Fractal Design Define R3 Question.

cee-S-dee · 24 Jul 2011 at 15:31

I'm currently in the market for a new case and i have my eye on the white Fractal Design Define R3 case.

Now my question is about the hard disk mounting rack in the case. Is this removable or is it riveted into this case? Would i have to drill the rivets out to remove it?

I see it as an obstruction for airflow as i will have no 3.5" drives and i can get a 4x2.5" unit to fit into one of the DVD bays.

Thanks

Sparky__H · 24 Jul 2011 at 19:14

cee-S-dee said:
I'm currently in the market for a new case and i have my eye on the white Fractal Design Define R3 case.

Now my question is about the hard disk mounting rack in the case. Is this removable or is it riveted into this case? Would i have to drill the rivets out to remove it?

I see it as an obstruction for airflow as i will have no 3.5" drives and i can get a 4x2.5" unit to fit into one of the DVD bays.

Thanks

Riveted.

I picked up a R3 white a few weeks ago. It's going back because it seems it's impossible to receive one without factory damage.

Real shame too.

johnsparton10 · 24 Jul 2011 at 19:19

Yeah people have been saying this a lot. Tis a shame, was looking at the titanium one

cee-S-dee · 24 Jul 2011 at 19:19

Sparky__H said:
Riveted.

I picked up a R3 white a few weeks ago. It's going back because it seems it's impossible to receive one without factory damage.

Real shame too.

Thanks.

Yeah I've read quite a few instances now where people have received Fractal cases damaged.

Its a shame as the white version looks a lovely case.

jammir · 24 Jul 2011 at 20:22

I've built up 3 systems over the last 6 weeks using fractal cases including my own not had any problems.

pcpietrek · 25 Jul 2011 at 12:21

I'm torn beetwen R3 and ARC Midi. I prefer R3 due to being quiet case with decent airflow but ARC has a USB 3.0 and removable HDD cage which I prefer as GPU is the hottest hardware in my PC. Just wonder how easy is to mod R3 in order to remove HDD cage as I only have two hard drives (one of them being SSD) so I can install normal HDD under DVD-RW and find a place for SSD. The other thing is ARC has 3 fans as standard (140mm) and R3 'only' 2x 120mm. I have 3 spare 120mm fans (2 Noiseblockers and 1 redWing). I'm trying to find compromise beetwen decent cooling and quiet PC.

grantsmith82 · 26 Jul 2011 at 01:43

I have a R3 case thats spare atm it is a really nice looking case vert mininalistic and looks well padded for the noise (tho its just a empty shell) so probably wont get to hear how quiet it is

Methanoid · 31 Jul 2011 at 11:16

ANy R3 owners able to tell me if there is anywhere APART from the 3.5 and 5.25 bays where I can mount a single SSD? I'll have all the existing bays populated.

Thanks guys

simbady · 2 Aug 2011 at 08:12

Methanoid said:
ANy R3 owners able to tell me if there is anywhere APART from the 3.5 and 5.25 bays where I can mount a single SSD? I'll have all the existing bays populated.

Thanks guys

You can just put a SSD around the back, tuck it somewhere safe, it doesnt have any moving parts so it doesnt 'need' to be screwed in.

Tediore · 3 Aug 2011 at 03:34

simbady said:
You can just put a SSD around the back, tuck it somewhere safe, it doesnt have any moving parts so it doesnt 'need' to be screwed in.

This.

There's loads of space between the PSU and the HDD cage, so if you're not planning on a bottom mounted fan, just use that space.

Got a Fractal Design Define R3 in white myself. No problems with it at all. Lovely case. My brother bought the titanium one after seeing mine, and has had no problems either.

Methanoid · 4 Aug 2011 at 20:50

Another question this time AIRFLOW

PSU isn’t hugely relevant as it takes in cold air from bottom and exhausts out back (but that probably means the other back vent should also exhaust otherwise its gonna suck in hot air from the PSU!). Ignoring the side intake panel (as I rarely use them and it just confuses matters) we have 6 vents. So logically, 3 for intake and 3 for exhausts? Need to bring in air for the HDDs so the front two become intakes, and the top two become exhausts. That means air comes in low (and hence cool) and leaves high (and hot). So the rear slot should be exhaust and the bottom slot intake.

So where does the water cooler radiator go? I’m on air right now (decent Noctua) and happy but thinking maybe for water (Antec Kuhkler, maybe a 240mm rad model)