FRACTAL DESIGN DEFINE R2 CASES NOW AVAILABLE ON FULL SYSTEMS

Soldato
Joined
9 Nov 2003
Posts
17,699
Location
Leeds
FRACTAL DESIGN DEFINE R2 CASES NOW AVAILABLE ON FULL SYSTEMS

CA-004-FD_400.jpg


We have updated our case options on some of our best selling Full Systems. Offering superior sound dampening, excellent build quality and great ventilation these excellent cases add a new dimension to our systems.

Here is a mini-review and a preview of the prototype Titan Goliath we built to test the case.

OcUK System Labs said:
At OcUK we are always looking for new cases that we can use for our system range ans as such we do test builds in new cases that come onto the market.

We are looking at using the fractal design case as an option for our Titan Goliath system. We decided that as we ourselves are reviewing the case for system intergration we would publish our findings so that you can make a more informed decision before buying the case.

Below are a few images of the case before we built in it.

CA-003-FD_400.jpg
CA-003-FD_25511_400.jpg
CA-003-FD_25512_400.jpg


First of all I was very impressed with the packaging that fractal have used, you would find the same sort of quality with other very well known case manufacturers. The case comes in a polythene bag with foam protectors on the top and bottom of the case.

Once unpackaged it was time to take the side panels off and have a look at the chassis to see what sort of cable management is possible and the overall build quality of the case. I have to say that the build quality has impressed me as when I removed the first side panel I was surprised at how weighty it felt, on closer inspection this was due to the very substantial sound deadening matt that was attached to the inside of the panel. Then looking at what cable management options the case has I was again surprised as there is lots of pass-through’s for cables which also have rubber grommets similar to those found on the larger more expensive cases like the Corsair Obsidian 800D.

Next I looked at what accessories are included with the case. First of all you get a bag full of screws and with stand-offs for the motherboard, one thing that I did notice was that all the screws are black this is a very good attention to detail so that the screws blend in with the inside of the case. They have also included a fan controller with the case so that the fans that come included with the case can be controlled manually rather than using the motherboard to control the fan speeds.

Next I started to build in the case I found that the back plate hole in the motherboard tray would be very useful for changing over coolers or installing a cooler with a back plate. We installed the motherboard into the case with great ease the I/O shield for the motherboard clicked in place easily without having to force it.

With the motherboard installed we then installed the optical drive and hard drive. We mounted the hard drive in the bottom tray this was attached using four screws through the bottom of the tray into the mounting holes in the bottom of the hard drive.

The psu installs much in the same manner as other cases on the market but one thing that was slightly different to other cases was that there is a foam surround on the inside of the case where the psu attaches to the case, then when you screw in the psu the foam squeezes up against it thus trying to reduce any vibrations that could be caused between the psu and the chassis.

Finally we connected all the cables within the case. The case really came into its own with the cable management options as you can make a really neat job by hiding all the cables behind the motherboard tray. I really nice thought out feature is that they have put a cable pass-through above the motherboard thus enabling your 12volt rail cable to be passed behind the motherboard rather that across the front of the motherboard.

Here are some pictures of the finished build.

Fractal007.jpg


Fractal009.jpg


Fractal010.jpg


Fractal011.jpg


Fractal013.jpg


Fractal014.jpg



Overall I think it is very well thought out case with some great features, The amount of features that this case has makes it excellent value for money and easily on par with cases that cost twice as much.

CLICK HERE to view our full system range and purchase a system based around this excellent case.
 
It looks like a near perfect design and I am tempted to replace the P180 as it is difficult to get the cabling really tidy, but is the airflow in not restricted by the disk rack?
I guess if you mount the bottom fan it should compensate?

Can handle 5870 crossfire in it, never going to be the coolest case due to all the sound dampening and low RPM fans, but it is more than up to the job of any hardware available.

If you use say the H50-1 CPU cooler from Corsair it will exhaust the CPU heat straight out the back of the case.
 
Unless you follow Corsair's advice and have the intake at the back :)

Now who would do that. :p

The only reason you would do that is it drops 1-2 deg of the CPU temp while exhausting all the CPU heat into the case.

Yes it makes the cooler look better but the system will generally suffer for it in most cases.
 
Back
Top Bottom