BitFenix Ghost Case Review: Begging for the Premium Treatment
by Dustin Sklavos on November 10, 2012 12:01 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- bitfenix
- quiet
- ATX
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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Dustin Sklavos - Saturday, November 10, 2012 - link
Nanoxia actually contacted me; I initially declined because their cases aren't available stateside.However, BitFenix wasn't exactly easy to come by when I started reviewing their stuff either. Between your request and the potential for press to help them get a foothold out here, I went ahead and contacted them again to see if they're willing to shoot me one of the Deep Silence enclosures.
Grok42 - Saturday, November 10, 2012 - link
This is REALLY great! I had never heard of this case and while it isn't a case I'm personally interested in purchasing because of its size, it looks like a very interesting case that I can't wait to read about. This case looks like it has the potential to be the best in class case for it's category.roberta - Saturday, November 10, 2012 - link
@DustinGreat news!
I am looking forward to the review of the Nanoxia Deep Silence 1
Thank You Very Much for All the Superb reviews,
Roberta
LarryDan - Sunday, November 11, 2012 - link
According to the review in LegitReviews.com:"Nanoxia will begin selling cases on Newegg at the end of November or early December, so they will be available in North America very soon! Right now they are shipping the cases and they have to clear customs, so that is what is issue at hand!"
I'm really glad you're going to review the Nanoxia DS1. So far, it's received quite a few excellent reviews and competes favorably with the FD Define R4 and Antec P280; however, I'm waiting for your analysis for the final word. Based on the other reviews, it appears to be the class winner and it may be the one you've been looking for.
jabber - Saturday, November 10, 2012 - link
...most people over the age of 18 could handle having in their home.JohnMD1022 - Saturday, November 10, 2012 - link
Put a door on the front and you lose me.Grok42 - Saturday, November 10, 2012 - link
My current workstation has a door. I obviously used to really like cases with a door design. They allowed me to close the door and achieve a clean look, reduce noise and still have external drives. Now that there is no reason to have external bays doors are noting but negative for me. The reason this case has a door is that it has 4 external bays. Either they put a door on it or they are not going to achieve a low noise case.JohnMD1022 - Sunday, November 11, 2012 - link
I do a lot of work for seniors.Since we can't hear as well as younger people perhaps noise is less of a factor.
I advise older people to place their computer on a table next to their work area to make access easier. We don't like getting down on our hands and knees and groping around behind things to disconnect cables.
And here is the problem with doors.
They get in the way and they are a hazard. Walk by an open door enough times, and sooner or later you get a broken door or a computer knocked on the floor.
Olaf van der Spek - Saturday, November 10, 2012 - link
> The addition of the BitFenix fansDidn't you add BQ fans?
Dustin Sklavos - Saturday, November 10, 2012 - link
Agh, yes.