BitFenix has now firmly established itself
as a regular in the case market, with its chassis often clad in its trademark
SofTouch plastic. The Shinobi, despite its $75 price tag, is no different, and
looks sleek and stylish as a result, with its minimalist design largely free of
the mesh that dominates other budget cases.
Bitfenix
Shinobi
Behind the sleek looks are six separate fan
mounts: a 120mmmountinthe rear, fitted with one of BitFenix’s own fans; a pair
of 120mm/140mm mounts in the roof; a 120mm mount in the floor; and a pair of
120mm mounts at the front. Both the detachable fascia and floor are equipped
with dust filters to ensure the inside remains as attractive as the outside,
while the front panel, equipped with a pair of both USB 2 and USB 3 ports, sits
on the roof.
Behind
the sleek looks are six separate fan mounts: a 120mmmountinthe rear, fitted
with one of BitFenix’s own fans
Inside, the Shinobi is well appointed, with
cable- routeing holes located around the right side of the motherboard tray and
a large hole in the top-left corner through which to route the 8-pin EPS12V
cable. With 19mm of clearance behind the motherboard tray, there’s loads of
room to tuck and route PSU cables, although there’s a distinct lack of
tool-free mounts for either 3.5in or 5.25in drives, despite the 3.5in rack
carrying the fittings for them. You won’t be short of disk space, though, as
the Shinobi can accommodate up to eight 3.5in hard disks and three 5.25in
drives, alongside a solitary 2.5in drive via a 5.25in bay adaptor.
While
its looks might turn heads, however, the Shinobi’s cooling was poor in
comparison to the competition.
While its looks might turn heads, however,
the Shinobi’s cooling was poor in comparison to the competition. Our test gear
didn’t come close to overheating under load, but the CPU delta T of 57°C was
the second highest on test, while the GPU delta T of 44°C was joint highest.
Equipping the case with a pair of Scythe
Gentle Typhoon 120mm fans as a roof exhaust and front intake saw a big
improvement, but the Shinobi remained uncompetitive; the CPU delta T of 54°C
was the highest on test when using the extra fans, while the GPU delta T of
40°C was also the worst result we recorded. However, the Shinobi’s single
cooling fan was incredibly quiet in operation - a clue to the cause of those
high temperatures.
Conclusion
The BitFenix Shinobi arguably looks the
least ‘budget’ of any case on test, with its sharp lines and SofTouch exterior
reminiscent of much more expensive chassis. However, its poor cooling can’t be
ignored; even with an extra pair of 120mm cooling fans, it’s unable to match
the stock CPU delta T of the Fractal Design Core 3000. Our mums were right;
looks aren’t everything.
