Test Setup & Cooling

Reference nForce 4 SLI: Intel P4 3.6GHz, 2 x 512MB Mushkin PC4200, ATI AIW 2006, 160GB Seagate SATA 7200.7, Maxtor 120GB, Sony DVD, Enermax Liberty.

Silverstone supplies the LC10B with one 80mm intake fan and two 60mm exhaust fans. There are also perforations on both sides of the case, allowing some airflow into the chassis. The fans themselves are quite noisy, at least noisier than we feel a HTPC case should be. With all the fans on, they were noticeably louder than the 92mm fan on our Cooler Master Vortex TX.

Our usual heatsink setup (ambient temperature, thermal paste, etc.) was used, with all of the LC10B's stock fans turned on. The comparison case is the Cooler Master Centurion 531 which uses similar materials in its construction and is about the same size inside. A Cooler Master Cool Drive was used to collect results of the video card. All temperatures are in °C.

The LC10B does a good job at keeping temperatures manageable, but is edged by the Centurion by an average of 2°C across the board. One drawback for Silverstone here is the smaller fans used as opposed to the larger, yet quieter fans in the Cooler Master.

CPU temperatures are high (it is a Prescott after all), but unfortunently it's going to be difficult to improve on this. There is a center bar that will not allow large air coolers to be installed and although the LC10B is not quite a low profile case, it is low enough that your fan options will be limited.

Final Words

Overall, I found the Silverstone Lascala SST-LC10B pretty easy to work with, but there are a few areas that are pretty frustrating for frequent upgraders. As mentioned earlier, you cannot secure the screws of the optical drive adjacent to the HDD rack with that rack in place. In order to remove the optical drive, you need to undo the two front bezel screws and take that out.

You also cannot remove the motherboard with the optical drive in place, so instead of removing one or two items in the event of an upgrade, you have to practically take everything apart. I would also say that you cannot install a motherboard with the optical drive in place, but that may not be the case if you choose not to use the motherboard standoff for that corner of the board.

Finally, the center crossbar will pose problems for many performance air coolers. We were not able to get our Zalman CPNS9500 and Thermaltake Big Typhoon to fit in this case as the bar interfered with the installation. Water cooling is pretty much out of the question unless you use an external kit. Since most internal systems use 120mm fans, you're pretty much SOL here.

Other than that, the rest was positive. We do like the method of stealthing the optical drive as it will be universal for all but slot loading drives. The case is quite solid and well build. Except for the exposed USB connections, I find the case to be aesthetically pleasing. While the LC10B is a bit noisy for a HTPC, the cooling is fairly efficient.

There are a few models available, including one with a remote. That one, as well as the review model we looked at today can be picked up at Directron.

Pros: Attractive, solid construction, decent cooling performance.

Cons: Installation can be frustrating due to interior design. Not suited for performance air coolers, and fairly noisy for a HTPC case.

Bottom Line: We think the Silverstone Lascala SST-LC10B definitely has the right look to go with the rest of your living room A/V components. Putting everything together is quite easy, but upgrading the PC afterwards is a little more tedious than it needs to be.