Anyone here have the Fractal Design Define XL?

ewarwoowar

ewarwoowar

ewarwoowar

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Been looking at getting a new case. I've had the haf922 for a while now and fancy a nice change and some more space to work with and better airflow to help accomodate SLI580s

Not a 100% choice yet but does anything have the Fractal Design Define XL?

Lots of reviews say it's very quiet. But I do have some apaches to pop in if it is above what I want.
 
I would also like to know peoples thoughts on this case too.

If it is quiet how much does it sacrifice low temps when air cooling?

regards,

Matt
 
It is a brilliant case, especially for the price its on offer for.

The air flow is very good, it has 3 intake fans on the front. (not included) The air flow is excellent.

It is very heavy though. and the noise dampening material could be a little thicker on the side panel's.

The weight of the case can cause damage to the back screws that secure the side panels. Mine had some damage, and i've heard a lot of people having this issue.

The case is quiet, but if you're putting in 2k rpm fans in it, the noising is still noticeable.

Hope this helps, it is well worth £85 grab it while you can at that price.
 
kierenharrold said:
It is a brilliant case, especially for the price its on offer for.

The air flow is very good, it has 3 intake fans on the front. (not included) The air flow is excellent.

It is very heavy though. and the noise dampening material could be a little thicker on the side panel's.

The weight of the case can cause damage to the back screws that secure the side panels. Mine had some damage, and i've heard a lot of people having this issue.

The case is quiet, but if you're putting in 2k rpm fans in it, the noising is still noticeable.

Hope this helps, it is well worth £85 grab it while you can at that price.
Click to expand...

Reckon it's worth going from an Antec 902 to this? i do not like the noise of the Antec 902 and it feels cramped.I am wondering wether to get this with 2x extra 140mm fans on side+front and 1x120mm on front at top or the HAF-X....so hard to decide though if this case cools good with these fans installed then i guess it's a solid buy.
 
I've had no issues with cooling, the amount of fans it can mount solves the issues of heat built up from the noise dampening material.

It sounds like its worth the upgrade from a 902. Ive never had a 902 so i cannot compare them.

But the XL is not cramped at all... it has tones of room. it has a separate PSU section at the bottom as well.

Cons:

the bottom HDD shelves are not removable, they are riveted in. But with some modification you could fit some serious water cooling in this and have it totally silent.

if you buy the case i would recommend buying some 140s to stick in the front.
 
I just got this case yesterday and I absolutely love it compared to my HAF912, It looks better, cools better and is really quiet.
Here's my build:
PCinside.jpg

I Haven't fully gone for full cable management yet but some of the features for it are excellent. There's the rubber lined holes around the motherboard to get the cables through neatly and there's a good bit of space behind the motherboard tray.
My only slight upset is I can't see a way to get the 8-pin to the left hand side without going across so much but, as said earlier, I haven't fully looked. Also, as the bottom of the motherboard is right next to that divider there's no holes directly under for the USB headers and such which is a let down but I have yet to experiment with opening the compartment door to route cables through which might clean this up a bit.
There's a nice bit of space behind the bottom right HDD trays as well to hide non-modular cables out of sight.
I really do recommend this case as it's a beast of a case, but acts like a silent ninja :D
 
Bought the Define XL in February, I like the case but I had some issues.

My PSU corsair 520W doesn't fit, I dont know why but the only 3 screws line up and i had to put a bit of cardboard under it because it only sits on two of the 4 rubber feet in the PSU section. So not a deal breaker but it was frustrating especially since the psu is pulling away from the case.

Also be careful make sure you get yourself an 8-pin extension for CPU power, unless you know your 8-pin is quite long, ebay do it for quite cheap. A 24pin extension isnt quite necessary unless you know your 24-pin is quite short. Get some cable ties for cable management, but around 6 are provided with the case.

There is enough space for 6sata and 6hddpower cables, 24pin,8pin 2pice 6pin and other small cables in side, which has about 1inch of space.

I put a fan on front-bottom to cool my 6 HDDs but it only cools the first three HDDs at the front, the fan air doesnt reach the other 3 HDDs. Also there is a really really annoying pulsating feeling that comes from the case, this is because of the HDDs. I cant hear or feel it much when sitting at the desk but sleeping 7 feet away I can clearly hear a pulsating noise. I tilt the case and noise pretty much gone, I'm thinking of raising it but putting some dvd cases under it.

Really thats the major stuff, clearly stock fans are not nearly enough. I've added two intake fans at the front to make a total of 3.

So temps are pretty decent and noise level is OK i guess. I would say it was very slightly better than my previous Antec 900, though the Antec did cool all my HDDs and there was no pulsations from the case. However it has load more cable management options and dust filter, though not all removable, so in that sense its better.

Overall Im happy with it, just need to sort out the pulsating sound, anyone got any ideas?
 
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if its anything to go against the R2, its whisper quiet and cools to boot,

I kitted mine out with fractal 120's put dont expect them to push a lot air. nothing to hate about the case love it to bits :).

Shame its actually very heavy .
 
Gah totally forgot to subscribe to this!

Still debating it. I have many purchases i'm intending to get lately :D

So it's sound proofing is alright? Wonder if I could squeeze a 360 radiator in there
 
Has anyone put some 140mm SilentEagle fans in their XL? My case has got noticeably louder in the 6 months I've owned it. I'm inclined to blame the stock case fans and not the 10 HDDs.
 
I have the regular R3 and it is an amazing case. Too bad for my noisy GFX card and for some reason my brand new corsair PSU... gunna be confined to the floor soon as i get a 140mm fan.
 
I so nearly bought one of the reduced ones last night when very drunk, fortunately my mate didn't reply to my text asking if it was a good idea...

Kinda regret it now
 
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