Conclusion

Silverstone has always been front and center when consumers are looking for a well-built and thoroughly designed enclosure. The Kublai KL02 does well in continuing Silverstone’s tradition of case-building excellence by offering consumers a mid-tower case that is loaded with features few other cases have. There is plenty of room to route cables with the well-placed holes on the motherboard tray in addition to clips being added in strategic positions. We especially liked the fact that the KL02 can fit longer graphics cards without any problems and still have room to spare. Even with one of the longer, high-heat producing 8800GTS cards, the internal airflow characteristics with the pair of 120mm fans ensures that there is no excess buildup of heat.

Since looks are very subjective, we won’t touch on that other than saying Silverstone has worked hard to design this case to it appeals to the largest market possible. The high end materials used in the construction and the hidden treasures like the hot-swap capability are sure to earn oohs and aahs from consumers everywhere but there are a few issues we had with this case.

Unfortunately, while there are so many things that the KL02 does right, there are quite a few little touches that need to be improved in our eyes. First and foremost among the nagging issues is the sheer intrusiveness of the CP05 hot-swap adaptor that seems to get in the way during nearly every step of the installation process. We can debate the usefulness of the inclusion of a single adaptor all day long but in the end it seems to cause more headache than it is worth.

Another recurring issue we had was that despite the quality of the overall construction of the KL02, there were still a few sharp edges and at least one vibrating aluminum panel. When someone is spending $140 on a mid-tower case which bears the Silverstone name, they expect a product which is a cut above the competition without vibrations and cut fingers. Speaking of price; for a mid-tower case that does not come with an included power supply we find the price of $140CAD ($145 with the side window) to be a bit on the high side even though the KL02 carries the Silverstone name.

With the Kublai, Silverstone has a case with clever internal and external design which contributes to make this one of the more appealing mid-tower cases on the market today. On the other hand, there are issues which keep this case from being a knock-out product. Hardwarecanucks gives the Silverstone Kublai KL02 a rating of 4 / 5.


Pros:

- High-quality design
- Plenty of cooling options through multiple fan mounts
- Tons of space for a mid-tower case
- Innovative hard drive mounting system
- Easy drive installation
- Cable routing is a breeze
- Hot-swappable hard drive option

Cons:

- Price
- Some rattles from the front 120mm fan housing
- A few sharp corners
- Only one hot-swap adaptor
- $140CAD and no thumb screws for the side panels?