Deepcool GamerStorm Genome II Review

Interior

Not content with an integrated liquid cooling system, Deepcool has also added an alternative way of mounting your graphics card. A second set of PCI-E expansion slots allow you to flip the graphics card on its side, pointing the cooler, or a water block if you end up water-cooling your whole system, at the side panel window for a better view. The original Genome, however, didn't include the necessary PCI-E riser cable to do this, but that's now included with the Genome II. It looks great if you mount your graphics card this way, although it is fairly close to the side panel, so could impact on cooling.


The PCI-E riser also physically supports the graphics card unlike in most other cases we've seen them included. The end that attaches to the graphics card sports a large section of PCB, which is physically screwed to the chassis using standoffs. It's a more elegant solution than Thermaltake used in its Core G3, which had some rather clunky supports and it's good to see the cable included this time.


The cooling system is essentially a modified version of Deepcool's Captain 360, which has a slimline 360mm radiator, single row of LED fans and a combined pump and water block with a nifty piece of bent acrylic tubing for a bit of pizazz. Here, the reservoir has been added to the loop with a helix-shaped section of cooling inside - the coolant simply goes through this helix rather than using the reservoir in the same way a custom loop would - it's mainly for show but looks funky nonetheless.


There are two additional front 120mm fan mounts so you could, in theory, add more fans and a radiator to liquid-cool your graphics card too. As it stands, the included loop is essentially sealed apart from the reservoir - there are G1/4in fittings on the reservoir but you'd need to cut the tubing. Contrast this to Fractal Design's latest efforts that let you expand them from the CPU block - something that would be much more helpful. This is a shame as a 360mm radiator could easily cope with a mid-range graphics card as well, although whether the pump would be up to it is another matter. The new version also includes a 200mm fan mount here.


The PSU is hidden behind a fixed cover, and the inside of the Genome is very tidy as a result. With the included large Velcro straps and half a dozen large cable ties, it's one of the better cases we've seen for cable tidying, with plenty of anchor points, and is slightly better here than the original Genome.


Storage is fairly well catered for with a pair each of 2.5in and 3.5in bays (half the number of 2.5in bays compared to the original Genome) with the former located in two dedicated removable trays behind the motherboard, and the latter in a small cage under the PSU cover. They'll need some tools for installation though - there are no tool-free options here.

There's no fan control included either, but Deepcool has thoughtfully included a four-channel PWM fan hub, so hooking this up to one of your motherboard's PWM fan headers will at least allow a modicum of control over the four fans included with the case. This comes with a sticky pad too, so you can mount it wherever you want in the case.


Getting your system up and running is fairly simple, thanks largely to a big CPU area cut-out in the motherboard tray, which allows you to place the cooler backplate and pins in place with the motherboard installed. You then secure this to the PCB using small screws, before laying two mounting places on top of these above the CPU socket. The pump and water block section then just screws into these using two sprung screws. It's very simple although perhaps doesn't offer quite the vice-like grip of many other AIO coolers we've seen.