Post CES 2013: Silverstone Parades Case and Cooling Products

Posted 01/15/2013 at 10:34am | by Paul Lilly

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A $50 case from Silverstone is on tap for 2013.

The whirlwind of product announcements and general craziness that accompanies the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is now in our rear-view mirror, and unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to stop by Silverstone's booth. Fortunately, Silverstone essentially brought its booth to us, toting several products to San Francisco that were previously on display at the convention, including a small form facor case that only costs $50. When's the last time you could say that about a Silverstone chassis?

Still reeling from a hangover (minus the Mike Tyson tattoo) induced by all the parties, Deputy Editor Gordon Mah Ung spent some time filming Silverstone's various products, the first of which is a new fan design. Unlike traditional case fans, Silverstone's new model alternates different size fan blades (small, medium, and large). What Silverstone found is that this design allows for less vibration and fan noise when pushing a fan up against a grill. Check it out:

We then took a look at Silverstone's PT13 SFF case. It utilizes the new mini ITX form factor Intel's been pushing as of late. Despite its small size, it can fit a full desktop processor and standard solid state drive (SSD), allowing for a potent one-two punch. The case itself will run just $50, a pittance compared to previous Silverstone products that carry price tags to match their premium build quality.

For the living room, Silverstone showed us its new ML05 case. It's about the size of a VCR, for those of you old enough to know what that is, and houses an SFX power supply, mini ITX motherboard, and even a low profile GPU (provided you can find one). In keeping with the affordable theme, the ML05 will sell for $40 in Q1.

Switching gears to more traditional cases, Silverstone brought along its desktop enclosures. Silverstone's 2013 model Fortress ditches the vertical hardware mounting scheme, but is still a little different than most cases due to its inverted design. What really caught our eye, however, is a prototype case that Silverstone isn't sure will see the light of day. Called Mammoth, it has ain integrated HEPA filter, large case fans, and baffled grills to prevent water being spilled in the case.

Finally, Silverstone gave us a look at its closed-loop liquid cooler. It's hard to see on camera, but the dense fins are tightly packed and should provide additional cooling performance compared to radiators with less densely packed fins. Here's a closer look:

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