BitFenix Pandora - Style Without Limits

to cool via air you need a large internal volume, but as you said, you also need a large enough volume to get radiators in too, from my research they're both need about the same size case and that is about 220mm wide.... height is important too, because if it's too short you wont get many PCI slots for Crossfire..... i.e the small Lian cases only have 4 slots .......... length isn't so important
 
Well, length is important if you want to get the top-end graphics cards to physically fit in the case :p

And that's one of the many things I am confused about - the case is long enough to fit the top-end GPUs, but doesn't have the overall volume or capabilities to adequately cool them.
 
A case with a TFT screen, about time but lets face it this is a market where if people wanted that they'd buy a screen to fit 2 x 5.1/4 bays - or even one bay
 
Quite promising! But some valid issues have been raised. I'm wondering what it will be like to build a system with.
Has anyone taken the plunge and ordered one?
 
almightydutch said:
A case with a TFT screen, about time but lets face it this is a market where if people wanted that they'd buy a screen to fit 2 x 5.1/4 bays - or even one bay
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It's a 2 inch screen to display a single JPEG, not a system monitor. And you can get a Core version of the case that doesn't even have the screen.
 
It's a shame I have zero money these days because I'd be very tempted to get hold of one just to see where I could drill, hack and chop it up to make it work better.
 
So the style does impose limits, then :p Fortunately it looks good enough to forgive some minor flaws.

Personally I'd like to see the option of fitting an extra fan in the top for those of us who don't use a 3.5" mechanical hard drive.
 
In all seriousness, you don't need massive cooling for a relatively normal system. A 240mm AOI is overkill in most situations. For a case that has style and thinness will have some compromises.

If you want massive air cooling, this case is not for you.

If you want something that looks stylish in your swish office that you can get a relatively powerful system in then this is a case for you.
 
b0rn2sk8 said:
In all seriousness, you don't need massive cooling for a relatively normal system. A 240mm AOI is overkill in most situations. For a case that has style and thinness will have some compromises.

If you want massive air cooling, this case is not for you.

If you want something that looks stylish in your swish office that you can get a relatively powerful system in then this is a case for you.
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Yeah, this case hasn't been aimed at the all in all cooling professional who demands the lowest temperatures; it's more geared towards those who want gorgeous aesthetics with the added bonus of a programmable LCD.

You are exactly right b0rn :)

Also I appreciate all feedback, good or bad :D so thank you all!
 
make it 230mm wide and you'll sell it

unfortunately all of us here want ``massive cooling`` unless of course you've switched to the GTX 970
 
b0rn2sk8 said:
In all seriousness, you don't need massive cooling for a relatively normal system. A 240mm AIO is overkill in most situations. For a case that has style and thinness will have some compromises.
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BitFenixUK said:
Yeah, this case hasn't been aimed at the all in all cooling professional who demands the lowest temperatures; it's more geared towards those who want gorgeous aesthetics with the added bonus of a programmable LCD.
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I'd disagree that 240mm AIO is overkill. Mainstream systems need some half-decent cooling too. I'd argue that a 240mm water unit is becoming the standard size AIO given that the current AMD FX chips are hot as hell and Haswell will melt itself if pushed too far. A double-thick 120mm rad won't fit anywhere, so the gorgeous aesthetics severly limit you to a substandard single-thick 120mm AIO or a paltry air cooler that can't cool anything.

Ultimately you're not getting a particularly powerful system into this case. Top-end SLI/Crossfire graphics cards may be OK because you do get 2 120mm intakes on the front, but you can't then feed the GPU array with a decent enough processor because it'll be tricky to cool.

Look forward to a version 2 of this. Hell, make an ITX version with enough room for the 240mm rad up top and you'll be onto a winner.
 
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LePhuronn said:
I'd disagree that 240mm AIO is overkill. Mainstream systems need some half-decent cooling too. I'd argue that a 240mm water unit is becoming the standard size AIO given that the current AMD FX chips are hot as hell and Haswell will melt itself if pushed too far. A double-thick 120mm rad won't fit anywhere, so the gorgeous aesthetics severly limit you to a substandard single-thick 120mm AIO or a paltry air cooler that can't cool anything.

Ultimately you're not getting a particularly powerful system into this case. Top-end SLI/Crossfire graphics cards may be OK because you do get 2 120mm intakes on the front, but you can't then feed the GPU array with a decent enough processor because it'll be tricky to cool.

Look forward to a version 2 of this. Hell, make an ITX version with enough room for the 240mm rad up top and you'll be onto a winner.
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I think people overestimate the needed rad space for a given amount of tdp. As a point of reference I used to run 2 x480gtx and an i7 3930k @ 4.6 off one 120.3 thermochill. Granted the thermochill was thick and the system ran warm but it was still good enough.

For a while now I have been running a haswell i5 @ 4.4 and a 760 off one 120.2 in a bitfenix phenom and have no real concerns with heat. I am moving to a 970 in the loop so and again I have no concerns.

Whether I move to this case depends on a number of things but it being able to keep a good systems cool using a 120.2 is not one of them. I'm more concerned if I can get another 120.1 in there in case I go SLI.
 
LePhuronn said:
It's a 2 inch screen to display a single JPEG, not a system monitor. And you can get a Core version of the case that doesn't even have the screen.
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From the bit-tech review:

Antony Leather said:
BitFenix has also stated that the source code for the application will be made available in the next few weeks so there's the possibility for those with code-friendly brains to write their own scripts to display clocks or CPU temperature for example.
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Would be good if Bifenix could make a Core Temp add-on for it.
 
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I've decided to go for this case (yeap I've seen the reviews) aesthetically its almost everything I want in a case. I really don't like big cases, I so love silver finishes that aren't plastic and I like a nice clear window that shows of the core components but nothing else; appreciate there are some issues with it but I'm really sold on the look and the small footprint.

Thing is though ideally I wanted to install two 980's onto the Asus Gene VII (I run at 1440P) but do you think I'd be able to install sufficient cooling? These are reference 980's which are better suited to small enclosures but still they'll need some fresh air to work with.

What do you guys thinks am I pushing it in such a small enclosure, should I just stick with the one 980...?
 
One big problem I've seen is the push-on panels which are just an appalling design if you have a rats nest of cables behind the mbd, as the lack of any screw fitting for the side panel means in some cases you physically cannot get it to stay on!! This case is ideally suited to a very minimal internal set-up, so as to avoid the necessity for complex cable management behind the mbd, because it seems this is nigh on impossible, or an INCREDIBLY frustrating and time consuming task at the very least.
 
Perhaps I'm better staying with just the one card then; my monitor does have g-sync so the extra card is more of a luxury than a necessity.

In which case I just need to route the main ATX power cable, the CPU 8pin, and two 6 pin PCI-e cables.
 
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