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The Colossus is supplied in a very large, eye catching box with information on the case.
Inside the chassis is wrapped in plastic and has two thick pieces of styrofoam on each end for added protection.
The case has been designed to be identical on both sides and has an unusual finish – which almost feels like a mixture of rubber and plastic. It's similar to the coating on some high quality USB flash drives. It is very large incidentally – even taller than the giant Antec Dark Fleet DF 85. Colossus is a very fitting name.
The BitFenix logo takes pride of place at the top of the front door. Underneath is a meshed bay area for the 5.25 drives.
The top has a large mesh area to allow for vented air, courtesy of a whopping 230mm fan. At the front there is a door which can be pulled open to reveal a power and reset switch as well as LED buttons to control the lighting. There is a knob to adjust fan speeds as well which we will look at later. Additionally there are two USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports and a single eSATA connector as well as headphone and microphone ports. You can also route cables into various grooves here, but it looks really ugly and we don't see many people using this.
You can remove the 230mm fan at the top and install a dual 120mm radiator if you are using a watercooling system.
The back of the chassis is finished in black and the top has 4 holes for watercooling, these are rubber mounted for protection. Underneath is a vented area for a 140mm or 120mm fan. Under this are the PCI slots (eight in total) and space for a bottom mounted power supply.
The bottom of the chassis has two vented areas, one for a PSU intake and another for a 140mm/120mm fan. We noticed that our dust filter was snapped out of the box, which was concerning and apparently happened during rough transit (image above).
Each of the side doors is locked by two thumbscrews which are rubber coated to blend in better with the chassis design. A very nice touch.
I really like the looks of this, hopefully they sort out the build issues mentioned in the review. thanks.
What a great design ! It wont appeal to people who like lian li, but its certainly dramatic enough to get people looking in a store. I hope they address the problems. I dont get the 140mm fan option at the back? whats up with that idea?
This does not really appeal to me, but I like the way they are trying different ideas, the side panels look great, well externally anyway.
It is a good size, I like the concept idea,s such as front mounting area for buttons. Internally it needs some work, but its a great concept piece. hopefully they fix it.
I really do need to stress that this is either a very brave, or very stupid first case to release.
Some parts look very high class, some look unusual and some look unfinished. Weird they sent this out in the current state. It has a lot of potental as the reviewer said, but as a final product I am not sure I would part with my 130 quid.
The red is quite nice. I like the case and I would probably buy it. Why? well im so bored of aluminum chassis from people like Lian Li who do very little to further this market. its stagnant and I like what bitfenix might be doing over the coming year. Keep up the good work chaps
ITs certainly different, but im not sure I like it. would need to see it in the flesh to really know. I doubt our local store will get these in either.
Bitfenix will be big, trust me. In the next 6 months they have so many dramatic ideas to inject some passion into this industry.
it does nothing for me I’d pass on it
A little too flashy for my taste but at least someone is trying new things and not just copying CM and Antec. I believe the reason for the good airflow is because of the completely closed case with no meshes. Makes the HAFxxx products with a gazillion fans look stupid.
Personally i love my ATCS 840 for its minimalistic looks and the removable motherboard tray. Maybe someday i would be able to afford a Lian Li….