BitFenix Ronin Review

Performance Analysis

With just two 120mm fans to push air through the sizeable interior, it's no surprise that the Ronin didn't light up our graphs with other-worldly cooling. Its fans were also very quiet and dished out minimal airflow as a result. This saw it drop well down the graph for the CPU delta T, where it was mixing it up with the likes of the Corsair Carbide 200R and many of the better cases with fan control on their lowest fan speed settings.

The GPU delta T was equally modest: at 54°C it was in amongst the ten worst performing cases we've tested. Cheaper cases such as the NZXT Source 210 Elite proved to be much better while the likes of Nanoxia's super-quiet Deep Silence 2 was not only cooler but quieter too. It's certainly not a great result, but with just two of the six fan mounts occupied it's not a great surprise.

Conclusion

While the cooling results aren't great, we can't be too harsh overall on the Ronin here for the simple reason that so few of the fan mounts are occupied out of the box. This obviously means you'll need to buy more fans or go for an all-in-one liquid cooler or even fully-fledged water-cooling, but it's cooling score reflects this.

Price-wise the case does punch above its weight - it has plenty of expansion possibilities both in terms of water-cooling, drives and hardware. The scope on offer here isn't something you'll often see on a £70 case and is typical of cases costing £20-30 more. The drive bay cover and all-inclusive fan filters are welcome additions and you get USB 3.0 ports, a side window and customisable interior too. It's a little bland-looking from certain angles, but if you're looking for a no-fuss case with plenty of potential it's one of the best options available at the moment for £70 or less.

Only its cooling score means the Ronin missed out on an award and left the overall score wanting. For an out of the box cooling maestro the Fractal Design Core 3000, Fractal Design Arc Midi R2 and Nanoxia Deep Silence 2 all offer better cooling for a similar price, although not quite the same amount of expansion.