DeepCool MATREXX 40 3FS Micro ATX Case Review

In a Nutshell

DeepCool MATREXX 40 3FS is a budget micro-ATX PC case that features poor build quality, cheap materials, and poor dust protection. Its only advantages are low price, compact dimensions, and three pre-installed RGB fans.

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• Compact dimensions
• Very good GPU clearance
• Three pre-installed RGB fans
• Low price

• Poor build quality
• Cheap materials
• Weird 2.5″ drive mounting solution
• Low-quality dust filters
• Only one USB 3.0 port
• No shock absorbing elements

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Featured image credit: DeepCool

The DeepCool MATREXX 40 3FS is a budget micro-ATX PC case designed to house mid-range desktop PCs, and multimedia home theater PCs (HTPCs). Given the fact that it costs around $65, one should not expect too much from this PC case, since it features rather cheap materials, and its aesthetics are far from stunning. This, however, isn’t too surprising, since this is a budget PC case.

So let’s start off with its design. The MATREXX 40 3FS features pretty standard PC case design with a plastic grill in the front, tempered glass panel on its side, and a large mesh on its top. The distribution of plastic and metallic elements is pretty even, which is praiseworthy. The quality of the plastic at the front of the case is fairly satisfactory, but in reality the front panel looks somewhat worse than in the photos. The case itself comes packaged in a simple cardboard box with monochrome printing. Overall, the quality of the cardboard box is quite poor, and the box itself isn’t suitable for further repackaging or reuse. Alongside the case, you also get a standard mounting kit inside the box.

DeepCool MATREXX 40 3FS Specifications

The layout of the MATREXX 40 3FS pretty much follows the standard guidelines and trends of modern PC case construction. Designers at DeepCool clearly abandoned the idea of having an internal 5.25″ device bay, which resulted in creation of a much more compact PC case. However, the MATREXX 40 30FS still features a 3.5″ device bay, which is located near the front wall of the case, but is present in a truncated form, with free space for only two drives.

Overall, the case features a tower-type design, with a vertically placed microATX motherboard, and a horizontally placed power supply unit at the bottom. A metallic cage is present in the bottom part of the case, and its role is to neatly separate PSU and hard drives from the rest of the system, but also to reinforce the construction of the case, as well as provide additional fixation points for the base of the motherboard. In short, the layout is quite typical, without any notable features, and in accordance with all modern solutions. The case itself measures 382 mm in length, excluding the small legs at the bottom.

Fan Support & Dust Protection

The DeepCool MATREXX 40 3FS provides the ability to install 120 mm and 140 mm fans. The fans can be fixed in the front, at the top, or in the rear of the case. It is worth noting that this case ships with three pre-installed 120 mm fans, out of which two are found in the front of the case, and one in the rear. The fans can be directly connected to a PSU with standard 4-pin peripheral connectors, however, this prevents any kind of their RPM adjustment. The fans also feature simple RGB lighting that is formed by three separate LEDs, and their glow is static. The RGB lighting of fans is uncontrollable, and can’t be turned off.

Up to three radiators can be installed in this case – two 280 mm in the front, and on the top, and one 120 mm in the rear. The dust filter under the power supply is made of coarse mesh, which is essentially a stamped sheet of plastic with round holes. The dust filter features no frame, which means removing it, and putting it back can be tricky. The dust filter at the top of the case can be easily removed and put back in place thanks to its magnetic frame. Since it features rather large holes inside its plastic mesh, the top filter isn’t able to prevent small dust particles from seeping into the case, but is dense enough to stop coins, keys, and other small items from falling inside.

At the front of the case, there is also a coarse mesh dust filter. The filter itself is welded to the front panel from the inside, and cannot be removed. This, however, doesn’t cause any particular difficulties, but the whole front panel has to be washed if you want to clean its dust filter. Overall, the MATREXX 40 3FS features a pretty poor dust protection, and its dust filters are of very low quality.

Design

The left side wall of MATREXX 40 3FS is made of tempered glass with steel frame at the front and the back. The right side wall is completely made of steel. Both walls are mounted to the case in same fashion. In the front part there are hooks that slide into the holes drilled inside the case, forming a kind of hinge. However, there is a slight difference: the glass wall also has two ridges, which are inserted into the grooves located inside the frame of the case. They are held in place by two all-metal knurled screws with an anti-removable thread (“captive screws”).

The quality of the case itself is very low, since it’s clearly made of cheap materials. The thickness of the steel doesn’t exceed 0.5 mm, however, the efforts to increase the rigidity of the case are noticeable. Unfortunately, the case features lots of large openings, which means that the overall rigidity of construction is quite poor. The MATREXX 40 3FS weighs around 5.45 kilograms, of which 1.57 kg belongs to the tempered glass side panel.

The top panel of the case is fully made of steel. In its front part you’ll find one USB 3.0 port, one USB 2.0 port, one standard microphone jack, and one headphone jack. There is also a power button, and a reset button. Both power and reset buttons feature the same size and color, and can only be distinguished by the inscription on their tops. In real operating conditions this can be quite problematic, as you may accidentally hit the reset button while the computer is still doing important tasks.

The inclusion of two different types of USB ports on this case is quite absurd, as from economical point of view you still have to install two separate types of cables, which for a budget PC case like this is pointless. However, even in cheap PC cases like this, such technical solutions can be seen from time to time.

The whole front panel is entirely made of cheap plastic. However, on the outside it is painted with matte black color, which is praiseworthy. The brand name is printed by a cheapest possible dyeing method. The inscription does not stand out against the dominantly black background, since it’s also painted in black, but in different tone.

Lastly, the legs on which the whole case stands are completely made of cheap plastic. There are also no shock-absorbing inserts, which clearly tells us that the manufacturer tried to save on everything with this case.

Expansion Slots

DeepCool MATREXX 40 3FS supports installation of up to two 3.5″ or 2.5″ storage drives into a dedicated storage drive cage. The cage itself is fixed to the inside of the case via standard screws, and can be removed if necessary. The top of the cage features mounting points for both 2.5″ and 3.5″ drives, while its inside area is primarily designed to accommodate 3.5″ drives.

On the back of the motherboard there are two slots for mounting 2.5″ drives. The drives are fixed using the screws that must be inserted from the bottom side through the base of the motherboard. It is best to first mount the drives, and then the system motherboard, as mounting the drives with already installed motherboard is quite difficult. In total, you can install up to four storage drives – either one 3.5″ and three 2.5″ drives, or two 3.5″ and 2.5″ drives. In general, this is quite sufficient for a typical home computer, but for a serious workstation PC it may not be enough.

As we already mentioned, the MATREXX 40 3FS supports installation of both mini-ITX, and micro-ATX motherboards that measure up to 244 mm in width. Most of the components in this case are spaced apart and don’t interfere with each other, which means installing PC components into this case is quite simple. However, we recommend first installing the power supply unit. Keep in mind that the PSU lies directly on the steel plate in this PC case, so we suggest first isolating the area with strips of electrical tape to prevent any damage. The case can accommodate standard sized power supplies. However, we recommend using PSU with a case length of no more than 160 mm, as this will leave you more room for conducting proper cable management.

According to DeepCool’s specifications, this PC case supports installation of CPU coolers that measure up to 165 mm in height. Speaking of GPU clearance, the MATREXX 40 3FS officially supports GPUs that measure up to 320 mm in length, however, if the space between the motherboard and the front wall of the case is not occupied by anything, you can install a GPU with length of up to 380 mm.

Acoustics

The noise levels of the MATREXX 40 3FS case are pretty standard for a budget PC case. At a distance of 0.4 meters (1.31 ft), and at the level of a desktop table, the recorded noise coming from the case was around 36 dBA. When put on the floor, the noise measured from the same distance amounted to around 30 dBA. Keep in mind, however, that all three included PC case fans were working, as well as fans from other components (CPU, GPU, and PSU).

Conclusion

The DeepCool MATREXX 40 3FS is without any doubt a budget PC case, with tendencies to present itself as a solid gaming PC case. The case comes bundled with three pre-installed fans whose RGB lighting and rotational speed can’t be controlled. Obviously, this case fulfills its main task – provide means to assemble a PC. Other than that, this case is quite mediocre at best. The only true advantage of MATREXX 40 3FS are its compact dimensions, and the fact that it allows installation of full-sized high-end graphics cards.

Installing a liquid cooling system in this PC case is possible, however, we strongly recommend against doing that. The case itself does feature plenty of space for installation of standard PC components, but anything other than that can prove quite difficult. The quality of materials, and the workmanship of this case are quite low. However, given its cost, this is understandable. Another big complaint for this case is the fact that it’s not very well protected from dust, and there are no shock absorbing elements, which is quite disappointing.

Overall, if you are looking for a cheap PC case with three pre-installed RGB fans, then MATREXX 40 3FS may suffice. However, given the fact how poorly this case is made, we have a hard time recommending it to anyone. Perhaps if you own an old PC, and want to turn it into a home Linux server, then this PC case may prove useful. Otherwise, the MATREXX 40 3FS is a hard pass.

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