Kolink BIG CHUNGUS Review

Conclusion

The Kolink Big Chungus is a marmite case; you’ll either love it or hate it based on its looks. Perhaps you are a buyer that just wants a flashy chassis, or someone who wants to say that they have a Big Chungus, all we can say is that it isn’t functionality that will draw you to this colossal enclosure. 

We can see a lot of people liking this case’s bulky frame, thick steel construction and tempered glass exterior, especially when combined with the case’s inclined design and out of the box RGB support. For £209.99, this is a flashy case, and it’s rare to get five ARGB fans, and two ARGB LED strips inside a single chassis.  

The Big Chungus is the kind of case that users will need to use an “I’ll make it work” mentality, as some aspects of the Big Chungus are not user friendly. For starters, there are no integrated cable tie straps within this enclosure, making cable tidying difficult, and then there is dist management. This case has no dist filters, a factor which will make PC maintenance more critical than most other case designs. Users of the Big Chungus will need to be prepared to clean this PC regularly; unless you are in a clean room with a mostly dust-free environment.   

One of the major plus points of this case is its support for several water cooling radiators, with support for up to 420mm radiators at the front and a 240mm radiator at the top. Kolink only lists support for 360mm radiators within this enclosure, but a thin 420mm radiator should fit without any issues. That said, this case’s bottom mounts for three 120mm fans represent a missed opportunity for radiator support, as large 360mm radiators will cause interference with either the Big Chungus’ power supply mount or motherboard. This case’s bottom fan mounts have enough space for fans, but not enough space for a radiator.  

Water coolers will need to be careful when they create water cooling loops within this chassis, as it can be a minefield when it comes to compatibility. Overly thick radiators may interfere with certain areas of the case, making the Big Chungus’ water cooling support an extremely complicated matter. 

  
Fan-wise, we are also disappointed that the Big Chungus’ integrated fan controller has no speed options. The proprietary connections on these fans also give us no ability to address this issue using fan speed reducers or other fan speed control solutions. What’s worse is that this case’s controller has dedicated S and S- buttons, which should be able to speed up and slow down this case’s fans. Instead, these buttons do nothing, which is a huge disappointment. 

Thankfully, the fans on the Big Chungus aren’t very loud, but they aren’t silent either. They also don’t offer great airflow, though this is countered by the fact that this case has four intake fans.  

For an asking price of £209.99, we know that this case will never sell in huge volumes. That said, the Big Chungus is designed for those who want to show off, not those who want to build PCs on a budget. For its scale, its integrated RGB support and its incredible amount of tempered glass, the Kolink Big Chungus actually represents great value to the right customers. ARGB fans are expensive, as are LED strips, tempered glass and large steel structures. 

We have mixed feelings about the Big Chungus. It has achieved its design brief of “look flashy and support large components”, but it does little else to impress us. The fan controller issues are an obvious downside, and the complex angles in the case can make large water cooling setups challenging, but we know that you can make a great looking system within this case, and if that’s all that matter to you, then go for it. 

A lot of case reviewers put function above everything else, but art isn’t always functional. The Big Chungus will be used to create plenty of stellar showpiece systems, but some of the unique aspects of this case can also be seen as downsides, making this a case that’s difficult to recommend.

You can join the discussion on Kolink’s Big Chungus on the OC3D Forums.