Assembly

Installing the motherboard within the Deep Silence 3 is done with the supplied spacers and screws. The cooler and a large graphics card fit into the chassis well, with plenty of room to the right and down below. One additional, non-functional difference between the DS2 and DS3 is the fact that the motherboard tray does not extend all the way to the drive bays in the front, leaving a gap which you will have to bridge with various cables. In an attempt to reduce the chance of a cable mess, I actually re-routed all the cables through a single opening in the front to then pull these cables across the gap.


Each 3.5" hard drive needs to be placed on one of the metal hard-drive trays. You will have to use tools to attach them to the tray - regardless of whether you go for 2.5" or 3.5" drives. Once filled, slide the tray into the chassis until it snaps down firmly.


With the introduction of 2.5" trays, Nanoxia also changed materials, as these are out of plastic, unlike the larger variant. This is not a big deal since these only hold SSDs or other small hard drives, and those will fit well enough. Just like with larger storage units, you will have to secure these with screws to then slide them into the bay of your choice.


Installing an optical drive is quite simple and does not require any screws or tools. Simply remove the cover of your choice, slide the drive into place, and use the locks on each side to secure it in place. These hold quite well; you can rest assured that you optical drive will not move around, but while these locks do hold the drive in place, there is also a tiny bit of wiggle room. You should secure the drive with a single screw to eliminate any vibrations as it operates.


You will still need to use traditional screws to secure the PSU. There is plenty of space, so you could, for example, install a long unit and use the near-by HDD socket for a small drive.


With everything in place, the chassis looks very clean. While this is due to the fact that all cables have been hidden behind the motherboard tray, you do have to invest some time and imagination into utilizing the aforementioned gap as little as possible. Such a look would not be possible without as many openings and hooks to secure the cables onto properly with zip ties.

Finished Looks

Once the side panels have been put back onto the chassis and its power button has been pushed, the Deep Silence 3 does a great job of encapsulating noise. There are no fans with fancy LEDs or other gimmicks as all major panels are completely solid. You may also use an optical drive of any color as the door will hide it nicely. The only visual cue that it has been turned on is its green LED, shining through as a green ring of light around the power button. Turning the chassis around, everything is readily accessible, being where you would expect it to be.