Page 2 - Physical Look - Outside
When SilverStone first brought out glass panels to their cases, the first one I was able to try out was their Primera PM01 RGB. As we mentioned in the introduction, the Lucid LD01 is an approach from the other end of the spectrum by making three of the four sides all glass. To be fair, they are not the only manufacturer with three glass panels on their cases, but it is eye-catching. The exterior is a full glass affair surrounded by silver stainless steel edges on the top and bottom. According to SilverStone, this is one of the first cases on the market to use this material, which is pretty awesome. Despite its shiny appearances, the whole case still looks quite conservative, especially considering how heavily tinted the glass panels are. The sharp edges and ninety degree sides clearly show a ruler was used to make this case and nothing really is really outlandish, despite its material choices. Overall, I think its appearances are nice, but I sort of get a mixed feeling about it. In some ways, it tries to be edgy with its full glass sides, but it also mixes it with a cautious color scheme. This is still a subjective thing, so I will let you decide as we continue with our review. Some of these design choices do have compromises, as I will talk about later on.
As we have already mentioned, the front and two side panels are made up of tinted tempered glass, and thus are flat. Bent glass panels are a rarity as they are especially difficult to manufacture. The metal edges on the top and bottom also add some structure and help the glass panels sit on the side of the case. The SilverStone Lucid LD01 is classified as a micro-ATX case, and thus can hold both mATX and mini ITX motherboards inside. In terms of dimensions, the chassis measures in at 218mm in width, 390mm in height, and 431mm in length. Comparatively speaking, this case is wider than the other two mATX cases I have reviewed, the Antec P6 and the Fractal Design Meshify C Mini, while being middle of the pack in terms of the other two dimensions. Otherwise, these dimensions should be sufficient in holding most components, though we will see later on in our review. With a weight of 7.45kg, the SilverStone Lucid LD01 is quite a bit heavier than both of our reviewed mATX cases.
The top is where majority of the air intake exists on the SilverStone Lucid LD01. One of the compromises of having a front glass panel is the fact you will not get as much air intake on the front, which could choke fans with a lack of air. SilverStone has put a large intake or exhaust area on the top to help alleviate this problem. As for the opening, a full mesh filter is placed here with magnets to prevent any larger dust particles from settling through here. At the top, we have our input and output ports, including a square power button, a headphone jack, a microphone jack, two USB 3.0 ports, and a single USB Type-C port, with USB 3.1 Gen 1 speeds supported here. I am really happy to see the newer Type-C port here, as we saw with SilverStone's Primera PM02 case, and I hope they continue this trend, at least with their premium cases. Even if we could want the newer Gen 2 speeds, I am just happy to see this port here. Otherwise, behind all of these inputs is the top panel ventilation. It is covered by a large mesh panel and held on by four large magnetic strips. Underneath, the ventilation grille allow users to put several fans or radiators inside for cooling their components.
If you have not already noticed anything strange yet, the back panel is quite a bit different from our previous mATX cases. This is because the motherboard is actually meant to be placed in an inverted format, which flips everything on its head. Thus, at the top we have the five expansion slot covers. This number however is typical for a mATX motherboard. Underneath, we have the opening for a 120mm fan or radiator on the bottom left side with the motherboard cutout beside it. One thing that is not inverted is the power supply opening at the bottom. This allows you to slot a full-sized ATX power supply here, as you will see later on.
Flipping the SilverStone Lucid LD01 allows us to get a better look at the underside. At the front of the case, you can see we have another opening to allow for some airflow at the bottom, though this area is not filtered by any mesh. The bottom also acts as a handle to make it easier to pop the front panel off. The four corners of the metal enclosure have protruding feet to lift the case off the floor. The feet also has a rubber pad on each to prevent the case from slipping about while also dampening any vibration there may be between the case and where it sits on. At the back, there is a plastic sled with a mesh filter. This is located right below the power supply to let air to flow into your PSU for ventilation. The mesh filter is removable from the back, but I am glad to see the plastic frame around the filter. This adds structure to the filter while making cleaning and replacing the filter much easier.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Installation and Conclusion
