Judging the BitFenix Ronin case from the outside, it can stand its grounds amongst the competitor's offerings in the same price category. The exterior is well finished and sports a sleek design. The windowed panel allows a clear look inside the heart of your PC, so better take some time to tidy everything up inside. The Stealth Cover comes partly to your rescue, especially if cable management is not your thing and you just find it too time consuming. Its addition really enhances that clean pro build look, all in a matter of seconds.

Storage wise the Ronin has no surprises, though the execution of the HDD trays feels fragile, maybe also the main reason why the "Do not bend stickers" are attached. Same remark for the tool-less clips for the optical drives, which just fell of the cage during the assembly. On a flipside, they secure the optical drive firmly once properly locked down.

Cooling wise is where the first real big disappointment pops in. Honestly two 120mm Fans can indeed be up to the task and will provide enough cooling for safe operation. Though the users targeted here might want to buy a bundle of great aesthetics coupled with great cooling. The Ronin under-performs with the Madshrimps test setup versus similar priced cases. The execution of the front fan dust filter also feels out-dated.

The cable management is also reduced by the reduced cut-outs, a few mms here and there could have made this case a pleasure to work in.

The BitFenix Ronin is a mixed bag, sporting great looks; however the inside leaves room for improvement. A requirement to become a true contender versus cases of the likes of Cooler Master or Corsair. If the price tag was lower than 75 Euros then the conclusion would have been milder. However Madshrimps tells the tale as it is and not as the manufacturer would like to see it published. The BitFenix Ronin case is just a bit too expensive for what it has to offer out of the box. Paying a premium price just for the looks and the stealth cover, while the inside of the case has flaws on some critical points makes it hard to recommended this case.

Honestly either look in BitFenix's own catalogue and opt for example for the Shinobi case as it would be a far cheaper alternative or just look elsewhere. I'm really hoping and looking forward to reviewing an updated Ronin V2 in 2014.

Is the BitFenix Ronin a bad case ? Not at all, it has it's strenghts, especially as it's a great looking enclosure, being very hardware versatile. However the average cooling performance and somewhat erratic design choices make it a missed opportunity for the BitFenix crew.

PROS:

• Great aesthetics
• Stealth Cover
• Hardware compatibility
• Storage capacity

CONS:

• Cooling performance
• Fragile HDD trays
• Price versus cooling performance

I wish to thank the following persons who made this article possible:

Sascha from BitFenix for the Ronin sample:

Sven from ASUS for the Sabertooth X79 motherboard:

Kaysta from G.Skill for the RipjawsX 16GB RAM kit:

Harry from Corsair for the Hydro H100i kit:

And finally the nutty crew from Tones.be for the provision of tons of hardware.