Silverstone has simply dropped one among the bravest PC case launches we’ve seen for a very long time. The new Silverstone FLP01 case has an old-school desktop-layout case designed to carry you the look and really feel of a retro gaming PC, however without the have to depend on old hardware or modify an old case. It’s an attention-grabbing look with seemingly a very area of interest market, but when you merely should match your 80s/90s sport assortment with a case design of that period, this needs to be a best choice.
Indeed, if you wish to build a retro gaming PC, or recreate that retro look with a fashionable PC spec, the Silverstone FLP01 might be the best PC case for the job. What’s extra, with Silverstone slapping a modest value on this beige desktop chassis, it’s not a retro gaming choice that’s going to interrupt the financial institution both.
Originally beginning as an April idiot’s joke on X (previously Twitter), a real Silverstone FLP01 prototype later appeared at a Japanese expo occasion, exhibiting that it did certainly exist, and it’s now getting an official launch.
The Silverstone FLP01 is predicated on the firm’s long-existing GD09 case design, which is geared toward individuals constructing residence theater PCs (HTPCs). With its comparatively compact measurement and horizontal desktop PC structure – quite than a vertical tower configuration – it has lengthy been favored for the indisputable fact that it sits extra naturally amongst different residence theater and Hi-Fi gear, equivalent to AV receivers and amps.
Although impressed by the slick, black design of the GD09, although, the FLP01 doesn’t evoke the identical aesthetic pleasures. Instead, this case has been restyled to scratch the nostalgic itch of avid gamers and PC fans who both began their PC journey throughout the period of circumstances that basically did look like this, or for youthful patrons trying to faucet into a look that matches their appreciation for retro gear and gaming.
As nicely as an all-over beige paint job, the entrance of the case eschews the regular brushed aluminum panel for beige plastic shaped to incorporate two fake 5.25-inch floppy drive bays. Behind the prime one among these is definitely house for a 5.25-inch optical drive, letting you play your CDs, DVDs, or Blu-rays. Behind the decrease bay door is the entrance I/O panel of the chassis, consisting of two USB-A ports and one USB-C port, plus a headphone jack.
Also on the entrance, together with the trendy grey Silverstone emblem and stripe, is a distinguished energy button, inexperienced energy LED, and orange drive entry LED.
Inside and round the again and sides of the case, although, it tells a a lot much less retro story. Slide off the metal prime panel – no glass panels right here – and you have house for a customary ATX motherboard and energy provide, together with a rack of full-height growth card slots. This means you can pop the overwhelming majority of contemporary high-end hardware into this case. You simply must be careful for the 136mm most CPU cooler top and 309 x 133mm growth card restrict.
A single 3.5-inch/2.5-inch drive bay is obtainable for becoming a exhausting drive or 2.5-inch SSD, whereas cooling is modest, with house for 2 120mm followers on the proper, a 120mm fan on the left, and two 80mm followers above the motherboard IO panel.
We completely love that Silverstone has been courageous sufficient to make this case and we’d wish to have a go at constructing the excellent retro gaming PC in it. After all, we’ve already proven you how one can construct a retro gaming PC in a fashionable case, so why not go the further step? We do surprise simply how many individuals will truly pay for a fashionable – let’s face it – barely ugly case, however priced at simply $129.99 it’s not like Silverstone is charging a premium for this case.
If you in the end do resolve that this isn’t the case type for you, there’s all the time Silverstone’s different new case it has introduced, which is a dual-glass-panelled “aquarium” type case known as the Lucid 04. Designed for micro-ATX builds, it’s obtainable in black and white, and it gives a compact and trendy choice obtainable for $189.99.
For extra PC design concepts, take a look at our PC build hub the place we spotlight a few of the greatest gaming PC designs we’ve noticed round the world.
