterior

Even without it's silent design features, the Cooler Master Sileo 500 is an attractive mid-tower case. The brushed aluminum front bezel has a subtle, but professional appearance. Looking at the exterior, we can also see room for five 5.25" drives as well as one external 3.5" drive.

The bottom half of the front panel contains the front I/O ports and the usual power button, reset button, and status LEDs. It also appears that the I/O ports can be removed to accommodate another external 3.5" drive if needed.

With the Sileo 500 turned at an angle, we can see the side in a bit more detail. Notice that the brushed aluminum front panel gives way to a painted back side panel. This doesn't come as much surprise, though. It's a common practice among case manufacturers and helps keep the cost down.

On the back side, we find the power supply mounted at the top of the case--a common location for most mainstream cases, although bottom-mounted power supplies seem to be gaining popularity. Also visible on the back side of the Sileo 500 is the rear I/O cutout for the motherboard, the expansion slots, and one of the two 120mm fans.

Beyond the standard features, the only other thing of note on the back side of the case are the thumbscrews. This ties in directly with the tool-less design of the Sileo 500. We'll cover the other tool-less features a bit later when we get to the interior section.

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