BitFenix Shinobi XL Chassis Review

1. Introduction2. BitFenix Shinobi XL External3. BitFenix Shinobi XL Internal4. System Installation5. Testing Methodology & Results6. Acoustical Performance7. Closing Thoughts8. View All Pages

BitFenix have been producing computer cases now for a few years and are earning a reputation in the industry, mainly due to their approach of producing products that ‘grant the user the utmost control, strength and performance to complete their computing tasks'. Their product range is currently fairly specialised and is focused completely on chassis and chassis accessories.

While you may mainly associate ‘XL' with clothing, BitFenix have decided to create a chassis that is called eXtra Large. It will easily accommodate a standard ATX motherboard but also has space for the XL-ATX platform and a vast array of fans.

For instance, included with this full tower case are 2 x 230mm fans, and 1 x 120mm fan which should provide a large amount of airflow without much noise. To put this into perspective, a 120mm fan rotating at ~1000 rpm will produce ~43.5 Cubic Feet per Minute (CFM), but a 230mm fan rotating at ~900 rpm will produce ~97.8 CFM. It's a good move.

The BitFenix Shinobi XL and the BitFenix Shinobi look almost identical and it seems the XL has just literally been stretched in all dimensions.

Specifications

The BitFenix Shinobi XL ships in a simple packaging design with a light brown cardboard box. BitFenix have kept it fairly simple and on the back of the box there are only 3 labelled diagrams.

The Shinobi Xl is packaged tightly with two large Styrofoam blocks and a plastic wrap.

Looking at the case itself it is very simple in its design, with only the bare essentials on the front giving it a bold look. Of course, it is very much like the BitFenix Shinobi, but now with even more space.

BitFenix have placed 1xSupercharge port and 4xUSB 3.0 ports on top which is certainly an impressive array of USB ports, as well as a headphone and microphone jack. The Supercharge port can offer up to 2.5A which should allow you to charge your phone/tablet up to 5 times faster than a standard USB 2.0 port.

Looking across the top of the case, we can see that it is mostly mesh allowing lots of warm air to escape. This is good because potentially you could fit 2x 230mm fans below it.

The sides of the case are plain, but sadly it shows up fingerprints very quickly. We do quite like the smart matt black paint but we would like a windowed version to showcase a tasty system build.

The back of the case is much like any other with a total of 9 PCI slots and 4 holes for watercooling or cabling. We can also see there is a standard 120mm exhaust fan fitted, although there is room for a 140mm fan.

The bottom of the case has a lot of air intake vents, one specifically for the power supply and two more for more fan support. Bitfenix have also fitted high and chunky feet to the case which not only keep it stable but allow some airflow underneath.

Bundled with this case is a 5.25″ to 3.5″ adapter for card readers of floppy disk drives, as well as a bag of screws, cable ties, clips and a speaker.

Turning to the interior of the case we can see it has 5x 5.25″ bays, and 7 x 3.5″ bays. The rather large 230mm intake fan can be seen quite clearly, and it will keep nearly all of the hard drive bays cool with ease.

We decided to take the front off to see just how BitFenix were supplying the air to the fans. As you can see there is a lot of venting, most of which has been covered in a mesh. While the front of the case itself doesn't seem to have venting there are two strips down the side and a rather large vent at the bottom.

We then took the top of the case off. Not only does it come included with a 230mm exhaust fan here, you could fit another 230mm fan next to it. We can't imagine anyone will need any more airflow than this case can provide.

Each of the 7 x 3.5″ bays has its own tray that clips into place, and both 3.5″ drives and 2.5″ drives can easily be mounted. Something we didn't notice straight away was that these bays can be rotated by 90 degrees or can be removed completely to allow space for an extreme watercooling set-up.

The 5 x 5.25″ bays use a simple locking mechanism which is just a case of pushing the button in and sliding it slightly.

Another useful addition, although fairly standard, is the inclusion of a CPU cut-out on the motherboard tray. Due to the size of the case, this actually looks quite small.

The 230mm fans really are large when pictured next to a 120mm fan, and they move nearly 100 CFM of air each!

This case is designed for you to mount the power supply at the bottom, but you can also see that each PCI slot cover has mesh for even more improved airflow.

Turning to the other side of the case we can see there are lots of holes for cable management and plenty of space to keep everything tidy.

Moving to the installation, we first install our Akasa Venom 750W Modular Power Supply.

We then installed our motherboard with no problems at all, clearly there is lots of space around our mATX test board, but even with an XL-ATX there would be some room left.

We then installed the Akasa Venom Voodoo CPU Cooler and as you can see there is plenty of space at the top below the fan, which shows you could easily fit a radiator or two across the top.

That said, the CPU cut-out is not actually large enough (or more precisely in the right position) for us to be able to install and remove the backplate without removing the motherboard first.

The 3.5″ trays have 4 pins and so any 3.5″ hard drives just clip into place.

It is then just a case of sliding the drive into the slot until it clicks into place.

2.5″ drives are a slightly different matter as you will have to get a screwdriver out to secure them to the 3.5″ bays. This case can fit an impressive 8 x 2.5″ drives (7 in the 3.5″ bays and 1 in a 5.25″ bay with the 3.5″ adapter).

Finally we plugged in all the cables and there is plenty of room to route the cabling and to create a tidy system.

While we could have improved the cable routing on this build we would have needed slightly longer power supply cables and to reroute the pre-installed fan cables.

Today’s test system will give us a good idea of how well this case works in terms of thermal and acoustic performance.

Processor: AMD Phenom X4 965 Black Edition @ 3.9 GHz.
Motherboard: ASUS M4A785TD- M Evo
Cooler: Akasa Venom Voodoo CPU Cooler
Memory: 4GB Corsair DDR3 1600MHz
Graphics Cards: AMD Radeon 6450 HD (GPU @ 850 MHZ, Memory Clock @ 1000 MHz)
Power Supply: Akasa Venom Power 750W
Boot Drive: OCZ Vertex II 60GB SSD (OS only)

OS: Windows 7 Home Edition 64bit
Digital Sound Level Noise Decibel Meter Style 2

Firstly, we are using the stock fan configuration, which includes 2*230mm and 1*120mm fans as well as the power supply intake and exhaust. Fully kitted out you can fit 3*230mm fans , 1*140mm and 2*120mm fans into this case, or an impressive 9*120mm fans.

The 2*230mm fans clearly seem to be doing the trick in keeping our components cool – this performance is very impressive, and is very competitive with other larger cases.

Today to test this chassis we have set our Digital Sound Level Noise Decibel Meter Style 2 one meter away from the case. The room rates as 22dBa before powering on the system.

We then removed the discrete graphics card, and temporarily turned the two Akasa Venom Voodoo fans off. This leaves us with only the included case fans and very little noise from the power supply fan.

As this can be a little confusing for people, here are various dBa ratings in with real world situations to help describe the various levels.

KitGuru noise guide
10dBA – Normal Breathing/Rustling Leaves
20-25dBA – Whisper
30dBA – High Quality Computer fan
40dBA – A Bubbling Brook, or a Refrigerator
50dBA – Normal Conversation
60dBA – Laughter
70dBA – Vacuum Cleaner or Hairdryer
80dBA – City Traffic or a Garbage Disposal
90dBA – Motorcycle or Lawnmower
100dBA – MP3 player at maximum output
110dBA – Orchestra
120dBA – Front row rock concert/Jet Engine
130dBA – Threshold of Pain
140dBA – Military Jet takeoff/Gunshot (close range)
160dBA – Instant Perforation of eardrum

We weren't quite as impressed with the acoustical performance, and feel the 120mm fan would be the first thing we'd replace if we were going to be using this case everyday.

The 2*230mm fans are whisper quiet, but inherently produce a lot of ‘air noise' within the case.

That said, due to the impressive thermal performance, you could easily fit a fan controller and make this a very silent system.

The BitFenix Shinobi XL is an impressive chassis on many levels. The huge physical design means it is ideal for a expensive high end system build, and for overclocking the components inside.

The standard thermal performance is exceptionally good. Bitfenix have included three fans and two of them are super sized 230mm units. These powerful fans really push a high volume of air to keep hot running components under control.

BitFenix offer LED fans to customise this case, if you want to modify it further. There is also very good watercooling support, allowing the user to fit two 360mm radiators with plenty of space for reservoirs and pumps, once the 3.5″ bays are removed. If you are willing to invest a little time, the Shinobi XL could be transformed into a silent running case.

Out of the box, the acoustic performance isn't great as the fans push a high volume of air, which subsequently produce noise emissions. The 230mm fans are quiet, but the noise seems to be generated primarily by the 120mm unit. This could be easily improved by replacing the 120mm fan with a quality 140mm fan. Additionally you could fit a low-noise adapter to the 230mm fans as many people won't need them to be running at full speed. Both are inexpensive upgrades.

System installation was easy, although we were disappointed that we couldn't remove the motherboard backplate without removing the motherboard from the case. Unfortunately the cut-out is not big enough for every system (ours included).

The case is currently available from Overclockers in the UK for £119.99 inc vat. It offers good value for money.

Pros

• Impressive thermal performance with 2*230mm fans included.
• Perfect for watercooling set-up.
• 4*USB 3.0 and 1*supercharge port on front of case is brilliant.
• 3.5″ Hard drive bays can be rotated/removed.
• Plenty of space.
• Well built and very sturdy.
• Fits up to XL-ATX motherboards.

Cons

• Case is certainly not the quietest in stock configuration.
• CPU cut-out is not positioned well/ the right size for all motherboards.
• It does take up a lot of space.

Kitguru says: A high airflow case built to last, ideal for overclocked system builds.

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