BitFenix Colossus
The new BitFenix Colossus is a hulk of a case, tipping the scales at 34.3lbs (15.6kg) – and that's before you stuff any hardware inside. Living up to its name, much of that weight is attributed to the case's massive dimensions of 582mm long, 558mm tall and 245mm. Such a body grants the Colossus access to seemingly all high-end consumer hardware, including EATX motherboards.
The Colossus emanates a certain menacing vibe and we can't help but appreciate its unique style sense – more on that later. Naturally, the façade is a door that opens up to expose several 5.25" drive bays and a large intake for the front-mounted fan. There's also system activity and hard drive LEDs as well as a small lock that can restrict access to the I/O box.
Rather than include a traditional I/O panel, BitFenix has developed an I/O box that sits on top of the case. Once open, you'll find the power and reset buttons along with a fan speed dial. There are also buttons to control the lighting, while USB 2.0, USB 3.0 and audio jacks are built into the walls of the box. Although we like this setup, the chrome buttons look tacky.
For a full tower, the Colossus is not overly expensive as prices start at $150 and range up to about $170. That cash gets you support for five 5.25" and seven 3.5" devices (the latter bays have native support for 2.5" drives). You'll also find eight tool-less expansion slots which make it a breeze to install and remove graphics cards and other such products.
Cooling includes a huge front-mounted 230mm intake fan along with a 230mm exhaust fan lodged in the top of the case. Additionally, you can install an optional 120/140mm fan at the rear and bottom of the case to help improve airflow. There's also a great deal of cable management and loads of room behind the non-removable motherboard tray to stow excess wires.
Although the Colossus' wire routing works alright overall, the rubber grommets in the motherboard tray holes are a real pain as they constantly fall out when trying to feed cables though them. BitFenix has also included a large cut out in the motherboard tray for rear access to the CPU socket for installation of high-end cooling solutions – a mainstay of modern enthusiast cases.