Last few months Cooler Master acted aggressively on the PC chassis market. There are a lot of evidences, in form of new chassis models for various user target groups, to prove this claim. For example, HAF 932 has attracted a lot of attention as first representative of new HAF (High Air-Flow) series. After that we saw Storm Sniper that was intended for gamers and now we have Sileo 500 – new model in mid tower product group.
Sileo 500 was designed as chassis with traditional values in mind. Another goal during design of Sileo 500 was to reduce noise levels of all components that are inside the chassis. But let’s start from the beginning: exterior.
Exterior of this chassis can be described with one word: simplicity. Some of you will like it, some won’t, but majority of home users will like this simple and functional looks. Top and side panels are flat without any ventilation openings and made of 1mm thick steel plates. Front panel has five 5.25 inch drive bays and one 3.5 inch bay beneath those. Below 3.5 inch bay are two USB 2.0 ports, eSATA, microphone and headphone connectors. From front panel connectors and towards bottom of the front panel is placed thin transparent plastic strip that hides two LEDs (HDD and Power) and two buttons: Power and Reset. Front panel has ventilation openings on its sides. There is another opening at the bottom that is used by 120mm fan that can be found behind front panel and in front of HDD cage. Of course this construction is perfect for maintaining your HDDs perfectly chilled. Whole chassis is colored in black (except back panel) which in combination with rubber pads gives this chassis sophisticated (HiFi) looks.
 |
 |
All these features are seen many times on other chassis models but when it comes to chassis interior it becomes obvious what makes Cooler Master Sileo 500 rise above the crowd. Top, bottom and side panels are coated with dark grey sound insulating sponge – the kind that is used in sound (vocal) booths. This means that only minimum noise will escape from chassis and end up in its surroundings. Cooler Master went further with this sound insulation idea and placed rubber sealant on all surfaces that your power supply will get in contact with. By doing this, vibrations are eliminated and lower noise footprint is achieved. We already mentioned one fan behind the front panel and in front of HDD cage but in this chassis there is another fan at the back panel that is used to take heated air out of the chassis. Both fans are secured with plastic clips and not with metal screws because of obvious reasons (noise). PCI and PCIe cards are also mounted and secured without need for any tools and screws thanks to plastic clips also. Besides drive bays that are used for mounting devices on front panel there are 3 bays for HDDs and another 3.5 inch bay hidden behind front connector panel. All 5.25 inch and 3.5 inch devices are secured with sliding clips that we saw on almost every new Cooler Master chassis. HDDs are mounted with detachable anti-vibration pads (for noise reduction) into protective cage that is ventilated by front fan.
 |
 |
Additional accessories that came with this model are additional screws, manual, beeper and HDD pads. We noticed that we got only 4 HDD pads which means that only 2 HDDs can be mounted but we are almost sure that retail models are fitted with 6 HDD pads.
| C o o l e r M a s t e r S i l e o 5 0 0 | |
| Dimensions [mm] |
200 x 480 x 432 |
| Weight [kg] |
9.7 |
| Material | Steel, Aluminum, Plastic |
| Suported Motherboards |
Micro-ATX / ATX |
| N° 5.25" Drive Bays | 5 |
| N° 3.5" Drive Bays |
4 + 1 |
| I/O Panel | USB 2.0 x 2, eSATA x 1, Mic x 1, Audio x 1 |
| N° Supported PSUs |
1 |
Conclusion
When we sum up our impressions and experience with Cooler Master Sileo 500 we can only conclude that it offers so much for a price tag around 75€. This chassis is, above all, very quiet even if you have noisy CPU or graphics card fan (cooler). This chassis can be used for building quiet HTPC or workstation that needs to be as quiet as possible. For all of you that appreciate silent configurations and elegant design this can be a perfect choice.
Product HomePage
