Original Link: http://www.anandtech.com/show/6479/nanoxia-deep-silence-1-case-review-you-asked-for-it-you-got-it

Introducing the Nanoxia Deep Silence 1





Nanoxia Deep Silence 1 Specifications
Internal 8x 2.5"/3.5"
Cooling Front 2x 120mm intake fan
Rear 1x 140mm exhaust fan (compatible with 120mm)
Top 2x 120mm/140mm fan mount
Side 1x 120mm/140mm fan mount
Bottom 1x 120mm/140mm fan mount
Expansion Slots 8
Power Supply Size ATX
Clearances HSF 185mm
PSU 200mm
GPU 12.4" / 315mm
Dimensions 20.35" x 8.66" x 20.94"
517mm x 220mm x 532mm
Weight 25 lbs / 11.34 kg
Special Features Removable fan filters
USB 3.0 via internal header
Analog dual-channel fan controller (three fans per channel)
Toggleable "chimney"
Removable drive cages
Acoustic padding on the doors and side panels


In and Around the Nanoxia Deep Silence 1








Assembling the Nanoxia Deep Silence 1








Testing Methodology


ATX Test Configuration
CPU Intel Core i7-2700K
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-Z68MX-UD2H-B3
Graphics Card ASUS GeForce GTX 560 Ti DCII TOP
Memory 2x2GB Crucial Ballistix Smart Tracer DDR3-1600
Drives Kingston SSDNow V+ 100 64GB SSD
Samsung 5.25" BD-ROM/DVDRW Drive
CPU Cooler Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo with Cooler Master ThermalFusion 400
Power Supply SilverStone Strider Plus 750W 80 Plus Silver


Thank You!


Noise and Thermal Testing, Stock

The Nanoxia Deep SIlence 1's cooling design introduces a few minor wrinkles into the usual testing procedures. I can't complain about the inclusion of an analog fan controller or the switchable chimney in the top of the case, but it does increase the amount of time spent testing the case. To simplify things, I opted to test the DS1 with the fans turned all the way down and all the way up, and with the chimney opened and closed at both fan settings. Even at their lowest settings, the fans do still spin, but I found myself incredibly surprised by some of the results and you may very well be, too.

Ambient temperature during testing was between 22C and 23C.

CPU Temperatures (Stock)

GPU Temperatures (Stock)

SSD Temperatures (Stock)

Temperatures with the fans turned all the way down are pretty poor, but if you max them out the DS1 easily beats the Corsair 550D and BitFenix Ghost. Pay special attention to how the DS1 ranks against the 550D, because if Nanoxia can get it out here at their targeted MSRP, they're going to be undercutting Corsair. What's really surprising, too, is that the DS1's load thermals with the fans all the way up are actually competitive with performance-oriented cases.

CPU Fan Speed (Stock)

GPU Fan Speed (Stock)

Fan speeds are reflective of the differences in thermal performance we saw. With the case fans on high, the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo and GTX 560 Ti's fans don't have to work nearly as hard.

Noise Levels (Stock)

And here's the haymaker. Even with fans turned all the way up, the DS1 is still quieter than every other case. There's an audible difference between low and high that's unfortunately beneath the noise threshold of my sound meter; at low the case can really only be heard in a silent room in the dead of night. That said, the fans Nanoxia includes with the DS1 are very efficient, as is the cooling design of the case. More powerful (and louder) fans could probably easily shoot thermal performance to the top of the charts.

I'd also like to point out that the DS1's chimney has a very negligible effect on thermals and noise, which is both good and bad news depending on your perspective. It's good news because it means that keeping it open won't appreciably increase the noise the case produces, but bad news because it doesn't actually contribute in a meaningful way to case cooling.

Noise and Thermal Testing, Overclocked

Stock results for the Nanoxia Deep Silence 1 with the case fans set to low were admittedly pretty poor outside of the noise levels, and that made me nervous about testing it with the testbed overclocked. For what it's worth, the DS1 was able to run our overclocked testbed, but I wouldn't be comfortable with the low-90s temperatures that the CPU reached. You'll see, though, that if you let the fans stretch their legs a little, Nanoxia's design starts to come into its own again.

CPU Temperatures (Overclocked)

GPU Temperatures (Overclocked)

SSD Temperatures (Overclocked)

This is the first time keeping the chimney open has notably improved cooling performance, but the DS1 is starting to have trouble competing with the performance-oriented enclosures and is only able to tie the Ghost and 550D. Everything else runs reasonably cool, though.

CPU Fan Speed (Overclocked)

GPU Fan Speed (Overclocked)

Fan speeds are much more competitive, though. The low fan setting has a hard time keeping up, but the high fan setting proves the case has a healthy amount of fight in it.

Noise Levels (Overclocked)

And then the other haymaker. Once again the DS1 is able to meet or beat the other silent cases while offering competitive if not superior performance. This isn't the coolest running case, but it's the quietest. Out of our high end cases, the only one that can produce comparable acoustic performance is NZXT's Phantom 820, a case that's going to cost at least twice as much.

Conclusion: We Need the Nanoxia Deep Silence 1

If it seems like I nitpicked the Nanoxia Deep Silence 1 in this review, it's only because the case itself is actually an incredibly strong design. It's not a perfect one, but Nanoxia did a heck of a lot right, and in many ways they're reminding me of another small company that was looking to break through in the US not too long ago: BitFenix. Together with BitFenix, Fractal Design, and Corsair, Nanoxia threatens to be part of a new wave of case designers that will shake the old stalwarts out of their complacency.

Before I start gushing about the DS1, it's only fair that I highlight some of the issues that the enclosure does have. As I said, it is by no means perfect. While Nanoxia assures me the I/O pop-up hinge has been fixed, that's not something I can readily test and prove (at least not until they send me another review unit) so I have to take them at their word. The old style mounting grooves for the side panels mean you'll be resting your body on the side of the case as you try to replace the panels, and it feels like the measurements for the motherboard tray seem ever so slightly off. Nanoxia's default fans are also obviously efficient, but because you have to push them to their fastest settings to get good thermal performance out of the case (great, even), that means there's very little room to grow without adding or changing fans. Finally, I'd like to see Nanoxia do a better job of matching the tone of the plastic fascia with the tone of the steel sides.

With all that said, while I was testing the DS1, I was expecting it to run $150 at the least due to the sheer weight and durability of the materials used, and at that price I felt it would've been competitive. It's feature rich (I'm particularly bullish on the integrated analog fan controller), mostly user friendly, and offers solid performance in a very comfortable acoustic envelope. When they told me they were looking at a substantially lower price range, my first thought was "well, that's an editor's choice award right there." Thermal and acoustic performance meet or beat every other silent enclosure I've tested, build quality is good, and features are generous.

BitFenix's Ghost and Fractal Design's Define R4 are both less expensive, but they don't perform as well either, and they're not as solid. Corsair's Obsidian 550D is more expensive and performs worse. The Deep Silence 1 could still use some refinement, but for the targeted price, it's going to be very tough for other manufacturers to beat. To me, that's Bronze Editor's Choice Award material. It doesn't quite live up to the hype, but it comes very close.

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