SilverStone LC10-M (Home Theater PC) Case

Beginning with the front bezel, we see the same aluminum construction and clean lines that SilverStone has won recognition for in many of their other case designs.  On the left side of the bezel is the power and reset button with the power and HDD activity lamp (both blue LEDs) situated in between.  Just below this area are four USB ports.  I can't quite think of a need to have four USB front mounted ports on a HTPC but they're here if you need them.  On the right side, we find a single exposed 5.25" bay.  Centered in the bezel you will see a rectangular Vacuum Fluorescent Display which we'll discuss in more depth shortly.

A small piece of color coded aluminum is included with the Lascala 10M so you can stealth whatever drive you install.  An integrated access button is visible just below the bay.  A couple of screws hold the right side of the bezel in place.  With these gone, this section slides open to the right allowing access to the drive cage.  The aluminum strip is attached to your drive tray with double sided tape and is pretty classy looking.

Surprisingly, the aluminum strip wouldn't close flush with the bezel.  While it didn't protrude more than a millimeter or two, up close, it did create an odd look that didn't sit exactly right.

The left side has two small air vents above and below a side mounted Firewire, mic and speaker jack.  These vents feed an 80mm intake fan just behind the power button.  Toward the rear of the side is another vent area to keep air exchange maximized.

Exhaust is provided by means of two 60mm fans situated above the rear I/O panel.  The rest of the case rear is basically standard fare.  The reason there are two 60mm exhaust fans instead of a single 80mm fan is to keep the SilverStone's height reduced as much as possible.

The right side has the same vent area as the left but this one is moved forward so as to not be restricted by the power supply.  Looking underneath, we ran into our first disappointment.  One of the four feet was missing.  The missing foot wasn't in the box so I can only assume it fell off during packaging. 

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