Gadgetory

hey guys we have the Raider from BitFenix on our review table and we have to say that Big Finish has taken our feedback seriously and added some major improvements on the interior functions when compared to the shinobi chassis which we have reviewed in the past the case rings in at $89 and within this price range there's a lot of competition that big Phoenix is facing so let's check out the Raider and find out if the company is on top of the game to impress the current market at such a price first let's do our usual exterior inspection the chassis is much smaller from some other mid towers with 19.4 inches in depth 8.3 inches in width and 19.7 in height and weights only 19 pounds the case is made of steel with plastic front and top panels these are covered in BitFenix a soft touch coating in matte black and adds a little more quality feel to the plastic parts there's also long continuous mesh that adds to ventilation with a rounded contour to add to the design the case comes with four adhesive feet as part of the accessories and we recommend attaching them right from the beginning as the Raider is not very stable right at the top we have 4 USB 3 ports and your audio between exclaims is to be the first chassis in the world to have that mini USB 3 ports these ports connect through an internal 20 pin cable but also the regular USB ports for those non compatible motherboards and if that's the case you just have to hide the 20 pin connector somewhere inside on the other side we have a fan controller a very thin and hardly accessible reset button your power button and hard drive activity lights the fan controller supports up to 5 fans and notice the cabling is all black to keep things uniform now the placement of all connectors and buttons on the top is unwise because case placement under the desk is quite common and reaching for these buttons is very inconvenient at the back we have the usual layout with water cooling holes exhaust fan IO area 7 PCI slots and a bottom mount the power supply with the removable dust filters at the bottom the top panel can be easily taken off which doesn't have a dust filter but a fine mesh to serve like one underneath this is where 200 millimeter fans can be installed unfortunately no other fan mounting options are available at the top which is quite disappointing at least a dual 120 millimeter fan mount should be available for case this caliber with so much competition especially at this price this means additional expenses to the consumer has the 200 million of fans to go for quite a bit of money movie on the front panel has four optical drive base and it's removable this time with dust filters now the front panel has a lot more versatility with regards to airflow the trianing secludes 220 millimeter intake fans and mounting for an optional 200 millimeter fan is available and to remove the front fans you have to lift them up through the optical bay area and the bottom three five and a quarter inch drive base must be free in order to have clearance due to the sizing and the weight of the chassis this makes it suitable for land parties however not an easy case to carry without any support for handles all right so let's open up the Raider check out what we have for the internals thinking of the side panel it is thin and flimsy and does not contribute to the overall quality of construction and if the side panels and the frame were to be a little thicker this case would have felt solid starting from our usual spot the Raider comes equipped with tools five and a quarter inch drive installation below which are the two hard drive gauges that use backward-compatible brackets for both 3.5 and 2.5 inch drives then we have rubber grommets around the motherboard tray for expected easy cable management and all the front cable connectors in black to keep the inside uniform the top hard drive cage is removable just with thumb screws to allow installation of longer video cards and also free up some space for the airflow now this is a feature that is widely used within the enclosure market and props to big phoenix incorporating this into the raider movie on the power supply is slightly raised and right beside that an optional housing 20 millimeter fan can be installed but as you can see utilizing extra airflow from the bottom will not be possible with power supplies longer than 160 millimeters in length checking out the back fin Phenix incorporated zip-tie mountings all over the motherboard tray which will come in handy for cable management along with rubber grommets that are fairly small and might cause some frustration during assembly for example the 24 pin motherboard connector which is surprisingly difficult to pass through these rubber grommets the spacing to work with between the motherboard tray and the side panel is just under an inch which is plenty of room for all the cables all right mounting the 3.5 inch drive into the cage is straightforward and while the bracket is secured you are able to log the driving place with provided screws which is especially useful if the system is in transport and you need that reassurance that everything will stay intact even due to its small stature the radar handles hardware and cable management without any hiccups for example with the hard drive cage well removed cards and 15 inches are supported otherwise 10.2 inch cards can be installed and looking in the back all the front panel connectors blend in with the overall black theme and not spending too much time on cleaning things up the radar looks great with minimal effort and looking at the CPU cutout it's becoming vital for all competitive chassis and one really important feature consumers care about unfortunately the cutout on the Raider is worthless for motherboards that have high CPU placement which means swapping coolers requires entire disassembly so let's wrap this up first the Raider rings in a t-value which most consumers will categorize as budget which BitFenix is heavily targeting as there's a lot of demand for practical chassis at lower cost and the airflow options are quite good with three quality fans included and the hard drive cage wall removal is extremely useful for longer video cards that can be utilized if needed and lastly sorting out the cable mess in the back is surprisingly easy considering the smaller than usual rubber grommets but with cable time mountings and plenty of room at the back to work with now from a critical perspective the radiator doesn't have that quality feel because the steel is quite thin and the chassis superlight the side panels are flimsy then easily and should be reconsidered we would have liked to see more fan options available for the top is only 200 millimeter fan mount is available this limits not only your airflow possibilities but also internal water cooling and we would have liked the chassis to be slightly longer and like to support longer power supplies while still having clearance for the bottom intake fan and lastly the CPU cut out for our motherboard is impractical and should be taken into account for future All Things Considered the Raider has potential for pretty much any setup but is facing already established competition while be Phoenix is emerging as a budget brand certain quality aspects are being compromised which is something we think they should reconsider and that is it for this review hope you enjoyed it and we'll see you in the next one