Gadgetory

hello everyone and welcome to another hardware canucks product review today we're taking a look at the budget met hour from BitFenix this is going to be the shinobi Windows version and for those who prefer a simple look windowless model is also available now the company has been on the market only since last year and are already making a name for themselves this Shinobi's chassis is priced at the reasonable $70 mark being considered gaming / performance enclosure it is bound to attract a lot of attention from budget-conscious buyers now this met our is fairly small so placement on or under the desk should be no sweat when the selling points of the shinobi is the soft touch powder coating on the front and top panels which sort of feel rubberized and helps you get rid the cheap plastic you feel that budget cases often have the mesh venting strips on each side of the case also add to the overall design and a touch of blue is an appropriate color choice for the enclosure market starting from the top we have four USB 2.0 ports on your audio hard drive activity lights power and reset buttons now Big Finish should have included the USB 3.0 ports to stay competitive considering the current direction of most case manufacturers and the front features only three five and a quarter inch drive bays and underneath dual 120 millimeter fans can be installed with securely mounted dust filter the top panel features dual venting area which also sort to help to improve the overall design case the windowed version which is tinted and has mounting for optional 120 millimeter fan to cool those toasty graphics cards now this is an excellent addition to a case this price and also for those wanting to show off the internal components at the back we have IO area exhaust fan 7 ventilated expansion slots water cooling holes and then bottom mounted power supply and in the bottom case we have 2 easily removable dust filters one for the optional internal fan and the other for the power supply both side panels are removed thumbscrews unfortunately the side panels feel kinda flimsy and the overall structure of the chassis just does not have that tough feel to it but that is one the corners BitFenix had to cut in order to maintain the competitor pricing take a look at side it's nice to see they have maintained the same white color theme and it's especially nice to see those front panel connectors in black the case supports a 3.5 inch drives on the hard drive cage and three optical drives both with two low systems there is an included exhaust fan support for dual 120 or 140 millimeter fans at the top fairly large CPU backplate opening multiple cutouts around the motherboard tray to route your cables mounting for 120 millimeter fan at the bottom and then included 120 millimeter intake fan with mounting options for an extra fan in the front at the back cable management should be fairly straightforward the scavo's can be tucked away in the provided area beside the hard drive cage and there are multiple cable tie mountings around the cutout to help you clean up any cable mess which is necessary if you want a side panel to close properly as there's about an inch of space to work with between the back of the motherboard and the side panel the case comes with sticker type rubber feet which are attached at the bottom of the case unfortunately you do expect them to wear down over time and become useless and perhaps a more secure mount by using screws would have been more appropriate both the shinobi window and the standard model come with this 2.5 inch adapter which is installed into one that five and a quarter inch drive base but unfortunately can only house one 2.5 inch drive also strangely enough their mounting holes for one 40 millimeter fan to be installed at the bottom of this adapter possibly providing additional airflow for the internal components moving on with installation the power supply with lengths of 180 millimetres or longer may have clearance issues with the bottom fan next up is the hard drive installation using this tula system which is very simple to use but unfortunately it is another price cutting corner with Phoenix underwent to keep the price competitive for one the hard drive cage is facing the motherboard so clearance will definitely be able concern for longer video cards second you must remove both side panels when you mount the drive and the actual construction of the mechanism is flimsy and the middle knob tends to fall out when it's not secured to the hard drive cage and there are no anti vibration grommets to prevent the extra noise from the hard drive would be nice to see BitFenix shift away from this older hard drive mounting system and into a more current where the drives are facing the back side panel and have support from more than one 2.5 inch drive now how does this case deal with cable clutter and cable routing is quite impressive for case this caliber hiding most of them behind the motherboard tray and leaving the interior looking clean now you can see here how the drive sticks out and mounting the drive facing the fan is not an option so with the drive installed it leaves about ten and a half inches for your graphics card so a 69 70 is a snug fit otherwise there's just under 13 inches of clearance and the 6990 should fit in just fine installing our 11 1/2 inches long card you can see how much clearance ters between the hard drive cage and the card depending on your motherboard you can install 3.5 inch drives at the top to our bottom three slots and still have clearance for a triple card setup and here it is fully assembled the case interior is surprisingly easy to work with in terms of writing in cables and hardware installation despite the little fiddling around the 3.5 inch drives and then the back as I mentioned previously I didn't cables buy the hard drive cage makes the side panel closed with no interference with the cables overall the Shinobi's chassis is one to impress with the high-end features with an attractive design and the windowed side panel airflow options for great cooling and lots of hard drive storage with a fair price for the total package however you do notice some features that could have been improved and made this case even more them like the Thewlis system for mounting your drives and the hard drive cage itself and for all the water cooling enthusiasts yes it would be very difficult fitting an internal dual rod with fans installed so water cooling for the shinobi is quite limited if you are in the market for a budget chassis we would recommend not to settle down to the shinobi just yet simply because there are many great cases available and the similar price tag offering the same great features but with a more practical approach and that is it for this episode of Hardwick Knox product view and we'll see you next one