SilverStone Precision Series PS11 Case Review

Inside the SilverStone PRECISION Series PS11-Q Computer Case
One thing we really need to notice in this review, especially if you are about to build into this case is the Phillips head screws that fasten the top part of the case to the lower portion. There are 10 Phillips heads and I will show you the locations of them on the next build page, but you will need to take this top panel off and taking out those screws is the best way to begin building into the SilverStone PRECISION Series PS11-Q .

The inside back of the picture below shows the insulation covering the out cropping of the Motherboard tray side panel and the front 120mm fan mounted high on the right, I moved to the back for this build’s exhaust fan. I used two 140mm fans into the front of case and they fit with not one millimeter to spare. The bottom front fan should be mounted first, as you need to drop it down between the Hard drive cage and the front part of the case wall to secure it in the correct placement. The top of both the hard drive cage and the bottom of the tool-less top 5.25 inch drive bays have their own SSD shelves that can hold one SSD using either the bottom SSD mounting screws or the side mounting screws. A main thumb screw loosens the SSD trays for mounting the SSD drive into it and replacement is simply to drop in the back two metal tabs into the matching holes and then press down and replace the front thumb screw again. The power supply has ample space below and the CPU rear access hole is the right size and placement for the Z87 ASUS motherboard that I used, but I would try to install everything to the board before you mount the motherboard inside the case just to be sure. There is not much room in the case for lots of work.

open Side panel interior case

Take NOTE again at the top of the case and see the Phillips head screws that are fastening the top panel onto the case bottom. You will need to remove these screws and the entire top to properly install any size motherboard into this case.

The back of the motherboard tray has 1/4 of an inch of clearance along the outside edges and the outcropping of the case in the central part of the case is the best place to hide wires on the back of the case if you need to do so. This is okay since the out cropping on the case side panels give plenty of room for wire management but the top corner where the P8 CPU power wire is routed is pressed so hard into the side of the motherboard tray as it’s so high up the side of the case that it has to fit in that very small 6.35 mm space at the top of the case and it is really tight to replace the side panel if you have round power supply cable as I used.

Case frame back

The front shows the controls at the very top with the power button at the very top left hand side. Notice that its not quite a button but a flap that bends in about 4 to 5 mm to complete the pressing of the inner micro-switch. I can’t tell the reader how long that flap will stay there since bending plastic over and over can diminish the strength of the plastic over time and possibly break from material fatigue.

The USB 3.0 cables are two part individual wires which plug into the same 20 pin connections. This will allow both of the USB 3.0 or 2.0 connectors to be working together with out sharing the same pins making them completely separate of each other and more importantly making the two wires much smaller in diameter so they can fit under the very low cable clearance on the edges of the panel.

The front outer HD Audio mini-RCA jacks are centrally located but the wire that connects to the motherboard is very short so you may need to buy an extension for it to fit for the large full sized ATX motherboards. I used the uATX (microATX) motherboard for this build and the wire was perfect for the board that I used with not one millimeter to spare.

The very right side of the top control panel is a one millimeter sized in-set reset switch that you may have to use a pencil or pen to press in and next to it is the power and HDD activity LED lights.

Front covered and exposed

The front fan cover is really easy to remove and replace as you can see there are two tabs at the top and two tabs at the bottom that lock it into place. Simply place a few fingers under the cover and pull from the bottom out and then let the cover drop down to clear the tabs and it’s out. The front has two openings for two 120 or 140mm fans but mount the bottom fan first as you have to clear the screw mounted hard drive cage in the bottom inner part of the case.

When the panel is in place the front of the SilverStone PRECISION SST-PS11B-Q computer case looks really nice with the mirrored logo in the to Center and the covered front of the Q model.

Front fan Shroud

The inside of the side panel shows the insulation mat that is glued to the inside of the outcropping and is not very thick. This is great for wire management that you will need to do in the central part behind the motherboard tray of the case. The panel has the typical multi-alignment, slide forward variety and has attached panel thumb screws to help with installing.

Inner panel

The picture below shows the insulation at the top back of the top panel and the tool-less 5.25 inch drive bay and lastly the SSD placement is at the top. This is a great idea and a good placement since the back is really off limits for too many wires.

SilverStone Precision PS11Q page 3 hard drive SSD tray1

The second SSD placement is directly mounted to the top of the 3.5 inch mechanical hard drive cage that holds 3 x 3.5 inch HDD into the slide in mounting cage. Farther to the front is the drop in area for the front bottom fan to fall in and mount. As you can see the top fan is in the way so if you plan to add a fan down low you need to take out the top fan to allow space to drop the fan into the bottom. I used two 140mm fans and they fit quite well.

SSD Tray lower

The tabs highlighted in green are the press in to mount then release to lock hard drive tool-less feature of the HDD cage. There are spaces for screws and I would recommend using at least one screw per side to keep the vibration down but that is up to the builder as the tool-less holders work pretty well holding the drives but there are no rubber grommets or any second side support.

tool less Mechanical HDD module

Looking at the top once more shows that the insulation does not cover the entire top of the case. This is not done for cost cutting but for wire management only, as you are going to need every millimeter of space to fit you CPU power wire between the top of the board and the top of the case.

I playfully call this case a Flat Top Case since the top is like the old flat top hairstyle of the 1950’s.
It is easy to see why I use this description since the clearance of the top back I/O panel is right at the top of the case and the top mounting screws of the motherboard are dangerously close to the top of the case. Hence the reason you need to remove the top during any motherboard installation.

Top insulation

This look at the back CPU power wire access hole has been altered to illustrate the hole as it looks with the top removed and not one millimeter is taken for granted. When the top is on this hole is half covered up with less that a 1/4 inch to spare in between the top and the back of the hole. This is very close to the side panel mounts and makes wire management around the edges nearly impossible.

The back exhaust fan mount is made for a standard 120mm fan and an 80mm fan if you can find one that does not sound like swarm of bees chasing you at the fishing hole but its was cool seeing that 80mm. fan mount. It reminded me of some of the cases we had in the old days of cases.

P8 power access hole

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