Fractal Design R3

[GeForce]

I specifically built my system to be very quiet, so chose GPU with a quiet cooler, 120mm fan CPU cooler, quiet PSU etc. to compliment the R3.

The system is absolutely whisper quiet, I never imagined an air cooled system could make so little noise.

Hugely impressed.

 

[mikejasonsmith]

Anyone know if I can use a zotac h55 mini itx in this?

 

[gee3000]

Anyone willing to spray some of these hard drive trays black and sell them to me please?
(Too lazy, busy and quite frankly too noob to do it myself ;p)

 

[The Halk]

Here's a photo taken with my phone:



The black blobs on each of the sleds are rubber vibration dampeners for 3.5" drives. In the bottom sled you can see an extra hole closer in to the centre - these are for mounting SSDs. Be aware that the R2 (I can't speak for the R3) only comes with enough screws for mounting one 2.5" device, although enough for plenty of 3.5" devices.

That's a little annoying. I don't have any 3.5 inch drives (they're all my server) just 3 SSDs. How did you manage to fit the other 2 in your case?

 

[The Halk]

Well, I've now migrated from one case into the new R3.

I was very impressed with the case, it looked better than I had expected from images and from other people's comments.

The rubber grommits do come loose easily, but they are easy to put back, and if you take a little bit of time you can avoid that happening. Even if they were more firmly attached that might just make it difficult to reattach them.

I did manage to get back using the screws that came with one of my SSDs along with the 4 screws that came with the case to get all 3 SSDs fitted into the very simple, but effective HDD racks.

Nothing about the case semed to have any corners cut, or anything cheap or nasty. The only thing I was disappointed with was the lack of two fans on the front of the case as intakes - it only has one. The result of that is that I suspect the case does not have positive pressure, which means the air filters aren't going to do any good. I'll have to source a fan I think.

If they wanted to make things any better then all I can really think of for R4 is to tidy up the front panel/HDD light/switch etc cables. They have them in black already, but they could make them a little tidier.

My system isn't quiet, I have the fans running at 50% speed, but then again there is utter silence around me. If I move to the doorway I can hear the fans on the server in the loft louder than I can hear this one. I do need to get a smart fan controller other than Asus's awful awful awful software and BIOS settings. Every time I use a piece of Asus bespoke software I want to grab them and shout at them until they understand how frustratingly bad it is.

 

[HighlandeR]

This is what I noted is wrong with my Fractual R2

*No fan controller to support the 3-4 fans thats needed
*not enough space behind the other side of the case for decent cable managment (even with an ax850 flatcables!)
*reset button (no biggy)
*top cable managment hole for 4-8pin cpu is pointless since its cut off and inaccessable due to design.
*Longer VGA cards like 5970 or dual gpus may not fit or tight squeeze.
*bottom 120mm fan is in way of p/s cables, so has to either overlap or be removed.

Theres proberly more cons, but looking at even still R2 was the best case ive owned and most silent as well, and ive had lian lis upto £150 shudder!

I bet most of the issues are resolved however I feel the R3 needs more space at front for longer VGA cards and more space at bottom and other side of case for better cable managment.....which R3 may not have?

Either way im gonna go with Fractual XL it maybe slightly more noisy due to the top fan but ill replace it

 

[Orba]

Been putting together my list for my new Sandybridge build but I've just noticed that the only R3s that are listed on OcUK now are in white, could have lived with one in any colour except white.

Any information on if and when more in the other colours will be back? The R3 ticks quite a few boxes with me so if it won't be took long I'm willing to hold off, but if its going to be a while I will have to start my case search again.

 

[Pyr0]

I was going to get the R3, but might now just get the XL instead. It looks like the 5870 only just fits inside the case. (http://images.bit-tech.net/content_...gn-define-r3-review/Fractal-Design-R3-1-l.jpg)

Edit: Does anyone think that cards will continue to get bigger than the 5870? If so the R3 might not last too long, it doesn't look like that drive tray stuff is removable.

 

[FrankJH]

Be warned the XL isnt as highly thought of as the R3, stock cooling isnt as good and its quite a bit more expensive

Was really hoping to aquire a titanium or black R3 from OCUK but they seem to have totally removed them from their system at present - so look like I will have to aquire one from elsewhere

 

[Pyr0]

Be warned the XL isnt as highly thought of as the R3, stock cooling isnt as good and its quite a bit more expensive

Was really hoping to aquire a titanium or black R3 from OCUK but they seem to have totally removed them from their system at present - so look like I will have to aquire one from elsewhere

Yeah, I just learned all this recently. I think i'm going to go with the Silverstone Raven instead.

 

[jbs]

Was really hoping to aquire a titanium or black R3 from OCUK but they seem to have totally removed them from their system at present - so look like I will have to aquire one from elsewhere

Seems like stock is low everywhere. I have also noticed the R3 being removed from the listings on competitor sites. I''' probably post a webnote to ask about OCUK stock as I was hoping to put my new build into one of these.

I've bought a second hand R2 for a server build and I am very happy with it.

 

[FrankJH]

stock is low - I can understand, but removal of the product suggests end of line (when this was only released a few months ago), or OC never stocking it again

 

[GeForce]

They were hard to get hold of at the beginning of December when I ordered mine. I sent OcUK a webnote and was told that they didn't know when new stock would be arriving, so I bought it elsewhere in the end.

After spending some time doing cable management, I would agree with the above comment that there is not enough room for cables behind the m/b tray. I would have preferred the case to be an extra 5-10mm wider and have that room available for cables behind the m/b tray.

 

[Balb0wa]

ive had mine a week now, very nice case, one thing ive noticed is lack of hard drive light, it has a power light, suppose i could use it as hard drive light.

Manual doesnt mention anything about the lights either. hmmmm

 

[GeForce]

ive had mine a week now, very nice case, one thing ive noticed is lack of hard drive light, it has a power light, suppose i could use it as hard drive light.

Manual doesnt mention anything about the lights either. hmmmm

Yeah I noticed this at the time I built it but I'd forgotten about it until you mentioned it.

Personally it doesn't make any difference to me as I don't like flickering lights - I unplug the HDD activity light anyway.

 

[Balb0wa]

Here mine, still not settled on what cards ill be keeping, two 5850,s or one gtx570.

Will also be going intel next week and sorting my cooler out.

 

[Orba]

Got a reply to my webnote on the R3, OcUK have no eta on when they will be getting in more.

This case was the first thing I decided on when I was starting to research parts for my new build, guess I'm going to have to look at alternatives sources for the case (still getting the rest of the build from overclockers).

 

[music]

First Post. Hi.

Hope it's not a silly question.

I am thinking of getting one of these cases to try my first ever build with a sandybridge processor.

As I understand it the new mobos have USB 3, but the specs of this case say the usb slots at the front are USB 2.

Does that mean that I need to find a case with USB 3 slots built in

Many thanks for any help.

M

 

[Balb0wa]

First Post. Hi.

Hope it's not a silly question.

I am thinking of getting one of these cases to try my first ever build with a sandybridge processor.

As I understand it the new mobos have USB 3, but the specs of this case say the usb slots at the front are USB 2.

Does that mean that I need to find a case with USB 3 slots built in

Many thanks for any help.

M

most mobos have usb3 slots on the back, maybe 2 or 4, not sure of any mobo with usb3 onboard.

 

[franco_22]

Hey guys, just read the whole thread and I'm very happy.

I wanna order this today with my new build so i can get the vat discount.

Is there a non-cosmetical difference between the R3 Black Pearl and the Artic White? I personally prefer the white but gf wants black so if anyone can help, id appreciate it.

She says everything is black why would I get white case, damn womens aesthetic sense huh