INTRODUCTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   Although the future is all about miniaturization and thus we should see powerful systems which will fit at the palm of our hands sooner rather than later i still haven't given up on full towers. Of course this might have to do with my line of work but still as far back as i can remember I’ve always preferred full towers over midi/mini ones so it may just be me. However i can't deny that there's an increase in demand for mATX/mITX cases lately mainly from people who are either looking for something to blend in beneath/next to their TV set or people who just don't want to sacrifice much room space. The only downside with the majority of HTPC cases out in the market is their design since with very few exceptions (like the train model by Lian-Li) they have nothing to show for. Well Deepcool decided to address that issue with their latest Steam Castle mATX/mITX compatible PC case.

   Deepcool was founded with the mission of providing the best performance & humanized thermal solutions for worldwide customers. Deepcool design and manufacture a comprehensive range of high quality products, covering desktop cooling solutions, laptop cooling solutions, server cooling solutions, embedded cooling solutions, and other thermal components. Our goal is to maintain customer satisfaction by serving our customer’s ever-changing thermal needs and providing the quickest and most comprehensive service available. As our slogan goes, we wish you all “Enjoy your cool life”!

   The Steam Castle may look like nothing else in the market currently but it's based on a cube-style micro-ATX chassis like many others in the market currently so if you feel like you've seen the same interior someplace else then chances are you're correct. That being said aside its design Deepcool also makes the Steam Castle available in 4 different colors (black, white, yellow, and red) with the black version featuring a nice rubber matte coat and the other three a glossy exterior (like the red we have here with us). Now although the Steam Castle is by no means a large HTPC case still it offers room for a 280mm radiator at the top (or two 140/120mm fans), graphics cards up to 320mm in length, CPU coolers up to 200mm in height, tool-free drive bays, two pre-installed fans (200mm/120mm), 4 LEDs at the top that can change colors and a very convenient fan controller which can also be used to adjust the brightness and color of the top LEDs. So let's take a closer look to see what the Steam Castle by Deepcool is all about.

 

 

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We received the Steam Castle inside a plain cardboard box with the company name and a drawing of the product at the front.

 

 

The specifications list along with the color selection is printed on the left side.

 

 

At the rear we see a drawing of the case used to showcase the various features.

 

 

The chassis is wrapped inside a plastic bag and between two foam spacers.

 

 

Along with the Steam Castle you will also get a large bag with all the necessary screws and standoffs, mainboard speaker, 10 cable ties and the user guide.

 

 

THE STEAM CASTLE EXTERIOR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Steam Castle is a great looking 6.8KG heavy mATX chassis that stands 420mm tall, 406mm deep and 278mm wide. The glossy plastic of the exterior may not look as sturdy as the black matte rubber version but we had no problems during testing.

 

 

A large clear plastic window is placed on the left side panel.

 

 

The front has three perforated sections and a 5.25" bay cover.

 

 

You can remove the front panel to see the 5.25"/1.44" drive bays and the 200mm fan placed beneath.

 

 

Strangely enough although the chassis has a 1.44" floppy bay you can't use it (still you can use it as a 2.5/3.5" one).

 

 

If the front 200mm ever stops working or if you just want to use another one you can replace it with 140/120mm sized ones.

 

 

On the right side panel we see the fan speed/LED controller, reset button, on/off power button, headphones and microphone 3.5mm jacks, power LED, HDD activity LED, two USB 3.0 ports and two USB 2.0 ports.

 

 

At the top we see four round exhaust vents and a perforated section at the rear.

 

 

If you remove the top cover you will find the power "junction" used for the 4 LEDs placed in these vents (to tell you the truth i was hoping DeepCool would had placed 80mm exhaust fans in the vents but obviously this isn't the case).

 

 

In the specifications sheet DeepCool claims that you can use a 240mm radiator at the top but you shouldn't have a problem fitting an 280mm here as well.

 

 

Moving at the rear we see a pre-installed 120mm exhaust fan, two rubber grommets, 4 PCI slots and the PSU area at the lower right.

 

 

You can replace the 120mm fan for a 140mm one if you need more airflow in the chassis.

 

 

At the base we see 4 long rubber feet and a perforated area (for the PSU fan).

 

 

THE STEAM CASTLE INTERIOR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For a cube-style mATX chassis the Steam Castle has a spacious interior with a horizontal space for the mainboard.

 

 

Both the 5.25/1.44" bays are secured via normal screws.

 

 

There's a drive cage at the bottom right of the interior which can hold up to two 2.5/3.5" drives.

 

 

We've seen sturdier drive trays in the past but the good thing about these is that they open in width to allow for easier placement of the drive.

 

 

The mainboard tray has enough room for both micro-ATX and micro-ITX mainboards.

 

 

DeepCool has placed four rather tall feet at the lower left to keep the PSU a couple of centimeters from the bottom.

 

 

You can use screws to secure all four PCI expansion slots (a removable cover is also in place).

 

 

A second drive cage is placed at the rear of the chassis right next to the PSU area and here you can place up to two 2.5" drives by using the supplied rubber screws.

 

 

BUILDING THE SYSTEM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As always the purpose of this section is not to build a functional system but rather to showcase what you can expect from the case at hand in terms of interior space.

Once again we used the ASRock A330ION mainboard which as you can see leaves plenty of room around it inside the case.

 

 

DeepCool claims you can install CPU Coolers up to 200mm tall and as you can see they are correct since the 163mm tall Lucifer fits even when placed on the HSF of the mainboard.

 

 

You should also be able to install most graphics cards up to 320mm in length inside the Steam Castle (if height is a problem you can always remove the 1.44" bay).

 

 

A normal sized PSU will fit in the Steam Castle but i do recommend using a fully-modular model.

 

 

Red, blue and green are the three available colors you can choose for the top LEDs as seen above.

 

 

NOISE LEVEL TEST

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After giving it much thought we decided on performing noise tests with each PC Case we receive by placing our ExTech HD600 vertically ontop of each case to measure the noise levels emanating from the pre-installed fans at both 50% and 100% with the help of a fan controller (if the case doesn't have one we use our own).

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   I may not be into HTPC cases but i have to admit that the moment DeepCool announced the Steam Castle a while back i was very intrigued by its design. Now some say that a glossy exterior like the one of the Steam Castle looks cheap but i tend to disagree since although a rubber coat obviously adds to the quality of the case not everyone will like something like that so it's a good thing to have alternatives. Granted I’d like it more if Deepcool had every color both with and without a rubber matte coating but i guess that's way too much to ask especially for an entry-level mATX case like the Steam Castle. In terms of space the Steam Castle has quite a bit of room for long graphics cards, tall CPU Coolers and drives while the ability to add a full sized PSU and a top 280mm radiator are two things that will certainly not go unnoticed by potential buyers. If there's one thing we didn't like about the Steam Castle that was the fan controller since we think that placing it on the right side panel was a mistake mostly because that means you can't have that side facing the wall. Ontop of that the knob isn't the easiest to use and there's no way to know how fast you have the fans (there's no start/end position).

   One of the things we all like about DeepCool is that they do their best to keep their prices low and with a current price tag set at USD89.99 inside the USA (Newegg.com) and at around 80Euros inside the EU the Steam Castle is no exception. Of course you can find better mATX/mITX compatible cases in the market from other manufacturers (some of which we will have here soon) but the truth is that you can't find the looks of the Steam Castle even if you spend more. In the end choosing the right PC case for you always comes down to personal preference and to be completely honest with all of you if the PC-CK101 train themed mITX chassis by Lian-Li had a similar price tag attached on it I’d choose that instead (if i wanted to build an mITX system) but it costs almost 4 times as much and so unless money is of no concern i don't think it's even an valid option for most people. So if you want a feature-rich mATX/mITX compatible chassis with good interior space that looks like nothing else in the market currently then the Steam Castle by DeepCool is the obvious choice and that's why it gets our Golden Award.

PROS

- Design
- mATX & mITX Compatible
- Spacious Interior (Fits 320mm Long Graphics Cards & 200mm Tall CPU Coolers)
- Top 280mm Radiator Area
- Full Sized PSU
- Built-In Fan Speed & LED Controller
- Available In 4 Colors
- Almost Inaudible
- Price (For Some)

 

CONS

- Fan Controller Placement & Design
- Current Availability