SilverStone Kublai KL03

Conclusion:

Each time we get a new SilverStone chassis we wonder if we'll finally have a "rotten egg", but the design engineers at SilverStone continue to outdo themselves. Consistently for the past few years we continue to be impressed by their cases for their best build quality in the industry, excellent layouts, and great features, but they're not always the cheapest of ATX cases. However, the Kublai series puts SilverStone cases in the hands of more computer enthusiasts and gamers with its lower price-point compared to the Temjin line-up. While these cases are cheaper, the build quality and other distinguishing factors of SilverStone enclosures are not sacrificed. This hybrid steel/aluminum chassis isn't quite as elegant as the flagship TJ10 model nor does it have such an extravagant internal layout, but it sells for 50% less. We're very pleased with the Kublai KL03 with its extended ATX compatibility and the case working out very well when installing an EATX motherboard with dual quad-core processors, etc.

From the cooling to the noise to the price-point, the Kublai KL03 is simply one hell of an economically minded computer chassis at around $150 USD. If you are constantly swapping out hard drives, this case is also nice for its CP05 hot-swappable capabilities from the front of the chassis. If you're looking for a new computer case but aren't interested in shelling out a lot of money on it, look no further than the Kublai KL03 as SilverStone has just taken home another Phoronix Editor's Choice award. The only parts of this case that mind us are the lack of an eSATA port, no thumb-screws for either of the side panels, and the need to remove the CP05 adapter (though it can be reinstalled) when installing a large motherboard.