Nexus Caterpillar Real Silent Case

By some miracle, the name isn't lying to us. The case is properly silent. And cheap.

Now here’s a rare piece of truth in advertising. Nexus’ stealthy-quiet offering this month might seem unprepossessing to look at, with its matte black aluminium exterior and almost cheap-looking mesh grill at the front, but if it’s quiet computing you want, this case is the real deal.

The case has a tendency to rattle a bit, which is something we usually chalk up to poor design, and the plastic door to the IO ports and plastic handles on the sliding mesh door don’t help much either. But the downward sliding door is actually a nice touch once you use it, and when you get used to the design it actually seems quaintly old school in its simplicity. Inside, though? That’s some cool stuff.

The entire interior has been switched topsy turvy, so that you have to open the left-hand side of the case to get at your upside down motherboard; the PSU is on the case’s bottom, with the PCI and similar slots up top. This provides excellent airflow, allowing the two front and rear rubber-mounted 120mm fans to push a lot of air with a minimum of fuss or noise.

The fans are nice and quiet in their own right, but to make sure that what little noise they – and your drives and other fans, etc – make is elegantly masked, Nexus has fitted acoustic foam on the case’s ceiling & bottom, side panels and behind the motherboard. It might pick up some wear and tear if you’re removing or adding a lot of parts, but it really does make a difference, and allows for the lighter aluminium construction.

The case’s actual layout and design is nothing inspiring, but it gets the job done, and all edges seem well finished to protect delicate fingers. This is a neat case that really grows on you – and at a great price.