Silverstone LC20 Case Review - Installing hardware
(Page 5 of 6 )
Now that we are all intimate and familiar with the case, let's add some components and see how it all comes together. For this machine, here are the components I'll be installing:
- EPoX 8U1697 Motherboard with AMD 64 3000+ CPU and 1GB OCZ RAM
- PowerColor X1300 video card with 512MB RAM
- XG Magnum EX 600w External PSU
- Pioneer DVD +/-R Reader/Writer
- Samsung 120GB IDE HD
The first thing I did was install the motherboard into the case. The board is a full-size ATX board, and it fastened in securely.
Once I had this in, I decided to do a test-fit of the wires, to make sure they could reach where they needed to on the motherboard. Well, the good news is that they fit. The bad news is they only fit if I stretched them tight, and did not re-install the optical drive cage. Nah, that wasn't going to work.
After examining the problem, it suddenly became apparent what the issue was. The wires, namely the USB leads for the front panel, were fed through the wrong hole in the front of the case. If I was able to re-route them through a different hole, I should be able to get an additional 10-12 inches of slack. Being that I was only short by two or three inches, this would be plenty. The yellow arrows point to the USB headers on the board.
So I disassembled more of the case, and spent the next 20 minutes meticulously re-running the wires through the closer hole. It was a little difficult, but I finally managed to get them all successfully in place. Here's a couple shots of the progress:
One thing I'd like to point out is the placement of the PSU mount. In this case, it is on the opposite side of where you would normally expect to see it. This puts the PCI slots in a direct path between the PSU and the PSU power connectors on the motherboard, in many cases. On this particular board, it couldn't have been any worse. I had to install the video card, and then run the power leads over the top of the video card, to plug into the motherboard behind it.
Notice how I'm not actually installing a full PSU inside the case, but instead this adapting harness? That's because the PSU I'm using is external, and does not sit within the computer's case itself. This will be beneficial, since it will mean less heat generated inside the case.
With the board and PSU hooked up, it was time to install the DVD and hard drive. Installing them into the drive cages was no big deal. Here are some pics of the drives in the cages, and then the cages installed into the machine.
And finally, all that was left to do was hook up all the miscellaneous wires and power cables. Here's a final pic of all the components hooked up and ready to run. Notice the blue USB cables, and how much extra length I have, now that I moved them to a different access hole in the case.
And of course, a few shots of the case closed up, and even resting comfortably in its new home in my wall unit.
Next: Final thoughts >>
More Computer Cases Articles
More By Rich Smith
