SilverStone SETA Q1

[Darksaber]

The SilverStone SETA Q1 features a uniquely shaped front panel that acts as a "sound maze" to reduce noise, while employing sound damping materials all around. With its big dimensions, it can hold large motherboards and all major air coolers, PSUs, or graphics cards without breaking a sweat, or should we say while staying cool and calm?

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[wheresmycar]

I was going to bookmark this case as a "sound-dampening" option which might come handy at some point. But $210 - ouch!!

 

[Valantar]

This came out better than expected in terms of thermals - those included fans must be pretty good. Very cool to see that "sound maze" concept finally tried out in a case!

 

[Operandi]

This has to be one of the most boring uninspired cases I've seen....

Why is it everything in the DIY case market is either a boring AF yawn fest or gaudy tempered glass light show, show piece?

 

[Camm]

Give the Q1 a tempered glass side and I think I'd be there with bells on. Fairly understated, fairly quiet, good thermals, whats not to like.

 

[Fungi]

Feels like forever since there was an actual good case with focus on silence. It's cool there are still companies willing to make them.

 

[bonehead123]

This has to be one of the most boring uninspired cases I've seen....

Why is it everything in the DIY case market is either a boring AF yawn fest or gaudy tempered glass light show, show piece?

^^THIS^^

Exactly the same thing I have been saying for several years now, and exactly the reason I chose to buy a TT900 a few years ago

 

[Valantar]

I frankly don't think there is much innovation left in regular tower form factors, which makes them all nearly identical. We've seen rotated layouts (Silverstone Raven etc.), which work for airflow but are impractical in many ways. We've seen flipped layouts, which ... well, don't change much, but don't bring much to the table either. We've seen alternative flow paths like side intakes (LianLi O11 series). And we've seen all kinds of variations in size, shape and front or rear expansion. It comes down to RGB and glass, or stuff like what this one does (which is at least a bit interesting). IMO, the only interesting cases these days are SFF cases, as those tend to be far more innovative, though even there we've gone from "every major case is a major innovation" to "most of what we see is just variations on a theme".

 

[Operandi]

I frankly don't think there is much innovation left in regular tower form factors, which makes them all nearly identical. We've seen rotated layouts (Silverstone Raven etc.), which work for airflow but are impractical in many ways. We've seen flipped layouts, which ... well, don't change much, but don't bring much to the table either. We've seen alternative flow paths like side intakes (LianLi O11 series). And we've seen all kinds of variations in size, shape and front or rear expansion. It comes down to RGB and glass, or stuff like what this one does (which is at least a bit interesting). IMO, the only interesting cases these days are SFF cases, as those tend to be far more innovative, though even there we've gone from "every major case is a major innovation" to "most of what we see is just variations on a theme".

As long as case design is dictated by ATX thats probably true but what I'm talking about is the aesthetic design. I might be in minority but I hold aesthetics just as highly as performance and this this thing is boring AF. its literally a box with zero (aesthetic) design elements.

On the other side of spectrum you have TG panels everywhere with no intention payed to tiring the material itself into the design, just glass whereever you can get away with it. Then once you maxed out your TG put RGB on everything to make sure its the gaudiest, tackiest thing in the room. Bam, your done, booring and lazy design.....

About the only interesting and good looking (in my opinion) ATX case to come out in recent memory is the Fractal Torrent. SFF has to be creative in design and layout to function at but they are also way better looking than anything in the ATX market.

 

[Valantar]

As long as case design is dictated by ATX thats probably true but what I'm talking about is the aesthetic design. I might be in minority but I hold aesthetics just as highly as performance and this this thing is boring AF. its literally a box with zero (aesthetic) design elements.

On the other side of spectrum you have TG panels everywhere with no intention payed to tiring the material itself into the design, just glass whereever you can get away with it. Then once you maxed out your TG put RGB on everything to make sure its the gaudiest, tackiest thing in the room. Bam, your done, booring and lazy design.....

About the only interesting and good looking (in my opinion) ATX case to come out in recent memory is the Fractal Torrent. SFF has to be creative in design and layout to function at but they are also way better looking than anything in the ATX market.

Yeah, SFF cases have the advantage of not needing (or being able) to re-use tooling from previous cases, which makes for a lot of freedom in terms of design. Plus a lot of the cases are either quite expensive yet small and can thus afford fancier manufacturing techniques (like the Formd T1 and many others being wholly CNC-made). I shudder to think of how much a fully CNC'd ATX-sized case would cost (though I guess In-Win could answer that for us). I think you also have a good point about ATX restricting designs quite a lot, though in terms of aesthetics there's also just a lot of lack of imagination as well - but that again often comes back to cost (and risk). Of course there have also been tons of just plain bad designs out there, such as In-Win consistently making some pretty stunning designs for a while, yet those designs also being terrible in terms of airflow. I agree that the Torrent looks good, though I'm more impressed with how it does it - it's still a bog-standard steel box with plastic panels on the front and top, but it manages to make those panels both interesting-looking and functional without drastically ballooning the size of the case (unlike, say, the Alienware Aurora, which takes an mATX chassis and tacks on an equal volume of plastic with near zero airflow).

That's sadly often the case (no pun intended) with commodity markets though - margins are slim enough that there aren't many willing to risk a daring design (and the wonders of mass production means everyone gets to churn out their take on the latest trend with minimal tweaks on an existing design). And anything breaking with that tends to get very expensive very quickly.

 

[bonehead123]

About the only interesting and good looking (in my opinion) ATX case to come out in recent memory is the Fractal Torrent

Other than the angled corners (which isn't really that new), I see nuthin interesting, innovative, or otherwise different about the Torrent from the other 8,731,229.56 boring-ass, same-ole-same-same atx cases out there.. Yea it's got the top mounted psu and bottom fans mounts, but those certainly aren't new either

 

[Valantar]

Other than the angled corners (which isn't really that new), I see nuthin interesting, innovative, or otherwise different about the Torrent from the other 8,731,229.56 boring-ass, same-ole-same-same atx cases out there.. Yea it's got the top mounted psu and bottom fans mounts, but those certainly aren't new either

Haven't you heard? What is old is new again; 'round and 'round it goes. This is going to be the next big thing:

 

[Operandi]

Yeah, SFF cases have the advantage of not needing (or being able) to re-use tooling from previous cases, which makes for a lot of freedom in terms of design. Plus a lot of the cases are either quite expensive yet small and can thus afford fancier manufacturing techniques (like the Formd T1 and many others being wholly CNC-made). I shudder to think of how much a fully CNC'd ATX-sized case would cost (though I guess In-Win could answer that for us). I think you also have a good point about ATX restricting designs quite a lot, though in terms of aesthetics there's also just a lot of lack of imagination as well - but that again often comes back to cost (and risk). Of course there have also been tons of just plain bad designs out there, such as In-Win consistently making some pretty stunning designs for a while, yet those designs also being terrible in terms of airflow. I agree that the Torrent looks good, though I'm more impressed with how it does it - it's still a bog-standard steel box with plastic panels on the front and top, but it manages to make those panels both interesting-looking and functional without drastically ballooning the size of the case (unlike, say, the Alienware Aurora, which takes an mATX chassis and tacks on an equal volume of plastic with near zero airflow).

That's sadly often the case (no pun intended) with commodity markets though - margins are slim enough that there aren't many willing to risk a daring design (and the wonders of mass production means everyone gets to churn out their take on the latest trend with minimal tweaks on an existing design). And anything breaking with that tends to get very expensive very quickly.

CNC'n panels is expensive yeah but I think SFF cases continue to be expensive simply because their sales volume is low. I know Lian Li make the Dan A4 or (or both?) the Ncase and those are pretty expensive cases that are just stamped and folded AL panels. Lian Li used to make a ton of ATX sized cases and those were / are cheaper than the SFF cases mentioned above, and are built using the same production methods and materials. My current case is a Lian Li PC-9F its all AL, and I think it was $150.

The Torrent is one of the rare examples of good looking design that compromise its functionality and that sadly is a rarity. The InWin stuff that isn't way out there crazy concept designs generally looks pretty good but performance is never really there. Just took a quick look at Newegg since I haven't seen what they have recently and saw the 216; all white design with wood accents on the front bezel. Looks pretty sweet and its not insanely overpriced but its absolutely huge and cooling looks typical InWin bad.

I personally think the Aurora looks alright (def different) but I wouldn't want to build in and I think Gamers Nexus ripped it to pieces figuratively and literally? Designs and shapes like that are hard to make work without heavily compromising practicality.

Other than the angled corners (which isn't really that new), I see nuthin interesting, innovative, or otherwise different about the Torrent from the other 8,731,229.56 boring-ass, same-ole-same-same atx cases out there.. Yea it's got the top mounted psu and bottom fans mounts, but those certainly aren't new either

Layout and internal design features are a means to an end. Once its put together it really doesn't matter as long as it works well and looks good and the Torrent is a good looking case. Its cool to see new ideas but change for the sake of change is not something I'm looking for.

If you really want different form factors and layouts you have to look beyond ATX.

 

[Valantar]

CNC'n panels is expensive yeah but I think SFF cases continue to be expensive simply because their sales volume is low. I know Lian Li make the Dan A4 or (or both?) the Ncase and those are pretty expensive cases that are just stamped and folded AL panels. Lian Li used to make a ton of ATX sized cases and those were / are cheaper than the SFF cases mentioned above, and are built using the same production methods and materials. My current case is a Lian Li PC-9F its all AL, and I think it was $150.

That's mass production and re-use of tooling for you. Tooling for stamped cases is extremely expensive to make, easily in the tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars for a set of dice for a full case - but it lets you mass produce cases at massive scale, and if you can re-use (or slightly modify) existing tooling for a new case you can save lots and lots and lots of money. That's why every $50 and below case seems to be a case from 2012 with some new plastic on the front - that's pretty much what it is. So you're right about the volumes being why the Ncase and Dan A4 are still a bit expensive - new tooling plus relatively low production volumes means high overall costs.

The Torrent is one of the rare examples of good looking design that compromise its functionality and that sadly is a rarity. The InWin stuff that isn't way out there crazy concept designs generally looks pretty good but performance is never really there. Just took a quick look at Newegg since I haven't seen what they have recently and saw the 216; all white design with wood accents on the front bezel. Looks pretty sweet and its not insanely overpriced but its absolutely huge and cooling looks typical InWin bad.

Yep, that's how it tends to be. You have their bonkers $1000+ concept cases, their "huge box that looks cool but is somehow hermetically sealed" cases, their "smaller version of the previous" cases, and then their "hey, this cheap, tiny thing is surprisingly cool" cases. But then you've lost ATX a long time ago. And there really aren't many case manufacturers beyond In Win even trying to be creative any more.

I personally think the Aurora looks alright (def different) but I wouldn't want to build in and I think Gamers Nexus ripped it to pieces figuratively and literally? Designs and shapes like that are hard to make work without heavily compromising practicality.

I also kind of like the look of the Aurora, but it's just soooo inefficient in its use of space. The fact that it can - at best - fit a 120mm radiator is downright terrible, and the overall lack of airflow is certainly not helping. The hinged PSU bracket is kind of cool, but also kind of weird (I'm all for alternative PSU mounts, but there are better ways to do this!), and really restricts CPU cooler fitment. Overall it just ends up being a poorly ventilated 2005-ish metal box with a ton of plastic tacked on.

 

[Kiririn]

Dual-slot, vertical GPU-mounting position not useful in a case like this

For a case targetted at workstations, most of which use relatively obscure workstation or even server/industrial motherboards, having the vertical mount in this case is actually useful. If the motherboard layout is not designed for a desktop case, the vertical GPU mount is the only way to fit a GPU.

In my previous case I had to squeeze the GPU into the bottom 2 slots below the motherboard on a PCIe extension, due to the motherboard using a rackmount layout. In this Q1 case having the vertical mount improved thermals significantly, compared to the same approach of putting the GPU horizontally in the bottom slots between the motherboard and PSU shroud

Vertical GPU mounts are not just for aesthetics, they still make sense without a side window!