Aerocool DS (Dead Silence) Case Review
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.
Results: Temperatures And Noise
Temperatures
The parts we picked for this build should get warm enough to push the DS' two slow-spinning fans, but not overwhelm them. Of course, if you're using a graphics card that dumps all of its heat back into your case, or a more enthusiast-oriented CPU, more cooling performance can be achieved by installing two optional fans in their places at the top of the case, or opting for a 240 mm closed-loop liquid cooler. Again, we're sticking with Aerocool's stock setup, though.
| Temperatures under Full Load | ||
|---|---|---|
| System Configuration | Top Cover Completely Closed | Top Cover with Mesh Opening |
| Ambient Temperature | 20.5 °C | 20.5 °C |
| CPU (Core i5-2500K) | 61.6 °C | 59.6 °C |
| GPU (Radeon HD 7950) | 69 °C | 69 °C |
| (Fan 56% = 2297 RPM) | (Fan 56% = 2283 RPM) | |
| Hard Drive | 28 °C | 28 °C |
As we were expecting, temperatures remain in an acceptable range, despite the slow case fans. HIS' Radeon HD 7950 maxes out at 69 degrees Celsius at a fan speed of 2300 RPM due to its self-contained cooling solution, which doesn't offload its job onto the chassis' airflow. Intel's Core i5-2500K at an average temperature of 61.6 degrees Celsius across its four cores. Using the mesh top panel instead of the closed one yields a small improvement to 59.6 degrees Celsius.
If you're considering using this sort of system in an ambient environment of more than 30 degrees Celsius, consider installing those fans under the case's top cover. Really, it's too bad that Aerocool doesn't include a fan controller, giving the option of a second, higher fan speed. There's also the option to optimize a bit under the hood for better breathing. The first idea that comes to mind is pulling the external drive cage if it's not needed.
Noise
Aerocool's Dead Silence tries to live up to its name by maintaining low fan speeds. This isn’t completely successful, though. The rear fan rumbles along quite noticeably. A higher-quality fan would have been a better value-add. The front fan manages to provide airflow inaudibly with a bit of help from the front cover that absorbs some of the noise; it can only be heard once the cover is removed.
This case isn't completely silent, but still manages to perform modestly in our acoustic measurements. Switching out the rear fan would result in a noticeable improvement, though 37.7 and 38.0 dB(A) are solid numbers.
In order to get a better idea of how our installed components affect noise, we took two more measurements. The first only included the stock case fans, while the second included the entire system under full load. The graphics card fan dominates the latter measurement.
| Noise | ||
|---|---|---|
| Row 0 - Cell 0 | Case Fans Only | Whole System |
| Front (50 cm) | 37.7 dB(A) | 42 dB(A) |
| Diagonal Left Top (50 cm) | 38.0 dB(A) | 41.2 dB(A) |
| Diagonal Right Top (50 cm) | 38.0 dB(A) | 41.2 dB(A) |
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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. ;)Reply
(Which this case doesn't have amazing support for. There aren't any good 200mm radiators to put in the front.) -
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 Reply
Did anyone see any mention of the Bitfenix Prodigy? I used the Mini ITX version of this case in the June System Builder Marathon.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. -
DarkSable Reply11743356 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.
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Crashman Reply
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?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.
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"
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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 Reply11743552 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