SilverStone Grandia GD07 Review: Centering and Serving Your Media
by Dustin Sklavos on April 29, 2012 1:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- HTPC
- SilverStone
Conclusion: A Lot of Potential
SilverStone's Grandia GD07 is certainly a compelling option for users like me who use their media center PCs as 24/7 servers as well. That's a small niche, but I have no doubt there are other people who will look at it and find other niches for it as well. For what SilverStone was attempting with the GD07, they've largely excelled and even produced one of their easier-to-use cases. Yet there's definitely room for improvement here.
As I mentioned before, the drive cage is the primary culprit. There was obviously a lot of thought put into the design, but I think it still needs work. The two vertically-mounted 5.25" drive bays should be eschewed for dedicated 2.5" drive bays instead of just squeezing the drives between the other 5.25" bays and the top of the cage. Cabling SSDs in the GD07 is far more trouble than it has any right or reason to be. You'll also want to take care in mounting 5.25" drives to make sure they line up properly with the front of the enclosure.
I also feel like the interior black matte plastic face is a little chintzier than it needs to be. That's a relatively minor complaint given the otherwise attractive black brushed aluminum finish on the front door and the staid black steel build of the rest of the case. Getting rid of the internal fan grilles is a much bigger issue, and needlessly complicates assembly; those grilles were one of the things that made the GD04 at least a little easier to work with.
There's also the fact that the GD07 is frankly pretty large. That owes to observing the ATX spec instead of going with Micro-ATX or Mini-ITX (along with moving the drive cage to the front), but for me it's actually the difference between fitting the GD07 into my entertainment center or having to continue using the GD04 that has faithfully served me since I reviewed it so long ago.
Despite these issues, the GD07 is still a fairly well designed enclosure. Thermal performance is good, and noise is low with room to go lower provided your motherboard has decent fan control or you're willing to shell out for a separate fan controller. Looking at it, you should already know if the GD07 is something you can use or not. If you like the way it looks and it has the features you want or need, it will probably serve you well. Individuals looking for a good HTPC case may need to find something smaller, though.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
37 Comments
View All Comments
pimogo - Tuesday, May 8, 2012 - link
Hi ChrisQuestion: in your build you included an h100, which is precisely what i'd like to do.. either that or the smaller h60. However, the reviewer here basically said that closed radiator systems were a no go due to the motherboard to sideboard constraints. Given that this case is fairly similar to the case you have, what gives? Is it then possible to install an h100 in a stock case or did you have to mod it?
Many thanks!
Chris Simmo - Wednesday, May 9, 2012 - link
I removed the fans on the inside, removed the filter and secured the 2 120mm fans on the outside with fan grills I pulled off dead PSU's. Due to the positive pressure design, I pointed the fans to bow air into the case. The CPU sits at 30c at idle and 65c under load. The GPU is at 40-43 under load.Chris Simmo - Wednesday, May 9, 2012 - link
I don't know if the post will let me put this in, but here are pics of my personal system.http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.248327595...
Chris Simmo - Wednesday, May 9, 2012 - link
Sorry, the GPU temp is at idle not load! I also made an extended Molex cable that comes off the PSU harness to the outside of the case. My entertainment unit has been modified with 2x140mm Bitfenix fans and a Zalman fan control to suck hot air away from the HTPC and receiver amp. I mod I highly recommend! I also find the corsair fans to loud and the corsair controller doesn't make them quiet enough, so use the MB headers and artic cooling PWM fans. I also replaced the fan in the PSU.I have pictures on face book, but the link I wanted to put got removed.
pimogo - Wednesday, May 9, 2012 - link
Thanks for the comprehensive response! So you have the 2 fans on the side for the Corsair which are themselves replacements--not the OEM fans? You found the OEM loud?If they're loud, i wonder if its worth going in that direction. I wonder if just a noctua slim cpu fan would not suffice. Btw how many fans in your case do you have total?
Thanks!
Chris Simmo - Wednesday, May 9, 2012 - link
The fans are ok on their own most of the time, but on the outside they were a little louder. Since I build computers for a living, I have access to a fair few parts, and the Artic cooling ones have more blades, shifting more air at a lower speed. I think the H100 is worth it. No modifying of any structures is done thoughaudioman83 - Wednesday, May 28, 2014 - link
I'm selling one used-Like New at Amazon. I treated it with kid gloves. It's in perfect condition.