Assembly

Installing the motherboard is done by traditional means, with the use of spacers and screws. There is very little space above the board, which makes connecting any cables at the upper edge nearly impossible if you already have a CPU cooler in place. There is also no space behind the motherboard tray; you will be forced to route the 4/8-pin CPU power cable across the interior of the case.


Installing the 2.5" drive onto the floor requires normal screws and the appropriate tool, while a 3.5" variant is completely tool-less; that is, in theory. While it is held in place, there is a lot of play, which forces you to sink a screw or two into the drive to really secure it properly. The chassis' compact dimensions will, on top of that, mean that long graphics cards will get in the way of these bays, which results in the loss of expandability with potent GPUs.


Adding an optical drive is done without tools as well. The large prongs on the drive bay covers make removing them quite easy, and does not require pulling off the entire front. Once freed, simply slide the drive into place and put the plastic lock back into place. As with the 3.5" drives, you should really apply screws to hold it in place properly.


With everything installed, the interior of the BitFenix Shinobi does not make a clean impression. The lack of space and missing grommets make hiding cables incredibly difficult. Turn the unit around and you can clearly see what area one is limited to when hiding and routing cables. The opening in the motherboard tray is also too small, so you will have to install the cooler before putting the motherboard in place.

Finished Looks

The big highlight and single major selling point of the BitFenix Shadow is its LED lighting in the front. You may rotate between off, blue, and red by pushing the appropriate button on top of the chassis, and it actually looks quite cool. It and the ability to turn it off completely are nice feature to have.


One can see the lighting element even better with the door open as the clear plastic part is visible. Everything in the rear is where you would expect it to be, and all the connectors in this area are also easily accessible.