Cases & PSUs

Cooler Master Silencio 650 Review

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September 12, 2012 12 Min Read
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Is silence your thing? The Silencio 650 mid tower chassis is in our midst, boasting some interesting features that set it apart from the crowd.



Product on Review: Silencio 650
Manufacturer and Sponsor: Cooler Master
Street Price: £105 (At time of review)

Back in June, Cooler Master announced Silencio 650 the third instalment to join the Silencio Series.

Silence is the pursuit of many an enthusiast and this particular category of computer chassis is certainly thriving. 650 builds on the success of the popular 550 by bringing even more features within a much more refined package. Those who are looking for a quiet mid-tower with oodles of features could well have the ideal product – today we will be taking a close look at all aspects of Silencio 650 to deliver a conclusive verdict.



Cooler Master on Silencio 650
Silencio 650 is an extremely silent mid-tower based on an elegant and classy design. It features understated looks and appeal that speak to wonderfully simplistic design elements with a flat diamond cut aluminum front door and clean lines. Silencio 650, focused on low operating noise despite its support for the latest and greatest hardware. It features two USB 3.0 Super Speed ports, fan controller, and a revolutionary DualBoot HDD switch. Thanks to sound absorbing foam mats covering the interior and specially designed air vents, the Silencio 650 is able to keep noise to a minimum and maintain low system temperatures.

Technical Specifications


Product Number
RC-650-KKN1
Available Color
Full Midnight Black
Material
Aluminum Alloy, Synthetics, Steel
Dimension (W / H / D)
207 x 479 x 525.6mm / 8.1 x 18.8 x 20.7 inch
Weight
13.0 kg / 28.6 lb M/B Type Micro-ATX, ATX
5.25″ Drive Bay
3 (w/o the use of exposed 3.5″ drive bay)
3.5″ Drive Bay
7 (hidden) + 1 (for X-Dock bay)
2.5″ SATA HDD Drive Bay
2 (hidden) +1 (for X-Dock bay)
I/O Panel
USB 3.0 x 2 (int.), USB 2.0 x 2, Mic x 1, Audio x 1 (supports AC97/HD Audio), SD card reader x 1
Expansion Slots
7+1
Cooling System
Front: 120mm fan x 2, 1200 RPM, 17 dBA / 140mm fan x 1 (optional)
Top: 120mm or 140mm fan x 1 (optional)
Rear: 120mm fan x 1, 1200 RPM, 17 dBA
Bottom: 120mm fan x 1 (optional)
HDD cage: 120mm fan x 1 (optional, on removable HDD cage)
Power Supply
Standard ATX PS2 / EPS 12V Maximum Compatibility
VGA card length
268.0 mm / 10.5 inch (with HDD cage)
434.0 mm / 17.1 inch (without HDD cage)
CPU cooler height
168.0 mm / 6.6 inch

Packaging & First Look


Silencio 650 arrives in a large double reinforced cardboard box which has a large graphic of the case on the front, along with three of its key features. As is typical, the sides and back have technical specifications of Silencio 650 with the back having three diagrams of the case and certain features pinpointed.

Inside, the chassis is covered in a clear plastic cover and held in place via dual polystyrene pillars.


Packaging for Silencio 650


Being from the Silencio Series 650 continues to deliver clean, sleek and professional styling. The aesthetics are very smooth so those with a leaning towards making less of a statement are bound to like this chassis. The front, sides and top are closed off to reduce noise levels as much as possible – the side panels have no significant design except to say they are powder coated in matt black and are solid/plain.


Matt black and very sleek



Closed off for complete silence

Exterior


Moving in for a closer look at the outside of 650 we first come to front of the case. The front features a diamond precision cut aluminium door which opens out.

Around the back, at the bottom there is space for mounting the PSU. Above this there are 7x PCI expansion slot covers which are solid (without ventilation), immediately to the side is a vertically aligned PCI expansion slot cover with thumbscrew. At the top of the back panel there is a 120mm rear exhaust fan and dual circular rubber grommets.


The front and back of Silencio 650


Once opened, foam padding is revealed to encourage further silence. With the door open there is now access to various features; at the top there are 2x 5.25” drive bay covers and beneath this there is a 3.5” drive bay to hot swap HDD storage – through the flap there are SATA ports for connectivity.

Beneath the hot swap bay there is a removable panel – this plastic panel has ventilation and a nice metallic Cooler Master emblem, on the reverse there is a removable air filter which can be detached and cleaned. With the panel removed we then have access to dual 120mm intake cooling fans rated at 1200 RPM and 17 dBA. These fans will be responsible for bringing cool air into the chassis and they can be replaced with a single 140mm fan if preferred.


Door opens to reveal features



Removable air filter and dual 120mm intake fans


On the next page we will continue looking at the external aspects of Silencio 650.

Exterior (Continued)


At the top of 650 are the front panel controls. This section has a sliding cover to keep the ports/buttons free from dirt and dust. The available options here are:

• 2x USB 3.0 ports (via internal motherboard header)
• 2x USB 2.0 ports
• Headphone/microphone jacks
• SD card slot reader
• Two stage fan controller
• HDD OS switch
• Power/reset buttons

The HDD switch is a new and innovative idea to allow dual-boot. So with this button the user can switch between two different operating systems such as Windows 7 and Mac OSX – two HDDs are needed for this.

Another inclusion I really like is the SD card reader, this is something absent from most computer cases but is very useful.


Front panel connectivity


Further back from the front panel section is another sliding cover. Moving this cover back there is a ventilated mesh plate underneath to work in correspondence with an optional 120mm or 140mm cooling fan. The quality of both sliding covers are good, they do not wobble and are not flimsy but have moderate resistance and thickness.


Sliding cover, ventilation mesh and space for optional 120/140mm fan


The underside of 650 features four large rubber pads to prevent the case from slipping on smooth surfaces. In the middle, Cooler Master have integrated a large, removable air filter for the PSU fan. This filter also covers a region for another optional cooling fan and is removable whilst the chassis remains in the upright position.


The underside of 650 with large dust filter

Interior


Getting inside 650 is easy; two thumbscrews on either side fix the side panels in place – these just need removing. Sliding the side panels out reveals the inner foam padding on each side panel, this has been attached to increase noise damping and prevent noise emitted from the system.


Foam padding on inside of each side panel


With both side panels removed there is a good overview of the inside of 650. This chassis is mid tower and has support for M-ATX and ATX motherboards. All internal elements have been powder coated in matt black.

650 features a fair few tool-less design mechanisms for installing devices and various cable management grommets/clearance so this chassis looks rather interesting – quality is as to be expected with Cooler Master; very good.


An overview of the inside of Silencio 650



Behind the motherboard tray


Moving inside 650 for a closer look at the features in more detail we firstly come to the PSU seating area. Cooler Master have furnished this region with padding for anti-vibration and preventing scratching between the PSU and chassis. Next to the PSU area are a set of mounting holes for installing a 120mm fan. Both the PSU and this fan spot have a removable air filter which can be taken out and cleaned – this is detached without having to flip the case on its side, as pictured.


Anti-vibration padding for PSU and removable air filter


Above this are 7x PCI expansion slot covers which are solid and accompanied by thumbscrews for easy removal. Cooler Master have also included a vertically aligned PCI expansion slot cover.


7x PCI expansion slot covers

Interior (Continued)


Towards the back of 650 is a 120mm rear exhaust fan which operates at 1200RPM and 17 dBA. At the top of the chassis there are mounting holes for installing a 120/140mm cooling fan – this spot has the removable cover in reduce noise levels and dust if a fan isn’t installed.


120mm rear exhaust fan


The optical drive cage has 2×5.25” slots both with tool-less design mechanism latches for installing drives. Underneath these slots is a 3.5” bay for how swapping a HDD – the back of the bay has a PCB for powering the SATA connectors with a Molex power cable and also a SATA connector for the HDD.


The optical drive cage


Turning our attention the HDD storage, there are two cages that offer a total of eight HDDs – 3.5” or 2.5”. The lower cage has two trays pre-installed which are hot-swappable – there is a PCB at the back, with SATA connectors and on the alternate side this PCB has a Molex connector to deliver power.

The upper cage can be removed from the chassis to either improve airflow or allow for extended clearance for the graphics card – behind both cages there are dual 120mm intake cooling fans rated at 1200 RPM and 17 dBA.


HDD storage options and cooling

Installation


The installation process with 650 is easy thanks to space and features. 650 also entertains a selection of high-end components. I encountered no problems during this stage of the review.

Around the back of the motherboard tray there is sufficient space (more on this in the next section) for arranging cables in order to keep the inside of the chassis nice and tidy. As you can see from the pictures below the system is very well presented once set up and this is easy to achieve.


Installation complete



A clean, tidy system


In order to install HDDs into 650 the 2.5”/3.5” drives must be installed within a HDD tray or HDD brackets – quick and simple!


HDD installation in HDD tray or brackets

Clearance – CPU, GPU, WC, Cable Management


Clearance in certain areas within a computer chassis are vital for system builders as it helps to identify any hardware constraints.

First up is the CPU cooler clearance; pictured is Noctua NH-U12P which is 158mm in total height, 650 can accommodate up to 165-168mm in height so this includes Noctua NH-D14, Thermalright Silver Arrow and Alpenfohn K2 which are all 160mm in height.


650 can accommodate big CPU coolers


Graphics card clearance inside 650 offers two options; with or without the HDD cage. With the HDD cage installed inside the chassis as pictured, there is 10.5” of space for a card such as HD7970. With the HDD cage removed there is additional space to be had – up to 17.1” covering all graphics cards currently on the market.


Clearance for long graphics cards


650 can entertain a single 240mm water-cooling radiator at the front of the chassis.

Finally behind the motherboard tray there is 1.5cm of clearance to assist with cable management. The tray is also concave in certain areas to help even more with arranging cables behind the system. With such clearance, we are able to maintain a clean and tidy system inside 650.


1.5cm of clearance behind the motherboard tray

Thermal Performance Testing


Inside 650 there are 3 pre-installed cooling fans positioned in key airflow positions. The 3x 120mm fans are configured to push-pull air out the back of the case.

To discover the thermal performance of the 650 I will record idle temperatures after 20 minutes from a cold boot. I will then stress the system and temperatures will again be monitored after 30 minutes have elapsed.

For the purpose of accurate analysis the idle and load temperatures for CPU and GPU will be recorded and the range between idle and load will be calculated to determine how efficient cooling is. Fan controller is set to ‘high-mode’.

NOTE: Ambient temperature is 20C

System Components

CPU AMD Phenom II X6 1055T 2.8GHz
Motherboard ASUS M4A89TD PRO
Graphics NVIDIA GTX 480 AMP (Different from card pictured)
Memory 4GB Mushkin EM3-10666 DDR3
HDD Samsung Spinpoint 500GB SATA-II
PSU FSP AURUM GOLD 650M





Noise

Being designed especially for silence 650 certainly achieves this characteristic. At either speed setting noise levels are barely noticeable thanks to a combination of the fans used, closed panels and noise damping foam.

Conclusion


We’ve reached the end of the review – so how is Silencio 650? Does it bring silence? How is cooling?

Aesthetically 650 is a very nice computer chassis. Cooler Master have hit the nail on the head with styling, I really like how this chassis looks with its diamond precision cut aluminium front and sleek design.

650’s feature-set is where it also shines; this elegant chassis has a two-speed fan controller, SD card reader, dual boot switch, hot swappable HDD and more. To top this off build quality inside is very good and is laden with tool-less mechanisms for installing kit.



Being part of the Silencio Series, Silence is obviously a key characteristic and it is successful in achieving silence – a combination of low noise fans, closed panels and foam padding helps to reduce noise levels down to almost being inaudible.

Compared to other similar alternatives, 650 is at the higher end in terms of pricing. At £105inc. VAT, 650 is £20 more than other rival silent mid-tower chassis. It’s certainly worth the money but could benefit from a slight price drop to keep it in line with competitors.

Silencio 650 achieves what it sets out to; silence. Styling, build quality and features are very good and we would recommend this chassis to anyone who is looking for a quality, quiet mid-tower that boasts many useful features.

Pros
+ Professional styling
+ Great build quality
+ Hot swappable HDD
+ Two-speed fan controller
+ SD card reader
+ Dual boot switch
+ Silent

Cons
– Cheaper alternatives


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