Test System

Assembly

Installing a motherboard into the Deep Silence 5 Rev. B is done with the supplied spacers and screws. The cooler and a large graphics card fit into the chassis with plenty of room to the right and down below. You should be able to keep the chassis very clean because it is large and comes with a ton of grommet-equipped holes.


Each 3.5" hard drive needs to be placed onto one of the metal hard-drive trays. You will have to use tools to attach these to the trays—regardless of whether you go for 2.5" or 3.5" drives.


The SSD cage can hold a total of six drives vertically, inside a space where one would usually only be able to fit three. Each mounting position also comes with rubber anti-vibration measures. You will have to use the supplied screws to secure drives inside this cage.


Once either or both of these are filled, slide the tray into the chassis until it snaps down firmly.


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; rest assured that your optical drive will not move around. While these locks do hold the drive in place, there is a tiny bit of wiggle room. Perfectionists may want to secure the drive with a single screw to kill 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 cage. However, very large PSUs will require the space that additional cage occupies.


With all the hardware installed, the Nanoxia Deep Silence 5 Rev. B makes a very clean impression. All the cable mess is hidden behind the motherboard tray. As there are a limited number of hooks for zip ties, you will have to bunch cables together a bit.

Finished Looks

Once the side panels have been put back and the power button has been pushed, the Deep Silence 5 Rev. B 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.