Assembly

Installing the motherboard is done by traditional means, with the use of equipped spacers and screws. There is plenty of space along three of the motherboard's edges, but connectors along the top may be a bit harder to reach as the chassis' top metal cover is not simply a hole but a honeycomb air vent. On a more positive note, long GPUs and a 120 mm tower cooler will easily fit into the chassis.


Both the 2.5'' and 3.5" hard drive bays come with plastic trays to allow for a drive's tool-less installation. You may also install a 2.5" variant into a 3.5" tray, but doing so requires a screwdriver and up to four of the supplied screws.


The smaller trays hold their drives in place with plastic pins, while the 3.5" trays use metal pins for some added stability. Once filled, simply slide these into their appropriate bays until you hear that satisfactory click to tell you that they have been secured; these now won't dislodge under normal use.


Installing the ODD is similarly quick as you only need to remove the bay cover of your choice to slide the unit into the bay until the plastic lock snaps down. While the lock does work, there is a tad bit of play, so you should use a single screw to pin your drive down perfectly, which would also kill any vibrations the unit might pass onto the frame as it operates.


The PSU is secured with the screws Aerocool supplies. There is plenty of space for a long unit, so you should not find yourself in a pinch with a long and strong power supply.


With everything in place, the DS 200's interior makes a very clean impression, which is in part due to a good number of cable ties and loop holes for such on the motherboard tray. Given the traditional internal layout, you also won't have to sacrifice any space behind the motherboard tray on SSDs, for example.

Finished Looks

With the system turned on, the black ODD does look quite nice inside the orange chassis, and, just as the name Dead Silence (DS) implies, the system is refreshingly quiet; it should do a good job in keeping noise within its belly.


The LCD on top does not only offers the ability to display Celsius or Fahrenheit: You may also use it to turn the backlight on/off at any time, and these also come in various colors you may cycle through. Check out the gallery below.

LCD Colors