The Colossus is one of the oldest cases we've covered in this Labs test, first going on sale in 2010. Although that's a long time in the fast-paced world of PC tech, the Colossus remains a viable option as a giant case that supports E-ATX motherboards. It’s still also the largest case in BitFenix's line-up, which is otherwise geared more towards smaller micro-ATX and mini-ITX case designs.
The most striking feature of the Colossus is its SB lighting system, which wraps around the sides, and can be switched between red or blue colours. Multiple LEDs shine through a transparent film to create the effect, which looks great and will make your PC stand out at a LAN event, or in any darkened room for that matter. The lighting controls are housed in a control panel at the top, with a pop-up hatch. Alongside these controls are pairs of USB 2 and USB 3 ports, the usual audio connectors, an eSATA port and a rotary fan control dial.
In a few areas, the Colossus is showing its age though. It's hard to imagine anyone needing five 5.25in drive bays these days, for example. Meanwhile, its seven tool-free internal storage bays are stacked on top of one another, and have been designed to either hold 2.5in or 3.5in drives. These drive bays aren't great, though, as they're made from flimsy plastic - you'll have to be careful not to apply too much pressure to them. Comparatively, most other modern cases in this price bracket have much stronger drive bay mounts.
Conversely, though, the provision for cable management is notably forward-thinking, with plenty of space running behind the motherboard The front cables are pre-routed too, and there are plenty of holes positioned around the motherboard tray for excess cabling. In general, the build quality is excellent, and holds up well compared with the other cases on test this month.
Perhaps the other most obvious aspect of the Colossus is its sheer size. To match it, BitFenix has included a pair of enormous 230mm fans, one at the front acting as an intake fan, and another exhaust fan in the roof. There are two more mounts at the rear and on the floor, both suitable for 140mm fans, which aren't included in the box. Meanwhile, the fan headers are already connected to the fan controller, with space for an additional four headers, and the rest of the I/O cabling comes pre-routed by BitFenix.
While all this airflow sounds good in theory, though, the solid door at the front leaves little room for air intake. As such, despite the massive fans, the cooling ability of the BitFenix Colossus were among the worst on test, with the CPU delta T hitting 58 C and the CPU delta T reaching 59C and even going up to 68 C on the slowest fan speed). By comparison, that's almost 10’C warmer than the best performer in this size class, Thermaltake's V71.
Unlike NZXT's H440 SE, for example, the Colossus doesn't make up for these warm results with a superb feature set and extensive water-cooling support either. A double-height radiator will fit in the roof with some clearance to spare, but fitting a second radiator in the front will involve needing to remove most of the drive bays, or even to mod the case, depending on the radiator used.
The Colossus doesn't offer the very best cooling efficiency, the most modern design or even the best value for money. It still holds up reasonably well in some areas, though, and it has a striking appearance too. If you want a case that's big, bright and looks badass, and you're not running a heavily overclocked rig, then the Colossus fits the bill, but otherwise, you can now get better cooling, flexibility and design for similar money elsewhere.
VERDICT
Distinctive looks and good cable management, but you can now buy a case with superior cooling, more flexibility and a superior design for the same price elsewhere.