GamerStorm Baronkase Liquid by DeepCool – Video
We’re taking a look at the GamerStorm Baronkase Liquid by DeepCool. It’s an interesting case with some unique tricks up its sleeves. First and foremost, the Baronkase supports both MicroATX and Full ATX boards, thanks to two different power supply mounting options.
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More information on the GamerStorm Baronkase Liquid by DeepCool can be found here: http://www.gamerstorm.com/product/CASES/2017-08/1288_6954.shtml
The big selling points for this case are looks, versatility, and the included DeepCool 120mm All-in-one cooler. The cooler comes pre-installed in the system, and features a flow indicator with RGB lighting, along with a matching 120mm RGB fan. Supported are all modern socket mounts, with the exclusion of TR4. This includes 115x, 1366, and 2011-based mounts (along with LGA 2066 if you’re brave enough) on Intel’s side, Team Red has support for AM2, AM3 and AM4. I’m a bit confused on the inclusion of the rear fan. It’s black, non-RGB, and uses 3-pin or molex (really?!?) connectors. It feels a bit out of place, given the fan on the AIO is an RGB-PWM combo.
The rest of the case’s features are two each 2.5” and 3.5” drive bays, support for full length graphics cards, two 120mm fan mounts on the bottom of the case, one around the back, and a 120 or 140mm option on the front. Top and bottom have magnetic fan filters for easy cleaning. On the backside of the motherboard tray, we find rubber grommets with built-in velcro ties for cable management. USB 3.0 and Audio ports on front, along with your typical power and reset buttons.
Aesthetically, GamerStorm was aiming for a modern, minimalist look. The case is very clean, using sharp lines and alternating triangle patterns for most of the grill designs. The black finish looks great, but is closer to a gun metal than a true black. While the minimalism makes sense, and looks great, I’m not a fan of the front handle. It looks like they took the spoiler off a Mitsubishi Lancer… Just like that car, it just doesn’t flow with the rest of the design for me. The Baronkase also sports a tempered glass side panel with a slight smoke to it, along with a black dotted design around the edge, and uses the very common 4 thumb screw design to stay closed. It’s not my favorite design, as it’s nearly impossible to close without smudging the glass, and this is a case you’re going to want to keep looking clean.
Here’s where things get difficult. The cable management velcro on the rear of the case is too close to the panel. Not that you’re going to be routing power supply cables through it or the rubber grommets, as most motherboards will be covering the openings on the other side.
There’s a large amount of wasted space, and yet everything manages to feel cramped all at the same time. The case is a MicroATX size with limited support for full length GPUs. You can move the power supply to the front of the case and install a full ATX motherboard, but then you’re limited to 5 PCIe bays, making multi-GPU systems nearly impossible.
I also experienced a few noteworthy quality control issues. First, of the four screw posts for the tempered glass panel, two came cross-threaded out of the box. One of which broke loos from the chassis and began spinning, not allowing me to remove the screw and actually open the case. Secondly, one of the RGB channels is dead on the AIO block, so lighting is more of an __GB affair.
Wrapping this all up… The GamerStorm Baronkase by DeepCool is a bit of an interesting design. I’m torn on recommending this, as I’m not sure who it was designed for.
Is it an enthusiast case? It’s made of thick steel, making it very sturdy, while supporting full size motherboards and graphics cards, with lots of options for fans. But it also only includes a 120mm radiator when a 240 could have easily fit (and the cooler is not removable). A 5820k at stock speeds topped out at 55C, but a moderate overclock to 4.4GHz proved to be too much, as the cooler couldn’t keep it below 85C. Hotter than I would want to run with this level of hardware.
Is this for beginners? It includes the AIO, preinstalled with and easy guild on how to mount it to your board, taking care of your cooling and RGB lighting for you. But why is it $140?
I really like the look of this case, and wanted so very much to like the versatile case design. But in the end, there’s just one too many headaches for this to get a recommendation from me.
