Page 4 - Installation and Conclusion
Now, for the fun part: Building my PC. I began by installing my motherboard into the case. The SilverStone SETA Q1 supports ATX, mATX, and mITX-sized motherboards, which was perfect for my MSI MAG B550 Tomahawk in the ATX form factor. My motherboard has an AMD Ryzen 5 5600X CPU, Thermaltake TOUGHRAM XG RGB DDR4-4000 2x8GB memory kit, and Samsung 970 EVO 1TB SSD installed. To make the most of the various mounting options, I installed the Cooler Master MasterLiquid PL240 Flux for cooling. The radiator had no problem fitting to the top of the case.
Installing my power supply at the bottom of the case was a very simple process. I settled with SilverStone's own Decathlon DA850 Gold 850W for this build, which has a length of 140mm. I simply slotted the power supply against the drive cage and used a screwdriver to insert the Phillips head screws. SilverStone recommends a maximum PSU length of 250mm, which mine cleared with ease. After installing my PSU, I routed all the necessary cables via the back of the case.
I found the cable management to be very nice and spacious when wiring the components. The back itself was quite clean thanks to the space below the PSU shroud that extraneous cables can fit into. I connected all 3-pin voltage fans to the available fan header slots on my motherboard. Ultimately, there is a fair amount of space for cables to fit through.
I finished the build by installing my EVGA NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti graphics card onto the top PCIe slot on my motherboard and connecting my Wi-Fi card to the bottom PCIe slot. The maximum GPU clearance length is 394mm as outlined by SilverStone, which was not a problem for my RTX 3060 Ti. If you choose not to go with a liquid cooler, air cooling is also quite flexible if it meets the 182mm height limit. I proceeded to plug in all necessary cables from the front of the case into their appropriate motherboard headers. The cable cutouts were large enough to fit multiple cables through, making for a clean setup.
With the installation complete, I put the side panels back on and brought my PC back to life by hitting the power button. As expected, there was nothing spectacular to look at with none of the side or front panels having tempered glass. It is a sleek, subtle box designed to fly under the radar. The SilverStone SETA Q1 was made for performance and not flashy RGB LEDs, which is actually a nice relief with all the RGB LED overload nowadays.
How does it hold up with noise though? The standard APH Networks sound scale ranges from 0 to 10, where 0 is silence and 10 is an explosion. According to the APH Networks scale, I would rate the SilverStone SETA Q1 at a 1.5/10 under daily use. As advertised, the SETA Q1 is indeed very quiet -- probably one of the quietest cases I have ever used. It has received Cybernetics' certification for being the most soundproof case, and it lives up to it. Even when using my PC for more intensive tasks such as gaming or intensive simulations, the case still managed to suppress a good majority of the noise. The silent performance can be attributed to the acoustic foam padding on the side panel. I had to change the top panel to the removable dust filter since I have a 240mm radiator in this location though, but with the dampened top panel, noise will be even lower. The noise will really only vary based on the speed of your fans.
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Does the SilverStone SETA Q1 prove its value in both build quality and execution as an ultra-quiet chassis? As with many reviews, the answer is not so simple. For starters, the SETA Q1 is built strongly with solid materials and clean looks. The gaps are small and even. There is a good amount of storage options with this case, which is always good to have. As advertised, the case is very quiet when the installed PC is in operation thanks to the acoustic foam padding on the side and top panels. If you want, you can change the top panel for a dust filter panel to account for additional fans. One of the best quality this case offers in my opinion is the versatile mounting options when it comes to fan size. All mounting spots on the case are capable of both 120mm and 140mm models. The chassis is designed such that as many 140mm fans can be placed as 120mm, which I think is breath of fresh air given that many cases I have seen in the past are more limited when it comes to 140mm mounting options. The inclusion of a USB Type-C port and two USB 3.2 Type-A ports on the front I/O panel is the icing on the cake for speedy connectivity. When it comes to improvements, I do think the pre-installed fans could benefit from having 4-pin PWM headers as opposed to 3-pin voltage-controlled headers, as PWM fans give users more precise speed control, which is important for a quiet build. The plastic frame of the bottom dust filter can be more solid, although this is minor. The cable management at the back can be more spacious to route cables around. Other than that, the SilverStone SETA Q1 can be found for $205, which does not come cheap, but if you want something very quiet and well-built, then this will be it.
SilverStone provided this product to APH Networks for the purpose of evaluation.
APH:Renewal Award | APH Networks 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 Networks Numeric Rating is 7.3/10
Please note that the APH Networks Numeric Rating system is based off our proprietary guidelines in the Review Focus, and should not be compared to other publications.
The SilverStone SETA Q1 is a well-built, clean-looking silent computer case with solid cooling options.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Installation and Conclusion
