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
Noise and Thermal Testing, Stock
Dealing with cases that are engineered specifically for silence as opposed to excelling in every metric (as larger, more expensive cases often are) means accepting potential trade-offs. The BitFenix Ghost, at $99, is geared more towards acoustic than thermal performance and unfortunately it shows. Yet there's at least potential in the Ghost for better performance, as most of the fan slots are vacant.
I don't like to make a habit of experimenting with cases because then I'll be expected to experiment with every single case that comes through here, and I just don't have time for that. However, the flexibility of the fan mounts in the Ghost make it a potentially ideal case for the roundup of closed-loop liquid coolers I'll be testing soon (particularly since NZXT has released a 140mm cooler and a 280mm cooler). More than that, I felt it was relevant to see if the closed door was suffocating the enclosure the way the one on the initial release of NZXT's H2 did.
Amusingly, the rep for be quiet! is actually my predecessor here for case reviews, and he was able to supply me with a healthy amount of fans for random testing. Their case fans are, I have to admit, really stellar. I'm using three of their 120mm fans in an FT03 for my media center, and for the Ghost I added their Silent Wings 2 140mm fan as an exhaust in the top of the case and a 120mm fan from the same line in the front as an intake.
California is becoming increasingly confused about the weather as we enter what Californians will call a freezing cold, rainy winter, and what people from states that have actual seasons will call "a bit nippy outside." The result is that there was a bit more variance in ambient temperatures when testing the Ghost, between 22C and 24C.
You can see stock performance is pretty underwhelming, but the pattern you see here is also one that will be consistent throughout testing: adding the fans takes a couple of degrees off the temperatures, and removing the front door takes another couple of degrees off. Unfortunately, only adding fans and removing the door is really enough to get it past the lower side of competitive in our stock configuration.
Again, fan speeds are on the lower side of competitive. It's not awful, but it's not very impressive either. I was a bit underwhelmed by Corsair's performance with their pricier 550D, and that feeling echoes in the BitFenix Ghost.
With all that said, the Ghost does achieve what it sets out to: it's one of the quietest cases we've tested, both at idle and under load. The addition of the be quiet! fans has the added bonus of reducing load noise and reducing temperatures. Chopping 1dB and 2-3C off of the system under load isn't necessarily a tremendous gain, but it does prove that there's room for improvement with the Ghost as well as being a ringing endorsement for the efficiency of be quiet!'s fans.
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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.