Page 4 – Installation and Conclusion
The computer building process was extremely enjoyable with the SilverStone Precision PS14-E. 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 in this computer was the SilverStone Strider Platinum ST1000-PTS 1000W, which has a 120 mm 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 a little bit too close to the power supply, which left little room for connecting the cables. I felt it was easier to just remove the storage cage first before plugging wires into the PSU. A Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO CPU cooler was mounted on my Gigabyte Z390 GAMING SLI motherboard. The position of the motherboard tray opening of the SilverStone Precision PS14-E matches perfectly for the CPU position, therefore my heatsink can be installed without any trouble.
After connecting all the wires needed for the installation, I put the storage cage back in the PSU chamber. I did not have any hard drive to install, since I just had one M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD, the Western Digital Black SN750 NVMe SSD 500GB installed on the motherboard. I put the storage cage back in simply because I did not want to lose it. The rest of the installing process was really smooth. Since I did not have any 3.5" drives, the power supply chamber was very roomy. The big opening beside the motherboard tray was very handy. I would have still liked to see rubber grommets, not for the safety of the cable, but just to prevent the thick power cable from moving too much. As you can see from the above picture, the thick motherboard power cable can be fitted into the opening 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 that lights up is the power switch. After the power is on, the PS14-E keeps a cool stealth look. I am the kind of person who really cares about the noise level of my 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 the thick tempered glass panel. 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 during normal operation. 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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As a owner of both the SilverStone Precision PS14 and SilverStone Precision PS14-E, I can confidently say the PS14-E has been improved a lot compared to the original. Firstly, I really like the design of PS14-E front panel, since it is cleaner looking than PS14 and I would consider it much of an improvement. Secondly, the top panel of the PS14-E features a filter-protected ventilation opening for top-mount fans and radiator, which was not available on the PS14. Thirdly, PS14-E has a much nicer dust filter for the PSU at the bottom of the case than the PS14. Fourthly, PS14-E allows user to mount the graphical card vertically such that the full view of the graphical card can be displayed. Last but not the least, PS14-E has the option of a tempered glass side panel and normal steel side panel depending on what you want. If you like the design of PS14-E, you can choose one version that suits you better. My suggestions for improving this product is to provide a dust filter for the front panel and adding a USB Type-C port. In terms of price, the SilverStone Precision PS14-E with a tempered glass side panel will cost you about $58 USD at press time. The price is very reasonable in my opinion. After all, the original PS14 with a solid side panel was $53 USD back in 2017. Considering the improvements compared to the PS14-E, I would say this product offers exceptional value and quality.
SilverStone provided this product to APH Networks for the purpose of evaluation.
APH equal.balance Award | 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 7.8/10
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 Precision PS14-E is a well-designed and reasonably priced computer case that is very much improved compared to the original PS14.
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Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Installation and Conclusion
