BitFenix Colossus Venom Window Case Review

Overview

 

Here we have something a little unusual for a special occasion here at pcG. Unusual because we generally don’t review products that have been on the market for a substantial amount of time. Special because to celebrate a certain companies fifth birthday, we’ve gone back to where they began and taking a look at their very first product on the market. So here we have the BitFenix Colossus Venom Window.

As BitFenix said back then, ‘A PC chassis for the uncompromising enthusiast. Offering unmatched expandability, security, and cooling all wrapped up in a modern and elegant body, Colossus represents months of intensive research, product development, and meticulous design. The result is a chassis like no other; a chassis that serves as an ideal enclosure for the most colossal gaming rigs’. This is the first time I’ve seen the Colossus in the flesh myself and I can certainly say it follows it’s namesake, it is colossal! Measuring 245(W)mm x 558(H)mm x 582(D)mm, the Colossus is easily the biggest case I’ve seen in a very long time. It is also one of the most unusual courtesy of it’s rather cool looking front panel LED lighting (based around a certain troubled systems engineer by the name of Isaac Clarke from the classic Visceral game Dead Space. Of course I might have made this up…).

How does it stand up now to many of today’s modern cases?

 

 

As the first case from BitFenix, I suppose you could say the iconic box design started right here. Packaged within the ever familiar eco-friendly brown cardboard box, the front of which shows us both a huge and small (by comparison at least) BitFenix logo, company web address and also tells us the review sample inside is the Venom Green LED version.

Looking at the back, the box tells us this particular model is also a windowed one (we all like windows right?!), again has the BitFenix logo, along with four technical images of the Colossus to show us the case key features as follows:

• BitFenix S£ Stotage and Security
• LED Light Controls
• Massive Cooling
• Removable Dust Filters
• Complete Cable Management
• Internal Cable Management

 

 

From the left we get another BitFenix logo and are again given the case model and version details along with barcode and product number.

Whilst on the right and almost in a mirror-like fashion we have the same style of design, but this time with the case specifications (see Specifications/Features below) , along with a frontal image of the Colossus itself.

 

 

As per the norm, the BitFenix Colossus Venom Window (I’ll just refer to it as the Colossus from now on) is suitably well packaged within a large plastic bag, but instead of the usual moulded styrofoam bricks, it is instead safely held in place by two dense foam blocks.

 

 

Now out of the box, we find there to be a decent variety of fixtures and fittings shipped within the BitFenix Colossus, including; BitFenix Colossus Venom Window Case, Quick Installation Guide, BitFenix S3 Security Keys (x2), Case Speaker, Cable Ties, Cable Tidies, then finally a 5.25″ to 3.5″ drive bay converter with replacement front panel cover.

At the time of review, the BitFenix Colossus Venom Window is retailing on Amazon for £124.99 or from OverclockersUK for £119.99 and comes with a 1 year warranty.

 

Specifications/Features

courtesy of BitFenix

* Additional details available here

 

First Impressions

 

 

As I’ve gotten a little older, my tastes have certainly changed. When the Cooler Master Cosmos 2 was initially released I didn’t like it one bit. Just as was my initial thought of the BitFenix Colossus five years ago… They weren’t too big, certainly not at the time at least, but they were both a little too abstract for my tastes. Now however things are a little different. Despite some of its odd internal design choices and high cost, the Cosmos 2 is easily one of my favorite PC cases of all time, while I’ve been admiring the BitFenix Colossus from afar for quite some time now. Perhaps it is where both cases have dared to be different that has spiked my interest in them? Who knows, but now at least I get to take a closer look at the colossal BitFenix Colossus! 😉

My initial impressions of the Colossus were not in fact about it’s size or looks, in fact they weren’t really about the case, but having to check myself over for hernias! At 558(H)mm x 582(D)mm x 245(W), the Colossus isn’t just big on size, but at nearly 17kg it has colossal weight too. Luckily it also has the looks to match!

 

 

From the left, we see the Colossus has a similar profile to many plain server styled tower cases. The side panel itself having a nice high quality textured black powder coating and a rather large window, that if the case were smaller would in fact be huge. The window itself is of a smokey plastic material (possibly perspex?), features two 120mm fan mounts and finished incredibly well. Even though the Colossus is a five year old case, this window is easily the highest quality and best I’ve ever come across! Aside from it’s stunning quality, the window is mounted from the inside of the case and sits flush with the side panel, giving it a much cleaner look aesthetically. Along with that, the window is also the perfect size to show off all your hardware goodies, without the harsh and unsightly view of the storage drive rack and drives.

When viewed from the right, the BitFenix Colossus is pretty much as you’d expect and pretty much featureless. It does however help to show off the high quality powder coating.

 

 

Looking down from above (using some step ladders of course), we can see a large vented area for the huge pre-installed BitFenix Spectre Pro 230mm LED fan. Just in front of this is a door which conceals the case control and I/O panels, which is also vaunted as the BitFenix S3 Storage and Security compartment. Why? Well the door is lockable and the compartment itself is large enough to hold a fairly large external HDD drive caddie. The surrounding top panel also happens to be the debut of the famous BitFenix SofTouch material, something I absolutely love and really missed being sadly absent from both of the most recent BitFenix cases, the Pandora and Aegis.

Then from underneath the case, we can see a caster styled foot in each corner with an anti-slip pad on either, to the rear a PSU air intake with slide out dust filter, then nearer the front two externally mounted dust filters for two optional 120mm fans. Of all the views in picture, this is probably the one that’ll give you the best impression of the Colossus size. The two 120mm fan mounts are dwarfed by the size of the underside! Right at the very front of the Colossus we can see the front panel door is also vented to help feed your hot gaming hardware with cool air.

 

 

The Colossus front panel is certainly very imposing and also one of its key features, if not THE key feature of the BitFenix Colossus. The panel itself is matte black owing to the BitFenix SofTouch coating, but more importantly housed right within the front panel door itself is the case LED lighting. The five white bars on the front and the BitFenix logo at the top, will all illuminate when the Colossus is turned on (our sample being the Venom edition will light up green). In fact even when off the panel still looks pretty good and you can clearly see why i mentioned Dead Space earlier.

The door itself is reversible, pretty deep and practically hollow, so as to not restrict airflow to the pre-installed 230mm BitFenix Spectre Pro in the front. Above the fan we can see five vented blanking plates for the 5.25″ expansion slot bays, above which the S3 security lock and two LEDs (one for power and the other drive activity).

Behind the Colossus we see a fairly unfamiliar layout. This is mainly because right at the very top, the case features four portholes with rubber grommets for water cooling tubing instead of the two featured on many other cases these days. Beneath this we have a hex mesh fan vent, the motherboard I/O cut-out and eight (yes eight!) tool-free expansion slots, then beneath this the PSU cut-out. Looking at the sides we can see the panels are held in place by simple thumb-screws, but unlike the all metal ones available on most cases, these are simply a screw with a plastic collar on. Personally I prefer these as there is no paint to rub off, meaning they look cleaner for a longer period of time.

 

 

With the S3 Storage and Security compartment unlocked, we gain access to the Colossus controls and I/O panels. The control panel is a fairly simple one, but with it’s chrome look buttons looks good nonetheless. The two outside buttons are just there for show and feature the BitFenix logo on each. The central buttons are Reset, Power On/Off and LED Illumination On/Off. Another rather cool feature of the Colossus uses the odd looking channels at the front of the panel. Used in conjunction with the channels surrounding the front panel, these are to help keep anything plugged into the front panel headers looking tidy and allow you to close the top panel altogether. Unlike 99.99% of cases on the market, instead of the one I/O panel, the Colossus features three. On the left we have Audio In and Out, along with two USB 2.0 ports, on the back is two USB 3.0 headers, then on the right a single eSATA header. As you can see from the images above, the entire compartment is covered in the BitFenix SofTouch material and offers plenty of storage space for an external drive, mobile phone, wallet or pretty much anything else of a similar size you may want to lock away.

 

 

Wow… Removing both side panels leads me to an amazing discovery! Owing to the side panels heavy duty steel construct, they weigh as much as the chassis itself! (ok, this may be a slight over exaggeration, but they are bloody heavy). The inside of the Colossus is understandably big, the motherboard tray area itself offering mounts and space for MITX, MATX, ATX, or even the bigger EATX motherboards (why else would you need so many expansion slots? 😉 ). Above the motherboard tray we have three narrow but wide cut-outs to help with cable management, along with a further three along the side of the tray and one for the PSU cables. All of which feature rubber grommets. Which is all very welcome, except the grommets are incredibly flexible and prone to fall out with a little movement. Over to the right we can clearly see five 5.25″ bays, all of which are of a tool-free design and feature the BitFenix logo in the center of each which is a nice touch. Then finally we have the storage drive rack, which has seven snap-on drive sleds to allow for a total of (you guessed it!) seven storage drives.

On the reverse of the motherboard tray we can already see plenty of wires in need of cable management. Sadly given the age of the case, we find all of the cables are of an era where different coloured cables was not a problem. On the plus side the Colossus has plenty of space for all of your cabling needs and also sixteen tie off points to help keep them tidy. The reverse also has a good sized CPU cut-out to make CPU Cooler installation all the more easier. What you might see that seems a little out of place, is the small green PCB stuck to the side of the 5.25″ drive rack. This is a simple controller for the case LEDs and features eight headers in total. The first of these two pin headers, will always be taken up by the front panel LEDs and the on/off switch, the next two have both of the pre-installed BitFenix Spectre Pro fans plugged in. Of course to take full advantage of this little control panel, all of the fans used will have to be either BitFenix Spectre LED or Spectre Pro LED.

 

 

Looking up at the top fan mount, we find the first of the gargantuan 230mm BitFenix Spectre Pro fans. Both of which are rated at a speed of 900RPM ±10% and will produce a rated noise of 27.5dB, but perhaps more importantly (at least for shallow people like me!) will illuminate green when the case LEDs are turned on. If you should so wish, you could of course opt for smaller and slightly quieter fans in the form of a single 140mm or two 120mm fans. You could of course go down a slightly different route and install a 240m radiator for an AIO or custom water cooling loop.

In the front the Colossus has another 230mm BitFenix Spectre Pro fan pre-installed. This along with the 5.25″ baus feature dust filters to help keep your hardware clean. Despite not advertising further fan or water cooling support, it seems the 230mm could be fairly easily swapped out for two 120mm fans. If going down the water cooling route, the drive rack could possibly even be removed in order to squeeze in another 240mm radiator.

 

 

Looking to the rear and rather oddly there is no pre-installed fan in sight! Obviously with the 230mm roof fan operating as an exhaust this would be a little unnecessary, but we do have a rear fan mount that’ll accept a 120mm or 140mm fan if you choose to do so.

The floor of the BitFenix Colossus features four vibration dampening PSU mounts and allows for Power Supplies of literally any size to be installed. Just ahead of this we have space and mounts for a further two 120mm fans, although the front will be very tight if the drive racks is kept in place.

 

 

As mentioned above, one of the most impressive features of this particular Colossus for me is the window. It really is very well made and the smoky tinted panel looks good. Just to the front along the lower part of the window we have the BitFenix name nicely embossed, then to the rear above where your CPU and GPU will be situated, two slit vents and 120mm fan mounts. I’ve never been a fan (ha!) of these types of mounts, especially on plastic as they usually look untidy and unfinished, but the guys at BitFenix have cut and polished the edges perfectly.

For a five year old design and the very first from BitFenix, you’d be forgiven for it not to have stood up to the sands of time all too well. If I’m entirely honest I certainly hadn’t. Instead and with some surprise, not only is the BitFenix Colossus of colossal size, but the build quality is perhaps even more colossal! On top of that it looks damn good too. I admit I’m very impressed so far. We best install the pcG Test Rig!

 

Hardware Installation

 

Test Rig Setup

Case	BitFenix Colossus Venom Window	Power Supply	Corsair Professional Series AX760i
Motherboard	ASRock Fatal1ty Z97X Killer	CPU	Intel Core i5-4690K
CPU Cooler	Raijintek Themis	RAM	HyperX Savage 2400MHz 8GB Kit
Graphics Card	XFX AMD Radeon R9 290X DD Black Edition	SSD	HyperX Fury 120GB

 

 

Installation into the BitFenix Colossus was incredibly easy. I just lifted up the HAF XB Test Rig and placed it inside the giant case! Ok, so perhaps it isn’t quite that big. 😉

As per usual, to kick off the installation I chose to start with the easiest bit, the storage drives. So sliding out two drive sleds from the case, I installed first the Seagate 3.5″ SSHD with which the sled simply snaps around the SSHD, then the HyperX Fury SSD which needed four screws to affix it to the sled. These are then slid straight back into the Colossus without any difficulties at all.

 

 

In goes the motherboard I/O shield, shortly followed by the ASRock Fatal1ty Z97X Killer ATX test motherboard, i5-4690K, Raijintek Themis and HyperX Savage DDR3 test kit, followed by the Corsair Professional Series AX760i. I then go about plugging in all the necessary SATA and power cables. The LED lighting system uses no software and therefore doesn’t need hooking up to the motherboard and is simply hooked up to a spare 4-pin Molex. The XFX Radeon R9 290X DD Black Edition and Creative Sound Blaster Zx are then installed and the GPU hooked up.

That’s it. Because of the huge amount of free working space within the Colossus, installing hardware couldn’t really be any easier. Even cable management is nice and simple owing to the plenty of well placed cut-outs and tie off points. If anything my only two minor annoyances with the Colossus would be the rubber grommets falling out of place a little too easily and perhaps the drive sleds are a little too flexible for 2.5″ drives (or none at all).

 

 

Even if you were terrible at cable management and literally stacked every cable atop of each other, placing the case side panels and jamming them shut (holiday suitcase style) is made easy. BitFenix chose not to use door slides at the top or bottom of the panels and instead just slide in mounts along the front panel edge. The panels are then fixed in place by two thumb-screws apiece. You don’t need to worry about any unsightly bulges on the right panel as its tough heavy duty steel construct stays firm and doesn’t warp at all.

The finished build certainly looks good and I’m still surprised how well constructed the Colossus actually is. I wonder what it looks like when on and with the lights out?

 

 

How good does that look?! The smoke tinted window looks awesome. It tones down the bright green Spectre Pro fan installed in the roof and the blinding red Creative Sound Blaster Zx perfectly (in fact I’m already thinking about what other LED hardware I can throw in it!). Then from the front the venomous green illumination is just as good, but also where I encountered my only real problem with the BitFenix Colossus. The light bars look great, but sadly the logo LED seems to not work on this sample, but you know what? I personally think it looks better like this and perhaps tones it down a little. 🙂

 

 

Testing Methodology/Setup

 

At pcGameware we use Prime95 and CoreTemp to evaluate CPU temperatures and we use MSI Afterburner to evaluate the GPU temperatures. Of course Prime95 being a CPU stress test also helps to generate heat for us to check the case thermals. We also use UNiGiNE Heaven 4.0 for GPU temperature testing.

CPU performance testing is carried out using Prime95 (Small FFT) to stress the CPU. Each run is timed for 15 mins and the maximum temperature is recorded for all cores and then the average core heat is taken. Testing was carried out with a small overclock on the i5-4690K of 4.0GHz courtesy of the ASRock UEFI.

GPU performance testing is carried out by running UNiGiNE Heaven 4.0 for 15 minutes and then by recording the maximum GPU temperature.

* All case fans (x2 in the case of the BitFenix Colossus Venom Window) and the CPU Cooler (Raijintek Themis) are run at 100% throughout testing. To ascertain case noise levels, the GPU fans are set to their lowest setting and the CPU Cooler fan is unplugged, whilst the dB is recorded from 1m away.

 

Hardware Performance

 

 

CPU RESULTS – BitFenix Colossus Venom Window with Raijintek Themis and Intel i5-4690K @ 4.0GHz

Case	Ambient Temperature	Max CPU Temperature (core average)	Delta Temperature
BitFenix Colossus Venom Window	23.50	60.00	36.50
Cooler Master HAF XB	24.00	61.50	37.50
Thermaltake Core V51	22.50	62.25	39.75
NZXT S340	22.00	62.00	40.00

* Thermals Explained

 

You may have noticed the slightly small looking table above. This isn’t because we haven’t seen or reviewed many ATX cases here at pcG, but since switching over to our newer Test Rig hardware, we’ve mainly seen the increasingly popular and much smaller MATX and MITX based cases.

More importantly how does the Colossus fare when cooling a 4.0GHz overclocked i5-4690K? Well surprisingly very well. With a maximum core average temperature of just 60.00C (36.50C Delta), the Colossus jumps straight to the giddy heights of top of the chart. The single 230mm fan intake may be of a considerable distance from the CPU and Raijintek Themis, which meant I was expecting higher thermals, but combined with the 230mm roof exhaust and the cavernous space within the case, the massive tower case puts in a great performance.

 

GPU RESULTS – BitFenix Colossus Venom Window with XFX AMD Radeon R9 290X DD Black Edition – STOCK (Core: 1050MHz/ Mem: 5000MHz)

Case	Ambient Temperature	Max GPU Temperature	Delta Temperature
Cooltek W1	24.00	74.00	50.00
BitFenix Colossus Venom Window	22.00	73.00	51.00
Cooler Master HAF XB	24.00	80.00	56.00
BitFenix Aegis	23.50	81.00	57.50
NZXT S340	22.00	80.00	58.00
BitFenix Prodigy M	22.50	83.00	60.50
Xigmatek Aquila	23.50	84.00	60.50
BitFenix Pandora	24.00	87.00	63.00
In Win 901	22.50	89.00	66.50
Fractal Design Core 1100	24.00	94.00	70.00
BitFenix Phenom	22.00	94.00	72.00

 

The Colossus has surprised me with it’s CPU cooling ability and once again it does the same when cooling the XFX Radeon R9 290X DD Black Edition. With a maximum GPU temperature of 73.00C (51.00C Delta), the Colossus performs brilliantly and recorded at just 1.00C less than the phenomenal Cooltek W1. With the twin 230mm fans at full flow I wasn’t expecting such good performance, mainly because of one being an intake at the opposite end of the case and the other an exhaust expelling from the roof. I guess the ample space within the Colossus is of a greater benefit than I had taken it for.

 

Acoustic Performance

You’d expect the solid tank like build of the BitFenix Colossus with its twin 230mm BitFenix Spectre Pro fans to be pretty quiet and at large it is. With the fans set at 100% the case produces a fairly low 32dB of noise, then when set to their lowest speed through the UEFI their is a slight dip at 30dB. Now despite this certainly not being loud or noisy at all, because of the size of the fans, you get more audibly deeper or bassy sound as opposed to the shriller sound of a typical 120mm fan. This is neither good nor bad, just different.

 

Final Thoughts

 

BitFenix have always been a company who have dared to be different. Something that is just as prevalent with the likes of the Pandora and the Aegis, as it was five years ago with the companies launch product and biggest case to date. Yet how does the BitFenix Colossus Venom Window Edition hold up now?

When the BitFenix Colossus arrived at pcG I wasn’t quite prepared for how colossal it really is (yes I know it’s often described as a BIG tower case). The familiar eco-friendly box alone could be your new humble abode it really is that big. Luckily the case concealed inside was suitably well packaged within a large (very!) plastic bag and wedged between two dense foam blocks. Considering the near 17kg weight of the Colossus it really needed to be. Once removed from its protective packaging, the Colossus is revealed to be not only be big, but rather bold and beautiful. With its huge LED illuminated front panel, high quality window panel, great black powder coated panels and interior, with SofTouch top and front panel, there really isn’t anything on the market quite like it. Combined with a tank like and surprisingly high level of build quality, make the BitFenix Colossus a case built to last and one that certainly belies its age!

Inside the Colossus is a similar story and again huge. Everything is well placed with plenty of space, meaning the case is one of the easiest I’ve come across to build within. Installation is an absolute dream. Admittedly the five 5.25″ ODD and seven storage drive rack are probably a little unnecessary by today’s standards, but five years ago and before the immense success of the likes of Steam would’ve made the world of difference (imagine how handy 5x ODD would be for those with a 7 disc 69GB hard copy of GTA V?). Also in comparison to many of today’s cases, the AIO and water cooling compatibility isn’t quite what you’d expect for an immense case measuring 558(H)mm x 582(D)mm x 245(W), even more so when you consider that the BitFenix Aegis measures just 470(H)mm x 480(D)mm x 205(W)mm and features an immense amount of water cooling potential.

You might even expect the Colossus to be somewhat lackluster in the area of thermal performance. Not just because of its stately age, but because of its immense size and just a single 230mm fan air intake and 230mm exhaust pre-installed. Yet with an i5-4690K overclocked at 4.0GHz and a a maximum core average temperature of just 60.00C (36.50C Delta), followed by a rather tame maximum GPU temperature of 73.00C (51.00C Delta) on the XFX Radeon R9 290X DD Black Edition, the BitFenix Colossus more than holds its own and sitting within the top of the charts! Made all the better by its low acoustic performance with only 32dB of noise produced by the behemoth case.

I’ve loved my time with the BitFenix Colossus, so much so I wish I’d looked at one far sooner. Despite its five year age and being the first case launched by BitFenix, the case offers outstanding build quality and workmanship, whilst still offering a unique look that no other case has with those stunning case LEDs. It may not be perfect, but it most certainly is good. Priced at approximately £120.00, I feel the case maybe a little expensive for some, more so as there are now better and cheaper cases available since the cases launch (it has been five years 😉 ), but your certainly getting something unique.

 

Verdict

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Many thanks to BitFenix for providing this sample for review