SilverStone Kublai KL05 Case Review

Overview

 

Most of us have heard of and already become familiar with SilverStone, a company formed in 2003 by former Cooler Master employees that produce PC Cases, Power Supplies, and CPU Coolers alongside many other smaller peripherals. With the likes of Raven, Fortress, Temjin, Strider, Argon and more recently Tundra, being very popular lines that often show incredibly high build quality, great aesthetics, high performance and a huge potential for both air and watercooling. What the majority also share is a higher than average price tag. Yet here we have something a little different in the form of the latest case in the Kublai series, a product line new to pcG and myself, but was first introduced back in 2007. The SilverStone Kublai KL05 (SST-KL05B-W) is a tower ATX case designed with a large internal capacity in mind. The KL05 measures 200mm(W) x 525mm(H) x 494mm(D), 52 litres and features ample space in which to house up to six 3.5″/2.5″ storage drives within two removable racks, two further 2.5″ drives concealed behind the motherboard tray, two 5.25″ drives, eight expansion slots, a maximum CPU Cooler height of 165mm and a plethora of fan mounts for optional air cooling. The real talking point of this particular Kublai is the optional cooling, not only can the KL05 accept two 120mm/140mm fans in the front and roof, two 120mm fans in the floor or a single in the rear, but its exceptionally roomy interior means the Kublai KL05 also offers huge potential for water cooling enthusiasts, perhaps more importantly it does so at a cost of approximately £55.00!

 

 

 

The SilverStone Kublai KL05 arrived at pcG concealed within a fairly simple and understated brown cardboard box. The front of which features the SilverStone logo and branding, tells us the case is part of the Kublai series and describes it as ‘An all accomodating ATX tower designed for liquid cooling”, shows us two renditions of the case in its two available guises; KL05-Q being the quiet edition with a full panel designed front, no window and fully foam padded side panels to help minimise noise, KL05-W being the performance edition featuring a mesh front panel to help maximise airflow and a side window (the Kublai KL05-W akso happens to be our review sample). The box front then goes on to give us several key features of the KL05 as follows:

• Interference-free design for mounting 240mm or 280mm radiator
• Highly flexible storage accommodation of up to 8 or 11 drives
• Quick access filters for easy cleaning
• Motherboard back plate opening for quick CPU Cooler assembly
• All black painted interior for stylish look

Then on either side we are given a brief ‘Introductuon’ (whoops!) of the case inside, followed by the specifications for both of the Kublai KL05 models (see Specifications/Features below).

While over on the back we find a large technical diagram of the KL05 pinpointing all of the cases features. I’m not going to list these here, but you will find them all cropping up within the First Impressions below.

 

 

As per the norm, upon opening the cardboard box within which the case is concealed, we find a suitably packaged Kublai KL05 within a clear plastic bag and held between two polystyrene blocks to prevent movement and help provide protection.

 

 

Being a fairly budget conscientious case, the SilverStone Kublai KL05 is shipped with a pretty simple set of accessories. These include a user guide, stand-off tool, motherboard stand-offs, motherboard screws, PSU screws, storage drive screws and a small handful of cable ties.

At the time of review, the SilverStone Kublai KL05 is retailing on Amazon or from Scan for £56.11 and features a 2 year warranty.

 

Specifications/Features

courtesy of SilverStone

 

* Additional details available here

 

First Impressions

 

 

I’ll not lie, despite reading about all of the case features and potential for a damn good Gaming set-up, I wasn’t expecting a lot from the Kublai KL05 given its very reasonable price tag. However I’ll admit my surprise here and should give SilverStone more credit as the KL05 is a rather well constructed ATX case and not too harsh on the eye either. The all black case measures in at 200mm(W) x 525mm(H) x 494mm(D), which looked a little strange and out of proportion at first, owing to its fairly slim width and rather tall height. This is is partially due to the cavernous roof panel measuring 55mm in height, which also means the KL05 has plenty of space for some pretty thick radiators.

 

 

From the left we can see the a mass expanse of black, broken up by what I’d call a rather small window. Normally I’d be the first to moan about such a thing (it really is small she said…), but with a clever twist, by design the window measuring 300m(H) x 200mm(W) should be just enough to show off the components installed upon a standard ATX motherboard (305mm(H) x 244mm(W)) that you’ll want to see, whilst being small enough to block our view from unsightly cables and drive racks.

Then over on the right we find an even bigger expanse of black! Yep, no features and nothing but the blackness… Both of the side panels are held in place typically via two thumb-screws. What is slightly different about these is that they are only partially threaded, which means they won’t need to be fully unscrewed to remove either panel and will stay attached to the panel once they are removed, which also means they won’t fall on the floor only to be lost until that time of day when you stamp on one barefoot.

 

 

From above, the Kublai KL05 sets a pretty clean image. The top panel itself is made from a high quality and sand textured black plastic, which is also fairly thick making it strangely satisfying to tap. The honeycomb venting across the majority of the panel, features a metal dust-filter beneath it to help keep a nicely clean Gaming rig inside. One small oddity I found is the length of the mesh itself, at 350mm surely it would have been possible for SilverStone to extend it a further 10mm, thereby increasing the Kublai KL05 water cooling potential even further to include a 360mm radiator?

Beneath the KL05 is fairly similar to many other cases available today. In each of the four corners we find a hard plastic foot with a height of 15mm apiece, whilst running down very nearly the entirety of the case is an easy to remove dust-filter. Once removed we find a typical air intake to help feed our chosen PSU cool air and further towards the front an additional two internal fan mounts.

 

 

Although the KL05 front panel is made from the same hard black plastic as the panel above it, unlike the slightly rough feeling texture of the top panel, the front of the SilverStone Kublai KL05 features a faux brushed aluminium effect which works surprisingly well. Of course a keen eye will recognise this quite easily by its more matte than satin appearance. There are a few benefits for this too of course, the plastic is lighter than that of an aluminium or steel construct, if damaged the colour runs all the way through the panel as opposed to just being on the surface, but more importantly (to me at least) plastic doesn’t tend to show marks and fingerprints anywhere near as easily. Running down either side of the panel itself and we find what looks to be two very long, but narrow vented areas, which are in fact not at all and purely aesthetic. Towards the top we find the case I/O panel, beneath which is two easy to remove and well fitting 5.25″ blanking plates, then a large removable panel (350mm(H) x 150mm(W)) panel featuring honeycomb mesh and another easily removed dust-filter. Of course the case front wouldn’t quite be finished without a SilverStone case badge, which breaks up the dark aesthetics quite nicely.

Looking at the rear of the Kublai KL05, we find the familiar sight of PSU cut-out towards the bottom, above which we find eight expansion slot blanking plates, to the right is a small vented area with two rubber grommeted porthole cut-outs for external watercooling tubing, then above that an exhaust fan mount and the usual motherboard cut-out. Looking at the rear of the top panel we find it to be fixed firmly in place by two standard thumb-screws.

 

 

The KL05 front panel is a fairly basic affair, with just two USB 3.0 ports,Audio Jacks, Reset and Power Switch. To the right of the Power Switch we find a power indicator LED which will illuminate blue once the Gaming rig is powered on. Although basic in its feature set, the buttons either side fit the panel very nicely and certainly feel of a higher quality than those we’ve found on cases in the same pricing group.

 

 

With the left panel removed, we can clearly see how big the internal chassis with its 52 litre capacity really is. In the lower right we find the main storage drive racks, both of which are reconfigurable and removable, above which we find a fixed 5.25 drive bay which is of a tool-free design, then to the left the Motherboard tray. As we can see the Kublai KL05 features a huge CPU Cooler cut-out for easy installation, above which we find two well placed cut-outs for easy cable management and a further four towards the bottom of the case providing easy access to the lower motherboard headers, rather nicely SilverStone have seen fit to place one of these slightly higher up for anyone choosing an MATX Motherboard for their build. To the right of the tray area we find a further three cut-outs, which although welcome do seem a little narrow and from the looks of it the lower SATA cut-out might not be as conveniently placed in relation to the Motherboard SATA ports as we’d perhaps like. None of the cut-outs feature rubber grommets either, but all have been very nicely folded and finished to help prevent cable damage and the loss of fingers. In fact the only major sticking point for me so far is the front panel cables, yes the USB 3.0 cable is fully sleeved in black plastic, but surely even such an economical Case as the KL05 shouldn’t be featuring multi-coloured cables for everything else?!

The reverse of the motherboard tray allows us approximately 10mm of working space, which should be just enough to keep the cables management tidy assuming your chosen PSU doesn’t feature extra thick heavy duty power cables. Dotted around the reverse of the Motherboard tray we find a total of seven cable tie off points, four of which are to the left of the main cable access point. Whilst these seem adequate and in line with the competition, I’d personally like to see Case manufacturers throw in an additional set of tie off points running symmetrically on the opposite side of the cable trunk in order to make cable management even easier.

 

 

The SilverStone Kublai KL05 features quite a variety of fan mounts, especially for a case in its price range. The traditional exhaust mount on the back will accept an optional 120mm fan or perhaps even a radiator of your choice, while the fixed mount itself allows the ability to fine tune your chosen peripherals positioning by up to 10mm.

With the top panel removed, we find the Kublai KL05 features enough space for a further two fans in the roof, be it a couple of 140mm or 120mm fans. Given the 40mm distance between the roof and Motherboard mounting area and the ample 55mm cavity within the top panel itself, means you could easily install a slim radiator with a push/pull configuration or even pop in a 45mm thick radiator with a single fan configuration. The potential for water cooling is quite frankly staggering for a case costing approximately £55, but I can’t help but ask myself the question as to why SilverStone haven’t added an even higher degree of flexibility, by allowing installation of 360mm radiators? The Kublai KL05 certainly has plenty of space to do so, even if this would eventually cost the end user the option of utilizing the very top 5.25″ drive bay.

Even the front of the KL05 features a surprising amount of flexibility. With the two 3.5″ drive bays removed, we gain easy access to a further two fan mounts which like the roof will accept two fans of either 120mm or 140mm. One 1200RPM rated 120mm clear framed fan is pre-installed within the KL05, which once powered on will illuminate neon blue. Again the front panel fan mounts allow additional support for radiators of up to 280mm, but in order to install additional fans as well you’ll need to remove the two 3.5″ drive racks altogether, or if you’re feeling especially brave you could even cut away the cross brace from behind the Case front panel and install the fans on the external chassis behind the front cover. This would of course make the front panel itself less structurally sound and certainly void your warranty.

 

 

Moving to the floor of the case, we find that SilverStone have seen fit to include four rubber vibration dampening feet within the Power Supply mounting area. This is something that is always a welcome addition, especially for anyone pushing an older or lower Wattage PSU to its noisy limits.

Finally towards the front end, we find a further two fan mounts for 120mm fans. In order to gain access to the very front mount, you will need to remove the 3.5″ drive racks, but there is just enough space to still re-install them after the 120mm fan is fitted. Of course these additional mounts also means even more potential for watercooling with a maximum radiator length of 240mm.

 

 

Behind the Kublai KL05 motherboard tray, we find two stealthily concealed 2.5″ drive mounts. Both of which are of a tool-free design and simply fixed in place using a single thumb-screw apiece. Quite often we find that thumb-screws are a little too tight and perhaps machined on to cases during the manufacturing process. Given the position of these drive mounts this would hardly be considered ideal, but luckily for us SilverStone have thought ahead by way of two small portholes along the chassis frame allowing easy access to the thumb-screws using a standard screwdriver.

Taking a closer look at the two 3.5″ drive racks fitted within the front, we find them both to be easily removable courtesy of a couple of thumb-screws behind the Case which will then allow then to simply slide free. If you should choose to take advantage of the mounting space on the Case floor for watercooling, your first concern would be as to where you’ll be mounting your 3.5″ storage drives, but luckily SilverStone are way ahead of us here too, as looking beneath the 5.25″ bay shows us the ability to fit the drive cages in a hanging position.

Each of the two removable 3.5″ drive racks consists of three sleds allowing a maximum of six 3.5″ drives in total. Each of the sleds is made of a flexible plastic and of a tool-free design should you choose to install a typical 3.5″ HDD. However if you wish to use these sleds for 2.5″ drives, you’ll need to affix them using screws just like as you will for the stealth mounts on the reverse of the Motherboard tray.

Overall I must admit my surprise at the SilverStone Kublai KL05. The case itself is very well made, it offers a classic styling that isn’t too harsh on the eye, then even though we find only the one pre-installed 120mm fan, we find an incredible amount of flexibility for optional air cooling extras with a phenomenal potential for watercooling. More importantly it does all this with a very reasonable price of approximately £55.00.

Let’s see how it performs!

 

Hardware Installation

 

Test Rig Setup

Case	SilverStone Kublai KL05	Power Supply	Corsair Professional Series AX760i
Motherboard	ASRock Fatal1ty Z97X Killer	CPU	Intel Core i5-4690K
CPU Cooler	Raijintek Themis	RAM	HyperX Savage 2400MHz 8GB Kit
Graphics Card	XFX AMD Radeon R9 290X DD Black Edition	SSD	HyperX Fury 120GB

 

 

Quite often we here at pcG find that installing our Test Rig hardware into an inexpensive Case can be problematic for a number of reasons. The most common of which usually relates to the spacing between the Motherboard and the roof of the case, cut-out placing and lack of space behind the Motherboard tray for at least half decent cable management. So before I go any further, I’d like to thank SilverStone for providing us with a Case that has given me the quickest and easiest installation I’ve ever come across (something which is no mean feat given the amount of Cases we’ve seen over the years!).

I first started installation of the test hardware, by in fact not installing anything at all. Instead my first task was to remove the upper 3.5″ drive cage to allow a little extra space for the 295mm long XFX Radeon R9 290X DD Black Edition. With the upper rack removed I installed both the HyperX Fury 120GB and Seagate 2TB SSHD into their relevant sleds which were then fitted in to their respective places. The Motherboard I/O shield was then slotted into place followed by the Motherboard stand-offs using the tool provided, then the whole Motherboard assembly consisting of the ASRock Fatal1ty Z97X Killer, i5-4690K, Raijintek Themis, HyperX Savage.

 

 

With the bulk of the Test Rig already completed, we start to plug in the case I/O cables into the relevant Motherboard headers along with the solo 120mm fan. In case you’re wondering why, this is simply because I’ve chosen to use the small cut-out beside the PSU mount for the case HD Audio cable, which might not be so easily accessible once the PSU is installed. two SATA cables are then plugged into the ASRock Fatal1ty Z97X Killer on the lowest two headers to give the cables a little extra length, which are then in turn plugged into the HyperX Fury 120GB and Seagate 2TB SSHD test drives.

 

 

Which then just leaves the installation of the Corsair Professional Series AX760i Power Supply, Creative Sound Blaster Zx and XFX Radeon R9 290X DD Black Edition, both of which slip into place like a hand into a glove. This is made all the easier by having removed the upper 3.5″ drive rack, which later I found could be replaced but in order to do so would’ve been very tight on the 295mm GPU. Of course this tight squeeze might also help to alleviate the slight GPU sag. The rest of the power cables are then plugged into the relevant hardware and we’re ready for thermal testing (and perhaps a little Gaming 😉 ).

 

 

The overall installation of the Test Rig hardware really couldn’t have been made much simpler. Not once did I have to sit back and think to myself ‘How should I do this? or ‘What should I do to get around that?’, simply because the SilverStone Kublai KL05 features a very sensibly placed layout and is easily one of the best Cases to work on I’ve ever come across. Then when we sit back and look at the finished Gaming rig, it actually looks pretty good too. I guess it just goes to show how much Case you can really get for approximately £55.00.

 

Testing Methodology/Setup

 

At pcGameware we use Prime95 and CoreTemp to evaluate CPU temperatures and we use MSI Afterburner to evaluate the GPU temperatures. Of course Prime95 being a CPU stress test also helps to generate heat for us to check the case thermals. We also use UNiGiNE Heaven 4.0 for GPU temperature testing.

CPU performance testing is carried out using Prime95 (Small FFT) to stress the CPU. Each run is timed for 15 mins and the maximum temperature is recorded for all cores and then the average core heat is taken. Testing was carried out with a small overclock on the i5-4690K of 4.0GHz courtesy of the ASRock UEFI.

GPU performance testing is carried out by running UNiGiNE Heaven 4.0 for 15 minutes and then by recording the maximum GPU temperature.

* All case fans (x1 in the case of the SilverStone Kublai KL05) and the CPU Cooler (Raijintek Themis) are run at 100% throughout testing. To ascertain case noise levels, the GPU fans are set to their lowest setting and the CPU Cooler fan is unplugged, whilst the dB is recorded from 1m away.

 

Hardware Performance

 

 

CPU RESULTS – SilverStone Kublai KL05 with Raijintek Themis and Intel i5-4690K @ 4.0GHz

Case	Ambient Temperature	Max CPU Temperature (core average)	Delta Temperature
BitFenix Colossus Venom Window	23.50	60.00	36.50
Cooler Master HAF XB	24.00	61.50	37.50
NZXT H440 Razer Edition	24.50	64.00	39.50
Thermaltake Core V51	22.50	62.25	39.75
NZXT S340	22.00	62.00	40.00
SilverStone Kublai KL05	24.00	65.50	41.50
Cooltek W2	24.00	69.75	45.75

* Thermals Explained

 

With everything having gone so well with the Kublai KL05 thus far, I was expecting something to literally jump out of the woodwork and throw a spanner in the works. To which I was expecting this to be in the area of thermal performance, after all how much can we really expect from a Case shipped with just a single 120mm fitted as an intake?! Well rather surprisingly the KL05 performed well above my expectations with a maximum average Core temperature of 65.50C and Delta of 41.50C. Which is certainly respectable and something I’d be happy with on a day to day basis with our moderate 4.0GHz overclocked i5-4690K. Then of course we could easily improve this at minimal cost by utilising the vast array of fan mounts available or perhaps even by throwing in an AIO CPU Cooler, the KL05 has plenty of space after all.

 

GPU RESULTS – SilverStone Kublai KL05 with XFX AMD Radeon R9 290X DD Black Edition – STOCK (Core: 1050MHz/ Mem: 5000MHz)

Case	Ambient Temperature	Max GPU Temperature	Delta Temperature
Cooltek W1	24.00	74.00	50.00
BitFenix Colossus Venom Window	22.00	73.00	51.00
SilverStone Kublai KL05	24.00	79.00	55.00
Cooler Master HAF XB	24.00	80.00	56.00
BitFenix Aegis	23.50	81.00	57.50
NZXT S340	22.00	80.00	58.00
BitFenix Prodigy M	22.50	83.00	60.50
Xigmatek Aquila	23.50	84.00	60.50
NZXT H440 Razer Edition	23.50	85.00	61.50
BitFenix Pandora	24.00	87.00	63.00
Cooltek W2	26.00	90.00	64.00
In Win 901	22.50	89.00	66.50
Fractal Design Core 1100	24.00	94.00	70.00
BitFenix Phenom	22.00	94.00	72.00
Phanteks Enthoo Evolv ITX	23.00	95.00	72.00

 

The Kublai KL05 thermals benchmarks continue to surprise and impress with our chosen test GPU. A card chosen specifically for its well known potential to produce a large amount of heat, but even the XFX Radeon R9 290X DD Black Edition remained tame with a maximum GPU temperature of 79.00C (55.00C Delta) and no where near its 94.00C throttle limit. Could this be because the Kublai KL05 features a large and roomy interior? Maybe it’s because the single 1200RPM 120mm pre-installed fan is well placed and directly in line with the top PCI-E expansion slot? Whatever the reason it firmly places the SilverStone KL05 in third place of our GPU thermal chart, which is an impressive feat in itself.

 

Acoustic Performance

In fact the one and only area in which the SilverStone Kublai KL06 is with its acoustic performance. With a maximum noise produced recorded at 44dB with the solo fan set at 100% using the UEFI, then set to its very lowest and producing 40dB , you can hardly call the Kublai KL06 a loud case, but something our review sample certainly suffers from is a slightly annoying whirring sound from within the fan itself.

 

Final Thoughts

 

I’ve seen a number of products from the mighty SilverStone in the past and for one reason or another have always walked away impressed. The Kublai range is however new to me and with a rather economical pricing of approximately £55.00 I wasn’t expecting to be overly impressed with the SilverStone Kublai KL05, but boy was I wrong…

The Kublai KL05 arrived at pcG concealed within a familiar brown cardboard box. The front of which gave us images of the two Kublai KL05 currently available (our review sample being the windowed edition SST-KL05B-W), either side giving us the case specifications along with a brief on the Case itself, where the reverse of the box displayed a large technical image of the KL05 pinpointing each of the Case features. With the box open the case was found to be adequately protected within the usual clear plastic bag and polystyrene blocks. Once unboxed the Kublai KL05 was revealed to be a rather pleasant surprise aesthetically, with a classic styling, high quality textured plastics and a great finish showing how well built the KL05 actually is. Unlike many modern cases we’ve seen of late, the Kublai KL05B-W doesn’t feature a window that spans across the entirety of its left panel. Instead SilverStone have opted for a surprisingly small but very well placed window, which works incredibly well in displaying the hardware you actually want to see inside the Case, while keeping the bits you don’t well hidden. With the side panels removed the 200mm(W) x 525mm(H) x 494mm(D) Kublai KL05 seems to be even bigger inside than its 52 litre capacity suggests. Every cut-out is perfectly placed, whilst the oversized CPU Cooler cut-out will be more than ample for anyone’s needs. The inclusion of two stealthily placed 2.5″ drive mounts behind the motherboard tray were found to be a welcome addition, as were the two easily removable 3.5″ drive racks which if left in place will allow an additional six drives of your choosing to be installed. However the real star of the show is none of the above, but in fact the huge potential the Kublai KL05 has to offer when it comes to cooling. Sure it only comes with a single 1200RPM rated 120mm fan (which also happens to illuminate neon blue when on 😉 ), but the Case offers additional mounting space for another 120mm fan in the front, maybe even ditch the 120mm fan altogether and switch to 140mm fans? The KL05 then gives you you option to to exactly the same in the roof, perhaps throw in a couple of 120mm fans on the floor mounts, then we even have the adjustable exhaust mount on the rear of the case just waiting to be filled, SilverStone have even included easy to remove dust-filters across each of the fan mounts. Perhaps more importantly is the huge amount of space surrounding each of the fan mounting areas, leading to a huge potential for an array of radiators of up to 280mm for AIO CPU Coolers or custom watercooling. Personally I can’t think of any other Case around the £55 mark that would allow enough space for a 280mm radiator in the roof, 280mm in the front, 240mm in the floor and if you really wanted to push it a 120mm in the back, then even give you enough space for fans!

Another high point of the Kublai KL05 surrounds the all important task of installing your latest Gaming hardware. Because of the phenomenal amount of space, well placed cut-outs and the ability to remove the 3.5″ drive racks should the needs arise (our XFX AMD Radeon R9 290X DD Black Edition measuring at 295mm proved to be a very tight squeeze with the upper drive rack installed), I’m quite happy to stick my neck on the block and tell the world that the SilverStone Kublai KL05 is one of the easiest cases I’ve ever had the pleasure to install into, perhaps even the easiest!?

Then we have the Kublai KL05 thermal performance, which with only one 120mm as an air intake helping to keep all the Test Rig Gaming hardware cool, you’d be forgiven for thinking the case could be a let down (yep, that includes me…). Instead we found our Intel i5-4690K with its moderate 4.0GHz overclock, to have a rather respectable maximum average Core temperature of 65.50C (41.50C Delta), which I was expecting to be a fair bit higher. Then whilst benchmarking our often toasty XFX Radeon R9 290X DD Black Edition the KL05 surprises even further still with the a maximum GPU temperature recorded at 79.00C (55.00C Delta), making the Case one of the coolest we’ve ever tested with this particular test card. I’m still astonished even now if I’m entirely honest and can’t help but imagine how much cooler the KL05 would actually be with additional fans thrown in for good measure.

My overall view of the SilverStone Kublai KL05 is certainly not something I would have expected having only read about the Case on paper and smirked at its economical cost. I really cannot recommend the KL05 enough, it may not be the perfect Case, have the killer aesthetics of other far more expensive cases, or even fancy brushed aluminium panelling, hell the Case is only shipped with a single pre-installed 120mm fan! Yet the Kublai KL05 isn’t meant to be the greatest Case straight out of the box, but a case that has been designed to grow with you, the end user. For anyone looking to build their first Gaming rig or anyone looking to build anew, the Kublai KL05 is easy on the eye, offers an incredibly easy and pain free hardware installation, with respectable thermal performance straight out of the box, but for anyone looking with one eye on the future for additional cooling be it by air, an AIO CPU Cooler or a custom loop, the KL05 offers huge potential whilst costing just £55.00.

 

Verdict

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Many thanks to SilverStone for providing this sample for review