A Closer Look - Outside

Out of the box, the SilverStone SETA Q1 comes across as quite the clean, unassuming case with its gently cured front and angled vents on the sides of the front panel. There are no ARGB lights or windows anywhere. It's larger and wider than your classic mid-tower case, and essentially weighs twice as much, too.


The front panel of the SETA Q1 feels extremely solid and is rather thick. This is due to the inclusion of a soundproofing maze. In the rear, the enclosure features a traditional tower layout with the PSU mounted on the bottom and the board upright.


Both side panels are completely solid and flush with the rest of the chassis. Large. captive thumb screws hold each of them in place securely as well.


Taking a closer look at the front, you may detach it from the frame with a firm pull. Doing so reveals two 140 mm fans placed towards the bottom, set to pull air into the interior through the maze. The whole mounting frame on which the fans are secured is removable, and it may hold up to three 120/140 mm fans or a radiator of up to 360 mm. The front panel itself has a narrow, fine dust filter, which is the only openings. This means the fans pull air through the sound maze. There is no need to disassemble the front, but we did so to show the shape of the maze, which also employs a special surface material SilverStone refers to as "asphalt." In reality, it's a dense, rather heavy layer of sound proofing, and certainly one of the reasons the chassis weighs so much.


In the rear, on the bottom, is the PSU bay with a single set of holes to dictate which way the PSU is installed. Above that are the seven horizontal and two vertical expansion slots. Seeing the latter here is interesting as those slots would put the GPU pretty close to the solid, sound-dampened side panel. In reality, there is no incentive to place a GPU in this position within the SETA Q1, neither for looks nor performance. In the very top is another 140 mm fan, this time set to push hot air out the back of the chassis. This brings the pre-installed cooling units to a solid three 140 mm fans.


By default, the top panel is sealed off by another layer of dense and heavy sound-proofing material. You may detach the panel by unscrewing a single, captive thumb screw. In the front edge, as part of the frame, not the front cover, are two USB 3.0 and a single USB Type-C connector. On top of that, you will find an audio combo jack as well as a pair of power and reset buttons.


The top sound-proofing cover is held in place by magnetic strips, so you may remove it and instead add the fine dust filter to the chassis. While this improves airflow, it lowers the effectiveness of the sound dampening.


On the underside of the SilverStone SETA Q1, you will find a removable, fine mesh dust filter that may be pulled out the back of the chassis for cleaning purposes.