BitFenix Shinobi XL
So, I'd won the opportunity to review this case (thanks to the helpful staff at BitFenix), and wanted to do a direct comparison to my Lian-Li PC-A71F. The case arrived from Germany boxed well, with only minimal scarring to the box (and nothing damaged within).
Both cases are what you'd call large, very large, although the Lian--Li is actually notably larger than the Shinobi XL. The Shinobi XL is however wider, which leads to far more cable tidying room (or I should say cable stuffing room, what with using a non-modular PSU for this build I had a LOT of left over cables).
I had planned on migrating my X58 Core i7 920 build over to the Shinobi XL for the purpose of the review, but I wasn't entirely happy with it's looks or indeed the fact that it's now 3~ years old. On a whim I drove down to OcUK and picked up a new build consisting of:
Intel Core i7-3820 SB-E
Asus P9X79 PRO
16GB Kingston Hyper-X Quad-Channel PC3-12800
XFX PRO 850W PSU
EK high-performance 360 watercooling kit
Phobya 5.25" Single Bay Reservoir
Loads of 120mm fans and loads of extra W/C fittings
The first problem I had was with my choice of watercooling. The kit (I was going to buy separately, but this kit cointained 90% of what I was going to buy anyway) radiator is a 64mm thick mammoth, which I had intended to fit 6 fans to in push/pull. This lead me (unfortunately) to my first negative of the Shinobi XL.
Touted as an XL case, suitable for two 360 radiators, I was shocked to find that a) you'd never fit two 360s in, at best a 360 and a 240, and b) you're restricted to thin radiators. I had to remove all the fans from the radiator, and mount them on top of the chassis of the case (under the plastic top-panel), but for this it required a bit of dremel action (I had to remove the cross bracing behind the mesh grille).
The case really would have benefitted from an extra inch or two above the motherboard, even running a slim radiator I'd not have been able to run push/pull fans, which is a shame. You also end up losing most of the 5.25" bays if you run a 360 radiator.
When it came to actually hosing the components the Shinobi XL really came into it's own. The working space is ample for a case with no removable tray, the cable tidying holes (and room) are far beyond ample, and the whole chassis (due to being mild steel) is rock solid. I wasn't hugely impressed by the 5.25" retention mechanisms, they don't feel particularly quality, and allow for absolutely no adjustment, even removing the mechanism to use the bays in the old "tooled" fashion doesn't allow for any adjustment of the position of a device due to there being no elongated holes or slots, just one set of fixed position holes. This meant that stealth mounting my reservior was only possible by using no retention at all.
The HDD cage I was skeptical about. The drive caddies felt like they were going to be too soft, and with no anti-vibration devices I was expecting a lot of chassis vibration. However, they are deep enough for reverse mounting of the drives, they don't wobble or vibrate once fixed in place, and so long as you are using a 3.5" drive, the drive provides the ridigity. With a 2.5" SSD they are light enough (and obviously have no moving parts) for vibrations to cause a problem, but I'd be wary about mounting 2.5" HDDs into the bays.
I do have to keep reminding myself however that this case is aimed at a price point almost half that of my Lian-Li (which has it's fair share of problems too, just different ones, such as a full tower case that can't take watercooling as standard). There are features of the Shinobi XL that put my Lian-Li to shame, the standard fit fans are quiet (although now only the front fan remains), the quality of the fit and finish are for the most part spot-on, the cable management is superb, and the whole case feels solid and sturdy, as well as being elegantly styled!
All in all, I'd highly recommend this case to anyone looking for a respectable yet affordable full tower
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