Cooler Master remains loyal to their box art. In stead off dull brown cardboard boxes, Cooler Master opts for bright pictures of their included enclosure.

 

 

 

 

 

It's hard to define the cooler Master design, but you can spot the work of the design team, always adding a nice frill to enhance the look. Looks are important, but the interior has to be up to the task to house modern hardware, be practical to work in and in this case silent operation has to be warranted.

 

 

 

When opening the front panel, we spot the presence of the noise dampening material. The front panel door is locked via four magnets. Let's explore the innards.

At first glance we spot the typical large cutout behind the CPU socket, facilitating the installation of your favourite CPU cooler. The storage capacity is divided over two bays, from which the top one is removable. With the top bay installed graphic cards up to 268mm are supported, once removed 343mm graphic cards are a no brainer.

 

 

 

 

Since we are still discussing storage, Cooler Master opted to install inside the bottom HDD bay an option to select from which drive to boot. For some it might be handy, I honestly have got no idea how to make proper use of this function.

 

 

 

However the front swappable docking station is a very nice feature for those that need to transfer large data. Hoping that all case manufacturers includes a sort like feature in all medium range priced cases. If needed the docking station can be removed.

 

 

 

The HDDS are either installed in a screw-less pop on bracket system or screwed onto a rigid plastic bracket. The latter to be used in the bottom HDD bay. When installing an SSD you can use the bracket as shown below or use it in the docking station after installing it onto the special support ( included in the tool box ):

 

 

 

 

 

When installing an SSD you can use the bracket as shown above or use the Solid State Drive in the docking station after installing it onto the special plastic support ( included in the tool box ) Via an easy clip operated mechanism you can securely fix your optical drives, without any screwdriver intervention.  

 

The dual boot option is selectable from the front panel. Same accounts for the fan controller. A fancy sliding cover hides the Power on or Reset button from any unwanted intervention from little children.

 

 

 

 

Two USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports, the audio jacks and even a micro SD card reader is included in this Silencio 650 case. Big LED light bars indicate the Power ON status and the HDD activity.

 

 

 

 

A dual 120mm fan setup in the front and one 120mm version in the rear provides the needed airflow to keep the innards cool. Too bad the option to install extra fans is limited. Don't get me wrong, this case is well equipped. But those that own a 240mm all in one liquid cooling unit won't find a way to install it in the Silencio 650. In the top there's only the option for one fan, the noise dampening material on the right is glued and no ventilation holes are to be seen.

 

 

 

Again another sliding cover reduces the noise when closed or allows for extra ventilation when being opened.

The other noise dampening material can be found on the front door and the two side panels. The panel on the left, which is installed on the motherboard side, uses slightly thinner dampening material. This was one of the big flaws of the Silencio 550 case and has partly been corrected to enhance the cable management. We mention partly as there's only just over 1CM of clearance between the mobo and side panel. Weird that Cooler Master has not adressed this issue as most modern cases have easily the double of clearance, especially in this price range.

 

 

While the Silencio 550 lacked rubber protection in the cutouts probably the reduce the costs, the 650 model is well equipped.

 

 

 

 

However another point of criticism are the two cutouts above the motherboard. The cutouts in fact are more then large enough, but the overhanging enclosure support makes routing of the 8 pin power plug for the motherboard a more time consuming job. Again another small oversight of the otherwise impeccable Cooler Master design team.

 

 

 

The power supply rests on rubber dampening supports to reduce the vibrations. The bottom dust cover is easily removable. Big rubber feet aid again to reduce vibrations.

 

 

 

The front panel pops off quite easily, giving direct access to the two front fans. A removable dust filter is of course included too.

 

The Silencio range are targetted at the "I want no noise" crowd. Thus Madshrimps opted to install a single GTX 480 GPU in stead of the regular two we usually use when reviewing gaming enclosures. For the cooling tests the case is equipped with the brand new Corsair H80i Hydro cooler, running at the balanced preset in the Link Software for the temperature tests. Retesting at silent mode for the noise measurement tests.

The hardware comprises of the following parts:

• ASUS Sabretooth X79 mainboard
• Intel i7-3960X OC'ed at 4.5Ghz 1.37Vcore
• Corsair Hydro80i cooling (silent, balanced fan setting)
• 16Gb G.Skill RipjawsZ 2133C9 RAMs
• 1 x GTX480 Fermi graphic card
• 2 x Western Digital 1TB Caviar Green Hard Drives
• 1 x Intel 520 240GB SSD
• Corsair HX1000 Power Supply.

 

For the idle tests we let the setup warm up during a 30 min period. The temperatures of the CPU cores are monitored by the Realtemp software. The temperatures of the motherboard components are read out by the ASUS Thermal Radar software. For the stress test we go flat out and test our the six cores of the overclocked i7-3960X CPU (4500MHz) with the Prime95 64bit software with a custom 12-12K setting. For the GPU test we run a 3 time loop of the Futuremark Vantage 3D bench software to heat up the graphics core.

Here are some screenshots of the ASUS Thermal RADAR software in action:

 

 

 

A clean build can nevertheless be obtained after some time. However I gave up trying to route the 8 pin power plug of the CORSAIR HX1000 PSU through the top cutout.  Secondly the cutout near the PSU should have been positioned a few more inches to the right. With a normal sized PSU it willl be fine, however this is one of the reasons Madshrimps installs large sized PSUs, to check clearances and cutouts.

 

 

 

 

The little cutout near the PSU support is with our test setup almost obsolete, again with much patience you can carefully route your USB or front panel audio cables, but these are so outdated design flaws, that should no longer be present in a case of this price level.

 

 

 

Clearance is good between the installed G.SKill Dimms and the installed Corsair Hydro 80i cooler.

The temperature results are up next.

 

Overall the Silencio 650 keeps our test gear at decent operating temperatures. However comparing to the previous silent case model we tested, namely the Fractal R4 Define case, then the CM Silencio 650 is performing a few degrees less. When dropping the fan rpm to 700 via the fan controller the cooling performance takes an expected hit.

 

 

Noise wise it's the same ordeal as with the R4 case. The noise level barely goes down when dropping fan rpm, but that gain is futile compared to the loss in operating temperatures. All depending on the hardware you have installed. If you have lots of temperature headroom then select the low fan mode and enjoy an incredible silent case. Yet even with the fans running full blast the case remains pretty silent.

On paper this Silencio 650 has got a lot going for it. Features like the docking station, the triple fan configuration, including a fan speed controller, the let's refer to it unique feature of supporting a dual boot disk configuration, and the usage of noise dampening material seems like a complete bundle for a case in this price range.

But the 650 case still suffers from a few design flaws that should have been appropriately addressed. Especially since some were already spotted with the little brother, the Silencio 550 case. Some cutouts ( 24pin power, PSU hole and 8 pin power plug hole) must be repositioned to facilitate the routing of cables, especially being unable to rapidly route the 8 pin power plug through the top hole is a serious flaw. Secondly the clearance between the side panel and the motherboard tray is still mediocre.  Just barely enough room to tuck away all them power supply cables. The lack of being unable to house a 240mm rad is also another minus point for a case at this price point.

 

 

But it's not all bad. Cooling performance is more then adequate, especially for a silent case and even our overclocked INTEL i7-3960X CPU remained well within safe operating temperatures. This with the included case fans spinning at max rpm (1200). If we lower the speed, via the build in fan controller to 700rpm, the overall operating temperatures increase by 3-4°C. However the noise level was only slightly dropped. A similar outcome as with the Fractal R4 Define case, were we also advised to keep the fans running full blast for a better performance/noise ratio.

Overall Cooler Master has build a sleek looking case, with great sound absorption capacities. The price for the features list seems appropriate, but in cooling performance the Fractal R4 Define is just a tad better and most of all, cheaper than the CM Silencio 650. Cooler Master has got some stiff competition, with the aforementioned Fractal R4 Define and CORSAIR's 550D case. For the future, the design of the Silencio range really needs an overhaul, especially in terms of cable management, allowing more optional fans/rads and most of all ditching some of the gimmicks, to lower the price. That done, the Silencio 650 rev 2 will be a far easier case to recommend. To be honest we were surprised to spot them earlier listed flaws in this Cooler Master product, as their other cases were an absolute delight to work with.

If you are looking for a silent case with decent cooling capabilities and need some of the features mentioned here then the CM Silencio 650 might be just the case for you. However if some features/gimmicks are not a must, then better look for another and maybe cheaper alternative.

 

PROS:

• Sleek design
• Good sound absorption
• Decent cooling performance for a silent case
• Fan controller and docking station
• Weight
• Price for the specifications

 

CONS:

• Cutouts either not large enough or badly positioned
• Cable management still not adequately improved
• No room for a 240mm AIO radiator

 

 

 

Thanks to Marco from Cooler Master for providing us with the review sample

Rogier from ASUS for the x79 Sabretooth Motherboard

 

Tones for supplying the i7-3960X CPU