Skip to main content
PC Gamer PC Gamer THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES
flag of UK
UK
flag of US
US
flag of Canada
Canada
flag of Australia
Australia
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Games
  • Hardware
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Guides
  • Video
  • Forum
  • More
    • PC Gaming Show
    • Software
    • Movies & TV
    • Codes
    • Coupons
    • Magazine
    • Newsletter
    • Affiliate links
    • Meet the team
    • Community guidelines
    • About PC Gamer
PC Gamer Magazine Subscription
PC Gamer Magazine Subscription
Why subscribe?
  • Subscribe to the world's #1 PC gaming mag
  • Try a single issue or save on a subscription
  • Issues delivered straight to your door or device
From$32.49
Subscribe now
Popular
  • Battlefield 6
  • Essential Hardware
  • WoW Midnight
  • Silksong
  • Quizzes
Don't miss these
A white gaming PC built using a Thermaltake PC case, Cooler Master fans, and an AMD CPU.
PC Cases I've just declared this the best budget compact PC case, and now I'm tempted by that all white build
Three gaming PC cases underneath badges showing the Editor's Pick, Best Value, and Ridiculous Power categories
Gaming PCs Best gaming PC builds: budget, mid-range and high-end recommendations
An iBuyPower and Acer gaming PC on a blue background
Gaming PCs You can still grab a high-end gaming PC for around $1,500 after October Prime Day, and you get your pick between AMD or Nvidia
Minisforum AtomMan G7 PT mini PC and AtomMan Venus UM790 mini PCs
Gaming PCs Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most
Two PC cases on a yellow background with the PC Gamer recommends badge in the upper right corner.
PC Cases The best PC cases in 2025: These are the chassis I'd use for my next gaming build
The Velocity Micro Raptor ES40 and HP Omen 35L gaming PCs on a blue background with the PC Gamer recommended badge in the top right corner
Gaming PCs Best gaming PCs in 2025: these are the rigs and brands I recommend today
Gaming PC group shot
Gaming PCs Best cheap gaming PC deals
MSI Vector 16 HX AI and Razer Blade 16 gaming laptops on a blue background with a PC Gamer logo in the foreground
Gaming Laptops Best gaming laptop 2025: I've tested the best laptops for gaming of this generation and here are the ones I recommend
The Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI on a teal deals background
Gaming Laptops I've admired this OLED-equipped Acer gaming laptop on my travels and now it's down to $1,200 I reckon it's a bit of a bargain
An image of an ABS Eurus Ruby gaming PC, against a teal background with a white border
Gaming PCs Unless my eyes have been cheated by some spell, this is the cheapest RTX 5090 gaming PC with a 9800X3D I can find right now
Various bits of hardware float in the swirling pink PC G deal void.
Hardware 13 of the best post-Prime Day PC gaming deals still live and kicking today
Acer gaming PC with a pink background and a PC Gamer Recommended badge
Gaming PCs Walmart might have actually dropped the best Prime Day gaming PC deal: I give you an RTX 5080 rig with a 12-core Ryzen CPU wrapped up with a bow and a $1000 discount
An Acer Nitro 60 gaming PC on a pink deals background, with the PC Gamer recommended badge in the top right
Gaming PCs Hold up, a fully-specced RTX 5070 Ti gaming PC for under $1,500? The Prime Day deals really are kicking like a mule this year
An iBuyPower Slate gaming PC on a pink background
Gaming PCs $1,099 for an RTX 5070 gaming PC this Amazon October Prime Day is giving me hope for our frighteningly expensive hobby
AMD, Secretlab, Skytech, Zotac products composited on a pink gradient background
Hardware Best October Prime Day Deals Live — The best PC gaming hardware deals still live
  1. Hardware
  2. PC Cases

Build of the week: Silent Oak

Features
By James Davenport published 9 May 2016

“Cut down my trunk and make a PC,” said the tree. “Then you can frag and be happy.”

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Page 1 of 16
Page 1 of 16

Page 2 of 16
Page 2 of 16

Page 3 of 16
Page 3 of 16

Page 4 of 16
Page 4 of 16

Page 5 of 16
Page 5 of 16

Page 6 of 16
Page 6 of 16

Page 7 of 16
Page 7 of 16

Page 8 of 16
Page 8 of 16

Page 9 of 16
Page 9 of 16

Page 10 of 16
Page 10 of 16

Page 11 of 16
Page 11 of 16

Page 12 of 16
Page 12 of 16

Page 13 of 16
Page 13 of 16

Page 14 of 16
Page 14 of 16

Page 15 of 16
Page 15 of 16

Page 16 of 16
Page 16 of 16
James Davenport
James Davenport
Social Links Navigation

James is stuck in an endless loop, playing the Dark Souls games on repeat until Elden Ring and Silksong set him free. He's a truffle pig for indie horror and weird FPS games too, seeking out games that actively hurt to play. Otherwise he's wandering Austin, identifying mushrooms and doodling grackles. 

If a PC falls in a forest, does it make a sound? A more important question: why is the PC in the forest, and if it makes a sound, can we upgrade the fans? Maybe install a cooling loop? 

PC case modder Flix is on the, er, case. Using the BitFenix Pandora chassis as a starter, he cut and bent some custom aluminum panels, designed a few custom light indicators, and cut up oak veneer to complete the illusion that the Silent Oak is (or was) exactly that. Wood would’ve been nice, but even nicer is a PC that doesn’t double as a fire hazard. That said, I can’t help but imagine Flix decked out in some fine lumberwear, taking a massive axe to a stolid, aged tree and coring it to expertly extract the Silent Oak PC, intact and born from nature’s geeky womb. 

Silent Oak doesn’t get its name from pure imagination. Its most important inside bits were handpicked for how quietly they run—and since trees tend to not make noise or run, the theme is strongly rooted. The loudest Silent Oak gets is no more noticeable than a light breeze through the trees. Well, I wouldn’t know since I haven’t heard it in person, but Flix seems an honorable modder (and I’m banking hard on these tree similes). Unfortunately, the build log doesn’t go into detail on every component (I reached out to get the rest), though they seem beside the point. This build is about visual and aural silence. 

Related articles
  • A custom DIY walnut wooden ITX PC case by MXC Builds If anything were to convince me to try out carpentry it would be this gorgeous DIY mini walnut PC case housing an Asus ProArt RTX 5080
  • A gaming PC in the process of being built, using Radeon and Ryzen components and an Asus Pro Art PA401 PC case. Moody and wooden, this PC and I have a lot in common: Asus ProArt Case PA401, Ryzen 7 9800X3D and RX 9070 XT build
  • A picture of a Terracotta painted Fractal Terra case 'I didn’t want just another black box', says hobbyist who customised their PC to look like an aged terracotta pot

For more pictures and information, check out the official build log.

Silent Oak components:

Case: BitFenix Pandora

GPU: MSI R7 250

PSU: Corsair RM 450

Fans: Noctua NF-F12 PWN 120mm Premium

Read more
A custom DIY walnut wooden ITX PC case by MXC Builds
If anything were to convince me to try out carpentry it would be this gorgeous DIY mini walnut PC case housing an Asus ProArt RTX 5080
 
 
A picture of a Terracotta painted Fractal Terra case
'I didn’t want just another black box', says hobbyist who customised their PC to look like an aged terracotta pot
 
 
A gaming PC in the process of being built, using Radeon and Ryzen components and an Asus Pro Art PA401 PC case.
Moody and wooden, this PC and I have a lot in common: Asus ProArt Case PA401, Ryzen 7 9800X3D and RX 9070 XT build
 
 
A white gaming PC built using a Thermaltake PC case, Cooler Master fans, and an AMD CPU.
I've taken a proper bargain of a case from Thermaltake and built a gorgeous white PC with it
 
 
The Edifier Huazai New Cyber, a desktop speaker that looks like a gaming PC
Edifier's new desktop speaker is treating gaming PCs as a luxury HiFi aesthetic, but it's just not doing it for me
 
 
A Corsair Air 5400 PC case
The many-chambered PC cases at Gamescom really showed up my old banger of a chassis
 
 
Latest in PC Cases
A custom DIY walnut wooden ITX PC case by MXC Builds
If anything were to convince me to try out carpentry it would be this gorgeous DIY mini walnut PC case housing an Asus ProArt RTX 5080
 
 
Three PC cases on a pink background with the PC Gamer logo in the top right.
I'm surrounded by PC cases I've reviewed and these are the best PC case deals I'd go for this Prime Day
 
 
The Hyte X50 PC case on a desk ready to be built into for testing and review.
Hyte X50 PC case review
 
 
The Havn BF 360 PC case in both black and white with panels removed.
Havn BF 360 PC case review
 
 
Corsair Frame 4500X ATX PC case throughout a PC build for testing.
Corsair Frame 4500X review
 
 
A gaming PC in the process of being built, using Radeon and Ryzen components and an Asus Pro Art PA401 PC case.
Asus ProArt Case PA401 review
 
 
Latest in Features
Collage showing upcoming movies
2027 is shaping up to be the biggest year for videogame movies yet, with the live-action Zelda movie, A Minecraft Movie sequel, Death Stranding, and more heavy-hitters planned
 
 
Daryl riding a shark in Super Daryl Deluxe.
Can you find the 10 real games in this jumble of 30 fake ones? Try to see through my lies in our latest quiz
 
 
An edited picture of an orc opening a bag that, instead of gold, is filled with random items.
Every MMO I play in 2025, I end up with a bag filled with trash—but that won't change any time soon, if at all
 
 
The protagonist of Butterflies wielding his butterfly net.
I played communist Germany's only arcade cabinet and you can too, comrade
 
 
A promotional screenshot of Fellowship. A blue elven archer holds a bright bow.
These indie devs ditched AAA studios to make a co-op RPG with endless MMO-style dungeons, and after 7 years it's finally here
 
 
Borderlands 4 endgame Wildcard modifiers: A close-up shot of Zane smiling as he aims down his rifle, pointing to the right of the image.
Borderlands 4's endgame modifiers make me irrationally angry while I replay old campaign missions on repeat
 
 
  1. MSI Vector 16 HX AI and Razer Blade 16 gaming laptops on a blue background with a PC Gamer logo in the foreground
    1
    Best gaming laptop 2025: I've tested the best laptops for gaming of this generation and here are the ones I recommend
  2. 2
    Best SSD for gaming in 2025: the fastest and the best value solid state drives to perk up your PC
  3. 3
    Best Hall effect keyboards in 2025: the fastest, most customizable keyboards for competitive gaming
  4. 4
    Best PCIe 5.0 SSD for gaming in 2025: the only Gen 5 drives I will allow in my PC
  5. 5
    Best graphics cards in 2025: I've tested pretty much every AMD and Nvidia GPU of the past 20 years and these are today's top cards
  1. Asus ROG Xbox Ally X handheld gaming PC
    1
    Asus ROG Xbox Ally X handheld gaming PC review
  2. 2
    Keeper review — A short adventure that will stick with you for a long time
  3. 3
    Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 review: A brilliant undead mystery that never quite gets comfortable in its RPG skin
  4. 4
    Logitech G321 Lightspeed review
  5. 5
    TP-Link Deco BE25 BE5000 review

PC Gamer is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...