SilverStone Primera SST-PM02B-G Mid-Tower Chassis Review

We recommend the SilverStone Primera PM02 as it packs some great features, making it a great case for your next PC build.

Published
Updated
Manufacturer: SilverStone
16 minutes & 23 seconds read time
TweakTown's Rating: 90%
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The Bottom Line

The SilverStone Primera PM02 ticks many boxes in a good way to make it a recommendation for your next PC build.

Introduction, Specifications, and Pricing

SilverStone is one of the names that ring in our minds as a stout brand that, for the most part, has always offered chassis based on performance above all else.

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Sometimes to the detriment of aesthetics, SilverStone chassis always delivered interesting or unique designs focused on getting airflow to your components and providing a solid thermal performer. Today with the Primera PM02, SilverStone is trying to combine its known performance capabilities with a bit of style to try and attract the more looks, focused consumer.

Silverstone took a more closed off front approach to the Primera in hopes to meet the trend we have seen recently with large blank front panels offering either tempered glass fronts or solid metal/plastic front panels to give a clean bare slate appearance. SilverStone in an attempt to meet this aesthetic desire while still maintaining the performance we have come to expect from a SilverStone chassis has opted for thin slots in the front metal skinned panel.

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As you can see from the spec list borrowed from SilverStone's webpage, the chassis is Primera Series. The model number is SST-PM02B-G, which designates the PM02 Model, Color Black, and a Glass side panel. The chassis is listed as Micro-ATX with dimensions of 220mm (Width) x 491mm (Height) x 456mm (Depth) which falls well within the standard understanding of a mid-tower. The case comes out to 50 Litres in total per SilverStone's listing.

The Primera PM02 can fit up to ATX motherboards, and even lists mATX but omits listing mITX. The drive fitment capabilities are 3x 3.5" sleds, which can also fit 2.5" for smaller HDD/SSD installation. The Primera PM02 also comes with a PSU shroud in place to allow a cleaner internal aesthetic by giving you a place to stash excess cabling that cannot be effectively managed behind the motherboard tray.

The listed cooling fitment is up to 3 x 120mm or 140mm fans. The top is listed as 2x 120mm or 2x 140mm fans. The rear takes a single 120mm or 140mm fan. The Primera PM02 comes outfitted with 4 x 140mm fans out of the box with three of the fans in the front blowing inward and a single 140mm rear fan exhausting. The CPU tower cooler support is up to 167mm tall, which means the Primera PM02 could easily fit most of the performance air coolers on the market.

The Radiator fitment is stated as up to 360mm or 280mm front. The top is reported to support up to 240mm radiators, and the rear can support up to 140mm radiators. This means that Silverstone is quite aware of the top situation and lists only 120mm based radiators to help avoid interference with components although with tall enough RAM and thick enough radiators this could be a potential issue.

The SilverStone Primera PM02 is available now at Amazon for $139.99 at the time of writing. This is a very tough place to be in as it's pitted against some solid contenders such as the Fractal Design Meshify S2, Define R6, BeQuiet Silent Base 600 and the Master Case H500. All of which are solid options for the price point. So let's dig into the SilverStone Primera PM02 and see if it has the goods to get your hard earned dollar.

Shannon's Chassis Test System Specifications

Buy at Amazon

SilverStone Primera SST-PM02B-G

TodayYesterday7 days ago30 days ago
$128.99$139.99$129.99
* Prices last scanned on 3/18/2024 at 5:58 pm CDT - prices may not be accurate, click links above for the latest price. We may earn an affiliate commission.

Packaging

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The Silverstone Primera PM02 comes in a brown box with a black and white (black and brown?) silhouette of the PM02 chassis. It lists the Reversible Type-C connection as one of the main features and offers a QR code to grab the manual online. I honestly did not realize people still used QR codes.

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The first skinny side of the box shows some of the key marketing features which unfortunately was covered entirely with shipping stickers and therefore was mostly unreadable. It's ok though I'm sure we will show more of what this chassis is capable of than the few bullet points may explore. Although it is worth mentioning that one of the lines I could make out states' super clean' internal look, which is an exciting marketing statement as super clean is not typically something I see to explain a chassis internal. But, I digress.

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The other large side of the box is a mirror of the opposing side we looked at before with the QR code area covered with a white label designating it was made in China.

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The other skinny side of the case shows a full spec table which is similar to the one we had copied from the website on the previous page. Other than that it has certification icons covering ROHS and other vital points.

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The inner packing is decent and kept the chassis looking nice in transit. I usually prefer a softer foam versus the polystyrene style, which is quite stiff and can crumble if subjected to rough transit, but in this case, it held together well. The case is also wrapped in a plastic bag which helps avoid damage and scuffs in transit. The glass panel is also film covered as another layer of protection to prevent nicks, scratches, or marring to the glass.

SilverStone Primera PM02B-G Mid-Tower Chassis

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The front of the SilverStone Primera PM02 is a flat metal applique with angled edges on both sides. The bottom has a red plastic cutout which adds a bit of color and style to the otherwise muted fascia. The flat plate is slotted with an extensive array of thin slotted holes to aid in air ingestion by the front cooling fans.

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Looking at the top of the PM02's chassis we see a sizeable magnetic dust filter covering the top cooling fan mount locations. Towards the very front, we can see a ventilation mesh across the attached front panel, which is mesh covered with red plastic backing. The leading edge of the top directly adjacent to the mesh is the front I/O, which we will take a look at next.

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The Front, I/O area, is outfitted nicely with a pair of USB 3.2 Gen 1 (USB 3.0) Type-C ports. Next is a USB 3.0 Type-C port which uses an internal 19 pin connector which will leave you at USB 3.2 Gen 1 performance unless you use a special add-in card from Silverstone which offers full Gen 2 speeds via the internal 19 pin connector.

There are also separate 3.5mm jacks for headphone and microphone as well. To the left we find the large power button shrouded by a light up plastic which illuminates with the system powered on. Adjacent to the Type-C ports there is also a flush mount smaller reset switch to help avoid accidental actuation.

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The main side panel of the PM02 is tempered glass, and it is not heavily tinted, which is nice, so we can see installed gear without the need for internal lighting to get a view. The caveat to a transparent panel though is that any wiring which would typically be hidden via a smoked panel will now be more visible. Something to keep in mind as cable management will be a consideration. The panel is mounted to the chassis with two large headed screw fasteners across the top while the bottom has an inner lip to allow the panel to pull away from the frame before being removed rather than just falling downwards.

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The rear of the SilverStone PM02 offers a fairly standard layout for a mid-tower offering with seven expansion slots. The expansion slot covers are held in place by a bracket which flips away from the chassis when opened allowing the addition of add-in cards such as GPUs. This is not the best design as we usually fight with these a bit due to expansion covers for unused slots falling out as we try to hold everything in place to swing it shut and affix it with screws.

The exhaust fan opening has slotted 120mm mounting to adjust a 120mm fan up or downwards as needed while the 140mm mounting is static. Vertical movement of the 140mm fan would likely cause fitment issues for other components. The PSU mounting is fixed in place which means the PSU must be installed form the cable management side of the chassis. The cable management side panel mounting we can also see here as it is affixed to the chassis body with two thumbscrews and has a pull handle pop out to allow easier panel removal.

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The cable management side of the PM02 is completely opaque thanks to the solid metal panel covering this side of the chassis. We can also see the screws toward the rear edge, along with the pull handle pop out from the panel to allow easy removal.

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The bottom of the PM02 is a mostly solid plank of steel with a few holes and rivets which mount the internal HDD cage. The rearmost section is a filtered opening for the PSU to breathe. The Feet on the PM02 are two large loops of metal with twin rubber feet per loop. The rubber feet are quite small but do the job of keeping the PM02 from marring up your desk or sliding around.

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Lastly, at the bottom of the front panel, we have a SilverStone logo window which appears to project the logo onto the surface the case is sitting on via a bottom firing LED.

Inside the SilverStone Primera PM02B-G Mid-Tower Chassis

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The front panel of the Silverstone Primera PM02 is affixed rather well with a metal ball and socket mounting which means it is less likely to wear out or become loose over time. It comes off rather quickly while staying in place when not being tugged from the front.

The front fan filtration spans the entire front fan fitment area while the large black plastic piece in the middle of the lower fan is the bottom firing LED to illuminate the SilverStone logo. Behind the full-length removable filter, SilverStone has installed triple 140mm fans to feed your components internally.

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Now we get a peek inside the PM02, and it is a vast open expanse waiting to be used to make a new rig. It is all black except for the printed white SilverStone logo on the included PSU cover. While there is plenty of room for a full ATX board and possibly even the slightly wider high-end dubbed EATX boards, I do think those would potentially cover the cable pass-throughs which is likely why SilverStone omitted EATX as supported.

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The front of the PM02 is stuffed right out of the box with a max capacity of three 140mm fans in place. The 140mm fans, both the three in the front and the rear exhaust are all PWM to allow them to ramp as needed for thermals while staying nice and quiet when the system is not stressed.

The front offers radiator mounting although 140 based is limited to a 280mm while 120mm based can reach up to 260mm radiators. I would stick to standard thickness radiators as much thicker models may not clear the opening in the PSU cover. I do not see any holes to support variable reservoir and pump mounting, so if you go custom liquid cooled, you are on your own to figure that part out.

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Removing the magnetic dust filter from the top, we can see slotted mounting at the top for 140 or 120mm based fans. Radiators are also supported up here but only 120mm variety up to 240mm. Be mindful of thickness as an AIO installed up here came close to our installed H100i, so a thicker radiator would likely have some fitment concerns.

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Stepping into the motherboard tray area, we see the mounting for up to ATX in place. While SilverStone does not officially list mITX as a compatible motherboard type, I see no reason why it would not work. But I don't think anyone would realistically buy a chassis of this size for ITX unless they had some particular mod in mind.

The backplate hole in the motherboard tray is, and there should be no issues with any CPU cooler access I have ever used. There are two elongated cable pass-through points which are grommeted and also a pass-through for the eight-pin up top which is not pictured.

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The PSU area when looking from the component side has a large shroud in place. The side has a printed SilverStone logo. Otherwise, it is black like the rest of the chassis. The shroud has a pass-through hole for GPU or front panel cabling, along with a large cut out in the front to enable the 360mm radiator mounting touted earlier.

There is one unique addition to the PSU shroud, and this is right above the printed logo. There is a metal rectangle receded in place and looks to have breakaway tabs so that it can be removed and potentially for a lighted logo in another model or some sort of pass through.

Inside the SilverStone Primera PM02B-G Mid-Tower Chassis Continued

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The rear area we can see comes pre-fitted with a single PWM 140mm fan. We also now get an inside look at the seven slot covers which are held by a rotating rear clamp mechanism that allows installation of expansion cards such as GPUs without requiring screws for each included device.

I have not always been the biggest fan of this sort of mounting mechanism based on the fact that in many cases the expansion slot covers tend to fall out and require an extraordinary level of hand yoga to hold in place.

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The cable management area of the PM02 is a welcome sight. It ticks a lot of the necessary boxes that make it a pretty solid platform for your build. First up is three plastic toolless SSD trays supporting 2.5" drives, while below there are three 3.5" trays which support full-size HDD toolless, while 2.5" drives can be installed here as well although it will require screws. The cable management is decent, if not quite good with included Velcro straps and plenty of tie points all around the perimeter of the trays. Totalling 9 if you do not count the velcro tie points.

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The lower HDD cage houses three trays, which are toolless for 3.5" drives. If you use them for 2.5" drives you are on your own for screws to mount them as strangely SilverStone did not include SSD mounting screws. The cage itself is fixed in place and cannot be moved or removed.

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The PSU area is plenty large enough even with the fixed HDD rack adjacent to it. It fit our test PSU with ease and without needing to remove the modular cables. It has supporting walls along the edge to allow us to align the PSU with its rear mounting location better. Also, there are elongated cooling slats cut into the bottom of the chassis, and on the opposing side, as we observed earlier, there is a removable dust filter which keeps any larger dust bunnies at bay.

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The front panel cable options are interesting. As mentioned previously there are dual 19 pin USB 3.2 Gen 1 style connections both for the dual Type-C front panel connectors and the single Type-C connection. This means if plugging directly into a motherboard the Type-C will have the performance of USB 3.2 Gen 1, while Silverstone does offer an add-in card which will enable the internal 19 pin connector for the Type-C connection to communicate via USB 3.2 Gen 2 for much higher throughput and power delivery.

The rest is quite standard with HD audio, front panel Power, Reset, and power LED connectors. They omitted the HDD LED. Lastly is a SATA power connector which is used to power the downward firing LED used to project the SilverStone logo at the bottom of the front panel.

Hardware & Documentation

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The included hardware is quite scant. Silverstone includes 9 Standoffs, a Phillips screwdriver socket to install standoffs and 13 screws in the pack. The screws are used for motherboard and PSU mounting. As mentioned previously there are no SSD mounting screws included which means you are on your own if you need to mount an SSD into the 3.5" trays.

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The included paperwork was an elementary multi-fold sheet. It offers some basic pictorial instructions. As mentioned earlier, when looking at the packaging, you would likely want to use the QR code to download the digital manual if you are unsure or this is your first PC build.

Case Build & Finished Product

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The front of the PM02 does not change in appearance with the system built as the solid front cover does not offer any commanding internal view where you could view internal components. The front of the PM02 is quite subdued, and minus the red accents, it could blend quite well into any setting professional or otherwise as it carries the SilverStone style of sleek and clean lines for the most part.

Even with the more wild approach, it is still docile enough to be considered something that could work for a workstation just as well as for a gamer, maybe even a larger HTPC or media center addition, but I think most HTPC's would be quite a touch smaller.

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The SilverStone PM02 went together rather, with little to no issues. The motherboard popped into place with no significant issues or special procedures needed.

The fans do not have a hub, so they were all placed on system fan headers on the motherboard, so plan on buying a hub if you don't see your board having enough ports to support the installed fans and any other cooling you may be planning. And notice the large open area to the front of the motherboard which can easily ensure longer GPUs have room along with the space up front for an up to 360mm radiator or AIO.

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The rear, as you can see the addition of a PSU, GPU outputs and the motherboard I/O. The GPU went in, but the unholy mess of slot covers which are retained by the bracket I mentioned previously is once again one of my least favorite parts of the build. Luckily over the years, I have developed an exceptional level of hand yoga to be able to retain the slot covers while fixing the retention bracket in place by my 4th try.

The PSU went in without a hitch into the cable management side of the case and with some minor wiggles to the PSU, it lines up with its installation holes. The HDD cage was far enough forward that the cables and everything could be tucked in between the HDD cage and PSU face as needed.

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Cable management in the PM02 was not bad, and with the included Velcro straps it made temporarily placing the cables as we sort the arrangement a trivial affair. There are enough cable management tie-down points that I really cannot find anything to complain about in that regard as everything oi needed to zip down had a location for a zip tie relatively close to where I would need it. The extra space between the PSU and HDD cage was used to fit additional cabling rather than trying to stuff it all behind the tray and zip it into place. This lead to a cleaner overall look and a better feel for the finished build.

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Here we have the complete system with the tempered glass panel in place. The fact that it's not a smoked panel means that we can see the hardware, which is nice, but it also means you can see any cable mess as well which means you will need to be extra diligent in your management of cables.

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Here we get another view with the PC powered on. As you can see, the small RGB elements employed for our test system help it to pop in comparison to the previous image. There is one more accent, which is the bottom firing light going thru the front panel which you cannot see, but it displays the SilverStone logo on your desk or wherever the PM02 is placed.

The PM02 is near silent when operating at normal desktop web browsing, light loads and I can assume part of that is thanks to the preinstalled 140mm fans which can move air at a lower RPM which means quieter in most cases.

Final Thoughts

I came into this review not sure what to expect as I am used to the performance-oriented almost utilitarian nature of SilverStone and walk away a bit impressed that they pulled off something with some nice style and acceptable performance.

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Speaking of performance, the Primera PM02 pulled some really decent results with the included quartet of 140mm preinstalled cooling fans. Thermals stayed well in check and the fans showed nary a sound at a seated distance from the case, similar to a standard office setup.

Here I felt we should close with a shot of the bottom firing SilverStone logo. I mean this is what it's about right? SilverStone has built a reputation of quality parts that work well, but in many cases, aesthetics took a back seat to this performance. While the front panel is not optimal for airflow, we saw a slight uptick in thermals with the panel in place, and it was in no way terrible enough that we consider it harmful.

Silverstone has taken some of what makes them a proven performance choice and added some style to get the PM02, and it shows in the more than passable performance. It is not the absolute best performer we have seen to date, but it is quite good. The build is, and overall, the chassis has a quality feel to it and very rarely feels cheap.

The things that are not so awesome though are, to start. The PCIe expansion slot cover bracket which can be a hot mess when trying to reinstall anything at all with the case standing upright. Even in the laid back position, I had to be lucky to have not one of them shift position as I'm trying to hold them all in place and secure the bracket.

I think screws are excellent here and the bracket like this where you cannot install screws first is more of a hindrance than a help in my opinion. The other thing would be usage of a 19 pin connector for the Type-C port which could use the newer style USB 3.2 Gen 2 connector to give better speed and match what many boards come with anyways. I know from a BOM standpoint the Gen 2 connector could be more expensive, but in my opinion it's a better option for a case in this category.

Coming in at $139.99 puts the PM02 in some rough waters. As mentioned previously, this puts the PM02 in the likes of proven cases such as the Define R6, H500P Mesh, View 71, PC011 Dynamic, to name a few. Some of these cases have a bit more to love in regards to the liquid cooling fitment, RGB/Styling aspect.

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Each of the examples listed above has various good and bad points, so I think the PM02 is in good company, although it is readily outgunned depending on your specific build needs. It does come down to what you want, or demand for your new PC build.

The Silverstone Primera PM02 checks enough boxes and does enough things right, including offering a unique style while still retaining the sleek aesthetic which SilverStone is known for to be a recommended option. Just remember, it comes down to what you need for your build.

Shannon's Chassis Test System Specifications

Performance

90%

Quality

95%

Features

90%

Value

85%

Overall

90%

The Bottom Line

The SilverStone Primera PM02 ticks many boxes in a good way to make it a recommendation for your next PC build.

TweakTown award
90%

SilverStone Primera SST-PM02B-G

TodayYesterday7 days ago30 days ago
$128.99$139.99$129.99
* Prices last scanned on 3/18/2024 at 5:58 pm CDT - prices may not be accurate, click links above for the latest price. We may earn an affiliate commission.

Shannon started his PC journey around the age of six in 1989. Now till present day, he has established himself in the overclocking world, spending many years pushing the limits of hardware on LN2. Shannon has worked with design and R&D on various components, including PC systems and chassis, to optimize the layout and performance for enthusiasts.

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