BitFenix Colossus Mini-ITX Review

BitFenix Colossus Mini-ITX Review - Performance Analysis

There was little doubt that cooling performance wasn't going to be as good as the Prodigy for the simple reason the Colossus Mini-ITX lacks much of the formers' ventilation. We've seen on plenty of other cases the difference a mesh front section can make and it was also fairly predictable that the Colossus Mini-ITX was going to outperform the Phenom too.

In the end the CPU delta T of 52°C was pretty average, being 9°C warmer than a mesh-fronted Prodigy and 2°C cooler than the Phenom and EVGA Hadron Air. A lot of this is down to noise too - the Colossus Mini-ITX was one of the quietest cases we've tested thanks to a couple of inconspicuous fans and also to the front door and lack of vents in the side panel. On the flip side, this inevitably leads to higher temperatures.


The GPU delta T of 56°C was closer to the Phenom and with no vent in the side panel like the Prodigy, its not surprising to see the Colossus Mini-ITX once again post a warmer result, with the Prodigy managing a far more respectable 48°C. All in all, then, not a fantastic result but not a bad one either, and there's also the option to use a larger fan in the front and add two 120mm fans in the roof so there's plenty of room for improvement here.

BitFenix Colossus Mini-ITX Review - Conclusion

The lighting won't be everyone's cup of tea but with so many bland black boxes coming through our lab recently, the BitFenix Colossus Mini-ITX was a breath of fresh air and manages to add a bit of flare without looking garish or tacky. The front door also gives it a clean look yet offers a noticeable improvement over the Phenom in terms of cooling. Another advantage it has over the Phenom is its front mesh, which while not as free-flowing as that in the Prodigy, does mean that placing a radiator here for water cooling will be effective. With ample room for large graphics cards, the addition of a couple of extra fans or water-cooling will mean there's scope here for housing a high-end PC too.

So while it can't match the Prodigy on cooling, the Colossus otherwise has all the flexibility it offers plus a few refinements too. It's smaller, there's no wobble and the case feels much sturdier while the front door is impressively solid too. With a £75/$99 price tag this is a great little case for the money, whether you're after a modest or mega mini-ITX system.