Colossus Overview
When I first took the Colossus out of the box I was surprised as the outer material was not metal. The black material you see on the top and front of the case is actually ABS, but not like a plastic ABS, more of a soft ABS. BitFenix is calling this SoftTouch. It is something you would find on the top of a notebook cooler that is made to hold your notebook on the cooler, but not scratch it. The case is actually quite large as it is a full tower case. The official dimension are 245 x 558 x 582 mm.
The front of the case is actually quite menacing; if that is any way to describe it. It just looks mean! Definitely a case that will catch the attention of someone at a LAN party. Towards the top of the case there is a BitFenix logo, which will light up, but we will get into that later in the review. You will also notice 5 lines that go across the front of the case, these also light up, but like I said later in the review.
The front of the case is actually a large door that opens from the right to reveal 5 5.25-inch drive bays. One really cool thing about the door on the case is that it has switchable hinges, which means you can configure it to open to the left or right. Below the drive bays there is a mesh cover that is in front of the huge 230mm intake fan. Towards the top of the case you will see 2 small activity LEDs (one for power and the other for HDD) and a lock. Also you can see some interesting grooves down the front of the case, but we will get into that later in the review.
So what does that lock do you wonder? Well if you unlock it, it reveals a storage compartment on top of the case. BitFenix calls this S3, this is what they have to say about it: “S3 is a storage compartment and security system in one. Place your iPhone, hard disk, or other valuables in S3 and lock them away for safe keeping. S3 will even lock down peripherals like USB mice and keyboards plugged into it, and secure everything under lock and key. Simple, safe and secure – that’s BitFenix S3.” Also when you open the compartment there are a few controls. At the center is the fan controller, on the left side you have the power and reset buttons and on the right side you have the lighting controls. Inside the S3 compartment you will find all of the front panel connections you are used to seeing on cases. You have 2x USB 3.0 ports, 2x USB 2.0 ports, a single eSATA port, and audio connections. Awesome to see so many connections! On the top of case there is more mesh covering another large 230mm fan.
Looking at the side of the case it is very unique with white grooves that go across the case. These will also light up when the case is turned on. We will see that later on in the review. These grooves are also on the opposite side of the case as well.
Looking at the back of the case the first thing that caught my attention was the 4 large holes for water-cooling tubes. Of course with any case these days thumbscrews are encouraged and the Colossus has them on both side panels.
On the bottom of the case are 4 feet that will keep the case off the ground. Also there are 2 honeycomb sections for a cooling fan and for under your power supply.
