DarkFlash DLH 21

[Darksaber]

The DLH 21 is the first ITX chassis from DarkFlash. It offers the modern possibilities of a 240 mm AIO, long GPU support, and ample storage in a compact, upright chassis and incorporates USB-C and ARGB elements.

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[Operandi]

Looks nice, and I can actually get behind the subtle RGB (the only right way to do it).

I'd rather not see the company logo on the front though and the RGB button dosn't need to be presented right up front with the power button, its not like you're going to be changing the settings every 5 mins.

 

[cellar door]

Looks nice, and I can actually get behind the subtle RGB (the only right way to do it).

I'd rather not see the company logo on the front though and the RGB button dosn't need to be presented right up front with the power button, its not like you're going to be changing the settings every 5 mins.

I liked it as well until I saw that airflow is absolute garbage.

 

[wheresmycar]

Nice but the plastic exterior is kinda off-putting.

 

[Daisho11]

Seems like a lot of wasted space with pretty lousy thermals and noise. If they could redesign the bottom of the case to fit a 120mm or a couple 92/80mm fans (raise the psu/mobo cage and backplate an inch or two), even if some of the added intake is blocked by the psu, it should help with airflow and overall temps.

 

[Liquid Cool]

I'm happy to see anyone entering the mini-itx case space, although the venting on the side panels kills it for me. Looks like my Xiaomi 3H Air Purifier.

Best,

Liquid Cool

 

[Chrispy_]

That looks lovely, good to hear it's well-made too.

It's just a shame about the 92mm fan. They could have used a less restrictive hole pattern in the top cover, and they should definitely have learnt from coolermaster's mistake about mounting fans directly to drilled plates. They should have cut a clean 92mm hole and put a wire-grille over it, or just made far larger cutouts to let the one fan do it's vital job.

It's nothing a dremel won't sort but then you lose the premium vibe if you have to hack it yourself. $146 isn't ultra expensive, but it's enough that you don't want to spend that much on a dud that will cook your components.

 

[DarkWorld25]

This is actually a rebrand of a case made by Aigo in China, called the Yogo S1

 

[JustACliff]

Way late on saying this, but why was the thermals done with a Air Cooler, when the normal test setup is a 240 AIO, there was no chance for the Darkflash to match the CPU cooling of a 240 AIO with a wimpy top down Noctua cooler, plus there is NO exhaust fan to make up for the missing 2 120's. Having read this review over again, somewhat confused as to why the performance was so bad given that the Yogo S1 the case is a rebrand of is a great case when it comes to the thermals, it seems the the discrepancy between the stated setup and the setup in the pictures would explain the bad results. The author even points out a 240 AIO SHOULD fit, meaning non was mounted in the case.

I then went and looked at all the reviews for all the cases used in the thermals comparison for the Darkflash review and found that the cooling setup between them is all over the place. How can you compare thermals on a number of CASES when the entire cooling system is changing between the cases. You have way to many variables to draw any kind of conclusion.

Maybe I am missing where it is stated that he pictured build is not the one used for thermals, but I could not find such a footnote. Also, based on the coolers used and the relationship between it and the thermal performance of the cases, I am guessing that no such standardization was done. It honestly to me looks like you have at 2, maybe more people doing reviews with different test hardware. If that is the case you should only compare cases tested by the same person with the same hardware.

You guys have made a great case (when used with a 240 AIO) look like a bad performer, not due to design or thermal performance of the case, but instead by using a number of data points with more then one non case variable.