BitFenix Ronin Case Review
by Dustin Sklavos on July 22, 2013 12:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- bitfenix
- ATX
Conclusion: A Miss
Writing a negative product review for AnandTech is very different from, say, writing a negative movie review or a negative video game review. It's not a task I particularly enjoy, especially not when the product comes from a company like BitFenix that we've developed a good working relationship with. Historically I've been very fond of BitFenix's products, and they've been gracious enough to provide hardware for testing whenever we've needed it. That makes this review a difficult one to write, because frankly, the Ronin is a bust.
Visually it's at least aesthetically pleasing, and as I mentioned before, this is one place where BitFenix typically excels. The Ronin is an attractive piece of kit, and the soft-touch finish really does contribute to a feeling of value. I'm also not convinced the stealth cover is a bad idea; I wish the side window were a little bit less reflective, but that's neither here nor there. Suffice to say that the Ronin is at least a very good-looking enclosure.
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Unfortunately aesthetics are largely where the upsides of the Ronin end. Barring the stealth cover and brilliant snap-shut drive sleds, there isn't a whole lot of original thinking going on inside the Ronin. BitFenix has severely hamstrung the Ronin with just two 120mm fans, and the case has serious issues with airflow. Those fans are quiet, but they're not moving anywhere near enough air to make up for the low case volume. Since the Ronin doesn't feature any acoustic padding or other allowances to keep noise down, we're hit with the dreaded double whammy: it's hot and loud.
The killing blow for the Ronin is its price tag: at $99, it's just too expensive. At virtually any price tag it might have been getting by on looks, but $99 is especially egregious coming from a company that ordinarily is able to offer pretty solid value. The net result is that we have a case that looks good, but that's it; it's too expensive, it's too hot, and it's too loud. Even the best companies have the odd miss here or there and the Ronin seems to be BitFenix's. On the bright side, I hear you can pick up a Shinobi Window for just $79 on NewEgg, and that's a case I can happily recommend.
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kmmatney - Tuesday, July 23, 2013 - link
I agree. I have a factory overclocked video card, and a "reasonably" overclocked i5, and I get plenty of cooling with a single, slow 120mm fan. While my case just has 2 120mm fans, I only use one, and keep the other unused for a spare (and to keep the system extremely quiet). I will say the price is a little high for this case, though. I think anyone buying this case would be using a single video card, so it would be more useful to test with that.twtech - Monday, July 22, 2013 - link
As soon as I saw what the inside of it looked like, I knew the cooling was going to suffer. There's no room for airflow. I wonder what the thermals would be like with just one graphics card.DanNeely - Monday, July 22, 2013 - link
The standard test is done with a single 560. Only the full fat has dual GPUs (580s).GprophetB - Monday, July 22, 2013 - link
THE BOWL IS BACKHisDivineOrder - Monday, July 22, 2013 - link
This is them creating a slightly more expensive case to sell the other cases. They make this product to hit those people who look at $99 or greater cases. Then anyone who reads a review sees they should go back to the more prevalent, cheaper cases, which they do.It's like advertisement for the entire brand because everytime someone goes to read about this product as it's in the running, they're going to see someone saying, "Hey, go check out Shinobi instead."
Bam, Shinobi sells. It's savvy.
fluxtatic - Tuesday, July 23, 2013 - link
Reminds me of some of the Dell Optiplexes at work. That's not a good thing.ShieTar - Tuesday, July 23, 2013 - link
Can anybody explain to me why Bitfenix would not include 2 140mm fans for the top slots? They do include them for the Shinobi XXL, and they do a great job of moving alot of air through the case, especially when combined with both front and bottom intakes. So why skip the 5 bucks on fan cost, and cripple the case in the process? Do they just expect everybody to buy their own fans anyways?Minion4Hire - Tuesday, July 23, 2013 - link
Dustin, I'm very confused. You're recommending the Shinobi over the Ronin solely because it's cheaper? But the Shinobi's thermal performance isn't really much better. It's only advantage is a 120mm side mount. If someone intends on installing two beefy graphics cards as you've done here (which you did not do in the Shinobi review) I can't imagine they're going to have a much better time in the default configuration which is otherwise identical to the Ronin.The Ronin looks like a prettier Shinobi. I just don't feel it's a fair performance comparison to make when you tested the Shinobi with only a single GPU. If anything I would think - assuming only one GPU - that the Ronin would perfom similarly to its spiritual predecessor.
samsp99 - Wednesday, July 24, 2013 - link
Looking at the photo above, I thought it was of smoke showing the airflow in the case. Which makes me think - hey how about doing photo's of the airflow, particularly for cases with a window.werver - Saturday, July 27, 2013 - link
I was very suprised about the difference in test results of the Ronin between Anandtech.com and Computerbase.de. They write: "Bitfenix succeeded to get a very good balance between noise levels and temperature". How is such a difference possible?