Good budget htpc case: Silverstone Lascala 10 CS-SST-LC10B

A couple of weeks ago I took advantage of newegg's free shipping with paypal and bought the Silverstone Lascala 10 CS-SST-LC10B to sit under my black friday olevia. I would definitely recommend this case to anyone that needs a sexy htpc on a budget.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811163033

Good:
-It comes with an 80mm fan in front and two 60mm fans in back, which do a decent job of keeping everything cool.
-Blue LEDs match the led on my tv perfectly.
-This case is very roomy inside, very easy to work in.
-4 internal 3.5" bays
-Optical drive cover attaches to cd/dvd tray and gives the drive bay a seamless appearance. This is also great because it doesn't matter what color your optical drive is.

Bad:
-The back fans are a little louder than I had expected but since I have several computers in the same room and a portable a/c, the noise isn't really noticeable unless I turn everything else off.
-This thing is HEAVY! It bows the glass it's sitting on, but there's a metal bar under the glass so it's not too big an issue.

Good or Bad, depending:
-Only one external drive bay (5.25") This is great for me since I only need one and it gives the case a much cleaner overall appearance but mabye some people need more.
-A bunch of plugs on the side that I'll never use and would rather them not be there (audio, firewire, etc).

I shouldn't have put the stickers on the front, it looks a lot cleaner without them.

And some pics:

sno.lcn said:

-A bunch of plugs on the side that I'll never use and would rather them not be there (audio, firewire, etc).

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Thats one thing I hate about HTPC cases. Its even worse when they put them in the front. They need to be under a nice little cover.

looks great! how are the temps inside your case?

regarding the 60mm fans, you might try undervolting them with a fan controller. my lian-li pc-v800 came with 2x60mm ADDA fans that are somewhat annoying at full speed, but they are barely audible when slowed to 10 volts.

looks good and match up nicely!!! I used to have a LC-10M too!

yes the stock rear fans is a bit noisy for HTPC use (imho), you can undervoltage or replace a quieter fans. however, mind you, depends on your setup, it isn't the best airflowing/cooling HTPC case too (as it's a couple yrs old design)!! I was running a P4 3.2ghz (stock) w/ Zalman7700Cu + 6600GT w/ NVSilencer, case temp is mid-40c w/ cpu temp at low-mid 60c while folding (previously seti'ing)!! well, it was running full load 24/7 tho you know....

nice review, to bad they are 60mm fans though.

for not much more i would recommend this one, if any are looking. instead of 60mm fans like in this case the lc17-b uses 80mm.
http://www.directron.com/sstlc17b.html

LandShark said:

looks good and match up nicely!!! I used to have a LC-10M too!

yes the stock rear fans is a bit noisy for HTPC use (imho), you can undervoltage or replace a quieter fans. however, mind you, depends on your setup, it isn't the best airflowing/cooling HTPC case too (as it's a couple yrs old design)!! I was running a P4 3.2ghz (stock) w/ Zalman7700Cu + 6600GT w/ NVSilencer, case temp is mid-40c w/ cpu temp at low-mid 60c while folding (previously seti'ing)!! well, it was running full load 24/7 tho you know....

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Yeah, temps aren't too bad, it's only a 2.4c @ 2.9ghz w/ stock hsf. It's folding (duh!) but not really putting out too much heat.

Evilsizer said:

nice review, to bad they are 60mm fans though.

for not much more i would recommend this one, if any are looking. instead of 60mm fans like in this case the lc17-b uses 80mm.
http://www.directron.com/sstlc17b.html

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That's a pretty case but I don't like all the crap on the front (2 bays and that door thing). I still really want one with an lcd on front though

Evilsizer said:

nice review, to bad they are 60mm fans though.

for not much more i would recommend this one, if any are looking. instead of 60mm fans like in this case the lc17-b uses 80mm.
http://www.directron.com/sstlc17b.html

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And, for another $5 bucks you could have an LC20-B. The interior looks identical to the LC17-B (someone correct me if I'm wrong), but the front is a lot cleaner and you aren't limited to optical drives in the 5.25 bays.

I was thinking of buying one just to get a good look at it--push comes to shove, I could always put a folding rig in it and stack it in the corner

MVC said:

And, for another $5 bucks you could have an LC20-B. The interior looks identical to the LC17-B (someone correct me if I'm wrong), but the front is a lot cleaner and you aren't limited to optical drives in the 5.25 bays.

I was thinking of buying one just to get a good look at it--push comes to shove, I could always put a folding rig in it and stack it in the corner

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that is a nice sleek case, i saw that one but still prefer the lc-17. i like not having to open a door then open the cd/dvd.

Evilsizer said:

that is a nice sleek case, i saw that one but still prefer the lc-17. i like not having to open a door then open the cd/dvd.

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Yeah, there is that. I'm to the point where I refuse to buy "regular" PC cases with doors for that very reason.

I just don't see a real reason to have two optical drives now. It used to be you'd choose one for reading ability and one for writing ability, but today you can get good drives that can do both--so there's no reason for two drives. I have no idea what I'd use that second 5.25 bay for, but not being limited to an optical drive (in their current configuration--size, shape, button, door height, etc.) would be an advantage in getting many years of use out of the case.

Christmas is only a few days away so I'll wait and see what the sales look like on the 26th. I would like a good, personal, look at the LC17 & LC20, but also the CW01 (not a budget case)....