The Dead Silence's basic design centers on a two-chamber approach. The top level houses the motherboard, with all of its heat-generating components plugged into it, while the bottom is reserved for the power supply and storage.
Armed with a 200 mm intake fan and 120 mm exhaust, the Dead Silence includes the accessories needed to keep enthusiast-class hardware cool in a purposely cramped space. The larger front fan promises a nice, wide airflow that should push air across most of the installed components. As mentioned, both fans spin slowly, and the benchmarks will show if they're powerful enough to keep up with a high-end gaming system. Both fans are compatible with three- and four-pin power connectors.
Since the case features smooth, unbroken surfaces, air enters via slits cut into the front cover's sides. You can see them in the shot below. These go almost all the way around the front, from one side of the top cover all the way to the bottom, over to the other side, and all the way up again to the top.
Unfortunately, the case doesn’t have a dust filter covering the front fan, even though there would have been enough space for it. We can only hope that fewer dust particles will enter, compared to cases with lots of mesh up front, due to the placement of those small slits.
The power supply's air intake does feature a dust filter, which can easily be accessed by pulling it out of the back of the case.
The Dead Silence can be optionally equipped for airflow through the case's top panel. Removing that cover reveals space to install two 120 or 140 mm fans.
In order for the optional fans to do their work, the Dead Silence's top cover is replaced with one that features openings and a dust filter. This option comes in handy as you start stepping up to hotter hardware that dissipates power inelegantly (AMD's Radeon HD 7990 and Nvidia's GeForce GTX 690 are good examples).
Water Cooling
You can also use the space below that optional mesh top to house a 240 mm radiator for water cooling. First, the 5.25” and 3.5” external drive cages, which are held in place by screws, need to be taken out. From there, you even have enough space for a radiator sandwiched by fans. And the motherboard is installed horizontally, not vertically, so you won't have to worry about potential clearance issues.









(Which this case doesn't have amazing support for. There aren't any good 200mm radiators to put in the front.)
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.
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.
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"
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.
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.
I am glad to see others in agreement with me about the Prodigy. When I was shopping for a HTPC/Gaming build I found the Prodigy (and the reviewed case) to be as large as good Micro-ATX cases like the Silverstone Temjin. I ended up with the PS07W instead; in purchasing the case I calculated the footprint and internal volume of the cases and found the Micro-ATX to have much more volume (to move air and cool) with the same footprint of the Prodigy. This case and the Prodigy are great cases but not SFF by any means.
Also, in light of the skull-sweat and effort Steiger Dynamics demoed with their jam-packed mATX LEET watercooled beast featured in the recent Z87 article on the US site, this case looks a bit underwhelming, whether deserved or not.
(Which this case doesn't have amazing support for. There aren't any good 200mm radiators to put in the front.)
What about the Phobya Extreme 200 mm? I have not checked the interior dimensions of this case to see if it fits. It's 240x200 mm.
Got me there! I would argue however that even though the term "small form factor" is not technically correct it has been adopted in the colloquial vernacular [threw in big words to look more smarter] of open tech message boards like Tom's as it is easily more easily understood than a more technically correct answer.
What I should have said is that the Bit Fenix Prodigy takes up the same footprint (on the floor or on the desk) as certain Micro-ATX Mid Towers like the Silverstone Temjin with less internal volume for airflow and cable management. There's also the (more than likely) added cost of the Mini-ITX board over a MIcro-ATX board and the lack of AM3+ Mini-ITX boards out there.
The new Aerocool solves the issue with the Prodigy by widening the whole chassis by only 5 more CM than the cases I pointed out in the above post. That shouldn't be too much wider than most Micro-ATX Mid Towers. It's an interesting product and the review was done well. I should have read it more thoroughly.