The last HTPC case from Silverstone we've looked at was a solid product, albeit with a few flaws. That particular product was a year old though and since then Silverstone has worked on their Lascala lineup and addressed many of the concerns HTPC enthusiasts may have had with the LC10B. There are several differences between the various Lascala enclosures, but today we'll be looking at what is essentially an updated LC10B, the Silverstone LC17B.
Silverstone LC17B – Exterior
As with all of their HTPC cases, the front facade is constructed out of aluminum but the rest of the chassis is made primarily out of steel. The steel is 0.8mm thick, so it is quite heavy but also quite sturdy. We placed the case on a home scale and the LC17B weighed in at about 15lbs, in line with Silverstone's official weight specs of 6.8kg.
The case is a true HTPC type of enclosure, not unlike a standard desktop form factor case. It's no sleek and slender unit though, measuring close to seven inches in height. This was not a problem for us since our home theater shelves are adjustable but this is something to consider if your shelving is prebuilt and measured. For colour options, our LC17B came in black (hence the "B" in the name), but the LC17 also comes in silver.
The front panel is 100% aluminum as previously mentioned and has a nice brushed look to it. Facing the LC17B head on, the left side features the power button, reset button as well as the activity LEDs. If plugged into the motherboard's front panel pins, the power and HDD LEDs light up blue when they are in use.
Over on the right hand side, there are two 5.25" external slots and the USB connections. A nice improvement over earlier designs is there is a small door which can either cover or expose the four USB 2.0 ports, as well as the audio and FireWire connections.
Moving on to the rear, we can see the cutout for the power supply on the right, with the IO back plate to the left, with the placement of these items sandwiching the expansion slots. Removing four screws will allow you to access the interior of the case, which we'll get into in a moment. We're pretty used to thumb screws around here, so we were a little disappointed these were left out, but other than to save on manufacturing costs, we figure Silverstone didn't intend for the user to crack open the PC too often once it's setup. That said, we had some thumb screws lying around and had no problems using them here.
Interior and Installation
Rather than having a top cover as a three sided sheet (meaning the top and sides of the case are one part and come off together) as was the case with the LC10, the LC17 only requires the removal of the top cover. We're very happy with this change as it makes case access quicker and re-assembly faster as well. We mentioned the case's sturdiness earlier, and and in part that can be attributed to the cross bar through the middle of the chassis.
You're going to have to keep that Phillips head screwdriver handy for almost every key component. Silverstone does provide a basic, but detailed and straightforward instruction sheet that outlines the order and procedure of installation.
Motherboard installation is simple enough, and you will actually be able to install one without removing all the optical and hard drive bays prior. However, if you do have an optical drive in place, you'll need to remove it to change the motherboard. Depending on your motherboard, some ATX power connections may end up beneath the optical drive tray. If your optical drive is in the uppermost bay, bending the wires will not be a concern, but if you have two optical drives installed, this could be an issue.
The total expansion capabilities are six internal 3.5" devices, two external 5.25" and one external 3.5" which is currently occupied by the front USB and audio connections. To install the hard drives, you will need to remove two screws located in the top of the hard drive trays. The first image to the left illustrates the furthermost right tray located inside the case and is the one we used for testing.
If you want to use the second tray, you will need to remove the crossbar as illustrated above.
There is room to put three hard drives on the HDD tray, but I wouldn't feel comfortable putting more than two for heat issues. Installing the hard drive is as easy as sliding it in and securing them with the included screws. Both of the hard drive trays can accommodate additional 80mm cooling fans. Only two rear fans are included with the LC17B (more on this later), so either you can move the stock fan from the rear and use them in the hard drive tray or get a new one. Along with cooling the hard drives, these fan bays can also draw in cool exterior air into the chassis.
There are two aluminum faceplates and double-sided tape included with the case for optical drives. For installation, I would suggest peeling off one side of the tape and sticking it on to the faceplate. Hold the faceplate in the bezel's drive opening and push the optical drive into the other side of the double-sided tape until it sticks.
Once that is done, adjust the drive accordingly and screw it into place. While this solution does a great job at matching almost any kind of optical drive to the chassis, we do think Silverstone should provide at least one more strip of tape in case a user upgrades the optical drive (two are provided) more than once. The tape is a one-shot deal and requires you to more or less destroy it to remove it.
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