Bitfenix Enso Mesh ATX Chassis review - Article

Bitfenix Enzo Mesh
Same looks, but not a hotbox?

In my time at Guru3D, I have done 3 chassis reviews. To this day, the Meshify C series from Fractal Design has remained my long-standing and firm favorite of any case released in the last 3 years or so. Perhaps I am just a sucker for Scandinavian design (well, I know I am), but low key and largely unassuming chassis are by far the most appealing to me. So, when Bitfenix contacted Hilbert offering their new Enso Mesh case for review, I jumped at the chance. Bitfenix are no strangers to the PC hardware industry, largely dealing in power supplies and cases, as well as an increasing range of RGB daubed cooling fans.

The original Enzo released last year, in 2017. Unfortunately, it released right in the middle of... well, for lack of a better term, a 'revolt' in the industry. What was that revolt? Airflow. For years prior, cases had been shipping with ever more and more closed off front panels, progressively blocking fresh front intake air all at the expense of an admittedly ever sleeker design aesthetic. For the looks conscious builder, it was ideal. However, for those of us that liked cool and quiet running components, it presented a notable problem. The original Enzo had a fundamental flaw in that its front airflow was almost entirely non-existent.

So, there begins the airflow revolution of 2017, with many popular chassis receiving 'meshed up' versions of their original designs. We saw this with numerous & and popular series of cases, including (perhaps most famously) the Fractal Design Meshify series, as well as CoolerMaster's much-anticipated release of the 'HAF' H500 series that was so adored back in yesteryear. Now Bitfenix has joined the party, likely because a sticking point in the original Enzo review was how much better the case could have been with even some front intake. It would appear, in receiving this message, that Bitfenix has gone all out and beyond. The product page for this relatively new chassis can be found here.

The original Enzo (like this one) also continued the trend of releasing traditionally sized 'mid' tower chassis in progressively smaller and smaller footprints. Whilst Fractal's Define/Meshify cases are perhaps the most extreme example of a chassis shrink, cases like the Enzo are certainly not big by any standard, and yet will still happily fit high-end components should you so desire. The difference now, being, that you can put higher TDP parts in the new iteration of the Enzo.

What about the boring stuff, then? Drive support, fan/cooling support, and the rest. Well, as is becoming somewhat expected, the Enzo Mesh supports more 2.5'' drives than 3.5'' ones. There is support for 3 of the former, and 2 of the latter (naturally you can use the 3.5'' bays as mounts for the smaller factor as well, should you so choose). This, I feel, is entirely adequate. For the average home PC builder, 5 bays is more than enough, easily. Add to this the increasingly cheaper prices of SSDs, as well as larger numbers of more affordable M.2 SATA/NVMe drives being available for decent money, and you understand why the days of the 3.5'' HDD user may soon be coming to a slow but somewhat inevitable end.

Cooling support is... well, perhaps a little lacking, but for most, it will be fine. Naturally, the Enzo's cooling situation will be notably aided by the new front mesh, almost ensuring that the old 'hot box' adage often directed at so many closed off front cases can go away. Up front, you get space for 3x 120 or 140mm fans. Up top, it's a little limiting, with space for only 240mm radiators. Don't forget that your mileage with being able to fit radiators at the top of the case may vary, as I have run into instances of mainboard heatsinks and memory blocking radiator install. At the back, as standard, is your 120mm exhaust. Could you do a custom loop in here? Well... maybe, but it would certainly be a challenge. Reservoir mounting would be my first concern, and it certainly isn't mentioned on Bitfenix's website. Therefore, if you want a custom loop, I would look elsewhere. That's not to disparage, however, as this is not designed for such a use case.

Currently, the Enso Mesh in white can be found on Newegg US for $89.99. I feel like for a case of this calibre, this is entirely fair in terms of asking amount. However, much more would have put it more readily in the firing line of more expensive chassis like the BeQuiet! Silent Base 601, InWin 303, and Corsair Crystal 460X (the baby brother to the much pricier 570X). In the UK and the wider world, however, the Enso Mesh is significantly more expensive. Amazon UK is listing the product for £124, whereas Amazon DE lists the black variant for nearly 155 EUR, and the white for 122 EUR. That is less than ideal, but I will give the benefit of the doubt here, due to the Mesh being such a new product to market, so I wouldn't judge the UK and EU pricing too harshly.