SilverStone CS382 Overview
As I mentioned in the introduction, the CS382 is a case designed to house a server or NAS, supporting up to mATX motherboards. This form factor probably provides the least amount of options for motherboards, but I think the extra PCIe slots that you gain over a mITX board really allow you to build out a more robust system, as I did with my build. The CS382 is available in a single black color, but I think that will be acceptable to anyone looking to build in this case. At first look, the CS382 appears to be a pretty standard-issue mid-tower ATX case, but once you take a look around the outside of the case, and reveal its interior layout, you will find that that is not the case.
Starting with the front of the case, we find a swing-out front panel, with a full-height, slotted design that will allow for plenty of airflow into the front of the case, straight to the eight hot-swap drive bays directly behind it. This plastic fascade features a small SilverStone logo plate towards the bottom, but other than that, the front panel is quite plain, and designed to keep the components inside cool.
Along the right side of the front panel is a small lock, which secures the front door if required, and keeps the eight hot-swap drives secure, along with access to the power and reset buttons, as well as the USB ports, and more.
With the front panel opened up, we can see that the backside of the front door has a mesh filter that is permanently attached to the door. I would have liked to see a removable filter here, as having to remove the whole door to clean the filter is no where near as convenient as a removable filter.
Speaking of removing the front door, there is a small, spring-loaded slider on the top hinge that can be moved to allow for quick removal of the door.
With the front door removed, we can now see the first real sign that the CS382 is purpose-built to be a server or NAS solution. Up top, we have what some PC builders might not be familiar with – a 5.25″ drive bay. While there are still some legitimate uses for a 5.25″ drive bay, I was quite surprised to see this option on the CS382. Just below the 5.25″ drive bay is a small slotted opening in just above the 3.25″ drive bays that allows for some additional passive airflow into the front of the case.
Taking up most of the front side of the case are eight 3.25″ drive bays that are there to support the use of high-capacity hard drives, especially in cases where the CS382 is configured to be a NAS. These drive bays are outfitted with removable, plastic drive trays that simply click into place via small tabs – you won’t find any fancy, hinged drive trays here.
Making up the left side of the front side of the case is a top to bottom layout of buttons and ports. Starting at the top is a power button, followed up by a reset button. Next up are two LED openings for system power and drive activity status. Just below is a 3.5mm audio jack, a single USB Type-C connector configured for USB 3.1 Gen 2, which supports fast 10Gbps speeds. Two USB Type-A ports are next, supporting USB 3.0. Another interesting inclusion on the CS382 is a vertical slim optical drive slot, offering another option for optical media use in this case.
The left side of the case features a standard steel panel, which is secured at the back with two thumbscrews. Nothing special here, as the CS382 features an inverted motherboard design, mounted on the left side of the case.
The right side of the CS382 is pretty plain, aside from a small section towards the top of the side panel that features a perforated design, with a removable mesh filter behind. This venting allows a videocard or other internal add-in card to be provided with a bit of fresh air that hasn’t been warmed up by moving across the array of drives at the front of the case.
Moving to the back side of the case provides us with the first real indication that the CS382 features an inverted interior layout. The top portion is home to a small vented area right next to five PCIe slots. A single 120mm fan placed midway between the top and bottom of the case is included to help with hot air exhaust duties, and sits just next to the rear motherboard I/O panel opening. At the bottom of the backside of the case is the opening for a standard ATX power supply.
Up top is a removable mesh filter that is held in place by magnetic strips, that covers the option to install either dual 120mm or 140mm fans, or 240mm/280mm radiators. Aside from that, it is a very plain top panel.
Flipping the case on its side, we get a look at a single removable dust filter that keeps the power supply clean, along with a few screws that are employed to keep an additional drive cage in place at the bottom of the case. Four plastic feet with rubber pads are found at each corner of the case to provide a sturdy base.
