A Closer Look - Outside

Looking at the Kublai KL07, it sports a very simple and clean look. There are no curves, just clean and straight edges with a few lines across the front and top of the chassis to give it some depth.


The chassis has no external drive bays since it is geared towards maximizing sound encapsulation. In the rear, you can see the bottom-mounted PSU bay above which are the seven expansion slots with a somewhat unique locking mechanism.


Both sides of the chassis are completely solid, but there are fairly large air vents on the sides of the front and top panel to give any fans access to clean, cool air.


Taking a closer look at the front, the bottom sports a nearly invisible Silverstone logo, while the top basically hides the power and reset buttons and usual LEDs in an extruded design element towards the left edge.


You may pry the front of the chassis off completely as the I/O is secured to the frame instead of the panel. The front is lined with fairly thick sound-dampening material, and Silverstone has also placed a dust filter across the entire height of the chassis to protect the three 120/140 mm fan-placement options there. Two of these are already filled with 140 mm fans. This means that the Kublai KL07 pulls in more air than it can push out as it pits two 140 mm intake units against a single 140 mm exhaust fan. This creates positive air pressure and is a means to ensure that the interior stays as free of dust as possible.


The PSU bay on the bottom of the rear comes with two sets of mounting holes so that you may install the unit with the fan facing up- or downward. Above that are the seven expansion slots, each covered by a metal mesh piece and held in place by a functional but somewhat inefficient locking plate. The 140 mm fan in the very top is set to push hot air out the back of the chassis.


In terms of I/O, the KL07 offers the usual audio and dual USB 3.0 plugs, but also adds a USB type C plug for good measure. You may also pull the solid top cover off to reveal dual 120 or 140 mm fans, with their mounting positions off-center to make sure you run into no issues with a radiator of up to 280 mm in size in the top.