| Cooler Master Silencio 550 Computer Case |  |
| Reviews - Featured Reviews: Cases | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Written by Doug Dallam - Edited by Olin Coles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Thursday, 23 June 2011 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Cooler Master Silencio 550 Case Review
Manufacturer: Cooler Master Full Disclosure: The product sample used in this article has been provided by Cooler Master. Benchmark Reviews has as its subject today one dark and mysterious Cooler Master Silencio 550 Mid-Tower Case. The mysterious aspect of this new offering from the master craftsmen of computer cases at Cooler Master is the way the Cooler Master Silencio 550 is marketed: "Near silent operation and prepared to take on powerful hardware, the Cooler Master Silencio is able to keep high-end setups running cool and quiet." Since this case takes a maximum of three fans and is a Mid-Tower, I'm a little confused as to why Cooler Master chose this avenue of marketing. Moreover, it is advertised to support both the AMD 6990 and the nVidia 590 video cards, which are not only top end hardware, but also top end heat producers.
I'm always skeptical of marketing hype, so my first stop was the factory specs, and I found something refreshing: detailed factory measurements! I hope this becomes a standard, at least with non-budget cases. Giving us these measurements is a good sign that Cooler Master is listening to reviewers and enthusiasts, and that's always nice to know. Cooler Master Silencio 550 Features
Cooler Master Silencio 550 Features Specifications
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Comments
Learn your #, reviewer.
Then we have a review about a PC case that is intended to be quieter than the average case. Yet not even a subjective comparison or comment about the noise level from the case? How useful is that to someone looking for a quiet case for a build? Sorry, but I am underwhelmed with this review.
Also, how would you test for sound? What real good would it do for me to say, "Yep, it's more quite than my current case with the same two 800rpm fans in it." I'm not going to waste the reader?s time with silly little subjective results. I think most of our readers can extrapolate that if a similar case does not have insulation, it will be noisier. More to the point, this wasn?t a ?silent case shootout review? the same way it wasn?t about how much cfm or noise fans make, or I would have tested the fans that came with it too.
If you found the review underwhelming, that's okay. But if it was underwhelming because of my play on the speaker or the lack of valid sound testing, then I think your critique of the review is quite underwhelming as well, since everything else you need to know about a case is in the review. To each his own.
I sure didn't say you didn't know what a POST code is, check my first post. I clearly wrote "... POST code speaker...". So sorry, but I'm not biting on that spin/deflection. The first comment on this review was about the POST code speaker, and I have another question. What type of mother board audio connector (HD, Azallia, etc) would you connect that speaker to?
Also, how would you test for sound? What real good would it do for me to say, "Yep, it's more quite than my current case with the same two 800rpm fans in it.
As they say, if you need to ask.... The good that would come from that would be at least some indication that a case meant to be extra quiet actually accomplished that. How would that be wasting the readers time with a subjective result, when the review itself is for the most part, subjective, given no direct comparison with another case? You test by moving your hardware from a case you are familiar with to the case being tested. That is what reviewers do, go the extra mile, or hopefully they do. SPL meters are available, and although noise testing is difficult and exact numbers are dependent on many variables, a relative change in SPL between the same hardware in two cases would indicate any success in the design of the case being tested.
I'm sorry you did not like my comments, but I stand by them.
If you think you can do a better job with reviews, I?m sure Olin would love having someone, like you, who is so attention and detail oriented as a reviewer for Benchmark Reviews. You should consider filling out an application.
I understand writing reviews is not easy, and is quite a bit of work. I have considered submitting an application, and I would like to write reviews. The question is, is the time and effort necessary to perform the job worth what is offered as payment?
I'm happy you took the time to "question the accuracy of the review" when you found out the code speaker wasn't there to play "Taste the Bass" through. That was a good catch.
So, okey dokey, Doug, was it silent? Did you measure for that?
Cant complain too much though, always good to have one of them hanging about for emergencies.
I did think for a while about how I could test it though.
##lian-li.com.tw/v2/en/product/product06.php?pr_index=575&cl_index=2&sc_index=47&ss_index=141&g=f
##lian-li.com.tw/v2/en/product/product06.php?pr_index=575&cl_index=2&sc_index=47&ss_index=141&g=f
Can't see any difference between my EU version and this one.
As there were very few holes in the motherbord-tray, I found cable management challenging.
A Scythe Mugen 2 didn't fit so i installed a Corsair H60 water-cooling set
I also made a hole for the usb 3.0 cable to go through the backpanel.
If you would like to see foto's: #nl.hardware.info/usersystemen/14910/bikkeltje-z68-silentio-550#tab:photos
All in all its a nice case silent and good value for your money.
The Corsair H60 watercooling block came with a 140mm fan. This fan and the radiator is installed replacing the 800rpm coolermaster exhaust fan.
The (coolermaster supplied) exhaust fan has found a new occupancy as a intake fan alongside the other intake fan.
So there are now in my case 2 coolermaster 800rpm intake fans and one corsair exhaust fan.
The extra drive cage is removed for a better airflow.
Slightly overclocked (2500K @ 4.2Ghz) and 100% stressed it keeps my cpu below 62 degrees Celsius (idle 32 degrees Celsius).
Case temperatures stay in their twenties (24-26).
The main reason i chose this case were (in oder):
Soundproofing
Looks
Front USB 3.0
Price
What about the temps? All that insulation would be useless, if another case was found to be more silent, and ran cooler, which unfortunately, would be known had a case been compared in the first place.
Its difficult to write a review, and its more difficult to write a review that caters to everybody, but I honestly did not find any reason to put my money into this one at the very least.
Xanan, using your own logic, 99% of case reviews would not be worth reading, since your objection can apply to any case, not just the Silencio. For instance, What if I compared the the Silencio and the Cooler Master HAF 922M (that comes with three 120mm fans) using an Intel Celeron with a TDP of 35wts in both cases? What's that going to tell you?
Like Olin said: I hope you can see the problem with your request.