Great design and a spacious interior make this case a good buy for those on a budget
Written By
Published on 23 March 2013
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recommended
1 / 4
Our rating
Reviewed price £35 inc VAT
As cheaper cases go, the Silverstone RL01 isn’t bad looking. Its eye-catching red and grey highlights and red front LED may not be to everyone’s taste, but you can turn off the LED to make things a bit more subtle.
The front panel contains just two USB3 ports and headphone and microphone jacks. Underneath there are three external 5.25in drive bays and one external 3.5in drive bay, which you may find useful for a card reader or sound card front panel. We found it very easy to install our optical drive in a 5.25in bay, and the bay’s tool-less clips felt very secure. There are another five 3.5in drive bay inside the case, and we were pleased that those bays’ tool-less clips were also easy to fit and felt secure.
You might have some trouble fitting in particularly long graphics cards, though, as our 290mm AMD Radeon HD 7950 only just squeezed in.
Otherwise there’s plenty of room for building, although there aren’t any pre-cut holes to route your cables around the back of the motherboard to help keep things tidy. There’s also room for another five fans, with a narrow mesh filter running all the way along the bottom of the case to help minimise dust intake.
At £35, the RL01 is a great buy. It doesn’t have any fancy features like the Cooler Master Elite 431 Plus or the Corsair Carbide 200R, but it’s cheaper and doesn’t compromise on build quality or design. We think the Carbide 200R is worth the extra money, but the RL01 is a good buy if your budget is very tight.
Written by
Katharine Byrne
When Katharine's not glued to her Wii U and 3DS, she's usually found darting between tiny smartphones and huge pieces of home cinema equipment.She’s tested everything from laptops and monitors to motherboards and projectors, but she currently specialises in smartphones, games and AV.
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