We’re absolute suckers for retro vibes here at PCWorld. What can I say, we’re old and only getting older. So yeah, we love Silverstone’s FLP series, sue us. But these giant beige boxes are offering some flexibility that modern cases often lack while sticking with wide ATX compatibility. What’s not to love? The newest offering gets a little smaller, but still offers signature external bay options.
The Silverstone FLP03 broadly sticks to the same vertical mid-tower format as the FLP02, but shrinks it down to MicroATX. That’s a little smaller than a standard tower setup, but not quite down to small form factor builds. (You can, of course, stick a Mini-ITX motherboard in there if you want.) According to the spec sheet shown at the Silverstone Expo 2025 event in Akihabara, and spotted by Twitter/X user Hito, this new case still has an impressive setup of three 5.25-inch external bays. Those are the ones mostly used for CD and DVD drives, and which have largely disappeared from modern PC cases.
As Tom’s Hardware notes, the FLP03 case seems otherwise identical to the FLP02, sacrificing some internal 3.5-inch storage options and cooling fan space to shrink the case vertically. It’s “just” 456mm tall, compared to 494mm for the FLP02 (17.95 inches and 19.45 inches, respectively). The demo unit was showing off the older design’s physical lock, switch, and LED numeral display.
According to Silverstone’s own specifications, the FLP03 is very slightly deeper than the FLP02 at 477mm, and only a bit thinner at 220mm. That smaller volume mean it can hold only one 180mm fan on the front (or 140/120, presumably) instead of two 120mm fans, and a smaller 120mm fan on the rear. The top can handle three 120mm or two 140mm fans, which would translate to a 360mm-long radiator setup, though that would block the top 5.25-inch bay. (Sorry for the mix of units here, PC cases are weird like that, especially for one so intentionally “retro.”)
The FLP03 can handle a 412mm-long graphics card, which is actually a good bit longer than the FLP02’s 386mm maximum — I’m guessing there were some revisions made with some gamer feedback here. That would, theoretically, make the newer case even better for a high-powered build, with the unfortunate limitation of a MicroATX motherboard, often harder to find and more expensive than a standard ATX setup.
The FLP02 still seems to be pending a wider launch, as I’m not seeing it available to buy anywhere, though a few specialty stores like MicroCenter are selling the original horizontal FLP01 case, which you can also get as a MainGear pre-built PC. Here’s hoping that all three get better availability sometime next year.
Author: Michael Crider
Source: PCWorld
Reviewed By: Editorial Team
