BitFenix Colossus M MicroATX Computer Case Review

By Tom Jaskulka

Manufacturer: BitFenix Co., LTD.
Product Name: Colossus Micro-ATX Black
Model Number: BFC-CLM-300-KKLS1-RP
UPC: 886027003497
Price As Tested: $109.00 (Amazon / NewEgg)

Full Disclosure: The product sample used in this article has been provided by BitFenix.

Finishing up a run of new cases based on the Prodigy, BitFenix has started shipping their Colossus M. Taking its name from one of BitFenix’s first full-tower enclosures, the Colossus M inherits the original’s distinctive lighting and combines it with the familiar internals of the micro-ATX Prodigy M. Offering a different approach from the smooth lines of the Phenom and the airflow of the Prodigy, the Colossus M wraps an angular, soft-touch shell around familiar internals while adding a few new tricks in the process. Have they saved the best for last? Benchmark Reviews has the micro-ATX Colossus M on hand (model BFC-CLM-300-KKLS1-RP), so let’s take a closer look at the unique traits that define this mini-Colossus.

Materials	Steel, Plastic, SofTouch™
Colors (Int/Ext)	Black/Black
Dimensions (WxHxD)	250 x 330 x 374mm
Dimensions (WxHxD)	Micro-ATX, Mini-ITX
5.25″ Drive Bays	x 1
3.5” Drive Bays	x 4
2.5” Drive Bays	x 3
Cooling Top	120mm x 2 (optional)
Cooling Bottom	120mm x 2 (1 included) or 200mm x 1(optional) or 230mm x 1 (optional)
	120mm x 1 (included) or 140mm x 1 (optional)
PCI Slots	x 5
I/O	USB 3.0 x 2, HD Audio
Power Supply	PS2 ATX (bottom, multi direction)
Extras	LiteTrak™ lighting system, SofTouch™ surface treatment, magnetic heat shield

Specifications taken from the manufacturer’s product page.

The outside has changed the most from the previous Prodigy-based cases, so let’s start there.

The Colossus M inherits its looks from its namesake, complete with an LED band that wraps around to the side panels. Sharp angles and edges are used here, giving this Colossus a distinctive style of its own. Most prominently, the Colossus M differs from the others in that it includes a front door – everything above the diffused LED strip swings open to the left, revealing a filtered mesh intake for the 5.25″ bay and power supply fan.

That LED strip (using BitFenix’s trademark LiteTrack™ technology) wraps around to the side panels. This has the side effect of cementing each panel’s side in place – not literally of course, but the previous Prodigy-type chassis could have their side panels swapped at will. This was useful for placing the cables for the front panel header “out of the way” and making cable management a bit easier, but you won’t have that option with the Colossus M. It’s a perfectly acceptable trade-off for the aesthetics, but as we’ll see later that isn’t the only compromise involved.

The left side panel contains a wrap-around track for the LEDs as well, and the small button on the front panel is the toggle switch for the Red/Blue/Green/Pulsing LED modes.

The top of the Colossus M is coated entirely with their signature SofTouch™ finish, which adds a unique look and feel to the case. I personally prefer these types of coatings; I even wish they would have extended the same treatment to the side panels. It hides fingerprints pretty well, although if you have anything oily on your fingertips it won’t wipe off as easily as gloss. Still, I like the way light reflects off it and the way it feels on your fingers – it’s a “premium” feeling, and the Colossus M uses it to great effect.

The rear of the Colossus M provides a hint of the interior layout – again, we find the inverted motherboard arrangement of the Prodigy M and Phenom M cases, with five PCI expansion slots (an important feature, especially for Crossfire/SLI users – most mATX cases stop at four slots). A 120mm BitFenix Spectre fan is installed by default, but there is room for a 140mm fan here as well.

The bottom mainly consists of mesh for the twin 120mm or single 200/230mm fan options. A cutout for the PSU is up front, and the mounting locations for two 3.5″ drives can also be seen (of course, that’s only if you forgo the fans, or stick with a single 120mm).

The details are what differentiate the Colossus M from the others, so let’s take a closer look.

Aside from the LED lighting, the other main addition is that of a front panel door. You can see that, even closed, the power supply intake fan (if you choose to position it this way – I suppose you could reverse the PSU entirely and use it to pull hot air from the inside of the chassis instead) is still supplied with cool outside air through the door cutouts. The door does not feel cheap whatsoever, and opens smoothly on its hinges – it is held closed by magnets, and BitFenix did a great job with tuning the force required to open it. It won’t swing open by itself, but it doesn’t require much effort to pop it open either. It’s the only “Prodigy” chassis to feature a door and it has the effect of blocking/redirecting internal noise – making it a little quieter than the mATX Prodigy M.

Since the PSU exhausts hot air out of the bottom of the case, you can cover the mesh with an included shield that stays in place with the use of a few magnets. It’s designed to keep the warm air from re-entering the bottom of the case, but I’d imagine most users would make use of the 200/230mm fan option here. It’s there if you need it though!

Taking the side panels off gives us a better look at BitFenix’s LiteTrak™ system, but it also reveals another detail that is unique to the Colossus. The 2.5″ drive mounting points are missing from the side panel as they would have interfered with the lighting. If you needed every last bit of storage you may be disappointed (the mini-ITX version may be a better option for storage, although I would assume the mini-ITX Colossus version uses the same panels shown here), but that’s the price to pay for a unique lighting system. Personally, I don’t think it’s a negative since this chassis was designed with aesthetics as a priority, but it is something to be aware of. On a bit of a side note, there aren’t any LEDs to power on these side panels (no wires to hook up), the light from the front LEDs is “piped” into them from the front. It’s actually very effective, kudos to BitFenix for trying something new (although they have some experience from their first Colossus case) – I hope to see more solutions like this wherever LEDs are used.

With the 2.5″ drive mounts missing from the side panel, you’ll need to utilize the “side bar” drive mounts – but you can still fit a total of five drives here (three 2.5″, two 3.5″). The interior is the same as the other mATX BitFenix cases, so building in the Colossus M should be a familiar experience after building a system in the Phenom and Prodigy cases.

A large CPU cutout from the motherboard tray allows access to CPU cooler back plates. I would have liked to see a slightly bigger opening for routing that pesky 4/8-pin CPU cable from the power supply, but it is just as easy to route this cable alongside the bottom of the case – most fans will leave enough room to do so. You can also see the optical cable up front that helps pass along the LED light to the side panels – there isn’t a mechanical attachment here, but the ends of these fiber-optic type tubes (there’s one on the side panel too) seem to stick together; securing themselves and allowing for that wrap-around lighting.

The removable mesh filter up top detaches with a latch and reveals two mounting points for 120mm fans. They’re spaced for most 240mm radiators as well but you may need to remove the 5.25″ drive bracket in the front (and using any sort of optical drive or 5.25″ device is pretty much out of the picture if you want to use this space up top). A Crossfire/SLI configuration would place the “bottom” card right up against this intake, supplying fresh air to that card.

If you read my review of the BitFenix Prodigy M, many of the steps below will look familiar. Stay tuned to the end though, as I encountered a few unique differences between the chassis.

The power supply is mounted up front in the micro-ATX versions of the Colossus/Prodigy/Phenom, and sits on this removable rail. I used a bigger ATX power supply than necessary (180mm modular!) just to see if it would fit (it did), but if you are planning to use multiple high-end graphics cards you may want to consider choosing a 140mm power supply. If anything, it will give you more room to work and more space for cables.

The power supply attaches to the removable bracket and if your PSU uses thumbscrews you’ll be happy to know they’ll still fit when installed (it’ll just be a bit trickier to slide into place). I’d recommend installing the motherboard, CPU/heatsink and RAM first though, as things will get cramped pretty quickly. I used an AIO water cooler when I reviewed the Prodigy M, and the same caveats would apply to the Colossus M. Really, a Corsair H80i / SilverStone TD03 / Thermaltake / any other 120mm radiator seems like the best option if you simply must use an AIO kit, but if you only have one graphics card a 240mm radiator would fit nicely up top as well.

I wanted to try something different in the Colossus M though, and decided to use a 120mm tower-type CPU cooler. This is about the tallest you could fit and still install 3.5″ drives on the vertical drive mounts, but of course you would have more room without 3.5″ hard drives or by just removing the drive mounts entirely. You may also want to use a CPU cooler that allows for different mounting orientations to make the best use of your specific airflow setup (with a giant fan slot in such close proximity, you may want to intake/exhaust from the bottom instead of out the back).

With both of the side panels removed, routing cables is surprisingly simple for such tight confines. There’s enough room to work around larger CPU coolers, but I’d hold off on installing any graphics cards until the very last moment. If your front panel header on the motherboard is located along the bottom edge (top edge, in this case) it’ll be tricky to plug those in with a GPU in the way. On the other mATX cases from BitFenix you could swap the panels and plug those cables in at this point in the build; with the Colossus M you might find yourself waiting until later. They’re long enough to plug in now, but moving the case around might get tricky with a side panel attached by cables.

The Colossus M uses the same vertical drive bracket as the other cases. They install as shown above, and this arrangement actually makes connecting the SATA data and power cables pretty easy even after you install the drive bracket into the case.

Most of the components are installed now, so let the cable management commence! There’s still a few items to finish before placing the side panels back on, so let’s get to it.

You can probably see why I mentioned my unnecessarily large power supply earlier. While a card like the Radeon 7850 pictured above will fit without an issue, once you get into GPUs that extend past the motherboard you’ll run into clearance problems with larger power supplies (an XFX Radeon 270X fit, but it was touching the power supply unit. It was just the plastic frame making contact, but anything longer and you’d have to use a different PCI-E slot). A 140mm unit would be just fine, and even 150/160mm modular PSU units should still have enough clearance. Like I said, the 180mm Rosewill Lightning PSU I used just isn’t necessary for an enclosure like this; there are 750W + power supplies in a 140mm size if you’re willing to look. It is nice to know you aren’t really limited though, larger power supplies will fit without a problem – just be aware of the size of your graphics cards. Whatever PSU you choose, there is enough room on either side to stow cables (or tie them to the front mesh) – while the quarters get cramped, cable management isn’t as difficult as you would expect.

Most modern graphics cards will consume much more power than a typical CPU, so I’ve taken to using a top-down approach to cooling in the micro-ATX BitFenix chassis. While it isn’t always the best idea to take warm air straight from a heated graphics card to cool a CPU, you could always flip the rear exhaust fan to an intake and let a giant 230mm fan (like the BitFenix Spectre Pro seen above) exhaust everything out of the bottom. While this would be another article’s worth of testing, it seems to be a pretty optimal configuration for keeping heat and noise down. I’ve tried using that bottom fan mount as an intake, but placing fans directly against mesh usually increases the noise substantially – the recessed mounts above seem better suited for hitting the optimum spot on that noise/performance curve.

Of course, this is assuming the use of open-air coolers like the 7850 above; blower-style GPUs that exhaust air out of the back of the case should perform better in smaller enclosures. For what it’s worth, a Sapphire Radeon 7970 with a Dual-X cooler stayed around 70C under a full compute load with the configuration shown above, so the Colossus M didn’t have any problem dealing with the heat. Still, if you want to try a Crossfire/SLI configuration I’d strongly recommend choosing graphics cards that use rear-exhausting blowers for cooling.

That’s the fun part of building your own system though, you can experiment with different fan configurations and choose a setup that fits your own components. I initially thought it was strange for BitFenix to only include two 120mm fans for the micro-ATX cases, but I would imagine each user will want to choose their own fan configuration (so keeping the price down and the options open might be the best way to ship a stock enclosure). Unless you plan to use the drive mounts on the bottom, I’d recommend picking up a 200mm or 230mm fan to get the best performance out of the Colossus M. Since BitFenix has the largest selection of 200/230mm fans in a variety of colors, you should be able to find something that matches – perhaps that’s the point, the only fan that might make sense here and appeal to the vast majority would be a switching red/green/blue LED fan. Since those don’t exist commercially (that I know of) and everyone has their own favorite color, it’s understandable that BitFenix would allow you to choose your own aftermarket components.

Finally, we arrive at the most frustrating part of the install – depending on where your motherboard places the USB 3.0 header and front panel/audio headers, routing these cables from the side panel might be simple or extremely complex. Waiting to insert the GPU and vertical drive bracket until after you attach these cables is by far the best option, but once you do get them connected to the appropriate headers it is almost impossible to tie them down or out of the way – you’ll just have to carefully place the side panel back on the chassis while peering over the top to make sure the cables don’t get caught in any fans. For a one-time install, the enhanced aesthetics of the Colossus M makes this a non-issue; the tinkerers out there may want to spend some time thinking of ways to deal with this if they plan on constantly removing the side panel.

Now for the best part: glowy lights! Let’s be honest, you’re probably not going to buy a chassis with a giant LED stripe if you’re going to leave the lights off, so this LiteTrack™ interpretation of the original Colossus is one of the main selling points of the Colossus M. You’ll be glad to see BitFenix’s diffused lighting match very closely to their stock images – I had trouble capturing the color accurately (I didn’t want to mess with any shift or saturation, and the LED colors always seemed washed out in a photo compared to how they looked to the eye) but in my opinion this is one of the best uses of diffused LED light I’ve seen on a commercial computer case. The red is a fiery red (not a dark, blood red), the blue is just a step brighter than that pure LED blue (it’s a bright blue, not a deep/purple blue) and the green has just a hint of a “mint,” although it’s more similar to a neon green. There are still a few hot spots, but overall the evenly-lit stripe is a very unique and eye-catching effect. My only complaint with the lighting system is this: you need to turn it on every time you power on your machine, then cycle through the three colors again to display the color that you had before. It would be nice if the controller just stayed on last color selected – while a small detail, hopefully BitFenix will be able to include such an option on future revisions. While I’m wishing, hopefully BitFenix will find a way to add a controller to those LEDs to allow for combining colors – options are good, and pink/purple/cyan/aqua/orange/yellow/white would be wonderful as well!

I enjoyed building a system in the Colossus M. Even though it was the most frustrating out of the three (Phenom/Prodigy/Colossus) for me as a compulsive tinkerer, the end result was absolutely worth it. It isn’t a chassis I would experiment a lot with, but it’s a perfect fit for having a nice compact system that looks great powered on. It’s a little anemic in stock trim, but I think that’s the point: with the various BitFenix accessories available, the Colossus M becomes more of a “canvas” to design your own system – which is the fun part anyway! Seeing a chassis for what it could be is one of the greatest advantages of an open ecosystem; imagining, planning, shopping and assembling a system that is reflects you is what makes building your own PC such a unique hobby.

Placed into a lineup alongside its brethren (the Phenom and Prodigy), you can’t help but get the feeling the Colossus M was the culmination of the Prodigy design. While the sleek, subdued lines of the Phenom and the signature flexible curved handles of the original Prodigy help give each case a distinctive character and purpose, the Colossus M comes pretty close to “having it all.” Still, there’s enough trade-offs here to prevent the Phenom or Prodigy from becoming obsolete – each chassis does its own thing pretty well.

I never really view “performance” of a case purely as a function of its cooling performance. It’s definitely a factor, but since very few enthusiasts leave anything stock (otherwise they’d just buy a pre-built system) I also try to consider the types of potential cooling a case accommodates. Depending on your components, the stock configuration won’t be enough. With enough room for five 120mm fans, or a 240mm radiator and 230mm fan (don’t forget the 140mm exhaust!) though, I think you’ll be able to find a configuration that suits you in the Colossus M. I still think the Colossus M would have been the perfect candidate to introduce a color-shifting 230mm LED fan, which would have drastically helped the stock performance of this case – any other option though is best left to the customer, since I’m sure most of them would rather start with a less expensive case and add their own fans.

Again, I’m not sure if stock performance is really the point though. Just look at it – the Colossus M begs for a matching suite of LED fans in red, green or blue. Speaking of looks, I personally like the edgier appearance of the Colossus M. The geometric styling compliments the diffused LED lighting design, and I love the use of that soft-touch coating on the front and top panels. I think what I appreciate the most about the Colossus M’s appearance is BitFenix’s willingness to iterate on the Prodigy and Phenom to create something unique. They weren’t content to just place some multi-color LEDs in a corner and call it good – they developed a diffused lighting system that results in a really unique effect. It’s too bad a wider spectrum of colors isn’t available – I can’t help but think the LiteTrack™ system would be a perfect home for a 256-color (16.8 million?) LED controller…

The almost-cube cases like the Colossus M have an advantage: their sturdy, square construction result in a very solid enclosure. Although the handles from the Prodigy are useful for transport, their rounded shape gave the chassis a tendency to rock; the Colossus M stays firmly planted. I remember being surprised at how sturdy the Prodigy felt while working with it and the Colossus M is no different. Every panel fits together precisely, and the front door is smooth and sturdy. Just like the others, the Colossus M is constructed well.

A discussion on “functionality” is always interesting. I usually define functionality with respect to computer cases as “how well does it accomplish what it set out to do?” For the Colossus M, that means aesthetics took priority, but not a lot was ultimately sacrificed to do so. Losing two 2.5″ drive mounting points and some wiring flexibility isn’t that much of a hit, and for those that prefer such things the lighting system is more than an acceptable trade. The rest of the Colossus M can accommodate a high-end build just like the Prodigy, and you get a door to help block some noise (but not airflow!) along with a smaller stature overall. You could even argue that the Colossus M is the most functional of the three, since it can accommodate 5.25″ bay devices/drives (unlike the Phenom), additional airflow, and still block more noise in a smaller overall package than the Prodigy.

The Colossus M (micro ATX version) is available now at a price of $109.00 (Amazon / NewEgg). That places it right in front of its Phenom and Prodigy brethren, and it’s in the price bracket where you start to get a little more than just a box to hold your components. Only you can decide what you value in a computer case, but the premium coatings, solid construction and unique features of the Colossus M make that a fair entry price for a stylish enclosure capable of cooling a high-end micro-ATX system.

The thing is, there really isn’t anything wrong with the Colossus M. It isn’t a tinkerer’s case (and it doesn’t pretend to be) so the small quirks I encountered aren’t deal breakers. Just look at it – the purpose of the Colossus M should be pretty clear, and it fills its role in the Prodigy/Phenom lineup very well. Whatever you’re looking for in a smaller case, chances are you’ll find it among the three – but the Colossus M makes me very glad BitFenix didn’t stop with the Prodigy.

+ The diffused lighting system is very well done
+ Mixes aspects of both Prodigy and Phenom with good results
+ Front door doesn’t block ventilation, usable 5.25″ bay
+ Compact enclosure that fits Crossfire/SLI
+ Substantial aftermarket options for customization

– Needs additional fans to reach performance potential (depending on your build)
– LED color choice resets on power off
– LEDs restricted to only red, green or blue

• Performance: 7.25
• Appearance: 9.75
• Construction: 9.00
• Functionality: 9.00
• Value: 8.00

Recommended: Benchmark Reviews Seal of Approval.

COMMENT QUESTION: What did you like most/least about the Colossus M case?