• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Fractal Design Define S Case

H

HardOCP News

[H] News
Joined
Dec 31, 1969
Messages
0
The review crew at Techgage has heaped praise on the Fractal Design Define S in their latest review. Here's a quote from the full review:

It’s not often when we get to see PC chassis designs evolve. Generally speaking, they’re all pretty much the same, sharing all of the same features. So when we get something like the Fractal Design Define S, which boasts a feature no other chassis does, we sit up and pay attention. Join us as we take one on a Techgage test drive.
Click to expand...
 
SPOILER ALERT: It's a big, full ATX case with no optical drive bays. Not even a slim (laptop), optical drive bay. Makes no sense. If you're going to go with full ATX, you might as well get a case with one or two big holes in the front. That's the unique feature. My uATX case has room for 2 optical drives, but they couldn't fit any into a full ATX case. OK.

AND the window... also makes no sense to me, but whatever.
 
Poseur said:
SPOILER ALERT: It's a big, full ATX case with no optical drive bays. Not even a slim (laptop), optical drive bay. Makes no sense. If you're going to go with full ATX, you might as well get a case with one or two big holes in the front. That's the unique feature. My uATX case has room for 2 optical drives, but they couldn't fit any into a full ATX case. OK.

AND the window... also makes no sense to me, but whatever.
Click to expand...

Alot of people don't use 5.25 opticals anymore (I use a usb powered one every once and again to install windows if I need to then toss it into the drawer)

Common mods for the Arc\Define series cases include removing the drive bays you can to allow better airflow or add rads. This is Fractal making a case that does all this for you. I believe it can hold x2 360 rads with no mods..... which is very nice for those that want to do a loop or two. A quick search of define\arc mods for watercooling etc and this case then will make sense.
 
Love Fractal's cases, I got a couple of them and the quality is impressive. Used to be into Antecs but Fractal's clean interior, neat cable management features and ease of use have spoiled me.
 
Looking at this case for my next build. Having a hard time deciding between this and the Corsair Obsidian Series 450D. I don't use 5.25 anymore so that's not an issue.
 
I'm also looking at this case carefully for my next build. Silence is a priority for me, plus I like the absence of optical drive bays. I don't need them and prefer a cleaner interior.

My only hang up with the Define S (or its sibling, the R5) is the size. For anyone using either of those, do you have it on your desk? Is the weight or size an issue?

I already have plenty on my desk and only run a single video card and 2 drives. A case the size of the S or R5 seems like overkill for me.

I also don't like that the S removed the sound dampening foam from the front panel. Does anyone know how much of a noise difference that may make between the S and R5?

If it matters, I'm also considering the Corsair 330r.
 
Last edited:
I have the Define R4 at home and at work, which is the same size, and while it fits on top of a desk, I keep it under the desk in both locations. When I open the door, which is where the front dampening foam is, it does get a bit noisier.

If you're not going for water cooling, are only running a single card, and want quiet, those are all reasons to go with the R5 over the S.
 
The define S is designed to for maximum flexibility in building a water cooling system. If you want to optical drive bays, then get the R5, which is what the define S is based off of.
 
I'm swapping out to this case, and realized you can actually fit three 140mm fans in the front. I am giddy right now.
 
Last edited:
I've had mine for about 2 years now. The only thing I don't like about the fans it comes with are they only hit around 850RPM. I have my radiator mounted in front of some of the fans and it wasn't enough CFM, so I had to put the (louder) fan back in the front that came with the cooler.
 
It took way longer then it should have but she's ready for Skylake-X (or coffee lake, idk, don't rush me).
Put rubber grommets on all 4 fans. :)

GPuDH80.png



Bonus panty hose pic.

U5tUwSw.png
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top