Page 3 - Physical Look - Inside
Removing the SilverStone Primera PM02's side panels is all about thumbscrews. On the left, we have a tempered glass panel measuring approximately 3mm in thickness. It is held on the side with two thumbscrews. Instead of the standard four we are used to seeing, we have two of these screws at the top of the case, while the bottom is attached to a metal bar that rests on the side of the case. This makes removing the glass panel faster as there are less thumbscrews to loosen. In addition, when the glass rests there without being attached, the PM02's glass panel leans out slightly without falling. I think SilverStone has done an excellent job in making the panel easier to remove, while also preventing the glass from slipping off of the mounting holes. Otherwise, the screws are lined with rubber to ensure as little vibration occurs between the glass and the frame. On the other side, we have a standard white steel panel held in with two thumbscrews. Unfortunately, these are not captive thumbscrews and do not stay attached to the panel, which is disappointing. This small but important feature has become quite standard on many cases, and it would have been great to see it here too.
Internally, the SilverStone Primera PM02 is noticeably smaller than the original Primera. This is mostly due to a decrease in case depth of over ten centimeters. Most of the reduction has occurred near the front of the case, with the fans situated much closer to the rest of the motherboard. Otherwise, the layout is pretty standard, with a fully open design and barely any interference from the front fans to the back. As you can see, there are two main areas divided off by the power supply shroud. Above this division is where your motherboard and all the connected components exist. Underneath, you will find the power supply as well as a drive bay, but we will see this later on. As you know by now, this is an ATX case, but smaller form factor motherboards, such as micro ATX, can fit inside. As such, the motherboard standoffs are not preinstalled.
In the top-back corner of the SilverStone Primera PM02, we have two things to speak of. One is the SilverStone specific fan. Unfortunately, public information regarding any of the internal fans is quite scarce. All I can say is that this, along with all of the other included fans, is a 140mm fan with a four-pin PWM connection. This looks to be the same fan SilverStone provided on the rear of the Primera PM01-RGB. At the top of the case, you can see the mounting slits for a top mounted cooling option. This includes the option to mount either fans or radiators, with support of up to two 120mm or 140mm fans, two 120mm radiators, or a single 240mm or 280mm radiator. Thankfully, the mounting slits are also offset away from the motherboard to prevent any clearance issues you may have. Otherwise, a large opening at the back of the motherboard is cut out here to allow users to mount their CPU coolers and their backplate without removing the entire motherboard. The lip around this area, as well as other holes, have been smoothed over to prevent users from cutting themselves or from cutting through cables. Some other cutouts at the top exist to pass cables like the CPU power cable through.
At this point of view, you can see the power supply shroud and the bottom of the motherboard area. You can also see the seven white expansion slot brackets here, held with the white door we mentioned on the previous page. Once again, I would have liked to see either a more tool-free way of mounting cards, but considering you do not generally move expansion cards all the time, it is excusable. As for the shroud, you can see this cover is pretty solid, though there is one hole to pass cables through. Interestingly enough, we actually do not have a hole closer to the left side panel where you could pass a power cable to the graphics card. In addition, with the single hole, it seems a bit small to pass through all your cables. Overall, the decision to remove these cabling paths is quite confusing to me and seems like a step backwards.
At the front of the SilverStone Primera PM02, we have three more of the SilverStone 140mm four-pin PWM fans, which is nice to see. You could also put up to a single 360mm radiator at the front if you so desire. Otherwise, from this angle, you can see a few other things. For one, the front does not have any area for storage, 5.25" optical drives, or for mounting any custom water cooling components. Instead, we have zero interference at the front for larger radiators or longer graphics cards. Next, you can see the black rubber grommets lining the holes. It would have been nice to see all of the holes with these rubber rims, but at least they have covered the main ones.
Flipping to the right side of the SilverStone Primera PM02, and we have a pretty standard layout. SilverStone has made a few changes for the functional user, albeit cutting out one feature I would have liked to see. Starting near the front, you can see three black plastic 2.5" drive caddies, all flipping out to allow you to slide your drives into these slots. It is not exactly the sturdiest of implementations, but it should do the trick. Underneath, there is a metal drive cage to hold up to three drives or accessories, which is nice to see. Unfortunately, the drive cage is riveted in, which means it cannot be moved or removed without some major renovations. In the middle, there are two Velcro straps to help with cable management. Several cable loop ties also exist around the case for clean cable management. In the basement, we have an area for a full-sized ATX power supply. Unfortunately, there are no rubber pads in this area, which means you may hear vibrations between the power supply and the case. The maximum length of the power supply here can be up to 190mm, which should be long enough for most modern PSUs. The one omission I am sad to see missing here is the PWM fan hub. Otherwise, there is a gap of about 2.4cm at most places around here, which was similar to what we saw with the original Primera PM01-RGB, but we will see how this affects us during our installation.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Installation and Conclusion
