BitFenix Shinobi XL Case Review: Something is Lost in the Process
by Dustin Sklavos on June 26, 2012 2:40 AM EST- Posted in
- bitfenix
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Testing Methodology
For testing Micro-ATX and full 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.
| ATX Test Configuration | |
| CPU |
Intel Core i7-2700K (95W TDP, tested at stock speed and overclocked to 4.3GHz @ 1.38V) |
| Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-Z68MX-UD2H-B3 |
| Graphics Card |
ASUS GeForce GTX 560 Ti DCII TOP (tested at stock speed and overclocked to 1GHz/overvolted to 1.13V) |
| Memory | 2x2GB Crucial Ballistix Smart Tracer DDR3-1600 |
| Drives |
Kingston SSDNow V+ 100 64GB SSD Samsung 5.25" BD-ROM/DVDRW Drive |
| Accessories | Corsair Link |
| CPU Cooler | Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo with Cooler Master ThermalFusion 400 |
| Power Supply | SilverStone Strider Plus 750W 80 Plus Silver |
Each case is tested in a stock configuration and an overclocked configuration that generates substantially more heat (and thus may produce more noise). The system is powered on and left idle for fifteen minutes, the thermal and acoustic results recorded, and then stressed by running seven threads in Prime95 (in-place large FFTs) on the CPU and OC Scanner (maximum load) on the GPU. At the end of fiteen minutes, thermal and acoustic results are recorded. This is done for the stock settings and for the overclock, and if the enclosure has a fan controller, these tests are repeated for each setting. Ambient temperature is also measured after the fifteen idle minutes but before the stress test and used to calculate the final reported results.
Thank You!
Before moving on, we'd like to thank the following vendors for providing us with the hardware used in our testbed.
- Thank you to Puget Systems for providing us with the Intel Core i7-2700K.
- Thank you to Gigabyte for providing us with the GA-Z68MX-UD2H-B3 motherboard.
- Thank you to Crucial for providing us with the Ballistix Smart Tracer memory.
- Thank you to Corsair for providing us with the Corsair Link kit.
- Thank you to Cooler Master for providing us with the Hyper 212 Evo heatsink and fan unit.
- Thank you to Kingston for providing us with the SSDNow V+ 100 SSD.
- Thank you to CyberPower for providing us with the Samsung BD-ROM/DVD+/-RW drive.
- And thank you to SilverStone for providing us with the power supply.
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29 Comments
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Chaitanya - Tuesday, June 26, 2012 - link
BitFenix has some really good cases and they innovate when it comes to bringing new cases to market.Pennanen - Tuesday, June 26, 2012 - link
And what exactly has bitfenix given to the case markets? Assuming you werent sarcastic.xbournex - Tuesday, June 26, 2012 - link
SuperCharge, SofTouch, Prodigy, stock water cooling support, brightest LED strips, most dense sleeving extensions, first internet connectivity fan controller, and unnecessary flashy in-your-face look cases.Pennanen - Tuesday, June 26, 2012 - link
Sorry i wasnt specific enought.What useful things have bitfenix given to the markets?
killerclick - Sunday, July 15, 2012 - link
Lack of girlfriend detected.cjs150 - Tuesday, June 26, 2012 - link
But the review is nice and thoroughDustin you really hit the nail "modern conventions are far from perfect and there's a lot of room for improvement".
As an example, the case is wide - why not turn the PSU 90 degrees and have the cables feeding directly into the area behind the motherboard. Lian Li at least experiment with different locations.
I would love to see a case where there is a built in power splitter for the 5.25 bays and Hard drive cages so one molex cable goes to a daughter board which has several socket to run short cables up to the hard drives for example - a bit of imagination would result in a very neat cabling job.
This case really excels for watercooling. Perfect for using a 200x200 mm radiatior (or even 2, front and top)
xbournex - Tuesday, June 26, 2012 - link
The review compares a mATX case 2/3 of the price of this case, an aluminum case with almost no water cooling support that's 2x the price, and ambient temperatures that vary with each review resulting in a default temperature, and noise level being already higher, or lower.The case was designed for watercooling in mind, which the reviewer poorly covered. Not thorough if you ask me.
xbournex - Tuesday, June 26, 2012 - link
not as thorough as it could be**Olaf van der Spek - Tuesday, June 26, 2012 - link
Hey xbournex,Anandtech doesn't test watercooling as far as I know.
When can we expect some BitFenix mATX cases? :p
cjs150 - Tuesday, June 26, 2012 - link
Must admit I cannot remember Anandtech reviewing watercooling either.Watercooling is a niche for those who like to have a bit of fun and get their hands dirty (I think that should read "wet") on the innards of their computer.
I love it, but I know it is not very everyone.
The case looks as though it would be very good for watercooling possible even better than the legend that is the Silverstone TJ07. Certainly more than capable of cooling two hot running GPUs, a seriously overclocked CPU and maybe even the RAM as well without really breaking sweat. So would be pretty quiet compared to trying to air cool that lot