Nanoxia Deep Silence 2 Case Review: Trimming the Fat
by Dustin Sklavos on February 14, 2013 12:01 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- quiet
- ATX
- Nanoxia
Noise and Thermal Testing
Going into testing, I remained cautiously optimistic about the Nanoxia Deep Silence 2. Most of the original design cues are essentially intact from the DS1 and I remain overjoyed as ever by the inclusion of the analog fan controller, but silent cases still continue to run the age old risk of restricting airflow to the point where heatsink fans have to run much faster to keep thermals down.
Whenever I include test results from older cases with fan controllers, I tend to include the results that present the best balance of noise and performance. The Deep Silence 1 is unique in that it's one of the only cases where I include the high fan results instead of the low, as the low setting is essentially inaudible while the high setting is only marginally louder while producing substantially better thermal performance. You'll see the DS2 is basically the same way.
Ambient temperatures hovered around 22C during testing.
The DS2 runs into the same problem the DS1 did: the low fan setting just doesn't move very much air. It's quiet, sure, but it also runs very hot. At their respective high settings, though, the DS1 and DS2 do offer fairly comparable performance.
Unfortunately, you'll see the DS1 also has generally better acoustics than the DS2 does. The DS2 is still a very quiet case and it beats the BitFenix Ghost, but the AZZA Silentium runs ever so slightly quieter. Your best bet for silence continues to be the DS1.
When I saw the thermal results for the DS2, at least at the low fan setting, I lost some of my optimism. It's only when you max out the fans that the DS2's performance becomes competitive, but this is the trade you traditionally make when you move to a silent case.
Overclocked thermals remain fairly competitive provided you leave the fans on high, and the DS2 puts in a strong showing against its predecessor.
The noise level results get back to what I was talking about before; because the low fan setting doesn't move as much air, the heatsink fans spin much higher, and the DS2 actually gets pretty loud as a result. If you max out the fans, the DS2 is suddenly one of the quietest cases we've ever pitted against our overclocked testbed.
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saf227 - Thursday, February 14, 2013 - link
.... and still no US availability?Dustin Sklavos - Friday, February 15, 2013 - link
They're working on it. That's actually part of why I elected to review Nanoxia's stuff. You guys were interested, the products are actually really good, and the review helps them make a case (no pun intended) with American distributors.Zak - Thursday, February 14, 2013 - link
Boring. Looks like a small refrigerator...nassaux - Thursday, February 21, 2013 - link
One good reason to choose DS2 could be if you cannot squeeze a 230mm case in your computer hold. I know it might sound silly to some of you, but that is a real problem for me now and that "wide" case I've got. I was lookig for a nice quiet and thin case for about 6 months now. I think I've found it.JNo - Monday, February 25, 2013 - link
"The DS2 is likely going to be the standard bearer for quiet cases under $100. That assumes Nanoxia hits the price point in the States that they're targeting, much as some of the DS1's success rides on that same factor. Yet the DS2 sells for 89 Euros (and the DS1 for 119) .... At the same time, though, the Deep Silence 2 doesn't really feel different enough from the Deep Silence 1 to really merit a purchase. Yes, you'll be able to save $20"Firstly, that'll be closer to a $30+ cheaper using your implied exchange rate. It may not sound much but when you're trimming $30 here and the case, $50 on a cheaper soundcard, $50 on an i5 instead of an i7, $20 off a cheaper PSU etc etc it all adds up. $30 isn't nothing.
"It's like the used games at Gamestop that go for a whole $5 less than new. What's the point?"
Er... because all the 1s and 0s are the same anyway? All those $5s add up and can soon be spent on another game. Or, you know, food and bills and stuff.
You've got to remember just because you're a tech enthusiast who won't skimp, there are plenty who are still enthusiasts but trying to cut costs where they can...
Affectionate-Bed-980 - Monday, February 25, 2013 - link
The 820? 620? You spend time reviewing those, giving gold and bronze awards, and then you don't include them in the benchmarks? You also mention NZXT in this review too. It's like talking about the Nexus 4 right after the iPhone 5 release and not comparing two flagship phones...Affectionate-Bed-980 - Monday, February 25, 2013 - link
Sorry. Better analogy might be HTC One and SGS4. I'd imagine two flagship Android phones would get heavy comparisons, but if you were to do a review without accounting for the other, that would be an epic fail.pudl - Tuesday, March 26, 2013 - link
I recently got this case and am not happy with it. It has thin cover plates which tend to vibrate defeating its Deep Silence acronym. There are also some tiny rust spots bulging through the white paint while a cage on the inside has a more significant amount of rust. :SI think it's a cheap copy of Fractal Design's cases.
tahelia - Monday, April 8, 2013 - link
I haven't read all of the comments, so I don't know wether it's mentioned, but where the review states, that the front intake has no filter, that's not true. There still is one to the front, though that's not as easy accessible as at the DS1, and there is one at the bottom, of course.