Deepcool CK560 chassis review - Final Words & Conclusion

Final Words & Conclusion

It’s time for the conclusion. Overall, the Deepcool CK560 is a nice upgrade over the CG560. Most of the points we addressed for the predecessor are fixed (but not all). In short words - it’s a reasonable mid-tower, offering quite many good features for the price (99.99 USD for the black edition, 104.99 USD for a white variant). 

The build quality is good. The internal layout is typical, as it’s an (E-)ATX chassis. In fact, the E-ATX motherboard would block the cable grommets, so it doesn’t make sense to use it. You get four fans; three (120 mm) are placed at the front and use the ARGB lighting, the last one (traditional black) is placed at the back, and its size is 140 mm. You also get the built-in ARGB controller to control the colors, but you can always use the motherboard’s software to manage the lighting.

Features

There’s enough space for up to 360 mm long GPUs, 175 mm tall CPU coolers, and 160 mm long PSUs (which is not too much, but in reality – especially without the 3.5” drive cage, there’s practically no limit). It’s possible to (theoretically) even the E-ATX board here, but as mentioned earlier, that would block the cable routing grommets. Still – the size is enough for typical builds. Storage-wise, you’ll have a basic set of options in the form of two dedicated mounts for SSDs (this time, you don’t need to install them first, before the motherboards) and two for 3.5”/2.5” drives. The 3.5” cage is now done better, and it’s held in place by a thumbscrew, so you don’t need to flip the chassis to remove the screws. The liquid cooling capacity is more than enough, and you can install a 360 mm rad on the front of the case, a 360 mm one at the top (but the 280 mm doesn’t leave too much place left due to the conflict with the EPS cable), a 140 mm one at the back. The I/O panel has a very standard set of two USB 3.0 ports, an audio jack, and power + LED change buttons (which are identical, so you can confuse them in the dark). This time you’ll find a USB 3.1 Type-C here; that’s a positive change (also – you had it already, for example, in the Deepcool CL500).

Aesthetics

Looks are always a subjective matter. The design of the new CK560 is pleasant, but it’s almost the same we’ve seen in the CG560. It’s a rather classic one, and you get “only” one tempered glass panel (and this is not a bad thing). The front panel is made from plastic (which bends relatively easily) and has some vents that allow the air to go in. This should be enough to show off your gear if you want to. 

Performance

Thanks to the three fans at the front, the temperatures are reasonable. The noise levels are a bit above average. If you slow them down, they still should give a decent airflow and bring the temperatures (and noise) to a comfortable area.  

The Verdict

The Deepcool CK560 is an (E-)ATX compatible mid-tower chassis (456×230×471 (L x W x H)) that is an evolution of the Deepcool CG560. Some changes are done that make it better (but not all has been fixed). But we’ll get back to it a bit later. Again, the chassis (due to the front panel design) focuses on the airflow, and it’s doing well. That’s thanks to the three (ARGB) 120 mm fans placed at the front and a (non-RGB) 140 mm at the back. You can change the lighting using the built-in ARGB controller or the motherboard’s software. There’s an option to install a combo of 360+360+140 water cooling radiators (but these 360 at the top are rather doubtful). If you prefer the air cooling – even the 175 mm products will fit. As for the power supply – theoretically, it’s 160 mm (so the most used PSUs would fit, except the higher wattages, 850+), but after removing the 3.5” drive cage, there would be much more space. Speaking of the storage options - except the two 3.5” HDDs, there’s a place for two SSDs under the backplate cutout, at the back of the motherboard tray. The cable management is nice (but not nothing great), thanks to the width of the case. The build quality is good. Deepcool has addressed some issues from the CG560, such as the 2.5” disk installation, which doesn’t require doing it before placing the motherboard in place. You don’t need to flip the whole chassis around to remove the 3.5” bracket, now it’s only a matter of removing a thumbscrew. There’s a typical/good-quality fan filter at the bottom. Previously in the CG560, some piece of mesh was just put there. There was no USB Type-C port (a significant omission), but this time it’s available. From not-so-positive things, the E-ATX board would still cover the cable routing grommets, so we would recommend not indicating it in specs. Also – the 360 mm radiator compatibility at the top is questionable. The rear 140 mm fan should be a 4-pin PWM type, not 3-pin voltage controlled, but at least there’s no Molex cable hanging there. Still, there are no thumbscrews used for the expansion ports securing. There’s no reset button (not a significant drawback), but the power and the LED buttons are identical (so you can confuse them in the dark). As you can see – Deepcool still has some things to cover. The chassis costs 99.99 USD (104.99 USD for the white version), so it’s ten bucks more than the CG560. Is it worth it? Yes, the better installation of the storage (both 2.5” and 3.5”), USB Type-C, no Molex cable at the back pre-installed fan, bottom fan filter - are visible upgrades, thus making us convinced that this time it’s worth the “Approved” award. In this budget, it’s a reasonable choice, much better than the CG560 was.

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