Computex 2017 - Day 2

SilverStone

SilverStone has a well-earned reputation as a case manufacturer, and it naturally had a number of new cases on display at the show.


First up is the new Lucid Series, which is set to initially include the LD01 and LD02 models. With these, SilverStone is going after the audience that likes the look of smoked tempered glass panels but doesn't want to pay for them, which is probably a lot of us. Steel on the inside but using smoked acrylic on the outside, the Lucid Series maintains the look of tempered glass cases but keeps costs down. The motherboard tray of the larger LD02 can be removed and rotated, so you can choose the orientation of your system, and it gives the case a reason for having smoked acrylic on both sides. SilverStone is still deciding whether or not to include LED strips with the case(s).


One area where we think SilverStone has always excelled, however, is small form factor. More than nearly any other company, the Taiwanese outfit is constantly pushing new small form factors and looking to shrink computing power wherever possible. With this in mind, it had the 800W, fully modular SFX-L PSU on display (already released) – this comes with an 80 Plus Titanium rating. More exciting, however, was the fanless SFX-L PSU, which the company reckons it can produce it is a 450W capacity with an 80 Plus Platinum rating. The PCB inside is split into four sections – one for each outer wall – and the unit is entirely modular. If you're a fan of small and silent systems, this is definitely one to watch.


Lastly, one of the most exciting things we've seen at this show is the Raven RVZ04, which is a prototype that effectively brings laptop hardware to the desktop. It supports the 'micro-STX' form factor, a slightly enlarged version of the 5x5 STX motherboard form factor we saw Intel give official support to recently. It also uses an MXM connector for graphics capabilities, and the recent announcement of Nvidia Max-Q means that if it's ever taken up, the hardware inside can be even more efficient. SilverStone had its dinky chassis on display with an Nvidia GTX 1070 inside. Given how small it is, the power this unit has inside is decidedly impressive. ASRock is ready to start producing micro-STX motherboard, but in order to take off the form factor will need support from all of the major motherboard manufacturers, and we'll need to see Nvidia grant permission for its GPUs to be sold separately in MXM form factors. We can only hope!