SilverStone ML04 & ML05 Slim HTPC Cases Review
by E. Fylladitakis on April 18, 2014 2:30 PM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- HTPC
- SilverStone
- desktops
Silverstone Milo ML05 Overview
The Silverstone Milo ML05 is supplied in a brown cardboard box similar to that of the Milo ML04, except the size hints at the proportions of the case, which is not much larger than an ATX PSU. There are few items bundled with the case, limited to the necessary mounting hardware, a 120mm fan filter, a few cable ties, rubber feet and a manual.
It appears that Silverstone tried to make the ML05 as compact as it gets while maintaining the ability to use optical disks and relatively common hardware. It is not as small as an Antec ISK 110, but the Antec has no optical drive and very limited upgrade capabilities. Silverstone sprayed the Milo ML05 with a matte black paint, with most of the faceplate covered by a mirror. Although the mirror is made of acrylic plastic and not glass, the visual effect is very good. We should note that it is extremely prone to fingerprint stains, like most such surfaces.
The company logo is printed on the left side of the mirror and the optical drive slot is discreetly placed at the top right side of the faceplate. Two rhombus-shaped buttons can be seen at the lower right side of the faceplate as well, with the smaller one being the reset button and the larger one the power button. As there was no room on the faceplate, Silverstone moved the I/O ports to the right side of the case, where two USB 3.0 ports and the headset jacks may be found. The rest of the right side is entirely perforated and there are mounting holes for two 80mm cooling fans. There are no vents on the left side of the case but there are two perforated areas on the top of the case, above the CPU and the PSU, with the former being capable of holding a 120mm fan. A bit more additional ventilation is provided through the perforated expansion card covers.
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johnny_boy - Saturday, April 19, 2014 - link
The ML04 looks alright (not great, not terrible) but the ITX ML05 is terribly ugly. Diamond buttons? Big plastic strip across the front? There's a serious lack of nice, affordable, ITX cases especially in this HTPC form factor.Dave12311231 - Saturday, April 19, 2014 - link
I would like to use the Milo ML05 with a 19V DC connector equipped motherboard and a Broadwell or future AMD system. This would negate the cables from an internal PSU whilst still having a very small case, hopefully cheaper than a NUC system overall.jabber - Saturday, April 19, 2014 - link
These are NOT great looking cases.C'mon people try harder!
Alan G - Saturday, April 19, 2014 - link
Well they do look better than the traditional cable box that comes courtesy of your provider!I've built several HTPCs for family and friends over the past six months and these cases should be OK. You don't need any graphics cards with new CPUs (I use Intel but I'm sure the same is true with AMD on board graphics). In addition HTPC systems are not energy demanding and I've got one in a Lian Li PCQ-27 case which is passively cooled. Temperatures under operating conditions with only the Intel stock cooler run just over 30C which is fine. The review is correct about the lack of choices in PSUs for these applications. I've been using Seasonic G-360s which work just fine and are silent.
Thanks for this posting and continue to find some small HTPC case to review.
irusun - Saturday, April 19, 2014 - link
Agree.And especially the "mirror" front on the ML05 sounds awful... why would I want that sitting under/next to my TV bouncing all sorts of reflections?
jtd871 - Monday, April 21, 2014 - link
Silverstone now offers the recent ML06, which is the same chasis as the 05, but dumps the acrylic front panel for anodized aluminum like the 04.irusun - Saturday, April 19, 2014 - link
I'm aware others have had similar comments, and I'm sincerely not trying to hurt E. Fylladitakis feelings or question his technical competence, and I'm rooting for him to succeed, but he really needs help with the writing. It's pretty obvious that english is not his first language, and it results in wordy paragraphs, weird phrasings (at times it sounds like it was written by a bot), and it's just plain difficult to follow at times. I expect better writing at Anandtech.irusun - Saturday, April 19, 2014 - link
I'm surprised there's so little mention of "noise" in HTPC case reviews where noise is one of the primary issues of concern. I understand what was stated in the article about not being able to quantify results above background room noise, but how about some subjective comments just based on experience. Were the supplied PSUs "quiet"? Do the cases offer any advantages or disadvantages for building a quiet system? It's understood that there are an infinite combination of coolers and fans and PSUs, but I would expect some further thoughts on the noise front, even if they're just informed opinions.Daniel Egger - Monday, April 21, 2014 - link
When building an HTPC noise is completely in your hand. Even if the case contains fans you almost certainly don't want to use them without any sort of fan controller if at all. Getting a mainboard with enough 3 or even 4 pin connectors for controlling the fans is highly recommended. In my setup I connected the 2 case fans only to provide some general airflow through the case so the rest of the components will also receive some cooling (and the CPU fan blowing out at the top can run at the slowest level for a longer time) but they're setup to run at the lowest possible speed so they're inaudible unless you hold your ear right next to them. Before changing the fan controller setup they were blowing at full pace making some unacceptable amount of noise.Voldenuit - Sunday, April 20, 2014 - link
OK, I can understand why the ML04 doesn't have one, but wth didn't Silverstone design the ML05 with a GPU riser card to accommodate at least a medium to high end GPU? Even if a user opted not to turn their HTPC into a gaming device, this would open up the possibilities for more expansion cards that are not half height.