SilverStone ML09 Mini-ITX HTPC Chassis Review

Introduction

The compact PC market is big business these days, with more and more users at home building their own HTPC systems, compact workstations and more. SilverStone already produces many of the best SFF chassis on the market, but their latest ML09 takes the old Milo design and pushes it further than ever before. While it maintains the same super small 7-liter size, it now holds more hardware than ever before!

• Super small at only 7 liters
• Premium styling front panel with mirror finish
• Includes one 120mm fan and support up to two 80mm fans
• Multipurpose 4-in-1 bracket
• Support Mini-ITX motherboard and SFX power supply
• Support dual slot low-profile graphics or expansion card
• Support four 2.5″ HDD/SSD

While many users seek out huge graphics cards, there’s a good market for low-profile expansion cards, maybe not for gaming, but for video use, fast networking or storage, there are a lot of exciting options out there that are well suited to such a slim chassis.

“The ML09 is an evolution and variation of the premium Mini-ITX HTPC case, the Milo ML06. With external dimension unchanged at 7 liters, the ML09 rearranged internal layout provides a crucial second expansion slot for support of more powerful low-profile discrete graphics card or expansion card that are two slots wide. For users that wish to build with a more robust GPU or tuner card in console/DVR-like form factor to game or for multimedia content recording, the ML09 is a great starting point.” – SilverStone

Equipped with a low-profile design, the ML09B still packs some impressive support. You’ll find room for a mini-ITX motherboard, low-profile expansion card (dual slot), 4 x 2.5″ drives, slim ODD, 3.5″ drives and even three fans. This is pretty damn impressive, and really shows the benefits of space-saving SFX PSUs.

In the box, you’ll find a magnetic dust filter, two vertical mounts, durable rubber feet with 3M sticky bases, anti-vibration mounts, a cover, screws and cable ties; everything you’re going to need to get your hardware installed.