Hi there sometime in July i won the opportunity to test Bitfenix's latest ATX Mid-range case the Bitfenix Ronin.
Lets begin with my first thoughts. Packaging and unboxing.
The packaging is what you would expect of a case manufacturer brown box polystyrene for keeping it safe from knocks and bumps and the simple box of bits/manuals etc. Simple and effective i cannot knock it
Deeper look into the case time the Bitfenix Ronin comes with two 120mm Spectres (Plain black) already installed one at the front with a fan filter already installed and one at the rear unfiltered as an exhaust. Also included is another 120mm fan filter along with a BitFenix 5.25" to 3.5" drive bay adapter also. A further box can be found sat in the 5.25" Drive bay area containing various screws and a bag of 10 small cable ties. Also the bottom included a magnetic fan filter for the bottom 120mm fan and the PSU
Next i come to removing panels.. Now i actually found this quite an annoyance and difficulty. They just pop off with pull handles and whilst you would imagine this to be easy i didn't see it as that. It was all okay when i had nothing in my 5.25 bays but once my Bitfenix Recon controller was in i was no longer able to remove my front panel without almost ripping the recon out despite it being secured well. The top panel all went okay although i had the slight annoyance of broken clips at the rear but this doesnt seem to affect it at all so not really too much of a problem. (Although i admit if i had of bought this case i would have sent it back by that point haha)
Drive bays.. Simple and effective but FLIMSY! I had my doubts at first seeing them pull apart how they could possibly be sturdy and i admit there not if your only mouting 2.5 drives by the screwholes in the bottom (Don't use tape for these types the screws hold it more rigid!) With a 3.5 drive it seems to hold fine though. The removeable top half of the drive bays are very simple to remove.. Pull 2 handles and pull the cage out. Loved that feature immediately.
Next ill move onto how my thoughts when installing my system went
Components i used for this was (These are old parts as im holding onto my mATX gear for Prodigy M)
ASUS ATX Motherboard M3N78-Pro
AMD Phenom X3 8650
Corsair H100 (Stock fans in Push)
Gainward Phantom 560Ti
Coolermaster 600w Silent Pro Semi Modular
320GB Hitachi Deskstar
64GB Crucial M4
120GB 2.5" Backup (Unplugged)
Bitfenix Recon fan controller
2x Spectre's Red LED
2x Spectre's Plain black
First of all installing the motherboard went straight forward although i felt some of the holes for the standoffs had paint in the threads as there was some resistance at times. Installing the H100 Was a breeze in this case compared to my CM 690II the radiator is in the roof void with the fans pushing air through them out the case as the top panel is unfiltered. I covered my drives in the previous section of this review. Now the best bit..
Cable management. Difficulty wise i found it quite easy really there is plenty of notches to tie cable ties too all the way around the rear with enough for the thickest of cables.
Testing temps and airflow. I am comparing against my old CM 690 II which in my eyes is a very similar case..
This case seems 1-2 degrees cooler under Prime95 testing and whilst i was worried about the airflow i will say it does flow very well and if set up correctly for positive pressure you can make a lot out of this for decent temps.
Now for the window.. I do LOVE IT, Its massive and i can see my hardware well if you add some nice alchemy lighting to it you cannot go wrong.. As for the stealth cover i like it but it does ruin 2/3 of the window in my opinion but i will probably use it as don't like looking at drives or Power supply
Few photos of full install
Ignore my terrible cable management mess but even though its terrible.. Side panel just slides on effortlessly
Roundup
Pro's
Con's
To round up my review of would i consider this a good case?
YES
I would buy this for a gaming rig or even a server personally
Any more questions ask me i will be happy to answer or look into it
Lets begin with my first thoughts. Packaging and unboxing.
The packaging is what you would expect of a case manufacturer brown box polystyrene for keeping it safe from knocks and bumps and the simple box of bits/manuals etc. Simple and effective i cannot knock it
Deeper look into the case time the Bitfenix Ronin comes with two 120mm Spectres (Plain black) already installed one at the front with a fan filter already installed and one at the rear unfiltered as an exhaust. Also included is another 120mm fan filter along with a BitFenix 5.25" to 3.5" drive bay adapter also. A further box can be found sat in the 5.25" Drive bay area containing various screws and a bag of 10 small cable ties. Also the bottom included a magnetic fan filter for the bottom 120mm fan and the PSU
Next i come to removing panels.. Now i actually found this quite an annoyance and difficulty. They just pop off with pull handles and whilst you would imagine this to be easy i didn't see it as that. It was all okay when i had nothing in my 5.25 bays but once my Bitfenix Recon controller was in i was no longer able to remove my front panel without almost ripping the recon out despite it being secured well. The top panel all went okay although i had the slight annoyance of broken clips at the rear but this doesnt seem to affect it at all so not really too much of a problem. (Although i admit if i had of bought this case i would have sent it back by that point haha)
Drive bays.. Simple and effective but FLIMSY! I had my doubts at first seeing them pull apart how they could possibly be sturdy and i admit there not if your only mouting 2.5 drives by the screwholes in the bottom (Don't use tape for these types the screws hold it more rigid!) With a 3.5 drive it seems to hold fine though. The removeable top half of the drive bays are very simple to remove.. Pull 2 handles and pull the cage out. Loved that feature immediately.
Next ill move onto how my thoughts when installing my system went
Components i used for this was (These are old parts as im holding onto my mATX gear for Prodigy M)
ASUS ATX Motherboard M3N78-Pro
AMD Phenom X3 8650
Corsair H100 (Stock fans in Push)
Gainward Phantom 560Ti
Coolermaster 600w Silent Pro Semi Modular
320GB Hitachi Deskstar
64GB Crucial M4
120GB 2.5" Backup (Unplugged)
Bitfenix Recon fan controller
2x Spectre's Red LED
2x Spectre's Plain black
First of all installing the motherboard went straight forward although i felt some of the holes for the standoffs had paint in the threads as there was some resistance at times. Installing the H100 Was a breeze in this case compared to my CM 690II the radiator is in the roof void with the fans pushing air through them out the case as the top panel is unfiltered. I covered my drives in the previous section of this review. Now the best bit..
Cable management. Difficulty wise i found it quite easy really there is plenty of notches to tie cable ties too all the way around the rear with enough for the thickest of cables.
Testing temps and airflow. I am comparing against my old CM 690 II which in my eyes is a very similar case..
This case seems 1-2 degrees cooler under Prime95 testing and whilst i was worried about the airflow i will say it does flow very well and if set up correctly for positive pressure you can make a lot out of this for decent temps.
Now for the window.. I do LOVE IT, Its massive and i can see my hardware well if you add some nice alchemy lighting to it you cannot go wrong.. As for the stealth cover i like it but it does ruin 2/3 of the window in my opinion but i will probably use it as don't like looking at drives or Power supply
Few photos of full install
Ignore my terrible cable management mess but even though its terrible.. Side panel just slides on effortlessly
Roundup
Pro's
- Room for 240mm Radiator
- Good airflow
- Nice window and stealth cover
- Good enough stock fans and equipment
- Cable management
Con's
- Covers/Panels being a pain
- Fimsy Hard drive caddys
- No top filters
To round up my review of would i consider this a good case?
YES
I would buy this for a gaming rig or even a server personallyAny more questions ask me i will be happy to answer or look into it
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