Bitfenix had three new case prototypes on display at Computex along with a few useful accessories. Say hi to the new parts SemiAccurate saw, Pandora, Aegis, and Atlas cases plus a few power supplies, coolers, and cables.
The first case to talk about is Pandora, a sub-mid-tower case with beefy aluminum sides. Those single piece sides are finished with a grippy surface and pop off with a tug, they are secured by four posts like the one just above the S|A watermark. It is a novel mounting method but it makes a lot more sense than traditional screws and ill-fitting panels.
Pandora’s box is open for you to see
We measured Pandora’s width at about 4cm narrower than the Aegis mid-tower below and it is a tad shorter too. The design makes it look quite slim even though it is just a little smaller than a standard mid-tower. One nice touch on Pandora is a half-VGA RGB screen behind the front panel that you can program to show off whatever you want. It is off on the case above but a similar screen can be found in Aegis and is quite visible below.
Aegis with half-VGA screen on
Aegis is a fairly standard mid-tower case in most ways other than the screen. The one above is a bit dim because it is just a prototype, but it still looks decent enough. Bitfenix promises that production models will have a much brighter version with wider viewing angles. Other than that it is a pretty standard mainstream case. It looks clean and is well built.
Atlas is a massive case
Atlas lives up to its name, one of a new breed of dual system sized cases that actually only take a single case similar to Corsair’s Carbide Air 540 The idea behind Atlas is that you can show off the components you want to and hide the rest, one of the two partitions has a window, the other not. Both partitions have slide-out trays that are interchangeable so you can show off your 10 drive RAID array and accessories or your mobo, your choice. Everything is in easy to slide out trays like you would expect from a high-end case.
It is a bit hard to see in the picture above but the white rails on Atlas are the same finished aluminum found on Pandora’s side panels. They house white plastic panels with RGB LEDs behind them, something that is unlikely to make it into the production version. This is probably a good thing, it doesn’t add anything to the look of Atlas so if Bitfenix makes them optional, great.
All three cases are prototypes and will change a bit before production starts in late summer. Much of this will be based on feedback from Computex and reviewers so weigh in if you like or dislike something, there is still time to tweak bits.
One thing that is in early prototype form was a water cooler. When we were at the Bitfenix offices prior to Computex we spotted a watercooler with a Bitfenix logo in the pump/plate. It was a 120mm single-fan CPU cooler but that is all we got. Bitfenix would not comment on it other than it exists and there are no plans for production at the moment. Once again time to weigh in people, do you want them to make it?
Last up is another thing we saw at Bitfenix’s office, power supplies. We didn’t know they made them but there in front of us were three newish models. They are called the Fury 550, 650, and 750, no points if you can guess the wattages of each one. They are 80 Plus Gold certified which puts them in the mid-range for modern PSUs and like many have partially removable cables. Those cables though are really high quality sleeved end to end parts with no shrink-wrapped ends. Nothing amazing, just solid PSUs to go with solid cases.S|A
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Charlie Demerjian
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