Fractal Design - When in the US?

Ricedaddy

[H]ard|Gawd
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Feb 19, 2003
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I decided that I am going to pick up a new case, and decided with the help of the community here to get a Fractal Design Define R3. Only problem is, they don't have a us distributor :(. As many of you know, it's almost 100% of the case price to import the case. I've contacted Fractal Design, and they have told me "soon".

My question is this: Does anyone have more solid information on when they will be available in the US?
 
Go to youtube, look up linustechtips and figure out the store he works for and they also have a us site. Mind you, the shipping is like $50 for a case.
 
N C I X is the only North American distributor as far as I know. You can buy the Fractal cases from their US website, but shipping costs will probably be high.
 
Q2 2011 - i've been writing to them also. But they also have hinted that they could be here within a month.


Write them an email asking them again. (dont know when you wrote the original)
The more people write to them, the better.
 
Order from Canada friends! Forever Canadians had to endure grueling shipping costs from the US, for a one time shipment you can afford some extra costs from Canada :p
 
I ordered my case from the UK to ship to the US about 1-2 months before it was available in the US. I just had to build my computer and wanted the case I wanted. The case was a bit expensive, and the shipping was too. I still do not regret it. The case is awesome.
 
Fractal Design is opening a new branch in Texas, which will hopefully undercut the shipping costs of ++++USA. The company's sales rep said their products should be for sale at major resellers (Newegg, TigerDirect) around March.
 
Oh my goodness...

What a nice case in the ARC MIDI!!

Look @ this comparison...

Dimensions and Weight

Stacker 810: 9"W x 23"D x 23"H - 34lbs
Fractal ARC: 9"W x 20"D x 18"H - 22lbs

Cooling

Stacker 810:
Intake: 3x 120mm
Middle: 2x 120mm
Exhaust 2x 120mm

Fractal ARC:
Intake: 2x 140mm Front, 1x 140mm Bottom, 1x 140mm Side
Exhaust: 1x 140mm Rear, 3x 140mm Top

Aesthetics

Stacker 810: super mega ultra ghetto dork (style of 2006)
Fractal ARC: Minimalist from outer space!

http://www.fractal-design.com/?view=product&category=2&prod=57
 
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Wow. The Arc Midi looks awesome.

And even has space for my six hard drives. And at what is apparently half the price of the upcoming 650D? Win.
 
Love the simple designs of fractal and from the pictures, they are well thought out and well built.
 
How are peoples experiences with Fractal Designs? I looked at the Define R3 and on paper it seems very interesting to me, but I turn up user comments that the case feels very filmy even compared to other relatively budget cases. (as a side I sometimes do put a leg on my case lol...)
 
Hi Paul,

We really appreciate your mail. I have good news for you. We are just starting our US office in Dallas/Texas.
Paul Heimbuch is our President for Fractal Design North America Inc.
We are with the highest priority busy to get Fractal Design into NewEgg .
Thanks a lot for your interest in our brand.
The Define R3 case will be end of februaray available at New Egg.

Paul will contact you and will keep you updated.


That is the e-mail I got from Fractal this morning. I'm very interested in the Define R3. This make me very excited.
 
good news, i have bought a few of their fans shipped from Europe so this will be very convenient for me.
 
I have wanted one of their cases for a while now. I was going to place an order at ++++ this morning and the email popped up in the middle of making an account with them.
 
Nice.

Actually looking at the Define R3 as a replacement for my old P180 case (very first revision).
 
P180 is my second choice but if I can wait a month and get my first choice I'm going to. I want it in white. It's something different in a all black component world.
 
P180 is my second choice but if I can wait a month and get my first choice I'm going to. I want it in white. It's something different in a all black component world.

Yeah I wouldn't recommend any of the P18x series cases right now: They're simply overpriced now. The Silverstone Raven 2 cases are better in virtually every way than the P18x cases but costs roughly if not much more than the P18x cases.
 
Hi Paul,

We really appreciate your mail. I have good news for you. We are just starting our US office in Dallas/Texas.
Paul Heimbuch is our President for Fractal Design North America Inc.
We are with the highest priority busy to get Fractal Design into NewEgg .
Thanks a lot for your interest in our brand.
The Define R3 case will be end of februaray available at New Egg.

Paul will contact you and will keep you updated.


That is the e-mail I got from Fractal this morning. I'm very interested in the Define R3. This make me very excited.

All i can say to this is WOOOOOO. I am very excited to get one of these cases and not have to pay over $100 just for shipping to import it.
 
You could get them from ++++ with 54 in shipping depending on where you are in the states but that is still a bit ridiculous.
 
Hi Paul,

We really appreciate your mail. I have good news for you. We are just starting our US office in Dallas/Texas.
Paul Heimbuch is our President for Fractal Design North America Inc.
We are with the highest priority busy to get Fractal Design into NewEgg .
Thanks a lot for your interest in our brand.
The Define R3 case will be end of februaray available at New Egg.

Paul will contact you and will keep you updated.

Wonder if that means I can drive over to their place and pick one up? :D
 
Nice.

Actually looking at the Define R3 as a replacement for my old P180 case (very first revision).

I'm wondering what is it you like about the Define R3 (just for another opinion on this case)? The p180 is also a case I liked years ago, but at the time could not really pay the premium for it. The Define at the moment is on a short list I'm thinking about for my new build.

P180 is my second choice but if I can wait a month and get my first choice I'm going to. I want it in white. It's something different in a all black component world.

I was thinking white too, but at the same time it would really look out of place in contrast to everything else, the desk, chair, and room. Tough decision.
 
I'm wondering what is it you like about the Define R3 (just for another opinion on this case)? The p180 is also a case I liked years ago, but at the time could not really pay the premium for it. The Define at the moment is on a short list I'm thinking about for my new build.

Well the clean look, 8 drive support, and cable management features are the big draws for me. And it has a bit more room than the P180 case.
 
I'm wondering what is it you like about the Define R3 (just for another opinion on this case)? The p180 is also a case I liked years ago, but at the time could not really pay the premium for it. The Define at the moment is on a short list I'm thinking about for my new build.

The positive side of the Fractal Design Define R3 is features vs the price (at least here in Europe). For price around 100e, there is not really much to think about. "Alternatives" for this price are cases like CM692, Antec 900, Antec Sonata Elite, Lancool K62. From these, the only real contender is Lancool K62, the rest of the cases belong to lower category in my opinion. CM692 and Antec 900 got as much holes as possible, so they are not a good choice for silent build. Sonata Elite is the definiton of "how to screw up a good case" in my opinion. So it's down to K62 vs Define R3, with R3 offering more silence and smaller height (207.40x440x521.2mm for R3 vs 214mm x 496mm x 498 mm - that's 5cm lower in height, 3cm more in depth for R3).

My only problem with Define R3 is that they used rivets to fix the drive tray, screws would be awesome in my case as i won't use the HDD bays in my build (one SSD and that's all).
 
Well the clean look, 8 drive support, and cable management features are the big draws for me. And it has a bit more room than the P180 case.

Good reasons. I was thinking the same with the drive bays, since I could retire this case possibly into a server, or maybe server/HTPC with a lot of storage down the line, since the clean look and acoustic could work well in this area too.

The positive side of the Fractal Design Define R3 is features vs the price (at least here in Europe). For price around 100e, there is not really much to think about. "Alternatives" for this price are cases like CM692, Antec 900, Antec Sonata Elite, Lancool K62. From these, the only real contender is Lancool K62, the rest of the cases belong to lower category in my opinion. CM692 and Antec 900 got as much holes as possible, so they are not a good choice for silent build. Sonata Elite is the definiton of "how to screw up a good case" in my opinion. So it's down to K62 vs Define R3, with R3 offering more silence and smaller height (207.40x440x521.2mm for R3 vs 214mm x 496mm x 498 mm - that's 5cm lower in height, 3cm more in depth for R3).

My only problem with Define R3 is that they used rivets to fix the drive tray, screws would be awesome in my case as i won't use the HDD bays in my build (one SSD and that's all).

Similar situation to me. The Fractal is available here for ~110-130 CND, and since the store is local, no shipping fees/issues.

I was also thinking about the Lancool as well. Though I briefly look at the CM692 now that you mentioned it, and might add it into the mix (will look at it later in more detail). Then there is the possibility of waiting about 2 months for the Arc Midi, it has some more functional features like one removable drive bay (although I won't be using a dual GPU card) and slightly more cooling (most likely to be the point of being excessive though for a single GPU setup).

Want to have a solid 3-5 choices before making a final decision. Case choice to me seems the toughest always, since it is a lot more subjective and form compared to objective and function with components.
 
I ordered a R3 from (you know where in) Canada - the cost of shipping was worth it to me. Of course, this was the day before the CES announcement that they were launching in the US towards the end of Q1.

Unfortunately, FedEx employees apparently decided to play fork-lift polo with my case at some point during the 6 business days it took to get from Vancouver to New York City. I've never seen a piece of metal in such bad shape. The main part of the case was fine - but both doors and the front plastic were absolutely destroyed. The company in Canada drop-shipped me a replacement (pun intended) which should be here in a few days. In the meantime I sparked up a conversation with the Fractal Design folks, great bunch of guys to deal with. The case is beautiful, and I was asking about RMA parts so I wouldn't have to throw it away.

Long story short - NewEgg will have the current product line by mid/end of February. The ARC line will probably come in late April / early May. Fractal will be handling all RMA transactions for the US in the short term.
 
I dunno, it looks ok, the Old School stacker's still seem more practical.
Stacker STC-101
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119042

Enough room on the bottom to mount 140x3 radiator for water cooling, and still have a ton of 5.25" bays.
or
Mount 4 3->5 hotswap caddys and hold 20 hard drives.

This one seems more limited due to the orientation of the drive bays. it looks good, but I dunno, it does not hold much more than my P180 mini really.
 
I personally prefer the extra hd slots instead of 5.25" bays... I know there are things out there that you can fill those up with... but I doubt 90% of the population puts more than a single optical drive and perhaps a sd card reader in theirs. I guess using 5.25s leaves the flexibility there for people that need 5 fan controllers or whatever... but for those of us who don't, it's nice to mount all your hds without needing adapters.

Also like the styling of the R3 better, but i know that is entirely subjective.

Can't wait for newegg to offer them.


Edit: Unless you were talking about the arc midi... in which case the above is mostly irrelevant.
 
I dunno, it looks ok, the Old School stacker's still seem more practical.
Stacker STC-101
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119042

Enough room on the bottom to mount 140x3 radiator for water cooling, and still have a ton of 5.25" bays.
or
Mount 4 3->5 hotswap caddys and hold 20 hard drives.

This one seems more limited due to the orientation of the drive bays. it looks good, but I dunno, it does not hold much more than my P180 mini really.

  • You compare a EOL case to something on sale.
  • 227 mm x 536 mm x 584 mm (Stacker) vs 207.40x440x521.2mm (Define R3).
  • P180 mini is mATX. This is ATX.

Next time compare comparable cases, OK ?
 
  • You compare a EOL case to something on sale.
  • 227 mm x 536 mm x 584 mm (Stacker) vs 207.40x440x521.2mm (Define R3).
  • P180 mini is mATX. This is ATX.

Next time compare comparable cases, OK ?

I wan't comparing to P180mini, other than for my own use. Looking to expand server past 9 drives)...
 
It seems like an apples and orange type comparison though. From a strict functional perspective I'd think you need to look at larger Full Towers, as the space offered by the larger size is there. Smaller cases offer advantages in taking up less space and price, especially as most people are not likely to require EATX mobos, a dozen or more drive bays and the space for a triple 120mm radiator setup. I'm not sure those in the market for a SFF, Mid Tower and Full Tower really overlap all that much.
 
Comparing k62 and R3 u must mention how suck is the k62 front panel dust filter!!!
 
Well this is a bit of a dilemma between the R3 and Arc Midi. I'd need to run for awhile in much older 2x120mm Antec Sonata Case to wait for the Midi (should be out by the time SB replacement boards here, weird timing lol), but -

Arc Midi -
Removable/rotatable 4x3.5 inch bay
USB 3
More holes for airflow (though probably overkill)
+1 expansion slot (perfect for the fan controller)
Newer (lol a bit vain here)

R3
Acoustic Dampening
Completely clean front face look (don't have any drive bay stuff, so door is perfect)
esata
no wait time
can possibly mod in USB 3 (don't know yet)

The Define R4 will probably have most the Midi's features and more, but that is quite a few months out.
 
The door at R3 keeps the case very silent, with no hard drives, low speed fans at idle (including the graphics card) and super silent PSU (Corsair AX850) this system became the first system i can sleep while being directly visible from my bed (so no sound barriers between me and PC). Arc Midi will never be so silent as R3.

Unless you are planing on anything longer than 29cm, then maybe there is a reason to get the Arc Midi. Otherwise, hell no. 29cm is enough for pretty much any card except few exceptions - this is a 27cm Gainward GTX570 Phantom in my case :
in2an.jpg
 
Arc Mini looks really nice, though i'm wondering if the top panel is overkill, especialy for the majority who won't be using a rad.
 
I recently bought a Fractal define XL and IMHO is a great case.
The price was very good (140$) and the build quality is great. I replaced the front fans with 2 140mm thermalright x-silent and 1 scythe Gtyphoon, everything else untouched (no fan in side panel). The temps are the same as it were with a Cooler master haf932 but whisper quiet.
I am very impressed with it, and for the record i owned a p180 and had to change it because it couldn't cope with the temps of my rig.
 
The door at R3 keeps the case very silent, with no hard drives, low speed fans at idle (including the graphics card) and super silent PSU (Corsair AX850) this system became the first system i can sleep while being directly visible from my bed (so no sound barriers between me and PC). Arc Midi will never be so silent as R3.

Unless you are planing on anything longer than 29cm, then maybe there is a reason to get the Arc Midi. Otherwise, hell no. 29cm is enough for pretty much any card except few exceptions - this is a 27cm Gainward GTX570 Phantom in my case

I think I swing to the R3 due to the sound dampening, and maybe try to mod in a USB 3 into the front somehow. I actually sleep with ear plugs, so a bit irritated by white noise even at night. The HD cage remove is mainly since I only have 4 planned at the moment, removing one of the cages would just make it cleaner inside. No plans at all to use a dual GPU card (don't really like multi gpu setups), so that actually wasn't really a consideration.

Love the white, if only it wouldn't look out of place for me haha...

Arc Mini looks really nice, though i'm wondering if the top panel is overkill, especialy for the majority who won't be using a rad.

I believe on of the appeals of the case is the side and top vents can all be sealed off (with sound dampening) if you choose not to use them.
 
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