BitFenix Ghost Case Review: Begging for the Premium Treatment

Conclusion: Needs an Upgrade

Reviewing the BitFenix Ghost, I'm left with strangely mixed feelings. Every so often a case comes through that I very much want to see succeed, and the Ghost is one of those. If you've been keeping up with my reviews you've seen that I've championed BitFenix pretty hard in the past, and the Ghost was another design that I felt was encroaching on a kind of sweet spot between price, performance, aesthetic, features, and ease of use.

As far as assembly goes, the Ghost is all but bulletproof. The side panel alignment mechanisms need to be thrown out and replaced, but while the interior isn't the best or most progressive in the world for airflow, it is among the easiest to build in. BitFenix's engineers hit a lot of the right notes when it came to assembly: the Ghost is incredibly simple to build in, and would be an ideal case for a newer builder interested in a quiet system to try out.

The aesthetic I'm a little bit shakier on. While I really like the way everything is laid out and I'm a fan of the overall look, I feel like there's real room for improvement here in terms of the materials used. I can't help but feel like the Ghost's plastics are on the cheap side and I think they really do the overall design a disservice.

I'm in an unusual position where I feel like the Ghost is okay and certainly reasonable for the price, but I also feel like it practically begs to be even a slightly more premium product. In a weird way it's like a cheap knockoff of an amazing case that doesn't actually exist, if that makes any sense. Just in terms of looks and build quality, I'd like to see this chassis redone in a combination of aluminum, plastic, and steel similar to what Corsair did with the Obsidian 550D. I'd also like to see the front intake replaced with either two 140mm fan mounts and/or one huge 200mm/230mm fan. The curved venting design in the sides of the front door is cute, but could probably stand to be widened to increase airflow without substantially impacting noise.

With these suggestions in mind I have to wonder if the Ghost's lackluster thermal performance wouldn't also be improved somewhat. Adding fans made it at least competitive and even a little impressive since you'd have to spend another $50 to get a Corsair 550D that performs on par with, if not a little worse than, what the Ghost can achieve. But those fans do cost money.

Ultimately, do I recommend the Ghost? I think so. If you like the way it looks and you're either not looking to push the cooling or you're willing to play with it a little bit, I think you might walk away from the purchase satisfied. I have a harder time determining if it's superior to the NZXT H2, which hangs out in the same price range and has seen a minor revision that's improved its thermals, but I'd personally probably still go with the Ghost. This isn't the homerun I was hoping for, but it should be good enough for the closed-loop cooler testing.

Now if BitFenix can just go about putting together a slightly bigger, more premium model. That's the case I really want to see.