Cooler Master Silencio 650 review - Introduction

When Depeche mode sang "Enjoy the Silence" they probably didn't know that the song title would line up with today's computer hardware. Over the years due to our thirst for performance, computer components have gotten hotter for many and plentiful reasons, increased IC density, higher voltages, higher clocks frequencies, poor cooling and sure ... all that needs to be vented away resulting into way more noisy personal computers. 

The past year or two-three a new trend did kick in though, we wanted more silent products and thus inaudible computers. Around that same timeframe Cooler Master introduced the Silencio series of chassis. 

The Silencio as the name carefully implies is a series for the true audiophiles that have a dislike towards noise, I mean face it the PC can make a lot of noise these days. Two of the previous released Silencio models released and tested by us were the Silencio 450 and 550. Models that where absolutely good, yet could use a few tweaks.

With silent PCs becoming more important, Cooler Master started designing a new Silencio chassis that's totally up-to snuff with the 2012 standards, requirements and features -- and then some more as hey .. it's Cooler Master and they are known for creative ideas and solutions inside any chassis.

As such the Silencio 650 as shown comes with cable routing, all black interior and an extra retaining hole, sound dampening materials but also a fan controller, and get this: a dual boot HDD switch. Yep, you can now switch in-between two HDDs. We'll explain later though.

So while there are many ways to get the noise levels down with good cooling solutions and silent fans, a much overlooked part of the PC is the chassis itself. And that's what the Silencio series is all about. Have a peek at the specs:

Now when you start to skimp on audio levels, the compromise will often also be airflow. Still the Silencio has a threefold of silent 120mm fans present, two in the front sucking in air from gaps in inbetween the bezel and front door and blowing it over the HDDs and one at the back exhausting air though a mesh. The fans are rated with an RPM level of 1200 (rotations per minute) and are low noise of course. That should be decent enough for all mainstream and even some high-end gear. Included however is a fan controller, allowing you the user to regulate fan RPM and thus residual noise.

With the side panels covered and very few airflow meshes to see we did wonder if the chassis produces enough airflow, and also is it spacious enough for a mid-tower ? Well, both answers will be a "yes". You can house a good seven 3.5-inch hard disk drives inside with an option for two SSDs or HDDS sized 2.5-inch.

Additionally, three 5.25-inch ODD (optical disk drive) bays have been implemented, a hotswap HDD dock (behind the door) and an I/O panel at the top with USB 3.0, USB 2.0, audio connectors and an SD card reader.

Combined with an all black interior the front panel boasts a dark finish with really the entire chassis colored in black.  Have a peek after which we'll dive straight in the product overview. Next page my man.