Silverstone has often been on the forefront of innovative thinking when it comes to their computer case designs. We’ve seen the Fortress FT02 and the Sugo SG07 enclosures continuing a line of features unlike any other manufacturer. But not everyone can afford the fancier enclosures with every last bell and whistle. Sometimes we just need an enclosure to fit our basic needs without looking like we spent bottom dollar. That’s where the Silverstone Precision Series PS05 Enclosure comes into play. Is Precision Series just fancy words intended to cover up a featureless case? Let’s find out.
The Video Walkthrough and Features
Before diving into some more details, here’s a quick video walkthrough of the case including a quick look at what you find inside the box. We’ll include what we’ve missed after the video intermission.
For more pictures of the case, definitely check out photo gallery on the last page.
Our Precision Series is the PS05 B (for black) model but you can also get the PS05 BW that comes with a window. Personally, I love windows especially when showing off the jet black internal chassis. Why should we hide such a potentially cool looking chassis? The reason is cost of course and it’s cheaper to have no window if you’re on a budget, which is the idea behind this case.
Again, the case and drive bays and PCI slot mounting are all completely tool-free. You might need a screwdriver to crack a case panel thumb screw or two. There are a total of 4 x 5.25″ ROM drive bays and 4 x 3.5″ hard drive bays plus two more not in a bay. This might work for SSD users who want to show them off. The hard drive bays also use a tool free anti-shake drive mount system which we’ll get into a little later on.
For cooling purposes, the PS05 includes one 120mm rear chassis cooling fan and there are optional locations for two top 120mm, one front 120mm, and another bottom 120mm cooling fan. Of course you’ll want to pick up more fans if you run hotter components.
As far as pricing and availability, the case is available right now for as very low cost $49.99 US. You should be able to find this at NewEgg or Amazon for even less.
Thermal Testing System
We’ve spent some time developing some simple ways to test a computer enclosure’s air circulation. In many instances, some cases sport a lot of fans but fall short designing the chassis to allow efficient air circulation. I’ve resorted to using smoke wicks while watching how the smoke flows through the chassis as well as how quickly it finishes clearing out the case. The less efficient the air moves, the louder and hotter our WCS (worse case scenario) system gets.
Here’s the break down of the setup:
- Processor: AMD Phenom II X4 965
- CPU Cooler: Stock Phenom II Heat Pipe
- Motherboard: ASUS M4A89GTD Pro/USB3
- Memory: Corsair Dominator 4GB 1600MHz DDR3
- Graphics: NVidia Geforce 8800 GTX
- Storage: Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 250GB Hard Drive
- Power Supply: Antec TPQ-1200 Tough Power Quattro
- Computer Enclosure: Silverstone PS05 Precision Series Enclosure (as Tested)
- Additional Hardware: Two Yate-Loon 120mm Cooling Fans
- Operating System: Windows 7 64 Bit Ultimate
Again, this is as worse case a scenario of a test system we could assemble. It’s using some of industry’s hottest and loudest components ever designed. If your system uses more efficient components, your operating temperatures will most undoubtedly be lower.
Installation Notes
The tool free bays and trays are actually pretty intuitive. It takes very little effort or movement on the part of the ROM drive clips to fasten the drives in place. The same applies for the 2.5″ drive bays as well. These would make for a cozy little spot for SSDs rather than a floppy disk drive. This case also features one of my new favorites mounting systems for hard drives. Instead of bending the drive trays in to place, the hard drive just sits on four small pegs via the bottom of the casing. Then, two small black dual prong tabs secure the drive in place from the sides and can’t easily pop out. These are a much better solution flexible trays used in other designs.
The two top cooling fans are the easiest to install. These basically just sit on top and are fastened from underneath. The front 120mm fan actually mounts to a removable fan plate fastened with a single thumb screw once you pull off the bezel. It actually pulls off with minimal effort. And, alas, the bottom fan is just as easy as the top.
Unfortunately, just about every PSU on the market will easily encroach on the bottom mounted fan. And, if you do find a small enough PSU, you’ll have to make sure there is a fan guard on the fan.
Test Procedures and Set Up
Using a fan controller with temperature monitoring capabilities, five sensors were placed on the components most often the hottest. This includes the top side of the CPU cooler, back of the video card GPU area, motherboard’s North Bridge heat sink, and South Bridge heat sink. To measure sound levels, a meter was set up 12 inches from each side of the case.
To get the system heated up so that cooling and noise performance could be monitored, OCCT LinPack and FurMark programs were both run while monitoring the probes. While large amounts of air flow drive down temps resulting in lower fan noise, more efficient air flow will have the greatest effect in controlling the two best. We will be testing the stock configuration as well as a configuration fitted with extra optional fans.
Thermal Performance
By the time the system got to desktop, the CPU fan had already spun up to about 80% of it’s rated speed. This here tells us right away that the idling temps were already pretty high in the CPU. With only one 120mm fan expelling air out the back, this is to be expected.
Under load, the system’s components heated up quickly. The sensors reported 46C for the CPU, 87C for the VGA, 46C for the North Bridge, and 49C for the South Bridge. This is actually the hottest case we’ve seen even with a 19C ambient temperature.
To see if extra fans added any improvement, I added two Yate-Loon 120mm 40CFM cooling fans. One exhaust fan was added to the furthest slot to the back and one intake was installed in the bottom front mounting spot. Temps dropped to 39C-CPU, 83C-VGA, 45C-North Bridge, and 47C-South Bridge. While temperatures did drop, noise levels are another issue.
Noise Performance
By default, the PS-05 has a very quiet 17dB rear cooling fan. You couldn’t hear the fan at all which is both good and bad. With only a single cooling fan moving very little air inside the chassis, the CPU cooler spun at 75% most of the time at idle resulting in a hefty 33dB. On the same note, it didn’t take much CPU work to max out the RPMs and noise.
The air flow mechanics of the PS05 are such that the fan bay cover actually hampers air flow in stock configuration. This results in the noisy idle CPU cooler. By adding a cooling fan to the back top slot or removing the top fan cover, the CPU cooler noise drops. Adding the front cooling fan helps direct cool air along to the components dropping idle CPU cooler noise greatly.
Final Thoughts
When enclosures include a single cooling fan, we expect the CPU and VGA coolers to rev up due to the low amount of cool air being pushed-pulled through the chassis. We also expect much higher temperatures which is not such a good thing for the life of your components. Heat is still the number one component killer. Knowing this, it would be prudent that any manufacturer take that extra step and add one more 120mm case cooling fans. But on that note, more temperature friendly components could be selected for this case as well.
In its stock form, the Silverstone Precision Series PS05B has great tool free features, follows the industry’s best standards, and has quality construction. However, the top dual fan cover hampers cooling without a case fan underneath or a front cooling fan. With the Silverstone PS05B pricing in at a budget conscious $49.99 USD we would strongly advise picking up a couple decent case cooling fans to complete the case. Once addressed, this case should give you years of use and great value.
Pros
- Tool-free PCI mounts, hard drive, and ROM drive bays
- Jet black chassis always win
- Good quality construction through and through
- Unique top dual fan bay cover
- Good value all around
Cons
- Top dual fan bay cover blocks air flow without optional fan
- Front cooling fan not so easy to install
- Will need additional cooling fans for hotter systems
Overall Rating: 8.0 / 10.0
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Silverstone PS05 Precision Series Enclosure – Photo Gallery
