Fractal Design Define XL - Designed wrong!

hyperst · 20 Jul 2011 at 13:25

rjkoneill said:
agreed.
they need to seriously re-evaluate every single product they sell as this kind of issue is absurd for such an ultra high end expensive item

I agree on that, they are charging £89.99 (I did not pay much more for a full aluminium Lian-li) for a case that is not fit for purpose in most cases(

), mine came with a dented rear panel at the back, a couple of loose broken pop rivets in the box, and a top panel that does not fit correct to the rear panel and upon putting in my GFX and sound they don't fit properly

ZXSpectrum · 20 Jul 2011 at 14:14

Weird.. i have just built a large order into these cases and had no issues with the height of standoffs, motherboard/add in card fit etc...

Evil^ · 20 Jul 2011 at 14:16

Number_25 said:
My next build is going to have the Fractual Design Define case, but i'm a bit put off now :/

The XL seems to have all the problems, I've had an R3 for a bit now and not a thing wrong with it, I've also had to contact there customer support and they sent me 2 new side panels for nothing.

SeeKified · 20 Jul 2011 at 14:32

I'm looking at buying a Define XL as well as my Centurion 5's getting a bit ridiculous compared to modern offerings. I just wish they'd make a special all-aluminium run. Imagine a Fractal-designed case built by Lian Li. Hells yeah.

CaptainUnlikely · 20 Jul 2011 at 20:19

SeeKified said:
I'm looking at buying a Define XL as well as my Centurion 5's getting a bit ridiculous compared to modern offerings. I just wish they'd make a special all-aluminium run. Imagine a Fractal-designed case built by Lian Li. Hells yeah.

That would defeat the point though ... aluminium cases, especially Lian Li, squeak like a hamster and transmit vibrations easily. The Fractals, being steel with sound dampening, don't. Lian Li cases are very nice but they're aimed at a different market.

Purgatory · 21 Jul 2011 at 13:26

I did notice when I put my sound card in it was a little high at first, but installing the graphics card seemed to sort the problem out. Also a little push down on the cards and screwing them inplace leveled everything off well, it's no worse then any other budget case to be honest, I didn't have to use washers or anything all fits perfectly. Only problem I had with the case was the front fan module that holds the 2 * 140mm fans was broken but they replaced that now (took 10 days total from reporting the problem to Fractal Design to getting the replacement, it came direct from Sweden). I would give the case my recommendation if you are after a well priced large case with good cooling once you add more fans and fans that push atleast 60 CFM. I replaced all the 140mm fans with BeQuiet SilentWing USC and added also the 120mm BeQuiet SilentWing USC fan, I left the 180mm fan in place due to BeQuiet not making a 180mm fan, but when they do I will probably replace that too, but the stock 180mm fan seems quiet and throws out a good amount of air. So now the case has :-

1 x 180mm stock fan.
4 x BeQuiet SilentWing USC 140mm Fans
1 x BeQuiet SilentWing USC 120mm Fan

It runs quiet and very cool for a air cooled case, just need to replace my Zalman 9700NT CPU Cooler at some point as it seems to make the most noise in the system.

Purgatory · 21 Jul 2011 at 13:43

CaptainUnlikely said:
That would defeat the point though ... aluminium cases, especially Lian Li, squeak like a hamster and transmit vibrations easily. The Fractals, being steel with sound dampening, don't. Lian Li cases are very nice but they're aimed at a different market.

Agree, my previous case was a Lian Li full aluminium case and it use to produce a high pitch sound when on that use to annoy me and it was not any of the fans making the noise just how the case was vibrating that was causing the whining sound. They are great cases the Lian Li aluminium case but very over priced for what you get, I understand aluminium is expensive, but let's be honest how often do you move your case once it's up and running ? Yes the Fractal Design case is very heavy not because it is just steel but the sound proofing they have used is very heavy too. Honestly between the 2 cases I love my Fractal Design XL case now it just made putting the system together so neat and tidy and the room at the back was fantastic for hiding all the cables. Like I said for the money it's a great value large case and I will be buying them to build friend's, family's and even some work systems from now if they require such a large case. It also would be a great case as a server with all the drive space.

neil_g · 21 Jul 2011 at 14:55

CaptainUnlikely said:
aluminium cases, especially Lian Li, squeak like a hamster and transmit vibrations easily.

really? my PC-Q07 didnt, my PC-C32B didnt, my PC-C37B doesnt and my PC-V354B doesnt.

:scratchyheadsmiley:

CaptainUnlikely · 21 Jul 2011 at 21:28

neil_g said:
really? my PC-Q07 didnt, my PC-C32B didnt, my PC-C37B doesnt and my PC-V354B doesnt.

:scratchyheadsmiley:

A sweeping generalisation on my part. Most Lian Li cases do, especially after some usage. Off the top of my head, from my own builds or builds I've had personal experience with, three PC-B25FBs have, an X900 has, three PC-80Bs have, a C33 has, a PC-70 has, and an A70FB has. Again, not saying they are bad cases, they're aimed at a different market.

Thejay · 27 Jul 2011 at 21:29

Well after contacting fractal they asked me the size of the stand-offs that came with my case and they replied asking for my address so they could send me some replacement ones, So I'm guessing mine are wrong for the case :rolleyes: