Finished Looks

The Deepcool Castle 280EX keeps with the subdued looks of the series with its use of black fans rather than RGB-illuminated ones. Only the pump has ARGB LEDs, and everything else simply blends in with the rest of the build. This kind of design is more subtle and feels less gamer-focused, which is something I can respect. You get a solid-looking unit without needing to find some way to replace your retinas after being hit by the rainbow rave light show I have seen on some units. Deepcool continues to offer a nice blend of illumination and subtle design cues to fill a specific void of sorts in the all-in-one liquid cooler market with their Castle EX lineup.


Like the majority of all-in-one liquid CPU coolers, the Castle 280EX had no issues in regards to memory or graphics card clearance.


When it comes to ARGB LED lighting, the pump is pleasing to look at without being what I would consider ostentatious. In other words, it is just right. I had no problems with it syncing with MSI Mystic Light, and the integrated controller worked fine as well. However, motherboard software control comes with more options to choose from. I would still prefer a wireless remote since it wouldn't require users to open the system to change the color if their motherboard doesn't have ARGB support, but that is a minor quibble, to be honest.