Aerocool Dead Silence Cube Review
Category : Cases
Published by Luca Rocchi on 30.09.14
Dead Silence Cube is the latest case from Aerocool, which in this case features a compact form factor as well as space for mATX motherboards. Despite its small dimensions, there is actually enough space for small high-end gaming systems and therefore it might bit a case that offers some rather interesting options. Apart from the fact, that there is space for high-end graphics cards you'll also be able to install an all-in-on watercooler.
Today,
we will be checking out one of the latest cases from Aerocool, the mini tower
Dead Silence Cube.
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Preview
Specifications
| Model |
Dead Silence Cube |
| Case Type |
Mini Tower |
| Dimensions |
411mm (H) x 265mm (W) x 411mm (D) |
| Material |
SGCC, plastic |
| Color |
Black and red |
| 5.25'' drive
bay |
1 |
| 3.5'' drive bay |
2 |
| 2.5'' drive bay |
2 |
| Expansion
slots |
4 |
| Form factors |
Micro ATX, Mini-ITX |
| Cooling |
Front: 1x200mm (Included)
Top: 2x 120mm
Rear: 1x 120mm (Included)
|
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Bundle
Overview |
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| The Aerocool Dead Silence Cube bundle is pretty straight-forward. The actual box is made out of cardboard with all the basic informations printed on it. Inside, we found the
Dead Silence wrapped up in a plastic bag, and safely placed inside two big pieces of styrofoam, so that even the roughest shipping can
not break it. Along with the case itself, the bundle also includes an instruction manual, which is always helpful, and a few other things
like the plastic bag with enough screws needed to assemble your system,
a couple of zip-ties which should help you get a better cable management as well as a high air-flow top panel.
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Product overview
Overview |
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The Aerocool Dead Silence Cube is
a "cube case" desing for mATX motherboards. The case is made with SofTouch finish on the top and the whole front panel. The DS Cube is available in several colors. As mentioned, the bundle includes two covers for the upper part of the case, one designed for silence
and other designed to ensure better cooling of the components. Both side panels are big, well made and without any mesh or vent. The top panel features
an I/O panel with two USB 2.0 and two USB 3.0 ports as well as standard audio jacks. The backside panel is pretty standard as
it includes a place for a 120mm fan, the I/O opening for the motherboard, four expansion slots, two rubberized holes for liquid cooling systems and the opening for
a standard ATX PSU. At the bottom, we found one opening, covered by a big dust filter, allowing it to draw more fresh air inside the case as well as four hard plastic feet used to lift and stabilize the DS Cube. |
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Installation
Overview |
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| The Aerocool Dead Silence Cube is compatible with mATX and mini-ITX
motherboards. The motherboard itself is placed in a horizontal position, therefore
there should not be any big problems with the installation of large heatsinks. The case
features two levels, where the bottom level is reserved for the PSU and SSDs/HDDs
which can be mounted without any tools thanks to tool-lest 3.5/2.5-inch
system. The second level features a space for the motherboard with a small window for the backplate mounting. For our system we chose to use
the ASUS Maximus V Gene motherboard with graphics cards of various length. After placing the motherboard in its seat we
had some wiring problems with longer graphics card, since the part of
the graphics card where you need to plug in PCI-Express power connectors was completely covered by
the 2.5-inch
cage. Thankfully, that same cage is removable so it was not a big issue.
As far as the power supply is concerned, we used a standard sized PSU but struggled
to get a good cable management since the small area meant for the PSU is too short and without
a modular PSU you could have some problems.
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Ventilation options
Overview |
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| The
cooling part of the Aerocool Dead Silence Cube is decent as it offers various cooling
options. The package includes two 3-pin fans, a 200mm and a 120mm one. Overall, the case is able to accommodate two 120 mm fans
at the top and one at the rear. In addition to those mounting places,
the Dead Silence can also house a 200mm at the front. As you could have
guessed, this means there should be enough room for a 240mm liquid
cooling radiator at the top. |
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Conclusion
| General |
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+ |
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| Aerocool's Dead Silence
is a sleek little case, which is available in different colors. Unlike what you might think,
it isn't a small case
at all, and with the right precautions, you should be able to install high-end video cards. The build quality is pretty good and the materials are pleasant to
the touch. The bundle is adequate too. |
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- Bundle
- Price
- Colors
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| Manufacturing quality / Ergonomics |
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+ |
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| The Dead Silence is made of SGCC and ABS
where as the basic structure got painted black and and the plastic
panels are available in different colors. Although the side panels are quite light and thin, which is never a good sign, we did not observe
stability issues with this case. Apart from that there are no sharp edges
at all. As for the mounting, we found some problems during the installation of
longer graphics cards as well as with the power supply. These issues are
related to proper cable routing and stem from the simple fact, that in
there isn't too much space in this case. Although it is mentioned that
the maximum length for PSUs is 160 milliemter, this makes for a rather
tight fit. |
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- Build quality
- Tool-less
- Soft Touch
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- PSU space
- GPU space
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| Design |
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+ |
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| The design is always a subjective aspect, however, we believe that, with the DS Cube, Aerocool managed to get a sophisticated design created for those who seek silence but are also willing to have a good internal cooling. As mentioned in the previous pages, the space inside the Dead Silence Cube is
sufficient but at the same time there is not too much space. We particularly enjoyed the upper zone dedicated to the installation of radiators and heatsinks, since it offers plenty of room for both. Regarding cooling,
the bundle includes a 200mm and a 120 mm
fan which are pre-installed with the case and there is space for
additional two 120mm fans at the top. |
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- Design
- Water cooling solutions
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| Recommendation |
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+ |
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| If you are looking for a small case,
which is compatible with mATX motherboards and lets you build rather
powerful gaming systems,
then the Dead Silence from Aerocool should be considered. On Geizhals.eu,
the Aerocool Dead Silence Cube is listed with prices starting at 62 euro excluding shipping costs.
In our opinion this price is definitely reasonable. |
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Gaming-PC
- Modding
- Price |
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| Rating |
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The Aerocool Dead Silence Cube gets good
4 out of 5 stars. |
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