BitFenix Makes Pandora ATX Official, Christmas Availability
Now that a couple of months have passed since Computex, BitFenix is launching the Pandora ATX. With a bit of luck, it will be available in time for Christmas.
When BitFenix launched the Pandora, it surprised us all with its LCD logo screen and unique looks. It was a Micro-ATX case, however, and the company got lots of feedback from its interest groups that the case would also work well in an ATX format. At Computex, we saw the first version of the Pandora ATX, but today, BitFenix made the Pandora ATX official.
At this time, BitFenix announced just two different versions of the case: the standard Pandora ATX, and the Pandora ATX Core. The core version is for those among you who want a case with the unique looks but aren't particularly interested in the 2.8" LCD display mounted in the front, or those who want a slightly lower price.
The LCD displays connects to your motherboard through an internal USB header and allows you to show a static image of your choosing. All you need to do is simply drag and drop the image to it.
Inside, the case offers room for all the hardware that most users would be interested in packing into a case. Next to the ATX board, buyers will be able to place up to three dual-slot graphics cards up to 440 mm long. There is room to install three 3.5" hard drives and two 2.5" SSDs in the Core variant of the case, whereas the standard version offers room for four of each. Like its predecessor, there is no room for an optical drive.
Cooling wise, the case actually offers room for quite some gear, considering its relatively compact dimensions for an ATX case. The front of the chassis can hold up to a 360 mm radiator for water cooling (or 280 mm, if you prefer that), as will the top of the case. The rear exhaust offers room for only the one included 120 mm fan, but that's to keep the size relatively narrow.
The case is 203 x 510 x 558 mm (WxDxH), and it weighs just shy of 10 kg. This is admittedly a rough 4 kg more than the original Micro-ATX Pandora, and that's because this one is made of steel, not aluminum.
Pricing sits at $119 for the Core version of the case, and the fully-fledged variant carries an MSRP of $139. U.S. availability is expected around Christmas.
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Niels Broekhuijsen has been with Tom's Hardware since 2012, and works as a Contributing Editor on the news team. He covers mostly hardware, components, and anything else that strikes his fancy. Outside of work, he likes to travel, cook, and fix things that are broken.
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Niels Broekhuijsen is a Contributing Writer for Tom's Hardware US. He reviews cases, water cooling and pc builds.
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vagrantsoul the price point puts it in a bad position with the fractal, phanteks, corsair, and even some nzxt offerings at the very least... waiting to see what a full review of this will bring.Reply -
Allen Crist If it is not comparable to other options in the same price range like the Cooler Master MasterCase Pro 5 in being easy to arrange things how someone wants then it is just another case going for glitter over functionality.Reply
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SamSerious Of course i do not use my optical drive often like apparently nobody does anymore. However a full ATX tower without at least the option to install a ODD (if it gets blocked by a radiator, so be it, at least you have a choice) is pretty poor. If it spoils the optic, there is still the option to place the ODD slot at the beackside of the case like in the Enthoo Evolv microATX.Reply
When will we see the first E-ATX case with an SFX PSU...