Silverstone Grandia GD02-MT Case
External Impressions
The Grandia GD02-MT is designed for one purpose, to be a home theatre PC. It is available in two finishes, black and natural brushed aluminium. The sample we have for reviewing has the black finish. So let’s take a closer look at the case externally, starting with the front panel. Dominating the front panel is the 4.5″ LCD screen, which can be used as a controller for the PC as it is touch sensitive. Also on the front panel are the power switch and hard drive activity LED. There is a single DVD/CD bezel, with an aluminium slot cover just above the LCD screen.
Located at the bottom of the front panel is a drop down cover, which is opened by pressing on it at the bottom right. It opens smoothly to reveal the front I/O sockets and a single 3.25″ drive bay. The available sockets are:
- 2x USB2.0
- 1x IEEE1394
- 1x Audio in
- 1x microphone
Moving around the case, we will now take a look at the sides. Each side is finished in the same colour as the top panel and metal corners. Next, the top panel, which is the access point for the case innards, and is secured in place by four hex nuts in each corner. Considering the likely placement of the built system is going to be under your display on a stand, there was no need for the bling factor on the top and sides, and the finish of these does tie in well with the rest of the case. The side panels are vented, using a square cutout pattern, which should help with air flow within the built up PC.
Lastly, we come to the rear panel, the business end. As the case is of the micro-ATX flavour, we weren’t expecting PCI slots and fan mounts galore. There are 4x full sized PCI slots available, and 2x 80mm fan mounts. The fan mounts are utilised by the 80mm fans provided, and there are no more available mounts within the chassis. We shall discuss the cooling performance later in the review. The VGA lead for the front panel passes out from within the case to the rear panel and the slack can be adjusted with a plastic grommet attached to the cable.
Overall, the case looks very good and should easily be able to blend with your other AV equipment. The addition of the touch screen LCD makes what would be a plain looking case into something more visually pleasing. The finish applied to all exterior surfaces was excellent.
So now we move on to the case interior, on the next page.
