Fractal Design R4 back at $69.99 + free shipping

I've been looking for a case to build my first PC and was considering the Cooler Master HAF XB EVO. From what I've read it has a lot of positive reviews, easy to build due to plenty of room, and excellent airflow.

I know its a totally different design but they're both about the same price. Can anyone comment on how the R4 compares to the HAF XB?
 
If you're using an SLI setup (especially one with both of them having aftermarket coolers), the HAF XB EVO is vastly superior. I have a Fractal Design R4 and I had to cave in and switch to the XB EVO eventually. The physics of 2 aftermarket coolers are just horribly against conventional cases because the top one is right in the path of the exhaust of the bottom one. It just goes straight up and into the fans of the other one. While I haven't tried 2 aftermarket coolers in it (by the time I was switching cases I already had one of them with a Kraken G10 on it, but the issue is that I had to take up the bottom fan slot which instead meant the bottom card was getting warmer since there was no good intake near it), I would imagine it would do much better than any stock case at the scenario. You essentially have all hot air going straight up and out of the case if you put a fan on the top. It's an absolutely excellent (I would argue unbeatable) design for simply cooling purposes.

Like the Corsair Air case, the PSU is also completely separate from the rest of the components and is down with the hard disks down bottom. The con is that the hot swap bay sucks (you don't want to even want to use the PCB for it, just take that off and use them as regular slots) and there aren't many places to put your drives. Wiring can get a bit hard because the PSU's wires practically start right at the hot swap bay.

In fact I really wouldn't recommend the R4 for SLI setups honestly. It's really lacking fan slots near the GPU's, unless you cut them out yourself. Oh, and the HDD bays are too close together vertically. Even with 2 good fans (noctuas) out front, the HDD's were getting uncomfortably warm if I actually didn't do a separation of one free slot between each slotted HDD. But putting those issues aside, the Fractal has really high quality design and even includes fan controllers and stuff. Fully metal HDD bays with rubber to muffle the drive vibrartions. Muffling fabric on the inside to keep the noise down too. Just use it for single card setups and it will be plenty fine. I mean it's not a bad conventional case, I just don't like conventional cases period these days. I don't see why more perpendicular setups like the XB EVO aren't being made these days...
 
I absolutely love mine. I bought it for good airflow and sound isolation. It fulfills both of these goals for me. I have two EVGA 970s in SLI in mine, along with an i5 2500K at 4.2Ghz on air, and an old 650Ti for PhysX, and everything stays cool and quiet. I can just barely hear the fans going when I'm gaming. When I'm not, I can't tell the machine is on. I do have a bunch of Scythe Gentle Typhoons for case fans, and Noctuas on the cooling tower.
 
$79.99 is the price it was at when link was posted. You have to use the promo code to get it $69.99. :rolleyes:
 
I getting this for Christmas for my HTPC machine. I'm using an old lan li pc-65 and everything in the case makes humming or annoying rattle noises lol
 
I dig my R4. Quality case, and with my cooling config, quiet as hell.

I may bite just to be able to build another box for someone.
 
Great case, if I had the time I'd take some pictures of my watercooled home server build I pout in there without using up any of the drivebays. I don't mean an AIO, I had to get a bit crazy with the fittings for this one but the end result is amazing and silent.
 
I have the Fractal R4 with the titanium grey cover and side window, and I must say this case is pure quality. Great build quality, extremely sturdy, no sharp edges, and has a very classy look to it. Note, this is more of a "minimalist" design, so if you're into flashy lights and leds on your case, this wouldn't be for you. But this case is also designed to be quiet, with sound dampening materials included on the panels of the case. If you buy the windowed version though, only one panel has said material.
 
I have the Fractal R4 with the titanium grey cover and side window, and I must say this case is pure quality. Great build quality, extremely sturdy, no sharp edges, and has a very classy look to it. Note, this is more of a "minimalist" design, so if you're into flashy lights and leds on your case, this wouldn't be for you. But this case is also designed to be quiet, with sound dampening materials included on the panels of the case. If you buy the windowed version though, only one panel has said material.

I agree because I have the Design R3 and it still looks good and works great. :D It will be 3 years in February since I purchased it. :)
 
Currently $64.99 using MasterPass Checkout via Newegg Mobile with promo code MBLMASTER15
 
My only complaint about the R series is the limited external bays. I'd like a 3.5" bay (card reader) and 2-3 5.25 bays. I'll probably hold out for now and see how pricing on the R5 goes after a few months, but at this price, the R4 is very tempting.

I do recall one other thing I didn't like on this (or perhaps it was the R3): it didn't really work well on carpeting. Fortunately the build ultimately went on a wood floor.
 
Back
Top