Page 4 – Installation and Conclusion
The computer building process was generally okay with the SilverStone FARA B1. It was easy to work with, since everything was laid out in pretty standard manner. I first installed the power supply into the PSU chamber. The power supply used for this computer was the FSP Hydro PTM 750W, which has a 135mm fan. Thanks to the grille, it is possible to have enough airflow for the PSU. When I installed the PSU, I found that the drive cage was extremely close to the power supply, which left little room for connecting the cables. I had to remove the storage cage in the PSU chamber to allow proper wiring, as shown in the above picture. A SilverStone Tundra TD03-LITE water cooler was mounted on my Gigabyte GA-H170-D3HP motherboard. The position of the motherboard tray opening of the FARA B1 matches perfectly for the CPU position, therefore my water block can be installed without any trouble.
The installation of the solid-state drive was fairly easy. First, I unscrewed one SSD tray such that the drive can be screwed on. Then, the OCZ Trion 150 480GB SSD was screwed into position. As the final step, the thumbscrew was hand tightened to put the tray back to its original position. The whole procedure of installing the SSD did require the use of a screwdriver. The rest of the installing process was smooth. Since I did not have any 3.5" drives, the power supply chamber was roomy without the hard drive cage. The big opening besides the motherboard tray was very handy. It was nice to see zip-tie mounting holes, since it can better secure the wires into positions. As you can see from the above picture, the thick motherboard power cable can be fitted into the openings in my case. There is still plenty of room for other cables.
After everything has been installed properly, it is time to press the power switch. As you can see from the above photo, the only thing to light up on the entire case is the power switch. As you can see in our photo above, after the power is on, the FARA B1 keeps the cool stealth look. I am the kind of person who really cares about the noise level of the computer. In this build, I had three fans running in the case. As it turned out, my computer was really quiet, thanks in part to only having a single case fan. On the scale of 0 to 10, where 0 is totally silent and 10 is a jet taking off, I would rate my system at 3.0/10 regarding noise emissions. Please note the fan speed control on the motherboard can further bring down the noise level by reducing the RPM of the fans when the computer is not under high load.
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Now, let us get back to the question I proposed in the beginning: Is the SilverStone FARA B1 a good starter for your New Year computer build? I would say it is a pretty good case. From the outside, the FARA B1 looks good. It has a tempered glass side panel and the front panel design is stylish. As a compact mid-tower, there is not much you can do with the internal structure. For the FARA B1, the overall design of the inside is good. It has tons of room for things like the heatsink, radiator, graphic cards, and the like. However, the problem is the size of power supply unit chamber. Due to the short depth of the case, the overall length of the PSU chamber is restricted. If a typical length PSU is used, the hard drive cage in the chamber might interfere with the power supply cables. In other words, users may have to choose one option between using a full-size PSU and using the hard drive cage. In my case, I had to remove the hard drive cage to let the PSU cables pass. As far as the cooling performance is concerned, the FARA B1 seems quite sufficient. There are ventilation holes for the power supply fan, front mount fans or radiator, and top mount fans or radiator. There is no doubt that this product can keep your gaming gear cool. On the other hand, the dust filter behind the mesh on the front panel is not washable, so you may need to buy the compressed air for cleaning. In terms of price, the SilverStone FARA B1 will cost you about $60 USD at press time. The price is reasonable in my opinion. After all, not every competitor can offer a case with a full tempered glass side panel at this price level.
SilverStone provided this product to APH Networks for the purpose of evaluation.
APH Review Focus Summary:
8/10 means Definitely a very good product with drawbacks that are not likely going to matter to the end user.
7/10 means Great product with many advantages and certain insignificant drawbacks; but should be considered before purchasing.
-- Final APH Numeric Rating is 7.2/10
Please note that the APH Numeric Rating system is based off our proprietary guidelines in the Review Focus, and should not be compared to other sites.
The SilverStone FARA B1 is a good budget case that allows you to show off the hardware of your gaming system through the tempered glass side panel.
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Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Installation and Conclusion
