By: Jonathan Kwan
September 12, 2025
How does one work with limited resources? Often times, it involves understanding the budget, must-have requirements, and nice-to-haves, and then trading nice-to-haves to ensure must-haves are achieved. Of course, there are right and wrong ways of doing so. I have been scrolling LinkedIn and Reddit recently, and I noticed a trending narrative of questionable practices people are experiencing when job hunting. A lot of companies are posting fake jobs to appear like they are growing, so investors will keep their funding coming. Some organizations take it a bit further and interview candidates with no intention of hiring for the purposes of gaining tax credits, or worse yet, asking candidates to work on projects and ghosting them afterwards. This way, the company can get consulting work that benefits them directly without paying a cent. I talked to a few of my friends, and one of them reported an organization tried to put him through a seven-stage interview process with a project in the end, which he politely declined. I have personally seen this as well, where a startup tried to do something similar to me, and eight months later, the same job posting is still up on their website. These are certainly wrong ways of working with limited resources, so how do we do it correctly? The SilverStone Lucid 05 is a mainstream case built to a budget, but it features 270° tempered glass view, ARGB LED fans, and even a built-in ARGB and PWM controller hub. How did they do this? Were the compromises fair, or are there catches? Read on to find out!
SilverStone sent their Lucid 05 mid-tower in a large brown corrugated cardboard box, which doubles as its retail packaging, from the company's American offices in Chino, California, USA. It made its trip up here to us here in Calgary, Alberta Canada safely via FedEx International Ground. Everything arrived in excellent condition for our review today.
As you can see in my photo above, SilverStone's retail box design for the Lucid 05 comes from a similar template as previous models like the SETA A2 and SETA H2. The environmentally friendly -- or economically friendly, depending on your perspective -- brown corrugated cardboard box has all the contents printed in black ink. On the box, you will find SilverStone's logo, the text "Lucid 05 Exquisite ATX Chassis with a Bold 270° Panoramic Display", and an outline of the front of the case. The opposite side is the same, while the remaining sides have the product description in various languages as well as features and specifications.
Out of the box, you will receive the SilverStone Lucid 05 chassis clipped between two large Styrofoam brackets. The accessories box is placed inside the chassis. There is no manual included, but you can easily download the PDF file from their website should you need it. There is minimal waste in packing material other than the Styrofoam brackets, but the box is easily recyclable, reducing its environmental impact.
Before we move on, let us take a look at the specifications of the SilverStone Lucid 05, as obtained from the manufacturer's website:
Model No.: SST-LD05-B-ARGB (Black), SST-LD05-W-ARGB (White)
Material: Steel, plastic, tempered glass
Motherboard: ATX (12" x 9.6), Micro-ATX (9.6" x 9.6"), Mini-ITX (6.7" x 6.7")
Drive bay: Internal
- 3.5" x 1 / 2.5" x 1 / 2.5" x 2 [1]
- 3.5" x 1
- 2.5" x 1
Cooling system:
- Rear: 120mm x 1 (120mm x 1 ARGB fan included)
- Top: 120mm x 3 / 140mm x 2
- Internal: Motherboard Tray: 120mm x 2 (120mm x 2 ARGB fans included), PSU Shroud: Top: 120mm x 3, Front: 80mm x 2
Radiator support:
- Rear: 120mm
- Top: 120mm / 140mm / 240mm / 280mm / 360mm [2]
- Internal Motherboard Tray:240mm [3]
Limitation of CPU cooler: 173mm
Expansion slot: 7
Limitation of expansion card:
- Length: 410mm
- Width: 179mm
Power supply: Standard PS2 (ATX)
Limitation of PSU: 200mm
Front I/O port:
- USB Type-C x 1
- USB 3.0 x 2
- Audio x 1
- Mic x 1
Dimension:
- 220mm (W), x 491.5mm (H), x 427.6mm (D), 46.24 liters
- 8.66" (W), x 19.35" (H), x 16.83" (D), 46.24 liters
Remark:
[1] When installing two 2.5" SSDs in this position, ensure the connectors face the rear to prevent interference.
[2] When mounting a 360mm radiator in this position, ensure the inlet and outlet tubes are orientated toward the front to prevent interference.
[3] When mounting a 240mm radiator in this position, graphics card clearance is limited to 281mm, including power connectors. Ensure the fans are installed between the radiator and motherboard tray to accommodate this restriction.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Installation and Conclusion
