Cooling and Noise, Lighting, and Final Thoughts
I used the micro-ATX build for noise and thermal testing, as this is the advertised form factor for the case.
| Test Platform | |
|---|---|
| Processor | Intel Core i7 4770K |
| Motherboard | ASUS Maximus VI GENE |
| Memory | G.Skill Sniper 8GB 2133MHz (2 x 4GB) |
| Graphics Card | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 (OEM) |
| Storage | OCZ Vertex 460 120GB SSD |
| Case | BitFenix Colossus Micro-ATX |
| Power Supply | Corsair CX 750 Watt Modular PSU |
| OS | Windows 7 Professional SP1 64-bit |
For temperature testing I ran prime95 across all 8 threads, for a minimum of 10 minutes. The ambient temperature in the room was 17 C. Sound was measured with a digital sound level meter positioned 12" from the front of the case. Noise floor was 33.7db in the room at time of testing.
The case performed quite well in noise testing, with the complete system only adding 2db to the room at idle. The Corsair H75 is a very quiet cooler with PWM fan control, and the included BitFenix 1000rpm 120mm fans are nearly silent. Under load the sound moved up only slightly, and the character of the noise was not unpleasant. Given my experience with these components on the open test bench I can say that the case does slightly diminish audible noise, even with the quieter components in use here.
During testing CPU temps were within the normal range for this small enclosure, even with a less than ideal airflow of my mATX build. With an ambient room temp at 17 C, I ran the Prime95 tourture test at the max stress/heat level and came up with 68 C on the hottest core at full load (3.9 GHz turbo on all cores). Considering Prime95 is creating a worst-case scenario for the CPU thermals, I was satisfied with the results.
GPU testing was not so productive, since the GTX 770 in this test system uses the TITAN cooler, which is overkill for this card to begin with. Even during long runs the fan controller just ramped up to keep the temp at a steady 80 C.
Lighting
Last but not least, BitFenix has given this enclosure a deluxe lighting treatment, which further differentiates it from other cases in this form factor and price range. "LiteTrak" is a selectable red/green/blue color option with an easy control switch located on the side of the front panel.
The desired color effect can be chosen manually (or disabled) by pressing the button a few times to cycle through the modes, and there is a fourth option to set all three colors to pulse automatically. The colors are vibrant, and did not show up particularly well with my camera. I have borrowed images from BitFenix here to demonstrate the color more accurately:
Case lighting images courtesy of BitFenix
Final Thoughts
Some of the smaller features are among the strongest points of the BitFenix Colossus Micro-ATX case. Attention was paid to details like the magnetic front door closure, the rubber mounts for hard drives, and even the design of the thumbscrews. The lighting system is a nice touch, and the black soft-touch plastic gives the case a unique feel. The build quality is very high overall, so extras like the customizable lighting are icing on the cake.
The case is easy to work with, and has some very nice touches. Along with these are a few drawbacks, such as the issue with the side panel I/O, which honestly seems like an oversight given its placement on what would not traditionally be the access side of the case. The placement of the PSU in the front of the enclosure prevents setting up a "postive" airflow system, although this is not a concern if you are mounting your liquid cooler above the motherboard, and the PSU's location is understandable given the shape and height of the case. I would like to have seen the drive mounting bracket adopt a quick-release mechanism of some kind, but this is a minor complaint.
Strengths
- Solid construction, very good fit and finish
- Excellent attention to detail
- Flexibility with build options, equally suited for mATX and mITX form factors
- Room for a variety of cooling solutions with 240mm AIO support, multiple fan mounts
- Ideal implementation of a front door!
- Selectable lighting is a nice touch
Minor Weaknesses
- Side I/O connections on the access door inconvenient, but not a dealbreaker
- Limited cable routing
- No dust screen for rear or lower fans
Overall BitFenix has produced an great looking and well made enclosure. The flexibility in such a small footprint is rare and welcome, and there is a distinct style to the enclosure that creates a lasting impression. At the current price of around $120 shipped, I wouldn't hesitate to suggest this case to anyone looking for a solid and distinctive smaller build. Recommended!
Any chance you could append
Any chance you could append the heat results of the SLI configuration? As someone currently looking into building with this case, SLI/Crossfire thermals would have been nice to see.
That’s a good question, and I
That's a good question, and I attempted to provide GPU thermals but discarded the test data since I couldn't get anything over 80 C with the GTX 770's, single GPU or SLI. The fan just compensated to keep the temps stable right at 80 C, and I never saw anything over 82 C. It would be a different story with a less efficient blower-style cooler, and of course with any card that vents into the case – but I don't have a different pair to test right now.
Hello, great review!
I want
Hello, great review!
I want to buy the BitFenix Colossus Micro-ATX case but I think my motherboard will not fit in the case. I have a Acer dao61078lam3 mainboard (Acer Aspire X5400), they say its a Micro-ATX but as you can see on this picture below my PCI-Express slot is way up, do you think it will fit?
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-8s4r5futVEo/U0Lq5qbVb1I/AAAAAAAAYzg/qDDPmKR1DbY/s640/dao61-078l-am3-acer.jpg
Your motherboard is using a
Your motherboard is using a custom design, but as long as it's within the 9.6" x 9.6" standard for mATX it will fit. Your PCI-E slot looks to be in the right place, it's just a shorter board design so you'd have a little extra space up above here. My only concern would be with the standoffs in the case, as the screw holes are in the standard locations for mITX and mATX, and you have a proprietary OEM board… My guess is that it would be fine, but I'd still buy the case from a retailer that allows returns (like Amazon) just to be on the safe side!
I am curious, did you look
I am curious, did you look into mounting a 240mm radiator on the bottom, pulling air from the bottom, fit a 120mm fan on the exhaust in the rear and a fan pulling air in from the top directly onto the gpu? Thanks I cannot figure out the most optimal air flow.
I did, and you’re right about
I did, and you’re right about the best airflow plan – but the CPU is too close to the bottom of the case due to the flipped layout to allow an easy bottom AIO mount (motherboard layout dependent, really). It’s possible with mATX, but you start running out of room quickly. I felt that the upper just made sense for a 240mm, plus there’s the removable screen up there (no filters on bottom mounts).
I think a key takeaway might be to use a blower-style GPU in this case if you’re using an AIO on the upper mount – don’t want to push the GPU heat into the rad!
Sorry I forgot to add my name
Sorry I forgot to add my name for the previous comment. Hope you can get back to me. Thanks
What about a Front fan that
What about a Front fan that is an exhaust fan?
You state with mini itx and the top mounted AIO cooler but that looks to me like it would foul the graphics card.(Hoses)
And the side mounted controls could be better moved to the front, to the very edge, possibly? The lighting strip?? uh-oh, very personal choice..Finally storage.. would it really be possible;e to fit all the drives they say? 2x 3.5 and 3x 2.5? cable mgmt would be impossible wouldn’t it? I suspect 2×3.5 and one middle mounted 2.5 is all that’s practical.
Also route, rout. And Tourture, a trip on a coach to Lourdes perhaps. I use 2x Ps07 cases, looking at mini-itx next time, in perhaps 2 years.
I’ll try to answer in order
I’ll try to answer in order here –
1.) A front fan was my biggest concern when I was installing a system, since there’s no way to avoid blocking the front fan mounts when installing the PSU. It makes a lot of sense to use a front fan for exhaust or intake, but it’s not possible here unless you can mod a different PSU location.
2. Upper AIO mount isn’t a problem with the GPU because there’s enough space to go over it (big gap between GPU and side panel). Wouldn’t do upper AIO with dual-GPU though, myself.
3.) It’s possible to have 2x 3.5″ and 3x 2.5″ drives installed simultaneously, if you can use flat cables like the ones on the CX750M I installed. But even then it gets really, really messy! There was enough space to make it work up front but it looks terrible and its very hard to get to anything afterwards!
Would it be possible to
Would it be possible to install a Corsair H90 on the rear and still do a dual GPU Setup? Also, the Gigabyte Sniper M5 has slot spacing between the GPU’s. Other than the 5 expansion slots the case has, would the GPU’s still fit with the slot spacing in between?
I have the same question.
I have the same question. Because the H90 has a 140mm fan but the radiator has 170mm. That isn’t going to make it impossible to use dual GPU if we mount the water cooler on the rear?
i still can’t seem to find
i still can’t seem to find anything that breaks down the optimum air flow with this case :
can anyone let me know their thoughts on optimum airflow for this case while using the EVGA GTX 780 with an ACX cooler ?
other specs –
i5 4670k
Crosair H90 CPU cooler
Gigabyte G1 sniper M5 mobo
g skills ripjaws X 16 GB ram(2*8gb)
Corsair RM Series RM650 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular Power Supply
fans-
Bitfenix Spectre Pro LED Green 120mm Case Fan * 2 for the top
another Bitfenix spectre pro(probably LED Green only 😛 ) 200 mm case fan for the bottom
p.s.
also any thoughts about the MSI N780 Lightning in comparison to the EVGA ?
or throw in the extra to get the EVGA 780ti ?
im not looking to add another card for a while anyway… so thats not an issue.
This is an amazingly detailed review! My daughter recently inherited this cool little chassis, but it is missing the 9-pin cable which makes the door buttons work 🙁
I reached out to Bitfinex but they do not have stock on a replacement part, and have refused to tell me the pin configuration so that I can just build a new cable from scratch.
I can see from your photo “3c56-colossus16.jpeg” that the order of the cables is:
white
yellow
black
orange
blue
brown
purple
red
Is there any chance you still have this chassis kicking around? And if so, would you mind letting me know which pairs lead to , , etc? I’m desperate to fix this cute little chassis up like new for my girl.