A Closer Look - Inside

Removing the side panels of the darkFlash DLX4000 is easily done with a gentle tug and requires no tools at all. On the interior, the layout is pretty traditional, but due to the ability to install cooling elements on the side of the chassis, the metal shroud has been cut short. This is also the area where you will find some more company branding and venting at the top.


In the rear. DarkFlash is utilizing four Velcro strips to pre-route the cables for the most part, which is nice to see. As there is no room or hard drive mounting places on the floor of the DLX4000, you will find here a bracket that can hold up to three 2.5 or 3.5" units. Alternatively, this mounting plate could even be used for three 120 mm fans. The gray grommets throughout the case in combination with the white are a nice touch as well, while some would argue that darkFlash should have just gone that last step and made these white as well, white rubber tends to discolor over time, making gray a more resilient choice.


Speaking of which, the PSU bay is pretty straight forward, but features two thick foam strips for the unit to sit on. Funnily enough, these are too thick and push the PSU upward when installed, which in turn blocks your cable management holes so that things like the front IO audio wire won't have enough room. As such, during our installation we had to pull these strips off the floor of the chassis. While this is a small aspect that doesn't really have much real world impact these days, it is odd that this issue has not been caught by the factory or darkFlash. Above that are the five to seven expansion slots, depending on your setup. In the very top, you can clearly see that rear exhaust fan once again.


In the front, on the floor of the chassis, there is another mounting possibility for a 120 or 140 mm fan. Above that, there is just the glass panel, but on the side, the mounting is mostly meant to be used for fans (two 140 or three 120 mm variants) unless you are alright with limiting the total possible length of your GPU and using the area for liquid cooling as well.


A simple, but effective metal GPU support bracket comes pre-installed inside the DLX4000. It is held in place with two big, flat thumbscrews which use the cutout where 140 mm fans are secured to. This means that you will likely have to remove the GPU support if you hope to use fans of that size on the side.


In the ceiling you can clearly see the positions for the fans or radiators. These are far enough away from the motherboard, so that you should be able to pass any heatsinks or memory on the board. However, due to the compact openings above the motherboard for cable routing, odds are any fans or AIOs will block access to the top edge of the board, so you should really route and connect all wiring to that area in advance.


All the IO within the case is sleeved black and of the standard variety. The only noteworthy differentiator is the flat USB-C lead. While some brands go as far as to provide white cables, that purist market going for all white components is quite niche, as such having black wiring in the DLX4000 is just fine.