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Silverstone Lucid LD01

Darksaber

Senior Editor & Case Reviewer
Staff member
Joined
Jul 8, 2005
Messages
3,109 (0.43/day)
Location
Victoria, BC, Canada
System Name Corsair 2000D Silent Gaming Rig
Processor Intel Core i5-14600K
Motherboard ASUS ROG Strix Z790-i Gaming Wifi
Cooling Corsair iCUE H150i Black
Memory Corsair 64 GB 6000 MHz DDR5
Video Card(s) Gainward GeForce RTX 4080 Phoenix GS
Storage TeamGroup 1TB NVMe SSD
Display(s) Gigabyte 32" M32U
Case Corsair 2000D
Power Supply Corsair 850 W SFX
Mouse Logitech MX
Keyboard Sharkoon PureWriter TKL
The Lucid LD01 from Silverstone tries to ditch the plastic and move to a mix relying heavily on steel and tempered glass for an understated high quality look and feel. It clearly caters to those who'd like to transcend the classic use of steel and plastic panels and want simple but effective, functional designs and features.

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  • Upside-down motherboard layout
Hmmm you mean BTX style
 
Wow, looks like a great case. I took a look at review on the other side which confirmed it has a great airflow, especially if you install intake fans at the top for a gpu and intake fans with or without radiator at the front. The front panel delta on/off is a mere 1.5 degree. I’m ready to throw away my Define C and get this case, since I hate how restrictive the front panel is on it (meshify is not that much better really either). With there was non-tg and solely mITX version, though the mITX board will still look nice in this one too.
 
Hm, many interesting cases are mATX only these days. I wonder whether I could fit a decent system on one of these. Namely if it can accommodate my current cooler, one video card of any length (for peace of mind) and 5-6 hard drives, 1-2 in M.2 factor. Because if I could, it may be worth looking into getting one of the boards and one of these smaller cases next time I upgrade.
 
I don't understand why they went with the BTX orientation. Heat rises and graphics card fans are setup as intakes, so all they've accomplished is to have a pocket of hot air from the CPU trapped at the backside of the GPU, while the GPU pulls in warm air from above the chassis. This layout also makes the top radiator mount utterly useless because the GPU will block it.

tl;dr this case makes no sense.
 
I don't understand why they went with the BTX orientation. Heat rises and graphics card fans are setup as intakes, so all they've accomplished is to have a pocket of hot air from the CPU trapped at the backside of the GPU, while the GPU pulls in warm air from above the chassis. This layout also makes the top radiator mount utterly useless because the GPU will block it.

tl;dr this case makes no sense.

It does pretty much the opposite to what you said. How does the gpu pull warm air ffs if it’s going straight from the top mesh, especially with added fans? Cpu will be doing good to because of fresh air from front intakes and positive pressure from all 4 intake fans at front and top with exhaust in the back. Warm air won’t be able to rise in case. There’s another review that confirms great deltas. This case will easily beat cases like Define C or S340/H500 by a significant margin.

Also, nothing stops from mounting rad at the front in whatever configuration you prefer.
 
It does pretty much the opposite to what you said. How does the gpu pull warm air ffs if it’s going straight from the top mesh, especially with added fans? Cpu will be doing good to because of fresh air from front intakes and positive pressure from all 4 intake fans at front and top with exhaust in the back. Warm air won’t be able to rise in case. There’s another review that confirms great deltas. This case will easily beat cases like Define C or S340/H500 by a significant margin.

Also, nothing stops from mounting rad at the front in whatever configuration you prefer.

Why are you talking about fans when this case doesn't come with any? At stock the ventilation in this expensive case will be nonexistent. Not everyone will understand that you're supposed to buy and install your own fans; I can guarantee you that many people are going to buy this case, use a tower CPU cooler with no extra fans, and then complain it runs too hot. Did the review to which you're referring test the case with or without fans? Did it test the other cases with the same number of fans, or with their fan mounts maxed out? Perhaps if you'd link to said review...

The GPU will run hotter simply because the hot air from the components inside the system will rise. Either that air will be trapped against the GPU's backplate, or it will rise to the top of the chassis... where the GPU's fans will immediately suck it back in. Yes, fresh air will also be pulled in from outside the chassis, but it'll be tainted by that other hot air.

As for "you can mount the rad in the front", I never said you couldn't. But the fact of the matter is that if a case, especially an expensive one, claims it has space for two radiators, it better bloody well have space for two radiators when a normal system is installed.
 
You know, it's funny isn't it Darksaber... the conversation in this thread is 100% concerned with thermals in this case.

If only, if only you'd tested thermals! If only you'd done that!
 
You know, it's funny isn't it Darksaber... the conversation in this thread is 100% concerned with thermals in this case.

If only, if only you'd tested thermals! If only you'd done that!
This is a "mini" case, one that's not expected to accommodate tons of components in the first place. Personally I wouldn't worry too much about thermals.
 
This is a "mini" case, one that's not expected to accommodate tons of components in the first place. Personally I wouldn't worry too much about thermals.
You really do your absolute best to be backwards don't you.

Here are four possible circumstances for you to consider.

1 - Large case, good ventilation = Optimal cooling
2 - Large case, poor ventilation = Hotter, but unlikely to thermal throttle, and will take longer to do so as case temps will take longer to rise.
3 - Small case, good ventilation = Components unlikely to thermal throttle, possibly some overclocking headroom.
4 - Small case, poor ventilation = Components likely to thermal throttle.

Thermal concerns are *more* significant in smaller enclosures, not less.
 
You really do your absolute best to be backwards don't you.

Here are four possible circumstances for you to consider.

1 - Large case, good ventilation = Optimal cooling
2 - Large case, poor ventilation = Hotter, but unlikely to thermal throttle, and will take longer to do so as case temps will take longer to rise.
3 - Small case, good ventilation = Components unlikely to thermal throttle, possibly some overclocking headroom.
4 - Small case, poor ventilation = Components likely to thermal throttle.

Thermal concerns are *more* significant in smaller enclosures, not less.
I though you might say that the moment I hit that "post" button. In my mind, if you're into overclocking, you're not really into mATX or small cases to begin with.
Sure, it's possible to cram stuff in there and obstruct air flow, but what's the worst that can happen? The temperature goes up a few degrees. Fwiw I have seen cases that were thoroughly clogged with dust and were still chugging along just fine.
To me, the biggest annoyance coming from higher temps is the coolers get louder. At the same time, coolers getting louder is a sign of temps rising, so you know when you need to take a look inside the case because air isn't flowing right anymore.
 
I though you might say that the moment I hit that "post" button. In my mind, if you're into overclocking, you're not really into mATX or small cases to begin with.
Sure, it's possible to cram stuff in there and obstruct air flow, but what's the worst that can happen? The temperature goes up a few degrees. Fwiw I have seen cases that were thoroughly clogged with dust and were still chugging along just fine.
To me, the biggest annoyance coming from higher temps is the coolers get louder. At the same time, coolers getting louder is a sign of temps rising, so you know when you need to take a look inside the case because air isn't flowing right anymore.
Congratulations on completely misrepresenting, misreading, or outright ignoring everything I said.

I never said that people should expect small cases to be equally good at overclocking as larger ones. I said that that a small case with good airflow wouldn't cause the components inside to thermal throttle, and could *possibly* allow a small amount of overclocking headroom, versus what a poorly designed small case would do, which is suffocate the components and cause them to throttle.

I also said that larger cases can get away with worse thermal design.

Neither of those statements should be controversial, and if you intend on arguing against them I really do have to wonder if you may at some point have taken a mighty blow to the noggin.
 
Doh, another win from Silverstone tempting me from my Fractal Define Mini and it's near silence! There's so much potential negative pressure here I'd not even worry about running something overclocked a fair bit and temps being an issue :rockout:
 
@Darksaber - Quick question... were all the screw holes (on the motherboard tray for example) tapped when you received your sample? I ask as we are reviewing this chassis as well and our reviewer found 12 holes untapped including those for ATX mobos (though oddly, ITX etc were tapped).
 
@Darksaber - Quick question... were all the screw holes (on the motherboard tray for example) tapped when you received your sample? I ask as we are reviewing this chassis as well and our reviewer found 12 holes untapped including those for ATX mobos (though oddly, ITX etc were tapped).

What do you mean by taped?
 
I think he means threaded which is a process that uses a tap for threaded holes or a die for threaded shafts
 
Yep. I said tapped. :)

And that is exactly what I was saying guys. None of holes were threaded and needed to be tapped...our reviewer cannot thread the brass standoffs into the steel mobo tray.

And correction.. none of the holes on the motherboard tray were tapped.
 
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Yep. I said tapped. :)

And that is exactly what I was saying guys. None of holes were threaded and needed to be tapped...our reviewer cannot thread the brass standoffs into the steel mobo tray.

And correction.. none of the holes on the motherboard tray were tapped.
Can I ask, is your reviewer intending to consider and/or test thermals and noise in the review?

I ask because doing so would be a way for you to easily exceed the standard of case coverage TPU has managed for the last decade.
 
@Darksaber

Hey... I still haven't heard back.... I know it is the holidays but its been a couple of weeks for what I thought was a simple Q n A. :)

When you reviewed this case, were your standoffs tapped/threaded?????

Thanks for your time. :)
 
Hello @Darksaber...(or @W1zzard) can you help out? Its been almost 3 weeks trying to get an answer here. This needs a simple yes or no. :)

Thanks in advance for taking the time. :)

@GlacierNine - Yes, we did some thermal testing on it. I will post the link here when it gets published this week. Sorry for my delay in response to that.
 
Hello @Darksaber...(or @W1zzard) can you help out? Its been almost 3 weeks trying to get an answer here. This needs a simple yes or no. :)

Thanks in advance for taking the time. :)

@GlacierNine - Yes, we did some thermal testing on it. I will post the link here when it gets published this week. Sorry for my delay in response to that.
I love that you're apologising for not responding to my forum post, on a different website to yours, when all I'm doing is giving Darksaber shit for the fact his case reviews are missing any actual testing. It's not as if my gripe is particularly your problem, and you're still responding and apologising when you don't have to.

Meanwhile Darksaber can't even spare two seconds to tell you whether some holes were tapped on his review example, which is an actual question of reasonable importance because it would tell potential buyers whether there's an issue with Silverstone's QC as a whole, or whether your unit really is an anomaly.
 
actually looks a nice start but i feel the internal layout is crowded and tight
 
Logs in again after my ping... doesn't respond. :(

This is not something that takes research or effort. I am just looking for a simple answer here...

Thanks again!
 
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