It’s rare these days for people to see an ATX case in anything but a tower orientation, so we remind that the term “desktop” can refer to either a form factor (as opposed to “laptop”) or an orientation (i.e., short and wide). The Crown 04 adheres to both definitions—SilverStone has given its desktop-style desktop a brushed-aluminum face, a two-layered lid that covers a perforated steel top panel with a 2mm-thick slotted aluminum top sheet, side vent perforations that match those of the top panel, and a fold-down door that conceals front-panel ports and buttons.
(Credit: Thomas Soderstrom)
Behind the door, a slider to the far left acts as a dimmer for the external lighting on the chassis, but it needs a gentle touch: This editor was so ham-handed with it that it felt more like a straight-up off switch for the two LEDs (power and drive activity) above it. Power and reset buttons are next to the lighting-control slider, while the ports and audio jack are on the opposite side.
The USB 3.x ports on view include four Gen 1 Type-A and one Gen 2×2, and the audio jack has an extra pole to connect the microphone of a single-plug headset; it also works with regular headphones.
(Credit: Thomas Soderstrom)
Around back are eight PCI Express expansion slot positions, a sideways power-supply bay, and an empty 140mm/120mm dual-pattern fan mount. The expansion slots are mounted on a traditional inset panel so that a card can be dropped straight in, and a grommet-lined hole above these offers builders the opportunity to pass external cables through to the inside. Three panels (the top lid, and the left and right smaller sides) use snaps to fasten to the frame; two screws on the rear edge of each removable panel further secure it during rough handling and/or shipping.
(Credit: Thomas Soderstrom)
The side panels may use identical filters and sheet metal, but the right side has one less snap than the left. That’s because the power supply is too close to the edge of the case to put a fastener there. Dust filters that don’t quite cover all the vent holes are attached via small permanent magnets to each side.
(Credit: Thomas Soderstrom)
Removing the top and side panels allows us to see the rivets holding the Crown 04’s frame together at its edges. Inside, a top bracket designed to hold a 360mm-format radiator bridges over the CPU-cooler zone; it also acts as an anchor point for an adjustable graphics card retainer.
(Credit: Thomas Soderstrom)
The box in front of the power supply bay is a removable 3.5-inch dual-drive bay with a 2.5-inch removable tray mounted to its inward-facing side. The photo below also shows the undersides of the top radiator mount and adjustable graphics card retainer, with one of the retainer’s fingers extended.
(Credit: Thomas Soderstrom)
You’ll also find two removable 2.5-inch drive trays inside the Crown 04’s front panel.
(Credit: Thomas Soderstrom)
The right side is designed to hold a second radiator, though its ability to do so depends on the thickness and placement of any PCI Express expansion cards you install. Radiator options include 140mm/280mm and 120mm/240mm/360mm models. Since this mount sits behind a filter, SilverStone factory-equips it with three of its model CC12025M12S 0.11A fans as intakes.
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(Credit: Thomas Soderstrom)
With 415mm (16.3 inches) of space between the slot bracket and front panel, the Crown 04 has more than enough room to install a 13-inch-deep EATX motherboard along with all the extra standoffs to keep it rigid. SilverStone refers to this size as SSI-EEB; the smaller SSI-CEB (10.5-inch-deep) board size also fits. Note that in some PC-lingo circles, SSI-CEB is confusingly also referred to as EATX.
(Credit: Thomas Soderstrom)
