SilverStone GD04 HTPC Case: Cool, Not Quiet

My media center PC was far from old and decrepit, but I wound up with an opportunity to both rebuild it into something faster and cut a profit this month and went for it. Choosing a case for the new build was a difficult decision; the old CoolerMaster Elite 360 case I used still ranks among my favorites for budget machines, but the lack of any kind of vibration-dampening optical drive mounting resulted in my blu-ray/HD-DVD drive progressively producing more and more noise. I decided to go for something sexier, something more suited to being an HTPC case, and after doing a fair bit of research I picked up the SilverStone GD04.

The GD04 is remarkably attractive if you're into that minimalist look (I am); there's a sister GD05 model that has a full 5.25" drive bay instead of just an opening for the optical drive tray, but rather than have unsightly electrical tape covering up the activity LED on the drive I opted to bury it in the case with the GD04. Otherwise the two models are functionally identical, so a lot of what's said in this review will likely apply to the GD05. This case has also been around for a couple years but doesn't seem to have been refreshed by SilverStone; if it ain't broke, don't fix it, right?

SilverStone GD04 Specifications
Motherboard Form Factor		Micro ATX, Mini ITX
Drive Bays	External	1x 5.25” (partially covered by bezel)
	Internal	2x 3.5” or 2.5"
Cooling	Front	-
	Rear	-
	Top	-
	Side	1x 120mm intake (left), 2x 120mm intake (right)
	Bottom	-
Expansion Slots		5 (4 main, 1 accessory)
Front I/O Port		2x USB 2.0, 1x Headphone, 1x Mic
Power Supply Size		Standard ATX
Weight		12.21 lbs.
Dimensions		5.91” x 17.32” x 12.72”