DEEPCOOL,is a Chinese company primarily known for its line of CPU air coolers, all-in-one liquid CPU coolers and power supplies. The company has recently branched out into computer cases, cooling fans and consumer electronics. DEEPCOOL launches a new ATX version chassis. The new innovative and creative chassis has been named as DUKASE. I have tested a number of Deep Cool CPU coolers in the past and have been generally impressed with what they have to offer. I am interested to see if they can also impress in the competitive PC case market, as there are a number of other quality offerings which are available in the same market segment as the DUKASE. The DUKASE offers plenty of interior space, which allows building powerful gaming systems. Apart from that there are quite a few neat little features,like for example 280mm liquid coolinig support, a reasonable price and a cover for the power supply area.
Specifications:
Packaging & Contents
The DeepCool Dukase ships in a plain brown box with an image of the chassis on the front and rear.
One side is used for a promotional graphic, while the other lists the chassis' specifications. Both sides also come with punched-out carrying holes for easy transportation from the post office to your home.
Foam spacers hold the chassis in place and protect if from damage during shipping, while a plastic bag has been put over the chassis to keep fingerprints and scratches away as it is put into its packaging at the factory.
A full bag of screws and a good number of zip ties also accompany the Dukase, and you get a basic manual to help you during the assembly process.
A Closer Look Outside
DeepCool decided to use plastic with glossy finish on the front and top part of the case, which is not our preferred choice since it’s a magnet for dust. The build quality is overall good but unfortunately there are a few sharp edges.
The high-quality electrostatic powder coating offers a superior touch sensation. Meanwhile, the ODD free metal front panel not only unifies the whole appearance to create a simple, characteristic aesthetic but ensures superior ventilation.
Both side panels are solid, well finished and the left one offers also a huge plexiglass side panel.
Special design side panel for cable management create more space behind the motherboard.
The side window reveals the interior and ensures a perfect visible effect.
The case features a swivel door to cover up the front of the chassis, hiding the unsightly optical drives you may have installed.
Although the door definitely adds a stylish element to the case, the first thing you notice is that the door is extremely lightweight and obviously made of plastic. Despite this, the door opens and closes smoothly and latches securely with a small magnetic clasp.
Behind the panel is a large ventilated area.
The upper front part of case contains two 5.25" and one 1.44" floppy drive bay slots.
The top part of the front comes with an I/O panel, which features one USB 3.0 port, one USB 2.0, microphone jacks as well as the standard power and reset buttons.
The fan speed controller near them can adjust 3 fans via its switch.
This new mainstream ATX chassis features special suspension style design of top panel, which is easy for cleaning and excellent for cooling.
The rear is simple and has all the features you would expect from such a case, including a spot for a 120mm fan and the motherboard I/O panel.
You can swap the 120mm fan for an 90mm.
The Dukase comes with a total of seven expansion slots and openings meant for liquid cooling tubes to pass through.
The bottom of the case is equipped with four plastic feet that raise and stabilize it.
It features a removable dust filter right beneath the PSU area. This will allow your psu to breath in fresh air and help keep it cool.
A Closer Look Inside
Remove the two thumb screws and slide backward to remove the panel. The Dukase's all-black interior comes with a fairly traditional layout. The inside of the Dukase is not spacious since it has an PSU cover. Specially designed LED strip mounting slots for lighting up your rig are at the PSU cover. As we already said, the motherboard tray is compatible with ATX motherboards and in that context it makes sense to offer quite a lot of HDD slots.
On the motherboard tray there is also a big opening behind the socket, which allows you to install aftermarket cooling systems without the need of removing the motherboard.
DeepCool has left practically no space to run cables behind the tray. In fact the only reason any cables can fit around the back is because of the partly extruded side panel in which a few cables can be stored. One 2.5" drive spot is placed at the rear right beneath the FDD bay.
Around the tray, there are a few openings for routing cables. A quick look at the cable management ports show adequate size for many cables, but no rubber covers.
There are several Velcro loop mounting points on the lower part of the back plate. Used with the variety of zip ties in the accessory package, these mounting points should prove more than adequate to keep a clutter-free cable arrangement.
I like the big opening at the bottom for many power supply cables to feed into the cable management area of the case.
You'll notice that unfortunatelly not all internal cables are black.
Looking into the external drive cage we can see the wide open design that uses ledges built into the sides to position an external DVD style device into a slot. As you slide the drive into position you will need to press slightly on the self-locking clips until the pins align with the screw holes in the side of the DVD, and then you release the clip to hold the drive in place.
At the bottom is a cover for the power supply and with two 2.5" internal drive trays just above it. The two aluminum SSD mounting trays shown in the photo below are held in place with thumb screws.
Beneath the 5.25" optical bays the area is empty not only to allow the installation of very long graphics cards (390mm in length) but also because you can mount a 120/140mm AIO cooler there.
The power supply mount position is cushioned by four rubbers bumpers.
There isnt any front HDD cage. You can mount two 3.5" drives on the other side of the PSU area cover.
To remove the front panel of the Dukase case, pull at the bottom of the panel.
The front of the chassis will hold two 120mm fans or one 140mm fan.
The intake is covered with a dust filter.
You can remove the top panel by pressing the two handles at the rear.
The top of the chassis will hold two 120/140mm fans or an 280mm Liquid Cooler.
Shown in the photo below is the gray 7-bladed DeepCool 120mm fan installed at the rear.
Installation & Finished Looks
Without any front mounted HDD cage, it was easy to reach into the case interior to place my motherboard in position over the pre-installed standoffs and then inserting and tightening the motherboard mounting screws. The DVD drive simply slides into the tray and is locked into position.
The second photo shows the video card in place after it is installed. CPU coolers can be up to 170 mm tall before hitting the side panel, and there is room for graphics cards up to 390 mm long. The Deepcool Dukase is also ready for watercooling gear. If you wish to install a custom loop, there is the possibility to equip this case with up to three radiators. Two of them can measure 120/140mm in lenght and the third could be a 280mm model.
To install a 2.5" HDD/SSD into a bracket insert the disk so that the connectors point to the back and attach the hard drive using the screws provided. The SSD drive tray has mounting holes for bottom attachment. Same procedure for 3.5" HDD. Here's the SSD, just before installation.
The next photo shows the SSD installed in place.
Moving to the cable management side of the Dukase.The photo is a close-up of the motherboard 24 Pin mount.
The next photo shows the 8 Pin cable installed.
It was extremely easy to install SATA cables from the case back, making it an equally simple operation to change SATA cables in the future with motherboards having this style of motherboard SATA connectors.
I installed two 120mm fans at the front.
The component interior in the photo shows a very clean cable setup. The Dukase will look good on any desktop whether for work or play after all the panels are installed and the rig is up and running.
Test System & Methology
Test System:
Processor: Intel 4770K @ 4.2GHz
Motherboard:MSI Z87-GD65 Gaming
Cooler:Cooler Master Nepton 240M AIO
Memory: 4GB Kingston HyperX DDR3 1800MHz
Graphics Cards: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 Reference Model
Power Supply: Corsair VS650
Boot Drive: Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB
OS: Windows 7 Home Edition 64bit[/SIZE]
I installed two 120mm GS120 fans from DeepCool at the front of the case.
To test the thermal performance of the DeepCool Dukase i loaded my test system for 15 minutes using Prime95 and Furmark and recorded the maximum temperatures reached using CPUID Hardware Monitor. I then restarted the system and left it for 15 minutes before recording idle temperatures.I overclocked the system to 4.2 GHZ for my tests. Room temperature was maintained at 20 degrees C for the duration of my tests.
Temperature
I am very impressed with the temperatures recorded, especially the GPU result which was excellent compared to other cases we’ve looked at in recent months.
Noise Level
DeepCool has managed to keep the fan noise reasonably low. Sure, it’s still quite audible but it’s considerably quieter than many cases on the market.
Conclusion
The Deepcool Dukase aims to offer as many features as you could possibly want in a chassis, all at an affordable price point, and it managed to deliver on this quite nicely. Amazing side window reveals the interior and ensures a perfect visible effect. With a design to promote good air flow, the components can stay cool. It offers great liquid-cooling support in the ceiling, a fan controller, and dust filters in front and at the bottom. In terms of construction quality, the Dukase is quite well off.I would have liked to see two more fans included and it would have been greatly appreciated if there were no sharp edges at all.A trend we're seeing more of over the last few years is the bottom PSU area of the case being sealed off from the rest of the interior, and that design is present in the Dukase, too. What this allows for is a hidden PSU and the ability to tuck the cables neatly out of sight. The Dukase has a spacious interior with room to mount mini- / micro- / ATX size motherboards and support for video cards up to a 400mm length. The case has seven expansion slots, which means there is room for no more than three dual-slot graphics cards. Apart from there you can also install enough hard drives or SSDs. The interior of the chassis offers room for two 3.5" drives, three 2.5" drives, and two 5.25" optical drives. In addition, there is plenty of space for the PSU space allowing the installation of high-end power supplies which can be longer than 160mm. With a cover over the power supply and hard drive cage, cable clutter is hidden which makes the view through the window panel clean and neat, inviting users to add an interior lighting scheme to show off their computer system. It’s also good to see that there is plenty of space between the backside of the motherboard tray and the right side panel, which allows of storing all the PSU cables here. The front has been covered using the same style on the entire case and integrate two fan slots, which helps realizing high airflow. From a cooling point of view, the Dukase is well-thought regarding the amount of spots where you can install fans. Included in the bundle we find two 3-pin/molex fans. This case allows you to install up to two 120mm or one 120mm fans in the front, two 120mm/140mm fans in the top and one 140mm fan in the rear. If you plan on installing custom watercooling gear there is also a lot of flexibility, since it's for example possible to install three radiators.
The Deepcool Dukase sells for 77 Euros or USD 50. In my opinion, the price is appropriate and to a certain extent it reflects the quality.Overall, this case is a good solution for those who want an entry-level product, which makes it ideal for new gamers.All in all, the Deepcool Dukase is a potent, well-designed chassis worthy of a closer look in the crowded higher mid-range market.