Well where to begin. Packaging I guess? Case came like 99.999% of cases I've ever ordered for builds. Nicely protected even when tested by UPS. I don't know why but UPS loves dropping/stabbing/rolling my computer cases around whenever they're the ones to deliver them. The boxes are pretty beat up and this was no exception. Looked like something tried stabbing it through the top. BUT there was no damage. Plenty of foam and the case was wrapped in that foamy plastic sheet stuff some makers use.
I guess build quality and building it out next. Aside from the drive sleds everything is metal. I did find one corner near the power supply that was particularly sharp and dang near cut myself on it but other than that just nice metal everywhere. The front IO and USB cables are plenty long. I'm pretty certain I could route the USB cable out a PCI slot and back in and still reach if I wanted to. Just had to leave a larger loop of it in the back of the case. The hot swap bays while feeling somewhat cheap with plastic sleds without hard drives feel plenty sturdy with 3.5" drives install on them. Which leads into building it. Was alright. Somethings were annoying like where the Sata ports were on my motherboard and where the wire routing holes were. Prolly would've been smarter to plug the Sata cables in first before installing the motherboard but live and learn right? Other than that small hiccup there's plenty of space everywhere else. The wire routing holes could be lined in rubber like high end cases but that's just a niggle I can think of off the top of my head.
Now onto performance. Some reviewers have stated that the drive bay can get toasty and indeed they are correct. In stock configuration. Transferring all my files to the raid arrays I had built with 6 out of the 8 disks installed sitting at 100% usage the temps did get warmer than what I'm used to. Instead of trashing the cage and cutting the holes in it I turned the top fan blowing air into the hard drive cages around to pull the air out. So bottom is pulling air in and the warm air that rises is gettting pulled up by the top fan. BAM problem solved temps dropped 10-15 degrees on all the drives. Other than that and with just the single exhaust fan on the rear your CPU and rest of the system can also get more toasty than what people are used to. Sadly I don't think there's a real remedy to this since the case only has spots for 3 fans and 2 of those are for the hot swap bay. BUT in my case it's not a terrible deal because the rest of the system will never sit at 100% usage for any prolong period. Just don't try to build a gaming rig in this, really really really bad idea imho.
If you're looking for a server case that isn't a rack mount server case I don't think you can go wrong here as long as you understand that the rest of the system outside of the hot swap bay has pretty poor ventilation. And turn one of the fans around for the hot swap bay unless you're fine with high 30's/low 40's for idle drive temps. If you want a gaming PC case look elsewhere lol.
| Brand | SilverStone Technology |
|---|---|
| Series | CS-CS380B |
| Item model number | CS380B |
| Item Weight | 20.6 pounds |
| Product Dimensions | 8.48 x 19.2 x 16.8 inches |
| Item Dimensions LxWxH | 8.48 x 19.2 x 16.8 inches |
| Color | CS380B |
| Manufacturer | Silverstone |
| ASIN | B01MA6NJE8 |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Date First Available | October 1, 2016 |
