BitFenix Survivor Core
Category : Cases
Published by Marc Büchel on 11.07.11
With the Survivor Core, BitFenix has a very aggressively priced midi tower in its portfolio that comes with quite a number of features. Therefore we're very curious if this thing is able to convice in our review. 
On the following pages we will show you the strengths and weaknesses of the BitFenix Survivor Core.
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 5 - Left side |
| Page 2 - Preview | Page 6 - Right side |
| Page 3 - Front | Page 7 - Top / Bottom |
| Page 4 - Back | Page 8 - Conclusion |
Discuss this article in the forums [pagebreak]
Preview
Specifications
| Model | BitFenix Survivor Core |
| Case Type | Midi Tower |
| Dimensions | 502 x 230 x 510 mm(H x W x D) |
| Material | Steel, plastic |
| Color | Black / Black |
| Weight | aprox.10.7 kg |
| 5.25'' drive bay | 3 x external, 1 x internal |
| 3.5'' drive bay | max. 7 x 3.5'' or max 9 x 3.5'' |
| Expansion slots | 7 |
| Form factors | Mini-ITX, mATX, ATX |
| Cooling | 1 x 200 mm Top and Front optional |
| I/O ports | 4 x USB2.0, 1 x eSATA, Audio |
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 5 - Left side |
| Page 2 - Preview | Page 6 - Right side |
| Page 3 - Front | Page 7 - Top / Bottom |
| Page 4 - Back | Page 8 - Conclusion |
Discuss this article in the forums [pagebreak]
Front
Overview |
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| Taking a closer look at the BitFenix Survivor Cores front reveals that it is decent and it has been well structured. In the bottom area you find ventilation slots and the upper part shows three 5.25 inch expansion slots. This cases surface has been made of plastic which is covered by a rubber like coating that provides good grip. Therefore it is easy to lift the case up. Right above the 5.25 inch slots you can see a BitFenix logo which is back-lit and well visible in the dark. | |
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| The front has been split into three
parts. These can be removed individually. Basically the BitFenix
Survivor Core is a standard, rectangular box that comes with an
additional casing made of plastic. This casing consists of seven
individual pieces whereas four cover the edges of the case and another
three do the same with the spaces inbetween. If you want to install a
5.25 inch drive you'll first have to remove the plastic parts in order
to then dismount the drive bezels. Behind the ventilation slots it is possible to place either one 200 millimeter fan or two 120 millimeter fans. We would have loved to find such a fan be default but in order to keep the price very competitive BitFenix decided to not install one. If the should be a killer criterion for you there is also the BitFenix Survivor which comes with pre-installed 200 millimeter front fan |
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| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 5 - Left side |
| Page 2 - Preview | Page 6 - Right side |
| Page 3 - Front | Page 7 - Top / Bottom |
| Page 4 - Back | Page 8 - Conclusion |
Discuss this article in the forums [pagebreak]
Back
Overview |
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| Next
to the usual slot bezels of which you're going to find seven, there are
two in/outlets for watercooling tubs. Right next to them there is
another oval hole to route furhter wiring through. Next to the hole
where the I/O panel will be placed once you put a board into the case,
there is mesh metal behind which either a 80 millimeter fan or a 120
millimeter fan can be mounted. Generally the back, as well as the front, leaves a well structured impression. |
On these two pictures you can see the difference what the case looks like when a part of the casing is being dismounted. Underneath there is a standard box-like case. Unfortunately one need to remove the plastic parts round the case in order to open the case. We really would have loved to see a solution which would make it possible to remove the side panel without first having to dismount the plastic bits and pieces. On these pictures you can see thumbscrews to remove the plastic piece. In the box there were other plastic pieces and longer screws. The longer screws will be needed to keep the plastic piece as well as the side panel in place. |
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| At this point you see the hole for the power supply from the outside as well as from the inside. If you should choose to mount the power supply with the fan facing downwards, it can easily suck in fresh air. Furthermore the power supply lies on two rubber feet, which are quite hard. | |
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 5 - Left side |
| Page 2 - Preview | Page 6 - Right side |
| Page 3 - Front | Page 7 - Top / Bottom |
| Page 4 - Back | Page 8 - Conclusion |
Discuss this article in the forums [pagebreak]
Left Side
Overview |
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| The left side panel looks quite unspectacular. Behind it you're going to find the cases interior which is smaller then you might expect for a case of this size. Regarind the room concept: the power supply is located in the bottom left corner werhas in the bottom right part of the case you find the space for a total of six 3.5 inch drives. Right above there is space for another three 5.25 inch drives as well as another slot that can be used only internally for 3.5 inch as well as 5.25 inch drives. | As we've already told you might expect the interior to be bigger. If you should plan on putting for example an ASUS Rampage III Black Edition into this case, wiring the SATA cables will be almost impossible. If if you choose to install a standard ATX motherboard it will be difficult. | ||
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| One of the hard drive cages can be removed. The hard drives themselves can be mounted on plastic carriages where they have to be clicked in. | At this point we have another example that shows the interior is quite small. On the first picture you see an AMD Radeon HD 6970 which by the way isn't the longest graphics card available but still you can put it into the case without having to remove the hard drive cage. On the second picture you see the heatsink which is very close to the fan mounted in the top of the case. | ||
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 5 - Left side |
| Page 2 - Preview | Page 6 - Right side |
| Page 3 - Front | Page 7 - Top / Bottom |
| Page 4 - Back | Page 8 - Conclusion |
Discuss this article in the forums [pagebreak]
Right Side
Overview |
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| As well as the left side panel the right one is also unspectacular. If you remove it you'll find quite a big hole which allows a comfortable installation of a CPU cooler even when a motherboard has already been put in place. Furthermore cables can be routed through the case well but once again there is not enough space to do this neatly. | On these two pictures we show some of the hole which can be used to do the wiring. In general the placement is very well chosen but there still is the issue with the space. |
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 5 - Left side |
| Page 2 - Preview | Page 6 - Right side |
| Page 3 - Front | Page 7 - Top / Bottom |
| Page 4 - Back | Page 8 - Conclusion |
Discuss this article in the forums [pagebreak]
Top
Overview |
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| The holder which can be found in the top of the BitFenix Survivor Core is very practical for LAN party gamers. It make lifting the case very easy and really is a neat little addition. Also from this angle the case looks well structured and decent. What can be questioned is the efficiency fo the 200 millimeter fan which is mounted to move warm out of the case. The reason that there is a second mesh structure through which the air would have to move keeps a lot of warm air inside the case. | |
Bottom
Overview |
Features |
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| On the left side of this picture you can see another mesh structure which allows a power supply to suck fresh air into the case. | You also find four rubber feet which provide the case with a safe stand. |
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 5 - Left side |
| Page 2 - Preview | Page 6 - Right side |
| Page 3 - Front | Page 7 - Top / Bottom |
| Page 4 - Back | Page 8 - Conclusion |
Discuss this article in the forums [pagebreak]
Conclusion
| General | + | - | |
| At a first glance the BitFenix Survivor Core is an attractive Midi Tower casing. But as soon as you start taking a closer look you'll see quite a number of thing that are far from perfection and we'd really hope that BitFenix is going to change some of them with in a future revision of the case. Nevertheless the build quality is on a good level. | -
Design - Handle bar |
- Interior space | |
| Manufacturing quality / Ergonomics | + | - | |
| As we've already mentioned above the build quality is flawless. Unfortunately the case simply is too small. Therfore it can take you quite a lot of patience until you've wired your setup neatly. Furthermore, if you plan on installing more than four hard drives as well as a high-end graphics card you'll run into serious problem. In this case you'll have to use both hard drive cages which means that there isn't enough space for your high-end graphics card. Also the plastic bits and pieces which surround the the case and provide it with a better look come at a cost. Therefore you'll first have to remove them until a side panel can be dismounted. Last but not least there is the 200 millimeter fan in the top of the case which has its problems to move warm air out of the case. The reason can be found in the plastic top part which is like an additional layer the air has to travel through. | - Manufacturing quality | - Interior
space - Cooling |
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| Design | + | - | |
| At a first glance we very much liked the design of this case. The rubber like surface is very grippy and therefore handy for LAN gamers. On the other hand it's quite a pity that BitFenix chose to simply surround a standard case with plastic pieces instead of designing an enterely new case. Therefore the improved optics come at the cost of ergonomics which aren't that good. | - Design | - Additional plastic parts to
improve the looks |
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| Recommendation | + | - | |
| We'd like to recommend the BitFenix Survivor Core to Gamers who are looking for a nice looking case. On the other hand the shouldn't be to demanding concerning interior space. Features like a handle bar should be much more important to them. | - Gamer-PC | ||
| the BitFenix Survivor Core can be bought at Brack Electronics AG for CHF 88.- (est. EUR 68.-) | |||
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 5 - Left side |
| Page 2 - Preview | Page 6 - Right side |
| Page 3 - Front | Page 7 - Top / Bottom |
| Page 4 - Back | Page 8 - Conclusion |
Discuss this article in the forums
Author: t.rothenburg@ocaholic.ch Redacted by: m.buechel@ocaholic.ch