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Silverstone Kublai KL07

Darksaber

Senior Editor & Case Reviewer
Staff member
Joined
Jul 8, 2005
Messages
3,111 (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 Silverstone Kublai KL07 aims to excel at sound dampening while offering both the space and features sought after by professionals and enthusiasts alike. Utilizing signature features of the brand, including a positive air pressure interior, USB Type C port, and thick sound dampening materials, the KL07 achieves a great score in our review.

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Nice case, I do like it as a workstation style enclosure. I am a big fan of eliminating 5.25" bays which this case has done, however, why are we putting the 2.5" drives on the back of the tray?? There is no good reason that I can think of... I really don't want to have to take both panels off to do something related to the drives. Plus, I'd prefer them on the front which sits right next to the fans and provides some airflow over them. Perhaps it has to do with a radiator mounting on the front interfering with them... in that case it would be nice for the 2.5" drives to have the option of mounting on the front or back of the tray. But it's still a nice case...
 
What happens to the bracket that holds the 2 front 140 mm fans or a 280 mm radiator if a 360/420 radiator is used? Oops, the front supports 3 x 140 mm fans, but not a 420 mm radiator.:shadedshu:

This case is the windowless Define C with the Define S's rear end plus a little extra insulation and an USB type C port. Silverstone, you used to be innovative. Editor's Choice?
 
What about the space between the right panel and mobo tray? :(

What happens to the bracket that holds the 2 front 140 mm fans or a 280 mm radiator if a 360/420 radiator is used? Oops, the front supports 3 x 140 mm fans, but not a 420 mm radiator.:shadedshu:

This case is the windowless Define C with the Define S's rear end plus a little extra insulation and an USB type C port. Silverstone, you used to be innovative. Editor's Choice?

Sometimes you don't have to be innovative, you just have to be damn good at what you do, and I guess @Darksaber feels this is one of those times. I must say, nowadays finding a case that is actually functional (in this case, quiet) in a sea of LEDs and gimmicks is sadly a rare thing.
 
An excellent PC case offers everything for a low price. It's not really in the fashion sense there are no windows and rgb accessories. I think that a 3x140mm radiator (46cm) could get in front, but I do not know how thick. (45mm max?) ..Expansion-slot mechanism is doing his job well and hes spring on all 7 slots , the screws must be in an additional set .
 
Every time a new case shows up and I find myself thinking, "Ooh, that looks nice," it ends up being 200+ mm wide. Also, where's my 5.25" bay (I just need one)? Also also, get off my lawn!
 
Stupid, Top Mount I/O, and no 5.25" bay... move along nothing to see here.
 
Every time a new case shows up and I find myself thinking, "Ooh, that looks nice," it ends up being 200+ mm wide. Also, where's my 5.25" bay (I just need one)? Also also, get off my lawn!
It's 200+ wide because it has a rear 140mm fan, plus motherboard IO, plus some space for cable management. I've just transplanted a machine into one of these and at the back, the clearances are so tight that I actually had to remove the rear fan to be able to put in the IO shield for my motherboard. There's literally no wasted space on the rear panel. Even the cable management space, while usably deep, isn't incredibly deep.

The plus side of this is that there are no "dead" areas where airflow is stagnant in the case - if you fill this thing with 140s, it's a proper wind-tunnel, and cooling is only restricted by the amount of intake air, not case design.

As for a 5.25 - Sorry dude, but people just don't want them, and the things people DO want are made much easier by removing the 5.25. CPU cooling in particular is improved by having a fan in that location rather than relying solely on exhaust fans/convection. I'd not be totally against being able to install a blu-ray drive myself, but really the only viable place for one in modern builds is a vertically mounted slim optical in the space where the 2.5" drive sleds are on this case. Even then, it would make it wider than it already is. Given that tradeoff, I'd rather just buy an external enclosure, since I use a physical drive once every few months at most these days.

Casecutter - I have no problem with top mount IO. For those of us with cases on the floor it's far more useful. There IS one flaw in this case's implementation of it however, and it's that the Audio headers on most motherboards are at the bottom left - the frontpanel cables on this case aren't long enough to reach that location - you'd need about an extra 5cm. Doesn't affect me personally, since I use an external USB DAC, but that's a potential concern for people who use FPAudio constantly.

Bogami - As far as I can tell, you could easily fit a 420mm Radiator in the front, but you'd need to dremel out some clearance to the sides - there's less than a couple mm either side of the 140mm fan frame if you remove the plate and install one in that position. Any radiator that isn't exactly the same width as the fans attached to it (Read: All of them) would need you to manually relieve some clearance at the sides. Pretty sure you wouldn't need to touch top or bottom clearances though, it seems there's just about enough space there.

Also, the HDD cage is quite flexy if you remove that plate - you can move it back towards the PSU if you have a VERY short PSU, and that will allow you to mount both sides to the shroud again, which will stop it flexing, but if you have a longer PSU that prevents that, you'd probably want to fabricate something that secures that side of the HDD cage to the case - Or just install the drives anyway, flex be damned, but be aware that moving the system around regularly isn't a good idea as you could knock the drives out of the mounts in the cage. For a system that never moves and isn't in danger of being kicked, you'd be fine.


Like all cases, it's not perfect, but for my purposes it's as perfect a case as exists on the market right now - If I'd used an R5 I would have had to give up a front radiator mount entirely, since I need 3.5" bays. If I'd used a 600Q I'd have had to replace one of my 3.5" drives with a 2.5, and my GPU fans would be working against the PSU fan, so that'd be a no-go either.

I'm very happy with my KL07 and would gladly build a new system in one for family or friends.
 
What happens to the bracket that holds the 2 front 140 mm fans or a 280 mm radiator if a 360/420 radiator is used? Oops, the front supports 3 x 140 mm fans, but not a 420 mm radiator.:shadedshu:

This case is the windowless Define C with the Define S's rear end plus a little extra insulation and an USB type C port. Silverstone, you used to be innovative. Editor's Choice?

The bracket is an ease of use feature - you don't have to use it. If you want to use 3x140mm fans in the front, all you have to do is take it out and mount those fans directly to the case rails.

See my previous post for my opinion on putting a 420mm Rad in.
 
Wow, found this case totally by stupid coincidence. If there was possibility to remove bottom shroud entirely, it would be basically perfect. But the fact I could stick 3x140 on front, 1x140 on rear and 2x140 on top makes it incredibly "windy" design. And what 99% of vendors cock it up, Silverstone did it right here. Front intake and top exhaust, both dampened with foam and angled grills. Not only it has superb ventilation design, it's also done in a very clever way. And no stupid glass side panel, instead they are padded metal ones. Thank F god.

I can already see sticking 6x140mm SilentWings 3 in it. It's gonna be extremely well ventilated and given the design, still very quiet thanks to intake and exhaust ports and all the foam padding. And it's cheap at 100€. Similar designed NZXT or CoolerMaster cases come at 180-200€. For that difference I can stock up with SilentWings 3 instead.
 
Got the case this morning and I must say Silverstone really nailed this one. It's really as good as I thought it'll be. Minimalistic and stylish on the outside, no stupid window, properly done front and top silencing panels for intake and exhaust the way hardly anyone does it (the right way). I'd wish they were magnetic, but it's a case for 100€... If plastic pins will ever break I'll make it magnetically attachable myself. Cable management was superb and done easily and quickly, internals look really clean (might post a photo later).

Got 3x SilentWings 3 140mm in the front for intake, 1x SilentWings 3 140mm for rear exhaust, Corsair AF140 for top rear and top front has the Nepton 120XL mounted. Absolutely amazing ventilation with minimal noise. Thanks to good silencing covers design.

Only thing that changed apparently as a revision, the HDD cage under the bottom "tunnel" is not movable anymore and the cover next to bottom intake fan was not even there with revision of the case I got. Must be some later version or something. Still, I wanted 3x intake fans anyway so no biggie. Only problem was slightly more work to fit in the PSU as the HDD cage is very close to it now in a fixed position.

I know some will say I'm praising it just because I got it, but I got it because design looked good on paper and in reviews. And it really is good. And it costs like 100-110€ depending on where you get it. I've seen quite few cases that cost twice as much or more and they don't have such good design. Only NZXT H700i caught my attention, but it's a lot more expensive and has a silly window which I don't need or want. Really good and incredibly underrated case. I'll write more of positives or negatives as I'm using it and finding out its additional positives or problems.
 
Damn, wish I'd read this before I ordered it. I received it today and with the HDD cage riveted in position there's not enough room for my EVGA 750 G2 PSU with its modular cables, so now I've got to send it back and try and get the supplier to cover the shipping as it's not as described/not fit for purpose.

I'm not sure what to get instead, maybe the Fractal Design Define R6 or a Deep Silence 3, but I don't really want any 5.25" bays and only really need room for 2-3*3.5" HDDs and 2*2.5" SSDs.
 
Damn, wish I'd read this before I ordered it. I received it today and with the HDD cage riveted in position there's not enough room for my EVGA 750 G2 PSU with its modular cables, so now I've got to send it back and try and get the supplier to cover the shipping as it's not as described/not fit for purpose.

I'm not sure what to get instead, maybe the Fractal Design Define R6 or a Deep Silence 3, but I don't really want any 5.25" bays and only really need room for 2-3*3.5" HDDs and 2*2.5" SSDs.
What, YOU failed to do any research on something YOU bought, and expect the retailer to cover your costs because YOU made a mistake?
Pretty sure it is as described and fit for purpose.
Be a man and own up, YOU made the error.
 
What, YOU failed to do any research on something YOU bought, and expect the retailer to cover your costs because YOU made a mistake?
Pretty sure it is as described and fit for purpose.
Be a man and own up, YOU made the error.


Failed to do any research?

The post before the one he replied to is, to my knowledge, the only statement available anywhere online that Silverstone removed the HDD cage screws and started riveting it in.

Even TPU's own review still states the cage is adjustable. So does the Gamers Nexus review. So does Tweaktown. So does DVTests, so does PCMag.

The only review on the first page of google results for "KL07 Review" that doesn't EXPLICITLY mention the movable drive cage is the one from Overclock3d - And that review doesn't mention the fact this feature was changed unannounced either. They just didn't bother to mention that the cage was adjustable at all.

Even then, you can see from Overclock3d's pictures of the case that they were working with the adjustable model.


I'm not saying this is "Sue Silverstone!" territory, but blaming the user for not knowing this in advance is just you being a dick. Even a diligent, review-reading user going across multiple websites would ONLY have been able to find out about the change by reading this thread.
 
Thank you GlacierNine, not sure what happened to make Mr Caring(?) so angry :rolleyes:

I did indeed look at a number of reviews, look at Silverstone's website and ask for advice on a couple of forums and everything and everyone referred to the original design, with a movable HDD cage. Even the supplier's website states it takes a 140-200mm PSU, the same as everywhere else, so there was no indication the design had been changed.

As you say, I'm not going to sue Silverstone for ruining my life but equally I'm not paying £20+ for a courier to return something that isn't fit for the purpose I bought it for and which I wouldn't have bought if the supplier had accurately described it.

EDIT: Initially the supplier said I'd have to pay to return it as it was "unwanted" but after I explained the issues they relented and agreed to arrange a free courier collection, so it's all good now. I just hope they either amend the description or withdraw the case from sale to avoid other customers having the same problem.
 
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Failed to do any research?

The post before the one he replied to is, to my knowledge, the only statement available anywhere online that Silverstone removed the HDD cage screws and started riveting it in.

Even TPU's own review still states the cage is adjustable. So does the Gamers Nexus review. So does Tweaktown. So does DVTests, so does PCMag.

The only review on the first page of google results for "KL07 Review" that doesn't EXPLICITLY mention the movable drive cage is the one from Overclock3d - And that review doesn't mention the fact this feature was changed unannounced either. They just didn't bother to mention that the cage was adjustable at all.

Even then, you can see from Overclock3d's pictures of the case that they were working with the adjustable model.


I'm not saying this is "Sue Silverstone!" territory, but blaming the user for not knowing this in advance is just you being a dick. Even a diligent, review-reading user going across multiple websites would ONLY have been able to find out about the change by reading this thread.

Sounds like someone needs to get hold of Silverstone about this.
 
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