Given the rising costs arising from seemingly ever-splintering streaming services, the temptation to build a home theatre PC (HTPC) increases by the day and seeing SilverStone CW04 only intensifies that desire. As much as its size naturally appeals to my preference for performance, the case’s stylings also give it a certain grandeur that makes its footprint easier on the eyes.
CW04’s brushed aluminium panels rest on a steel frame, each a different shade of grey. This gives the case a subtle two-tone look that staves it from looking like a simple, boring block of metal. Despite its size, subtlety appears to have been a priority for SilverStone, as its logo almost blends into the front panel. Furthermore, its front I/O hides behind a rather swish front cover that practically cries out for a motorised mechanism.
Of course, the style of CW04 shines all the more thanks to its size. SilverStone has crafted a behemoth with this case, measuring at 440mm wide, 239mm high, and 451mm deep. That’s a whopping 47 litres of capacity for components as large as GeForce RTX 4090 and beyond. Naturally, these dimensions leave ample room for 360mm radiators, and eATX motherboards to boot.
Sadly, the only thing that stops CW04 from rising to the cream of the HTPC case crop is a lack of disk drive slots. While it’s easy enough to back up your Blu Rays and other optical media to an HDD or SSD and watch it all digitally, the omission of a disk drive just makes a home theatre feel incomplete. That said, a gap in the front of CW04 would spoil the aesthetic that SilverStone has clearly put a lot of effort into crafting.
For more Computex news, check out Nvidia’s new small form factor specification if you’re a fan of big and small builds alike.