Introduction

Quick Look
SilverStone Lascala 10M	The Good
	+ Integrated Vacuum Fluorescent Display and IrDA transceiver with media center remote control + Front Panel USB + Side Panel Audio, FireWire
	The Bad
	- Loud fans - Bulky in size

The HTPC craze has begun and consumers are out looking to buy PCs not only to do their usual word processing and internet surfing, but to do it in their living rooms on their TVs while having the option of playing a video or watching TV from that single box!

It all started with Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition and their certified PCs that were built by those big name companies and hardware that was certified by Microsoft. Things have changed since then and the list has grown to include various other hardware manufacturers. Now, with the release of Windows Media Center Edition to "mom and pop" shops, the potential for enthusiasts to build their own media center PCs has grown and they have much more flexibility when it comes to selecting the hardware that they want in their home theater PC systems.

Not only do enthusiasts want the best hardware in their HTPCs, they want to mount their custom hardware combination in the best looking and functioning case possible, and this is where the case manufacturer comes in. There are many names in the case industry that have entered the HTPC market to flex their muscles in this arena.

Recently, we received word that SilverStone Technology, which is one of the more popular designers and manufacturers of mid-tower cases as well as accessories such as power supplies and cooling equipment, has plans to release a new product in their Lascala line of HTPC cases, the Lascala 10 or LC10. We wanted to take a look at the new design before it was released to the world, to see what features it would bring and also to help us better understand what to look for in HTPC cases. We first looked at Ahanix's D.Vine 4 HTPC chassis last month and thought it would be a great opportunity to compare each manufacturer's take on the genre.

So without further delay, the SilverStone Lascala 10!

More information is available on the Lascala 10 at SilverStone's website.

External Design

SilverStone's products are known for their sleek, yet elegant, look with clean lines and high quality finishes. The LC10M has a façade, which allows it to blend in with many types of home theater components while also carrying a unique look. It has the same aluminum style bezel as SilverStone's other products in its case line, such as the Temjin 6.

At the top left corner, we see the white SilverStone name and snowflake logo to contrast with the case's black finish. At about mid-height, there are two buttons: the wider (~3/4") button for power and, to the right, the reset button, which is about half the width (~3/8") of the power button. They are not clearly labeled, but any user above the novice level should be able to distinguish one from the other. Between the two rectangular buttons are the lights for power and HDD activity.

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At the bottom left corner of the bezel are four USB sockets, which are mounted to the backside of the bezel.

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Moving to the middle section of the bezel, SilverStone has implemented a Vacuum Fluorescent Display, or VFD, to complement the HTPC theme. We saw Ahanix's version of their VFD in their D.Vine 4, which provided similar features of a 2 line by 16 character display. SilverStone uses the iMON VFD from SoundGraph, which also adds IrDA support with a USB interface for a true plug 'n play solution.

External Design (cont'd)

The right 1/3" of the bezel is composed of a sliding panel, which allows installation of an optical drive. To remove this panel, there is a black Philips head screw that needs to be removed at the top as well as two screws on the inside of the case at the sides. Included with the package is an aluminum optical tray bezel, which is attached to the drive by a double-sided stick on foam strip. To go even further, SilverStone should look into actual replaceable tray bezels instead of the stick-on solution. The bezel did stick out a bit, about 1mm or so, from the case's bezel, but not noticeable when sitting the usual distance from home theater equipment.

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Below the optical drive's tray slot, there is a button mounted on the bezel to allow users to eject the tray. We should mention that if the optical drive is pushed back as far as it can go inside the case, this button may not be able to reach the optical drives eject button to work properly, which is why we feel a replaceable tray bezel would be a better idea.

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As we look at the left side of the LC10M, we notice that there are auxiliary ports for audio and FireWire toward the front of the case. As SilverStone has done before in their Temjin 5 and Temjin 6 mid-tower cases, these ports are hidden from view when looking at the LC10M head on.

The sides of the case feature rows of ventilation holes to help air flow and cool the internal components. The left side has this ventilation array towards the back where the expansion cards would be while the right side features the ventilation holes towards the front beside the drive mounts.

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To remove the case cover, there are four screws that need to be removed at the back of the case. The cover then slides back and lifted off the rest of the case to be removed.

Internal Design

The internal design of the LC10M is similar to that of Ahanix's D.Vine 4 HTPC chassis, which we looked at last month. At the front of the case, there are five drive bays in total, which includes two 5-1/4" drive bays and three 3-1/2" drive bays.

Between the two 5-1/4" drive bays, only the lower bay can be used to mount an optical drive, since there is only one slot from which the drive's tray can eject. For the top bay, SilverStone also provides an optional 5-1/4" extension bracket to mount an extra HDD, not wasting any space.

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There are two standard 3-1/2" drive bays next to the 5-1/4" bays as well as one hidden HDD bay underneath. This 3-1/2" HDD mount can be removed to install drives easily by removing the two screws on either side. We also see the circuit board of the VFD from this angle. As we will explain later, things get a bit crowded when all of the components are installed, especially in regards to the wiring and power connections with our chosen test bed.

Looking at the LC10M from the front, there is an 80mm fan mounted on the far left side. This fan bracket also supports an optional 90mm fan, if chosen at the time of purchase. It isn't noticeable at first glance, but the fan takes in air, which enters through the vents that line the sides and bottom of the bezel.

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For structural support, there are two crossbars, one running front to back on the left side of the case and the other is just inches from the middle of the case, also positioned parallel to the first crossbar. Since home theater components are usually stacked on top of each other, there is a need for support from the weight of these components.

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Like SilverStone cases in the past, there is no tool-less design implemented in the LC10M. We have not stressed enough how much we would like to see tool-less or even screw-less designs implemented in cases wherever structurally possibly to create the simplest experience in hardware installation and replacement.

Cooling

As we stated in our first look at the HTPC case, cooling is just as important in HTPC cases as it is in mid-tower cases that we have been reviewing for some time now. Home theater components such as receivers and power amplifiers give off a great amount of heat when powering audio equipment at high volumes and tend to transfer that heat to other components. We rarely see a receiver or an amplifier with cooling fans, but only large heatsinks to dissipate that heat effectively off of their components.

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PCs, on the other hand, require better cooling methods for the hardware to operate efficiently and also, to lower the risk of damage due to extreme temperatures. We still have yet to see a fan-less design work as well as that with fans, so we will rely on the latter until that time comes.

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The LC10M comes with three fans, an 80mm at the front as an intake and two 60mm exhausts at the back just behind the CPU on a standard Micro ATX motherboard. The front intake fan operates at 2050RPM with a 21dBA sound level. The rear 60mm fans operate at 3600RPM at their peak and produce about 25dBA at that range.

SilverStone claims the LC10M to be one of the top performers in its class when it comes to thermal conditions, but we will let our benchmarks decide for us.

Construction

SilverStone has done wonderful things to the designs of their cases, from the simple yet elegant Temjin 3 to the still simple yet innovative design of the Temjin 6. With changes in design, SilverStone manages to carry the good looks of their cases from product to product with a certain balance.

One way SilverStone can create successful products that will appeal to a wider audience is the use of the right materials in the proper areas. For the front bezel, SilverStone uses the same aluminum style bezel with the beveled edges that we saw on the Temjin 6 mid-tower chassis. It not only makes the case look strong in stature, but also allows the LC10M to fit in with home theater components.

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The rest of the chassis is made of steel, a decision that SilverStone made since the Temjin 4. We remember the Temjin 3's all-aluminum design, which looked great and weighed much less than smaller steel-constructed cases, but also costed a pretty penny. Aluminum is still an expensive metal from which to create an entire product and that is why many case designers and manufacturers have remained loyal to steel. SilverStone switched teams for this reason, but decided to keep their trademark visual design to increase overall attractiveness.

Motherboard Tray

The motherboard tray of the LC10M supports ATX and Micro ATX boards. Though it does look like it has plenty of holes for Extended ATX boards, SilverStone does not readily advertise that it is capable of that form factor.

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The LC10M uses standard screw-in stand-offs on which to mount the motherboard.

Installation

The LC10M is as large as the Ahanix D.Vine 4. There is a lot of space to install all of the components, including the power supply, motherboard, disk drives, and expansion cards. The total time that it took us to install all of those components was about 15 minutes.

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We had some trouble with the motherboard's power connector; it was directly beneath the 5-1/4" drive bays and had a clearance of a little over an inch. Those of us who know power supply wiring will also know how difficult it is to work in cramped cases.

The wiring had to be bent at almost 90 degrees for the wiring to be plugged into the power port on the motherboard. We were worried that this might cause damage to the wires, but we had no other choice. In the end, there wasn't much that we could do but warn our readers to choose a board with the power socket placed in another area on the motherboard. ATX motherboards usually have the socket at the top near the CPU socket.

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Installation of the other components was straightforward with the exception of the optical drive. We felt that the process of removing the front panel was unnecessary in order to add a single optical drive. The extra drive tray bezel attachment could have also been designed to replace the optical drive's existing tray bezel instead of sticking on to it with double-sided padding. It is a great idea overall, but, in our opinion, it still needs some adjustments in design.

Benchmarking - Thermal

The ability for an HTPC case to alleviate heat from internal components is just as important as any other type of case. Before our expansion to the HTPC case category, we observed the temperatures of only the key components: the CPU, power supply, memory, VGA card, HDD, and the general system ambient temperature. However, we have since learned that measuring temperatures of only those 5 components is not enough to realize the true power and effect of a cooling system.

During our look at the Sun workstation last month, we decided to modify our thermal benchmarks a little to test all areas of the case instead of the limited number of components. We wanted to see how each component affected the areas around it and how well case fans were performing. We drew an imaginary grid against a side of the case and measured the temperatures of each single square area to get a better idea of the effects of the warmer running hardware on the case's ambient temperatures.

We have also drawn out a modified test bed for the HTPC category of cases to fit current and future designs so that we can compare each product effectively without changing out test hardware. Take a look at our changes in hardware:

DFI K8M800 MLV AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Corsair DDR 512MB x 2 Zalman CNPS7000 Copper Seagate Barracuda 120GB SATA ATI 9800XT AGP8x Enermax EG475P-VE 470W PSU

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The thermal readings for the key components and points on the motherboard during operation are described below. The numbers in each square represent the temperature of that particular section of the case in degrees celsius:

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We can see the warmest region of the case is around the CPU and Northbridge area, which are the hottest running components followed by the VGA card. We expected the area above, below and around the HDD mount to also be higher in temperature since there is no active cooling in that section of the case but it remained at a constant 29-30 degrees throughout our benchmark.

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We see here the temperatures of the various key components in the system. Temperatures have been taken directly off of the surface of the hardware this time for an accurate reading of actual component temperatures. We see again that the warmest of components are the CPU and VGA card, followed by the Northbridge and Southbridge. The HDD hit 38 degrees when we ran the defragmenter utility but otherwise temperatures lingered around 32 degrees. The Corsair DDR and PSU ran at a cool 30-31 degree range the entire time no matter how hard we worked the system. Note: The combination of numbers listed for the CPU, Northbridge, and VGA card are of the components' heat sinks and the temperatures of the cores respectively.

Benchmarking - Sound

Sound levels also play a vital role in choosing the right HTPC case, since it will be coinciding with the quietest of home theater equipment. We don't want the noise of loud fans to interfere with our late night movie sound track or even our favorite audio tracks. We tested the LC10M in the same way that we have tested mid-tower chassis. We hold our sound level meter 12" from the sealed case. Take a look at our results.


The LC10M did not perform as quiet as we would have liked it to be, at 51dBA. Being a home theater PC chassis, we wanted noise levels to remain at a minimum. Some of our quietest mid-tower chassis, like Lian Li's PC-6070, used foam padding to dampen sound produced by the fans, which can definitely help the LC10M as well as many other cases that feature loud fans.

Final Words

SilverStone is going the right way in the HTPC market with the LC10M. The features that it carries are exceptional. The integration of the iMON Vacuum Fluorescent Display and optional media center remote control and software make this a great addition to any home theater.

The LC10M has an efficient cooling system, which we observed, to keep temperatures in the case about the same as those in the D.Vine 4. With our new benchmarking method, we observed where heat gathered in the case to help analyze possible solutions for future designs. It is interesting to see how heat given off by each component reacts with the ambient air and the air current created by the cooling system. We observed that the heat given off by the CPU was pulled towards the back of the LC10 by the rear exhaust fans, keeping it away from other components in the system. We also noticed that even though the ATI 9800XT VGA card's core rose to about 68 degrees celsius, it had no effect on the ambient air temperatures around the card.

The LC10M does have its downsides, though. The sound levels produced by the fans are extremely loud compared to some of the mid-tower cases that we have looked at in the past. At 51dBA, SilverStone's new HTPC product doesn't come close to the performance put out by Ahanix's D.Vine 4 as far as sound levels go. If the LC10 is to be used alongside home theater components the sound levels must be lowered to compete with those quieter components to ensure that no noise is heard.

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Also, the problem with the drive bays interfering with the power supply socket on the motherboard caused the LC10M to lose some points. With cramped areas, especially around critical components such as power connections, there is a higher chance of hardware being damaged. Though there are various designs in motherboards, the case manufacturer should consider all of them when planning their case designs.

The LC10 will come in two flavors when it is released: LC10M with the media center remote control and software, which we reviewed and will most likely run about $200, and the plain vanilla LC10 without the remote control and software at about $120. These figures are still tentative, but we can expect the prices to be right around that range. These prices may seem a bit steep, since a power supply is not included, but the media package makes up for that. The LC10M has a great look and with some of the minor changes that we have suggested, we believe it will be one of the top competitors in the race for the best HTPC cases when released. Ahanix's D.Vine 4 performs equally well in our thermal benchmarks but better as far as sound goes which puts it ahead of the LC10M for now.