Today we’re taking a look at the Bitfenix Raider a tidy looking mid tower chassis that has proven its self popular with gamers and system builders alike. The chassis sells for generally just under £80 so its obviously a little more than your average low budget chassis, we’ll call this one a mid-budget case, so naturally we’ll be expecting a few nice features above just a standard case here today.
“Focused on combining superior design with the latest advances in technology, BitFenix creates state-of-the-art computer hardware and peripherals that blur the line between man and machine. Users shouldn’t have to adjust themselves to the way their hardware works. So, we strive to put the user in complete control of his hardware, so that it functions as an extension of his will, and not as another variable he has to compensate for. In the heat of battle, the user should not have to worry about the state of his equipment, which is why BitFenix products are engineered to perform under even the most extreme conditions. No matter how taxing the situation, users can rely on the strength of BitFenix products to perform as they are intended.” – Bitfenix.com
The above is just half of the bold statement Bitfenix have on their site, I like reading the about section for companies, especially when I’m doing reviews as it gives me an idea of what to expect from a product, but can this chassis live up to their own high standard? Come and take a look a the next few pages where we will be taking a closer look at what this case has to offer before fitting it out with one of our test systems.
Case reviews without temp measurements=worthless
I disagree, no two systems are the same and my results wouldn’t be indicative of your temps even with the same components, due to a whole host of other factors factors.
Overall though I think you can use a fair amount of common sense in judging the cooling potential of a chassis, since even a chassis with limited number of cooling solutions can be good, so long as you put a little thought into airflow and component layout, so personally I don’t see the need for taking the temps. That’s my two cents anyway 🙂
That why sites that do measure cooling make sure to use the same components for years. This gives a baseline. It’s not about how it will cool any and all components, its about how efficiently it cools components in general.
You can disagree all you want, but after someone’s built a computer the only things that truly matter at that point are cooling and noise levels. Not measuring either means your review is worthless for the things that will matter to users in the long-term.
Personally, if a review doesn’t have cooling and/or noise levels I usually don’t bother reading and immediately leave the site. However, I’m getting tired of so many incomplete and have assed h/w reviews so I read your review in order to comment. Needless to say your site is now just another one of the one’s I don’t feel any need to return to. Performance matters, reviews that don’t measure performance, well, they don’t matter.
I agree with LastQuestion. Saying that the Temperatures and Noise levels
in a case vary with configurations and layouts and using that as an
excuse to not post them in a case review, is almost equivalent to skip
In-Game Benchmarks while testing a new GPU. Configurations need to be
maintained for even testing other PC hardware, and the Temperature
levels a case offers are an important point when selecting a case for
your machine. As far as using common sense to judge the temperatures
using the specifications of the case goes, you wouldn’t expect people
reading your review to “infer” the performance of a Graphics card by
just using the specifications right ? If one would do that, there would
be no reason for anyone to review a piece of hardware and we can all
choose what we want by looking at the specifications online on the
manufacturers website.
Noise levels are still a bit more
difficult to test, and sometimes the right equipment is not present. I
have read many reviews which skip on the noise testing. But temperatures
can be easily measured for almost all components, and though most
applications out there are not very accurate, the key thing is to
maintain the same setup, hardware and software wise, when comparing
cases. It is a key testing criteria i believe when it comes to testing
PC Cases, along with the Build Quality and looks (which can be
subjective though).
I have gone through the review and it is a
good one, and i absolutely love this case too. I would hope you use this
as a constructive criticism and try and add to your future reviews
(maybe this one as well).
How many fans can be connected to the fan controller?