The front of Silencio 450 is split into two sections. The top section acts as a swinging door to give access to the 5.25” drive bays. (More on this further down the page) In the very centre are the front panel connectivity ports and then beneath this the lower section with Cooler Master emblem. Behind this panel there is a 120mm cooling fan that acts as an intake – it draws in air from the sides of the front panel due to the front being completely flat and without any ventilation. Again, I’m not very keen on the visual appearance of this case it has a ‘no-frills’ type of design and material usage.

Around the back there is space at the bottom for mounting the PSU and above this are 7x PCI expansion slot covers. Sadly there is no ventilation on this covers and they have to be twisted and pulled away from the chassis in order to remove them (more on this later). Above this at the top of the Silencion 450 back panel is the 120mm rear exhaust fan and two circular rubber grommets for the USB cables - the USB 3.0 port at the front is not via the motherboard header.


The front and back of Silencion 450

Taking a closer look at the front panel connectivity, here there is 1x USB 3.0 port, headphone and microphone jacks, 1x USB 2.0 port and an SD card slot reader. The USB 3.0 port has to be plugged into the motherboard rear I/O so the cable will need to route through to the back of the case – Cooler Master haven’t provided a motherboard header for this port.


Front panel connectivity with 1 x USB 3.0 port

As mentioned above, the Silencio 450 has a swinging door that covers the 5.25” drive bays. This door has noise-dampening foam to keep noise levels to a minimum.

Behind this door there are 3x 5.25” drive bays and a smaller 3.5” bay which has the reset button next to it. A nice idea – meaning this cannot be accidently pressed.


Silencio 450 has a swinging door

The top of Silencio 450 is just like the side panels – completely solid and without any mesh for cooling fans. The only significant feature is the power button that is situated at the very front.


The top is plain and solid

Lastly onto the underside. Here there are 4x plastic feet and a thin fan filter which must be removed by flipping the case on its side.


The underside of Silencio 450

On the next page we will delve inside the case for a look at the internal layout and design