Why you can trust Tom's Hardware Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.
Benchmark Results & Conclusion
Normally we would compare the performance of the Quadstellar to other chassis of similar sizes and feature sets but, as you can tell by now, there really isn't anything else on the market close to this chassis in features and design. That said, we are using the NZXT H700i, the Bitfenix Enso, and the be quiet! Dark Base 700 for comparison because they are all premium chassis. All thermal tests were performed with the front active thermal control gates closed to simulate a "worst case scenario."
Due to the Quadstellar's severe CPU cooler height limitation, we were unable to use the Cooler Master Hyper T4 normally used in our standardized test configuration. We chose the low profile Noctua NH-L12 with a single 120mm fan attached for testing. With that in mind, let's take a look at thermal performance.
With case fans set to 1400 RPM for testing, CPU core temperatures on our budget quad-core Core i5-7500 processor running at 3.8GHz were easily the best we have ever seen. This, despite the fact we used a smaller, low-profile CPU cooler. Even under 100% load, processor temps never exceeded 35°C over the ambient temperature of 25°C. GPU temps were taken with the graphics card installed in the upper right hand lobe of the chassis. The close proximity and position of the dedicated 120mm intake fan kept GPU temps to a minimum during testing. We attribute the Quadstellar's phenomenal CPU and GPU temps to its unique compartmentalized wind tunnel design.
We tested the Quadstellar with the front doors open to allow as much noise as possible to escape the chassis to give you an overall idea of just how much noise this case generates under the most extreme conditions. We were suprised to find that, even with the active thermal control doors open, this chassis produced only 33.9dBA. This is most likely due to the combination of the chassis' thick metal casing, tempered glass side panels and the accoustic profile of the fans themselves.
We determine acoustic efficiency, also referred to as "cooling-to-noise ratio," by averaging all five of our tests to determine a base value.
This is the point in the review where we tell you that our value chart doesn’t take features into account. That's because, even though this chassis has great thermal and acoustic performance, it is hard to justify the $400 price tag based on performance alone. This is where the Quadstellar's list of features, unique looks and impressive design come into play. Those of you looking for a chassis that will impress friends, colleagues and bystanders alike right out of the box, would be hard-pressed to find a better chassis, even at this price point.
We are fully aware that looks are subjective, but we think it is relatively safe to say that there are very few cases on the market today that have the "wow-factor" of Deepcool's Quadstellar chassis. We are the first to admit that this chassis may not be for everyone but, to be fair, Deepcool isn't targeting just "everyone." This is a specialized high-end chassis with a unique design that is sure to impress.
MORE: Best Cases
MORE: All Case Content
