Themaltake Tenor vs Silverston LaScala LC11SM - Opinions (1 Viewer)

[Maus]

Hi,

I am trying to decide between these two cases as the basis for a new system:-

Option 1
Thermaltake Tenor
VFD Media Kit with remote
A quiet Power Supply? (Suggestions welcome!)

Option 2
Silverstone Lascala LCS11SM, incliding VFD, remote and included PSU

By the time I have got hold of a PSU to go with the thermaltake the price will be about the same. So any ideas on Noise or any other considerations for each case?

To help decide - here are some web links I found.


Option 1 - The Tenor

http://www.ntcompatible.com/Thermaltake_Tenor_HTPC_Case_Video_Review_s47518.html
http://www.neoseeker.com/Hardware/Products/thermaltake_tenor/reviews.html


Option 2 - Silverstone LCS11SM

http://www.3dgameman.com/vr/silverstone/lc11_case/video_review_02.html
http://www.ocia.net/reviews/lc11m/page1.shtml

Thanks

 

[dhanjel]

I have the tenor case and I think it's great, chep and nice design. Silent fans.
I recommend it!

 

[fathead]

I have the tenor case and I think it's great, chep and nice design. Silent fans.
I recommend it!

Agreed. I went for the Nexus 4090 which is pretty damn near silent most of the time - gets noisey as it gets loaded under gaming (Even then its still quieter than most). Either that or a seasonic S12 I think it is??

I love the black tenor, but hate the black LC11 (Due to the wood). The LC11 has less upgrade options & would require the extra PCI-E riser if you wanted to use a more future proof board. The Tenor has tons more upgrade space.
The LC11 cooling is not as good as the tenor, and uses smaller fans - meaning more noise, less performance.

The LC11 in its defense is the nicer looking case though, and has a more sleek professional finish to it.

The tenor for me is the winner, do to the fact you can change PSU's, fans etc. more easily.

 

[gxtracker]

I just purchased the Tenor as well for a HTPC Build, and so far im quite impressed by it! The case is incredibly multi-functional - i'll be using it strictly as a HTPC case, but I wouldn't feel uncomfortable putting something like a gaming machine or file server setup in here.

I purchased the black case. The brushed metal front looks great, and fits in well with the rest of my A/V equipment.

only small complaint would be the fans right now. they are not dead silent, but are quite a bit quieter than most desktops that I have worked on. i've been spending a few days working on undervolting the CPU and tidying up the case for better airflow, and right now ive got it to a point where I've removed all the internal fans except the CPU fan and the PSU fan. After that, it was next to silent, and my temps are roughly 28c case, 45 socket which peaked at just over 50c after a twelve hour prime95 stress test. I keep it behind a glass door in my entertainment unit, and you cant hear a thing.

 

[jellybeard999]

in general... thermaltake is tat... silverstone is stylish and VERY good...

IMO.. find a different silverstone case

 

[madmonkeyman]

Silverstone for Me!

Hello,

Just to chuck in my two cents!

I have the Silverstone LC11m Silver and think its fantastic. I have not replaced the internal fans or the AMD fan that came with the processor and I can't hear the PC apart from when its under the highest load (gaming). Even then its only a slight hum.

The only thing I have done is make sure the cables inside are routed nicely and don't interfere with the airflow inside the case. I used rounded IDE cables to help with this. The greater the restriction on airflow then the higher the temperature, the higher the temperature then the faster fans have to spin to cool the box. The rounded cables have helped with greatly this.

If you want a box to sit in the living room and look dead sexy then Silverstone case is for you. The remote control and software are great too. Fully customisable. Two PCI slots and a PCI-e slot for expansion. e.g. two tuners and a dedicated graphics card if you need it. Personally I used an MSI RS480M2-IL which has onboard graphics and s-video out which reduces the cards you need in the box as well.

If you want a box to sit on your PC desk and look okay then the Thermaltake is the one for you. Good expansion if you need it. Can't comment too much on the Thermaltake as I don't have one. Just don't like the look of it personally. In the looks category the Silverstone wins hands down, the only problem is that its made the rest of my equipment look cheap!!

Anyway that's my two cents. Didn't think the post was going to be that long!

 

[CHli]

I've got a LC11m too here are my comments :

Since my htpc is in the room where I sleep I had to change all the fans (including PSU's one). For me they where far to noisy. Now I can sleep without any trouble since my HTPC is running sooooo quietly.

Main problem with LC11m is the mainboard. You don't have many choices with micro-ATX. When I bought and build my HTPC I took an A7n8x-VM 400 with GeForce 4 MX on-board, LAN and Sound. Certainly not the best choice I made in my life ^_^. (OnBoard GPU is not enough for MP, at least for me... and at that time I could'nt configure 5.1 DD over SPD/IF like I do on my A7N8X-Deluxe for all window sound, soundstorm power !)

Since you only have 1 AGP and 2 PCI free, you're quit rapidly stuck. Cause now I bought a 5200 FX to put in the AGP slot, I've got the TV-Card in one of the PCI and the other PCI slot is covered by the "sound output panel". My plan is now to buy a Sound Card... but the system is running quite hot now with all these cards in it :-P

So take care of choosing a good motherboard... but as I said the choice is very small (2 or 3 models I mean)... And I blame Silverstone for not listing them on their website !

Amen