LosOjos Posted January 16, 2014 Author Posted January 16, 2014 BitFenix Colossus Mini-ITX Review - Internals | bit-tech.net Can't access that link at work, it's the Micro ATX version I've ordered - please tell me it doesn't say that you can't fit an ODD and GPU at the same time!
3s-gtech Posted January 16, 2014 Posted January 16, 2014 Duh, so it is. The relevant line here is: "GPU length is a rather limited 180mm with all the FlexCage storage caddies in the way. With the adjacent caddy gone, this stretches to a healthier 330mm - enough even for a monstrous graphics card such as the AMD Radeon 7990 6GB. " On the preview of the mATX and mITX cases, there's this line: "Out of the box, the case supports five 3.5in drives or eight 2.5in SSDs and by removing the middle hard disk cage, there's room for 330mm graphics cards too." The photos support that - on both case sizes, full length graphics cards can be used without losing the 5.25" bay. Good news! 1
LosOjos Posted January 16, 2014 Author Posted January 16, 2014 Duh, so it is. The relevant line here is: "GPU length is a rather limited 180mm with all the FlexCage storage caddies in the way. With the adjacent caddy gone, this stretches to a healthier 330mm - enough even for a monstrous graphics card such as the AMD Radeon 7990 6GB. " On the preview of the mATX and mITX cases, there's this line: "Out of the box, the case supports five 3.5in drives or eight 2.5in SSDs and by removing the middle hard disk cage, there's room for 330mm graphics cards too." The photos support that - on both case sizes, full length graphics cards can be used without losing the 5.25" bay. Good news! Thanks for that - it did look perfectly reasonable but there wasn't a single photo/video that I could find that showed that setup - are ODDs really that outdated? I still like to own my purchases (i.e. physical media)! Then again, with space becoming more and more of a premium, I am starting to see the benefit in going all digital...
LosOjos Posted January 24, 2014 Author Posted January 24, 2014 (edited) Now that it's all built just want to advise other EduGeeks - avoid the BitFenix Colossus mAtx/ITX cases, they're awful. No tool-less components apart from the expansion slots, which are too loose. Case IO cables are so short that once connected, the slightest slip and they get ripped back out of the mobo. On my case the pins were bent. HDD caddy in a ridiculous spot meaning it needs removing (4 screws, not tool-less) every time you need to get in to the case, which happened to me twice due to aforementioned short case IO leads needing reconnecting. PSU will only fit with the fan pressed against the front of the case which is half covered, massively restricting air flow. Front door's hinges are loose and rickety. The plastic clip to hold in place the ODD slot's face plate snapped off in my hand, even though I only applied just enough pressure to remove the face plate. Light bar doesn't light up all the way around, one side is clearly much dimmer than the rest. Plus the light needs turning on manually every time you turn the PC on (as if I'm going to be bothered with that!) Apart from a couple of loops near the mobo there's very little you can do to properly route cables. All in all, a really badly designed case and poor quality for the price. I did post a review on overclockers but they've not published it. Edited January 24, 2014 by LosOjos 1
featured_spectre Posted January 24, 2014 Posted January 24, 2014 Do you have a picture to show us at all?
3s-gtech Posted January 24, 2014 Posted January 24, 2014 Erk. Glad I didn't outright recommend it, but the reviews did! Cases can be a lottery - I went through a few until I bought my Antec Sonata II. The quality, design and build were so good I've stuck with it for years, but even that came with a PSU from a huge faulty batch, which Antec replaced under the three year warranty with a much higher spec model FOC. As a result, we have many Antecs here, with good results even on the cheapies.
LosOjos Posted January 24, 2014 Author Posted January 24, 2014 Erk. Glad I didn't outright recommend it, but the reviews did! Cases can be a lottery - I went through a few until I bought my Antec Sonata II. The quality, design and build were so good I've stuck with it for years, but even that came with a PSU from a huge faulty batch, which Antec replaced under the three year warranty with a much higher spec model FOC. As a result, we have many Antecs here, with good results even on the cheapies. Yeah I'm really disappointed with the case, it's the first BitFenix I've had but I've heard nothing but good things about them. I'm going to keep an eye on the temps and may end up replacing it. Oh, one thing I didn't mention, the dimensions published for the case are wrong. I know this because I had specifically looked at cases that would fit in to my TV unit. They say it's 330mm tall - it's actually tapered, from 325mm at the back to 350mm at the highest point. It doesn't fit where it was intended to.
LosOjos Posted January 24, 2014 Author Posted January 24, 2014 Do you have a picture to show us at all? A picture of what, the insides? I didn't take any photos and to be honest with you I have no intentions of opening the damn thing unless I absolutely have to - it very nearly got thrown in the bin the second time the IO leads detached. You have to connect them before you put the HDD caddy in, otherwise you can't reach, but as they're so short if you knock the side panel away from it's position balancing along the side of the case even slightly, they all get pulled out. I can't face it again this week!
featured_spectre Posted January 24, 2014 Posted January 24, 2014 haha, ok, no worries...sounds like one to miss!
LosOjos Posted January 24, 2014 Author Posted January 24, 2014 haha, ok, no worries...sounds like one to miss! Definitely. Having built a couple of machine in Coolermaster Elite 120 cases, I can safely say this case is badly designed; those cases are also SFF but so well laid out they were a cinch to install, routing was some of the easiest I've come across, installing drives was simple... can't say the same for this mess of a thing.
sonofsanta Posted January 24, 2014 Posted January 24, 2014 I'm surprised you've not sent it back under the 14 day distance selling regs, particularly if it doesn't fit where it's meant to. Guess you just can't face dismantling it, huh
LosOjos Posted January 24, 2014 Author Posted January 24, 2014 I'm surprised you've not sent it back under the 14 day distance selling regs, particularly if it doesn't fit where it's meant to. Guess you just can't face dismantling it, huh Yeah plus with part of it breaking off in my hand (just the clip to hold the 5.25" face plate) I figured they'd refuse to take it
LosOjos Posted January 27, 2014 Author Posted January 27, 2014 (edited) Started a new thread here OK, a problem has reared it's ugly head and it sounds like it's a common one with AMD GPUs. Every now and then (usually when watching a video or if I change the input on my TV) I get a BSOD. Examining the minidump, atikmdag.sys appears to be the root, suggesting some issue with the GPU. I've tried numerous fixes I've found online, including reinstalling drivers, registry hacking the TdrDelay value, underclocking the GPU. None seem to have worked (though I thought TdrDelay had as the problem went away for a whole day) Next step is to try removing a stick of RAM as that's been reported to work but if that is the only fix, this card is going back. Ridiculous compromise. Any regular AMD users experienced this issue and if so, do you know of a reliable fix? Started a new thread here Edited January 27, 2014 by LosOjos
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