Aerocool DS (Dead Silence) Case Review

Features
By Kai Tubbesing
published

Aerocool, a company best known for its flashy tower-style gaming cases, surprised us with a small and well-thought-out cube-shaped chassis with space for tall CPU coolers and long graphics cards, in spite of its size. It comes in six color combinations.

Aerocool's Dead Silence is a very robust chassis, thanks to its 0.8 mm-thick steel frame. The plastic covers also seem to be well-made; from our short time with them, it doesn't appear that they'll wear out after repeated assemblies. Other than the side and back panels, all of the other surfaces have a soft-touch finish. It's nice-feeling, and doesn't attract fingerprints (the loud orange color might have helped with that).

Visually, this is a good-looking chassis. Its exterior consists of simple, smooth surfaces. Some round transitions, and the break between the body of the case and its sides keep it from looking monotone. As we mentioned, Aerocool offers a number of different color combinations for those who feel that this specific representation is a bit too flashy. At a width of 26.5 cm, the Dead Silence is on the wide side, and, consequently, fits into the cube category when its other, relatively compact dimensions are taken into account. You'll find the DS fairly easy to transport, making it a viable option for LAN party gaming.

The only immediately apparent problem surfaces when it comes time to pop off those side panels. They’re held in place by beefy thumb screws that are easy to work with. However, the panels themselves don’t sport grips that'd help slide them off. This is especially problematic the first time you go to remove them; they're stuck on pretty securely.

Kai Tubbesing
36 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Protino
    So organized and neat..!
    Reply
  • DarkSable
    Well damn. I really like this thing, but it's just too big for a mini-ITX rig, and there are a lot better options out there for micro-ATX.
    Reply
  • slyu9213
    I agree kind of big and not sure how silent it is. But when I think of gaming I don't think of silent. Especially with some of the fans on the video cards.
    Reply
  • DarkSable
    But that's why you watercool. ;)
    (Which this case doesn't have amazing support for. There aren't any good 200mm radiators to put in the front.)
    Reply
  • chumly
    Can you guys take a thermal reading at the point between the motherboard and PSU when the system is at load please?
    Reply
  • Crashman
    11743015 said:
    Well damn. I really like this thing, but it's just too big for a mini-ITX rig, and there are a lot better options out there for micro-ATX.
    Did anyone see any mention of the Bitfenix Prodigy? I used the Mini ITX version of this case in the June System Builder Marathon.
    Reply
  • DarkSable
    11743356 said:
    Did anyone see any mention of the Bitfenix Prodigy? I used the Mini ITX version of this case in the June System Builder Marathon.

    Hang on, I'm confused. Two points.

    1) I've used a prodigy before, and consider it huge for mini-ITX. It has its uses, but it's specialized... but no, I didn't see it mentioned in the article. What does that have to do with it?

    2) Wait, I'm confused. Is "this case" referring to the prodigy or to this dead silence case. Does the case reviewed in the article actually have two versions, a mini-itx and a matx? If so (and the matx isn't done as poorly as the matx prodiy), that would be awesome.

    Reply
  • Crashman
    11743462 said:
    11743356 said:
    Did anyone see any mention of the Bitfenix Prodigy? I used the Mini ITX version of this case in the June System Builder Marathon.

    Hang on, I'm confused. Two points.

    1) I've used a prodigy before, and consider it huge for mini-ITX. It has its uses, but it's specialized... but no, I didn't see it mentioned in the article. What does that have to do with it?

    2) Wait, I'm confused. Is "this case" referring to the prodigy or to this dead silence case. Does the case reviewed in the article actually have two versions, a mini-itx and a matx? If so (and the matx isn't done as poorly as the matx prodiy), that would be awesome.
    Now I'm confused? I just looked at the pictures and spotted a case structurally identical to my Mini ITX Prodigy, except for the added width. Does the different plastic really disguise it that well?

    Or are you thinking of the completely-revised Prodigy M, rather than the original Prodigy? Please take another look at the original Prodigy. If this case is better than the Prodigy M and I'd tested both, I'd have probably called the DS "What the Prodigy M should have been"

    Reply
  • Myrkvidr
    I would have compared the DS to the Prodigy, but unfortunately I never received one of the Bitfenix ITS-Cases for testing...
    Reply
  • DarkSable
    11743552 said:
    Now I'm confused? I just looked at the pictures and spotted a case structurally identical to my Mini ITX Prodigy, except for the added width. Does the different plastic really disguise it that well?

    Or are you thinking of the completely-revised Prodigy M, rather than the original Prodigy? Please take another look at the original Prodigy. If this case is better than the Prodigy M and I'd tested both, I'd have probably called the DS "What the Prodigy M should have been"

    Okay, gotcha, yes. It's another Prodigy spinoff, I agree. I still consider it large, though. :P
    Reply