When it comes to lighting on computer gear, all the craze these days is surrounding 16.7 million color RGB lighting, but do you really need 16.7 million colors to choose from? Aerocool doesn’t seem to think so, and as such, its new DS230 has just seven color choices with which you can customize the lighting.
The DS230 that Aerocool announced today is a mid-size gaming case that falls in the “Dead Silence” series. It has room for an ATX motherboard, three dual-slot GPUs up to 388 mm long (or 413 mm without any front fans installed), CPU coolers up to 170 mm tall, two 3.5” drives, and three 2.5” drives. There is no room for optical drives.
The case measures 475 x 230 x 478mm (HxWxD), and when empty it weighs 8.2 kg. That heft is thanks to the 0.7 mm-thick steel chassis together with the sound damping material on the top, front and side panels.
Despite being a silence-optimized case, it doesn’t lack for space in the cooling department. If you’re feeling lavish, you can populate the front with three 120 mm or two 140 mm fans, two 120 or 140 mm fans at the top, and one rear 120 mm fan. As standard kit, Aerocool includes a single 120 mm PWM fan.
The chassis has lighting at the top and bottom of the front panel, and the base of the case also has a top-down glow. Under normal operation, you can choose from red, green, blue, orange, magenta, light blue or white lighting, but there is also a special PWM mode. To enable it, you have to connect a PWM fan to a specific port on the fan controller hub, and after that the color will change depending on the duty cycle of the fan. It will start at green when the fan is running slowly, then move to blue, white, orange, and finally red when the fans are running at full speed. It draws the PWM signal from your motherboard, and the lighting can be disabled or set to breathing mode.
Front I/O consists of two USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports, the usual pair of headphone jacks, and buttons to control power and lighting.
Aerocool did not specify pricing, but it did note that the case will be available towards the end of the month or the beginning of September.
| Model Name | DS 230 |
|---|---|
| Case Type | Mid Tower |
| Steel Thickness | 0.7mm |
| Motherboards | ATX / micro ATX / mini-ITX |
| Case Dimensions | 230 x 475 x 477.8mm (W x H x D, overall) |
| 3.5” Drive Bays | 2 (Internal) |
| 2.5” Drive Bays | 3 (Internal) |
| Expansion Slots | 7 |
| GPU Clearance | 388 mm / 413 mm (without front fan) |
| CPU Clearance | Support Max. Height of 170 mm For CPU |
| I/O Ports | 2 x USB2.0 + 2 x USB3.0 + HD Audio & Mic. |
| Air Cooling System | Front : 3 x 120mm or 2 x 140mm (Optional) Top: 2 x 120mm or 2 x 140mm (Optional) Rear : 1 x 120mm fan (PWM fan Included) |
| Water Cooling System | Front : 3 x 120mm or 2 x 140mm (Optional) Top: 2 x 120mm or 2 x 140mm (Optional) Rear : 1 x 120mm (Optional) |
| Net Weight | 8.2Kg / 9.7Kg (Gross Weight) |
| Power Supply | ATX PSU (Optional) |
