28 - 03 - 2024
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INTRODUCTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

deepcool dukasea

   This may not interest each and every one of you reading these lines but i had a somewhat lengthy conversation with a person i occasionally work with the other day the topic of which was PC cases. We started talking about the various challenges a company has when starting the design and manufacture of a PC case and whether or not build quality has dropped over the years and has basically become something "extra" for consumers to expect. Well construction quality may not be a topic that we can cover in one of our reviews but although we indeed don't see many manufacturers releasing models with tank-like build quality (short of speak) like they did in the past (then again they didn't know what aluminum was back then) we do see many models focused in design and features one of which seems to be the brand new Dukase midi tower from our friends over at Deepcool.


   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”!


   It takes just one look to see that with their latest Dukase the people over at Deepcool aim at consumers looking for an affordable good looking and rather small midi tower with a good amount of features. The Dukase supports ATX, micro ATX and mini ITX mainboards and from top to bottom it features an easy removable panel, LED strip mounting slots, 3-way fan controller, mounts for two 120/140mm fans at the top (or a 240/280mm radiator as long as it does not exceed 310mm in length), rear 120mm exhaust fan, two 5.25" optical bays, trays for three 3.25" and three 2.5" drives, room for two 120mm fans at the front (or a 240mm radiator), mounts for water pumps and tanks and enough space for up to 390mm graphics cards and 170mm tall CPU coolers. Not many things one can ask from a midi tower right?

 



 

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

featspecs



 

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Dukase Midi Tower arrived inside a plain cardboard box that has a large product drawing at the front along with the company logo.

 

 

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The features and specifications of the tower are printed on the left and right.

 

 

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Packaging is quite typical so once again the tower is placed inside a plastic bag and between two thick foam spacers.

 

 

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Our bundle included 11 cable ties, mainboard speaker, user guide, certification paper and a plastic bag with all the necessary bits and pieces.

 



 

THE DUKASE EXTERIOR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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As you can all see the Dukase may look nice but in terms of size it's just another midi tower (504mm in height, 482.7mm in length and 213.4mm in width).

 

 

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Most of the left side panel is actually a clear plastic window.

 

 

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The fascia is made out of plastic but thanks to its design it actually looks nice.

 

 

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Since most people place their towers on the right side of the desk (top or bottom) Deepcool decided to make the front door open from the left to the right. Behind the door we see the two 5.25" optical bays, one 1.44 floppy drive bay and a large perforated area at the bottom.

 

 

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The top I/O includes the power and reset buttons, power LED, HDD activity LED, USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports, fan controller and the usual microphone and headphone 3.5mm ports.

 

 

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Deepcool has placed special slots beneath the top panel so people can use LED strips to further improve the looks of the Dukase.

 

 

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You can remove the top panel by pressing the two handles at the rear to install fans or a radiator.

 

 

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At the rear we see 7 PCI expansion slots, a 120mm exhaust fan, two round holes used for routing of watercooling tubes and the PSU area.

 

 

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Unfortunately you can't swap the 120mm fan for a 140mm one but you can always use a 90mm one (strange option but it is there).

 

 

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The right side panel is extended outwards to allow for easier routing of cables behind the mainboard tray.

 

 

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The Dukase sits ontop of 4 tall legs and also features a removable metal air filter right beneath the PSU area.

 



 

THE DUKASE INTERIOR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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There's not much interior space available inside the Dukase largely due to the lower area cover.

 

 

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At the front we see the two 5.25" bays and the 1.44" FDD mount (the first feature tool-free brackets while the 1.44 bay can also be used with a 3.5" drive).

 

 

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The mainboard tray has a total of 8 holes for cable management (unfortunately not rubber coated).

 

 

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Beneath the 5.25" optical bays the area is empty not only to allow the installation of very long graphics cards (390mm in length) but also because you can mount a 120/140mm AIO solution there.

 

 

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The PSU area cover has two 2.5" trays on it made out of aluminum.

 

 

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All 7 PCI expansion slots are secured in place via regular thumbscrews.

 

 

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Another 2.5" drive spot is placed at the rear of the mainboard tray right beneath the 1.44 FDD bay.

 

 

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You can also mount two 3.5" drives on the other side of the PSU area cover.

 

 

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These drive trays are also made out of aluminum.

 

 

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Because of the PSU area cover things are quite strange so you can't mount anything over 170mm in length.

 



 

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.

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Even by using a standard ATX mainboard it’s enough to take most of the space on the tray.

 

 

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Since you can install CPU coolers up to 170mm in height you should be ok with any model in the Dukase.

 

 

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Even our GeForce GTX590 seems small once you mount it inside the Dukase so again no problems even if you decide to install the longest cards around.

 

 

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With a limitation of 170mm long PSUs some of you may be disappointed (still with a bit of modding you should be able to mount even longer ones without issue).

 



 

NOISE LEVEL TEST

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

dba

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

deepcool dukaseb

   Although just until recently Deepcool wasn't that much into the design and manufacture of PC cases that has changed with their special Tristellar chassis (we should have a sample of that pretty soon) and now with the Dukase. I have to admit that in terms of build quality the Dukase could be better but thanks to the two side panels which are made by 0.7mm thick SPCC (Cold Rolled Steel Coil) it does have some weight (6.49Kg to be exact) and feels quite sturdy. The aluminum (could also be made out of metal however) drive trays are a nice touch while the ability to add up to two radiators (top 280mm/front 240mm) is not something we see a lot with towers of that size (not to mention that with a little bit of modding you should be able to place a 360mm radiator at the front). The PSU area cover is also a nice addition since it allows you to route cables behind it and not care about cable management but i would like to be able to use longer PSUs since the really long ones we have here didn't fit (should not be hard to mod that area to fit even those however). Also having enough room for the longest graphics cards and tallest CPU coolers is never a bad thing but i still think Deepcool should had placed more than just 1 fan inside the case as i feel they should had shipped the case with RGB strips beneath the top panel (or at least have one such version available).


   Deepcool currently asks a mere USD49.99 inside the USA (Newegg.com) and 77Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk) for their Dukase Midi Tower a price tag which at least on the other side of the Atlantic is quite balanced. I do feel it needs some "tweaking" inside the EU but at least in the USA i can go as far as to call it a real catch since you're getting a midi tower that features good build quality, many features, plenty of room (always for its size) and a PSU area cover. Sure Deepcool didn't release the Dukase to hit the big boys that cost a lot more but for a budget friendly midi tower we all think it's very good and that's why we give it our Golden Award.

gold

PROS


- Overall Build Quality
- Design
- 3-Way Fan Controller
- LED Strip Mounts
- Room For Up To 5 Fans
- Room For Two 240/280mm Radiators
- Six Drive Spots (3x3.5"/3x2.5")
- PSU Area Cover
- Space For 390mm Long Graphics Cards & 170mm Tall CPU Coolers
- Price (USA)

 

CONS


- Price (EU)
- Quality Of Plastic Used
- Single Pre-Installed Fan