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SilverStone KL01
Analysis
Upon installing a system in this case, it became evident that a lot of thought was put towards design. Firstly, have you ever made the mistake of, after setting up a system, you realize you forgot to install the heatsink on the CPU? The plate where the motherboard mounts in the KL01 is separate from the side of the case. In other words, you can unscrew and swing the side of the case open to reveal the underside of the motherboard, which allows you to change out the heatsink/brackets without any hassle.
Isometric view
Rear
Front
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There are four hard drive bays, with an
included SATA hot-swap controller, which is easily removable if not
needed.
There is also a fan designated towards cooling the hard drives. It is
interesting how the hard drives mount, in that each bay is individually
removable and the hard drive fits in snugly without screws, and is
instead held in by stiff cushions, which makes switching hard drive
in/out much easier. The only thing to take note of is that, seemingly,
a 3.5" ATA-100 hard drive is slightly wider than a 3.5" SATA hard
drive. An older ATA-100 hard drive will not properly fit, so just take
it under advisement in case you were thinking about throwing in an
older hard drive for the sake of completing a system. SATA hard drives,
however, mount perfectly. The 5.25" bays also have the benefit of
screwless mounting.
Top (Below: Power; Above: Various ports)
Front (Door opened)
Inside
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HDD bay fan removed
HDD mounts partially removed
Motherboard installed
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Conclusion
With the KL01
from SilverStone,
you get a quality case that is sleek and
well-designed. There is plenty of room for just about any component you
may need
as well as a few very helpful features. Regularly priced at $120 from Directron, you can get a high quality case at an affordable price.