BitFenix Shinobi: The Budget Ninja
by Dustin Sklavos on June 22, 2011 12:45 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- mid-tower
- bitfenix
- shinobi
Testing Methodology
For testing ATX cases, we use the following standardized testbed in stock and overclocked configurations to get a feel for how well the case handles heat and noise.
| Full ATX Test Configuration | |
| CPU |
Intel Core i7-875K (95W TDP, tested at stock speed and overclocked to 3.8GHz @ 1.38V) |
| Motherboard | ASUS P7P55D-E Pro |
| Graphics Card | Zotac NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 (244W TDP) |
| Memory | 2x2GB Crucial Ballistix Smart Tracer DDR3-1600 |
| Drives |
Kingston SSDNow V+ 100 64GB SSD Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA 6Gbps Samsung 5.25" BD-ROM/DVDRW Drive |
| CPU Cooler | Zalman CNPS9900 MAX with Cooler Master ThermalFusion 400 |
| Power Supply | SilverStone Strider Gold 750W 80 Plus Gold |
A refresher on how we test:
Acoustic testing is standardized on a foot from the front of the case, using the Extech SL10 with an ambient noise floor of ~32dB. For reference, that's what my silent apartment measures with nothing running, testing acoustics in the dead of night (usually between 1am and 3am). A lot of us sit about a foot away from our computers, so this should be a fairly accurate representation of the kind of noise the case generates, and it's close enough to get noise levels that should register above ambient.
Thermal testing is run with the computer having idled at the desktop for fifteen minutes, and again with the computer running both Furmark (where applicable) and Prime95 (less one thread when a GPU is being used) for fifteen minutes. I've found that leaving one thread open in Prime95 allows the processor to heat up enough while making sure Furmark isn't CPU-limited. We're using the thermal diodes included with the hardware to keep everything standardized, and ambient testing temperature is always between 71F and 74F. Processor temperatures reported are the average of the CPU cores.
For more details on how we arrived at this testbed, you can check out our introductory passage in the review for the IN-WIN BUC.
Last but not least, we'd also like to thank the vendors who made our testbed possible:
Thank You!
We have some thanks in order before we press on:
- Thank you to Crucial for providing us with the Ballistix Smart Tracer memory we used to add memory thermals to our testing.
- Thank you to Zalman for providing us with the CNPS9900 MAX heatsink and fan unit we used.
- Thank you to Kingston for providing us with the SSDNow V+ 100 SSD.
- Thank you to CyberPower for providing us with the Western Digital Caviar Black hard drive, Intel Core i7-875K processor, ASUS P7P55D-E Pro motherboard, and Samsung BD-ROM/DVD+/-RW drive.
- And thank you to SilverStone for providing us with the power supply.
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26 Comments
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superpenguino - Tuesday, August 16, 2011 - link
I formally second this proposal.StevePeters - Wednesday, June 22, 2011 - link
After going back and re-reading the In-Win BUC review I saw that it had an additional case fan. For the temperature results to be meaningful I really think a 'case as supplied' and a 'case with a standard fan configuration' is needed.After the praise for the ease of the build with BitFenix, I really do not understand why you needed to disadvantage their thermals as you did. I would really like to see bast configuration, not worst configuration comparisions for the results to be useful.
Dustin Sklavos - Wednesday, June 22, 2011 - link
The BUC has an additional case fan that ships WITH the case. It comes with two mounted and then they give you a third one that you can mount anywhere.cjs150 - Wednesday, June 22, 2011 - link
By Fractal Designs Midi/Min arc admittedly at a higher price pointSpending a bit extra on a case pays dividends.
After saying that I like Betfenix. More competition in case design is a good thing
Zoomer - Wednesday, June 22, 2011 - link
Any idea how thick the steel panels are? Comments on structural stability / solidity?I hope the rubbery plastic doesn't make it hard to clean dust off it.
JohnMD1022 - Wednesday, June 22, 2011 - link
I can't understand the use of such photos when a few seconds work would make them viewable.I used PhotoShop Elements 2.0,
To see what the interior of this case actually looks like, here's the result of less than 15 seconds with the Brightness/Contrast variables:
http://www.picpaste.com/s-internal-1-ridRiit0.jpg
maxg - Tuesday, June 28, 2011 - link
More like a lousy computer monitor... Your display must be getting old or not set up properly. The article's photos look just fine on all three of my displays, and your "fixed" version, umm, well, just looks bright and grey with poor contrast.DaveSimmons - Wednesday, June 22, 2011 - link
I'd really like to see an update where you show the noise and temperature when the HDD is placed more sensibly.Mumrik - Wednesday, June 22, 2011 - link
It looks horribly cheap in these pictures and I hate all these half-assed windows we're seing lately, but at least it got the drive bays right. Three 5.25" bays should be three times as many as most need and eight 3½" bays is awesome. So many higher end cases only have six or less.Dustin Sklavos - Thursday, June 23, 2011 - link
Honestly the texture of the plastic used for the build really needs to be seen in person to be appreciated. I've seen cheap-looking cases, and the Shinobi isn't one.