Copyright 2010 - K.S. Studios - All rights reserved
Model No. SST-PS05B
Material Plastic & mesh front panel and steel body
Motherboard ATX, Micro ATX
Drive Bay
External
 5.25" x 4, 3.5" x 2
 Internal 3.5" x 4
Cooling System
Front
 1 x 120mm fan slot
Rear
 1 x 120mm exhaust fan
Top
 2 x 120mm fan slot
Bottom 1 x 120mm fan slot
Expansion Slots  7
Front I/O Port USB2.0 x 2
Audio x 1
MIC x 1
Power Supply 1 x Optional standard PS2 (ATX)
Expansion Card 11"
Limitation of CPU cooler 160mm
Limitation of PSU Unlimited
Net Weight 6.2 kg
Dimension 190 mm(w)x 466mm(h) x 485mm(d)
When we first got word of the Precision series cases from SilverStone, we couldn't wait to check them out. SilverStone is well known for their high end enclosures from the Temjin, Fortress, and Raven series, so will the Precision value series live up to the SilverStone name at budget prices? The first one we could get our hands on was the PS05. This model has only one style available in all black with a plastic and mesh front panel and steel body. The all black interior and exterior and slightly aggresive features suggest that the PS05 is aimed at the gaming PC builder. Weighing in at only about 13.5 lbs. The PS05 is definitely capable of visits to LAN parties and other gaming events. Features like tool-less drive mounting , hard drive vibration dampening, and room for up to five 120mm fans really add to the value of this case. Some of these features are only found on cases at a higher price point. Let's check it out.

Specs

SilverStone Precision Series

SST-PS05 Enclosure

The PS05 was a pleasure to work with. Even though it is in the budget class, the features borrowed from some of SilverStone's high end models make this enclosure a real winner. You will be hard pressed to find a comparable quality case in this incredible price range. Even though we had some trouble with the expansion card slot latching system, the good points make up for it. We are happy to recommend the PS05 for the budget builder. The PS05 is currently available at Newegg.com for $49.99.

6/12/10 -Keith Soreghen-

Packaging

Conclusion

The first cost saving would be the packaging. No flashy box here, just a nice sturdy shipping box with the specs printed on it. The PS05 arrived in perfect condition.

Accessories

There aren't many accessories for the PS05. The case includes a bag of mounting screws, a PSU retention bracket with screws, and the user manual.

Exterior

The outside of the PS05 has a slightly aggressive styling and nice lines. The outside of the case is very sturdy and well built. The plastic front is high quality and is very easy to remove. This mid-tower has four 5.25" external drive bays and two 3.5" external bays. The side panels fit well and feature black thumb screws for securing them. The front panel connectors consist of two USB, one mic, and one audio port. The top has a removable fan cover that can be fitted with up to two 120mm optional fans. The back of the PS05 is ready for water cooling, with punch-out openings for water tubing. There are no grommets to protect the tubing, so filing burrs would be necessary to prevent punctures in water lines. The expansion card slots feature a plastic tool-less mechanism for securing cards. Of the seven expansion slots, only the top and bottom are reuseable. This is a small cost cutting feature that shouldn't really cause any inconvenience.

Interior

The interior is spaceous for a mid-tower enclosure. The 5.25" drive bays feature an automatic locking system that works well. The drives are released by pulling one side of the lever while pushing the drive through the front of the case. The 3.5" bays feature a sliding locking mechanism for securing drives. The four hard drive trays feature vibration dampening mounts, which was a nice surprise. The bottom of the case includes fan filters for the PSU and the optional bottom case fan location. Another high end feature of the PS05 is the CPU cutout in the motherboard tray. These features are becoming standard on higher priced cases, but were unexpected in a budget case. Good job SilverStone.

The Build

Building a PC in the PS05 was incredibly easy. The HDD mounting trays were great to work with and the optical drives slid into place with a satisfying click. There were no sharp edges to worry about and all of the parts fit in comfortably. The ATI HD5670 graphics card used is rather small, so there was plenty of room left between the card and the HDD area.

The PS05 will fit expansion cards up to 11" in length before you may run into problems. Some of the newer graphics cards are longer than 11" and will not fit in the PS05, so check the length before attempting to install in this case. During the build we did experience a slight problem with the tool-less expansion card holder. While plugging in the motherboard power cable, the pressure placed on the motherboard tray caused the graphics card to pop out of the expansion card holder. The rear of the case is a bit thin and will flex to the point that a card can pop out. The cards can be screwed in if desired, but the holder cannot be closed if a screw is used. Under normal use, the cards stay in place just fine so we aren't really concerned about them moving.

Testing

Parts Used:

Asus M4A785-M Motherboard

AMD Athlon II X4 620 CPU

ATI Radeon 5670 GPU

8GB Corsair DDR2 800 memory

Western Digital WD3200AAJS 320GB Hard drive

SilverStone PS05 case

SilverStone ST40F-ES 400W PSU

Stock AMD CPU fan

Thermal tests were run using CPUID Hardware Monitor ver. 1.15. Four instances of Prime 95 were used to max out each CPU core for max load. Furmark 1.8 was used to stress the GPU for testing. Ambient room temperature was 80 Degrees Fahrenheit. GPU tests were run after manually setting the fan speed to 100%. We ran tests using the single stock case fan for the PS05 and with four additional SilverStone Air Penetrator AP121 fans installed. The AP121's are the newest fan design from SilverStone (review coming soon). To take advantage of positive air pressure the front fan, bottom fan, and dual top fans were installed as intake fans. We were interested to see if the added fans would make a big difference in cooling power.

The recommended cooling setup for multiple fans installed into the PS05 is to install the top, front and bottom fans as intake fans. Below are the temperature readings using the single rear stock fan and also for the same tests using four additional fans. We wanted to see just how much was being sacrificed by including just one fan with the PS05. As you can see, the additional fans really make a difference in the overall temperatures. The AP121 fans have a lot to do with the new temperature readings, as four regular fans added to the case only dropped temps by an additional one or two degrees. By using the AP121 fans, the extra airflow was very noticeable. Of course, buying four AP121 fans (at $16.99 each) to add to the PS05 will negate the savings of buying a value case. The good news is that the PS05 performs well at stock, with the option of adding fans later if you want to increase performance.
Filtered fan covers
Drive locking mechanism
Top filtered fan cover for optional 120mm fans
Front LED's for power and HDD activity
Tool-less expansion slot latching
Water cooling punch-outs
Vibration dampening HDD mounts
Top fan module with optional AP121 fans installed
Front fan grille with optional fan installed
Nice included lighting for the front of the PS05
The tool-less expansion card clip