BitFenix Ronin Review

 

 

Up Close:  Interior, Dive bays, Base, Rear and Roof

Able to house ATX as well as well as mATX and mini-ITX, the Ronin has the major bases covered, with a large CPU cut out ensuring that the work involved in changing your cooler is kept to a minimum.  We do however feel that for a case with such a large “look in me” side window, the lack of rubber grommets on the 3 cable management holes is a gross oversight.  Surely they can’t add too much to the price?  In total there are mounts for up to 6 fans with just 1x120mm being provided in the front.  Two would have been nice especially taking into account the £70 price tag.

       

 

The tool-less mounting system for the 3 x 5.25″ bays is very secure, enabling BitBenix to do away with an unsightly perforated rack.  Underneath there’s room for up to 6 x 3.5″ or 6 x 2.5″ drives (using the 3.5″ bays). 

    

 

The rack is split into two equal sized parts with the upper most being removable, increasing the max GPU length from 310mm to 410mm.

       

 

Immediately posterior to the lower drive rack lies a grilled mount for a 120mm fan (please don’t).  At the rear four small foam pads sit atop metal dimples giving the bear minimum of sound dampening for PSUs.  BitFenix state support for PSUs up to 220mm in length however you will be covering up a small portion of the lower cable management hole if you use a monster PSU.

    

 

Seven perforated expansion bay covers sit alongside small external tubing holes with a BitFenix badged fan sitting above in the usual position.  When viewed from the inside you get a real feel for just how much of the roof is given over to ventilation.  Those holes might not be massive, but there’s a hell of a lot of them.  The beedy peeper’d amongst you will also have noticed that there are fan mounts for both 120mm and 140mm up here, and the even keener eyed will have noted that they are offset away from the motherboard thus enabling Radiator installation and so native water-cooling support.  More of this when we come to the build and cooling sections later on the review.

       

 

The case stands on four good sized rubber feet helping to ensure a supply of fresh air to the underside of the case.  A large, magnetically attached single piece mesh filter covers the PSU and base fan areas.