A Closer Look - Outside

Out of the box, the SilverStone Alta F1 makes a great first impression thanks to the solid aluminium panels on all four sides. The clean, understated design is nice to see, and the open space on the bottom and top makes the case look rather unique as well.


The solid, thick aluminium panel in the front has slightly thinner edges to give it some much needed visual depth. There is very subtle SilverStone branding just above the ARGB strip. You will find the I/O consisting of a power button, two USB 3.0, combo audio jack, and USB-C plug nicely embedded into the top right of the Alta F1.


The rear has the same style of a thick aluminium panel. There is an opening to route your external cables through the very top because of the 90° rotated interior. It would have been nice to have a grommet here, just to visually close things off even if it would mean having a slightly smaller cutout. There is a 120 mm metal-mesh opening for the PSU to draw in cool air. It is protected by a fine mesh, a magnetically attached dust filter that fits like a glove. Both glass side panels are held in place by a spring-loaded locking mechanism with a square button on each side to release the respective panel. For some strange reason, SilverStone put the reset button on the back of the Alta F1. It not only makes it hard to reach, but internally, the pair of soldered wires are exposed on the button, and these tend to be super fragile and can be broken off easily—not an implementation worth the asking price.


On both sides, the SilverStone Alta F1 ships with glass panels that are completely clean and without a visual mounting mechanism because of spring-loaded clips. A nice black framing includes a strip across the area dividing the interior and exterior of the chassis layout. On the bottom are plastic dust filters and two diffusing covers for optional LED strips. While the plastic covers work just fine, they do not pair favorably with the overall material mix. The covers are a great little touch, but SilverStone should have pre-installed ARGB strips as they are clearly envisioned as part of the design and reasonable to expect at this price point.


In the top is another thick aluminium panel with big cutouts acting as an air vent for any fans installed into the ceiling of the SilverStone Alta F1. It is held in place by magnets and may be removed easily. Having such a mechanism is nice, but the magnets could be stronger.