*** NEW Fractal Design Case - Coming Soon ***

Added 2 more Fractal Design 120mm fans to my case to help push air through the hard drives area...
They've probably added some extra vibration and sounds but not very noticeable.
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Cable management hell!
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To anyone that's got 140mm fans in the top of this case - how have you fixed them in? I can't quite see how the rubber grommets work (they bend really easily), and the screws that were used to fix the bitumen plates in are too fat. What to do?

Cheers,
 
Josh Pencheon said:
To anyone that's got 140mm fans in the top of this case - how have you fixed them in? I can't quite see how the rubber grommets work (they bend really easily), and the screws that were used to fix the bitumen plates in are too fat. What to do?

Cheers,
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I used a very small screw driver to poke mine through. Kept breaking through the bottom of them so you have to be creative with your poking. Got there in the end. They're not exactly a nice snug fit on the case either - stick out a little bit.
 
If the specs are to be believed, the 140mm fans are a lot better. There are holes for 120mm too. I can't comment on noise really as I'm still connecting them all up! :D
 
Anyone else with a 140mm Fractal fan at the base of the Fractal R2 case find the filter heavily reduces airflow?

Putting a piece of paper to the fan, the paper hardly moves, as if there's no airflow. Remove the fan out of the filter/clips and airflow is clearly much stronger.

Should I use a stronger fan for the base (ie. an Apache) or is it possible to remove/replace the filter and screw the fan directly into the case?
 
gee3000 said:
Anyone else with a 140mm Fractal fan at the base of the Fractal R2 case find the filter heavily reduces airflow?

Putting a piece of paper to the fan, the paper hardly moves, as if there's no airflow. Remove the fan out of the filter/clips and airflow is clearly much stronger.

Should I use a stronger fan for the base (ie. an Apache) or is it possible to remove/replace the filter and screw the fan directly into the case?
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There are both 140mm and 120mm holes in the base, but this is a really good place to have a filter. A word of warning, I've got a Corsair HX750W and it is just too big for me to get a 140mm fan in next to it.
 
I've taken the fan out just now and moved it to the top as an exhaust. Never had a floor intake fan before so surely I can do without, especially as it didn't seem to be doing much..

Also noticed I've had the power cables for my H-50 the wrong way for about 2 months :eek: Had the CPU cable in the SysFan header and the Fan cable in the CPUFan header :eek::eek::eek: I had my E8400 (3.0ghz) running and stable at 3.8 though. Now the H50 fan's just gone 10 times louder and my temps don't seem to have dropped by the fix :(

Will an Apache fan be quieter than this stock one?? It's pretty damn loud.. :\
 
Josh Pencheon said:
Isn't that the way you're supposed to have it, so the fan gets PWM, and the pump gets a constant 12V?
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I've got no idea but I'm gonna switch it back cos I've not gained anything but noise ¬_¬

Turned the fan the other way around too so it's now an exhaust as opposed to an intake but again this has made no difference to my temps or stability! I'm baffled, it seems as though cooling the RAD doesn't have any effect. I even left the rad hanging out of the case for 2 minutes without a fan attached, and the temps remained at 31 & 35.
 
Got the case today, won't be able to put my system in it until Sunday. The good points so far are all pretty much what has been said so far: solid build quality, lots of cable management hole etc.

There are a few negatives that I found though. The top panel with the vented holes is a little flimsy when the bitumen is removed, even when I put the 140mm fans in. Secondly the rubber around the cable management holes are a little useless. I push my psu cable through and the rubber goes with it. In the end I just removed them as the metal it covers is rounded and smooth. Finally, so far, the metal plating covering the the second 5 1/4 drive bay was an expletive to remove.

From initial inspection it seems like a good little case and a good replacement to the behemoth that is the V2100. The air flow will certainly be improved, and likely to be a damn sight quieter.

9/10 so far, just need to see what it is like with a system running in it.

EDIT: Just jump started my psu. Didn't think the fans were working as they are so quiet. I could only hear the PSU fan which is great news. :D
 
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Does anyone know whether a TRUE Black will fit in this case? Fractal site gives 165mm max height and the Thermalright site gives 160mm for the TRUE, but I'm not sure it includes the tips of the heatpipes sticking out of the top of the HS as the picture is a little vague.
I'm on the verge of buying it and this is the only thing holding me back!!
Mikey
 
well i tried to place a 650w gold seasonic and the intake on the case is in the wroung place its out by 25% so some of the fan is blocked not good at all as its a small size standard psu not the big ones.

also i dont know why they put a grill for the psu at the bottom of the case it would have been better to have a 120mm cut out as all psu`s have there own grill or some sort of protected grills built into the psu, this caused the case grills and psu grill to part block the intake as well so time i put my psu in the case there was about 50% blocked intake for the air not a good start at all.

i was not happy with the case and have had 2 the first was damaged becasue of the sound proofing coming of so went stright back the 2nd the top of the case had a bad finish where the top 2 fans sit if you look at it it looks like the screws that hold the blocking plates in place are bending the top of the case this makes me think the case is not very thick or strong and this was on both cases.

also the sound proofing was starting to come of at the top of the case, i dont think fractal are using strong glue and heat in the case could cause problems in the future as heat could make the glue shoft and make the sound proofing come of this seemed to happen on the 2 case i had. they need to use stronger glue

the 2nd problem is the cpu cut out does not support 100% of cpus and fractal are going to change this in the newer cases but to be honest it should have been done stright away its a new case not a 6 month old case.

the paint job is not good to as you remove the hd bays or any screws like on the psu all the paint comes of and you can see the shiny silver metal under the black paint now i dont know how good the paint will last over time on the outside but if its as thin on the outside as it is on the inside it could scratch very easy and that would not do.

the front door looks very nice but at close up its just plastic i thought the front door would be made of metal but it was not and there was no hd led or reset button i could have lived without a reset button but no hd led ? how much to add not much i bet.

the case does look nice but i think the build quality is not there, i might be Spoiled as the past 3 case i have had are antec but this might be a good case at this price point but for £20 more i am going for the antec p183 or the lian li b10 maybe as this is a lot of cash but if not it will be the p183.

a lot of people are happy with the case but i was not to many faults and design problems

just my thoughts which i would share, i have herd others having problems with the sound proofing comming of to and bad paint job so it was not just me.

its just not the case for me i like my components to last

thanks all
 
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Meridiusuk said:
the case does look nice but i think the build quality is not there, i might be Spoiled as the past 3 case i have had are antec but this might be a good case at this price point but for £20 more i am going for the antec p183 or the lian li b10 maybe as this is a lot of cash but if not it will be the p183.
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I have had a P180 before and I think the opposite really. Thought the P180 was rather poor, the PSU in a separate compartment was a real problem for cable management and made the main area really cramped. I also can't remember the number of times I cut myself on the case due to sharp edges. Also the cooling was far more restricted with just a single 120mm feeding the main area, which was in turn blocked off by a removable hard drive bay. If you wanted air flow you have to take that out meaning you only have three hard drive bay.

Although I do agree about the top panel on the Fractal, it is rather flimsy. However what is the need for a HDD activity LED these days? There is a widget for vista/7 that does it for you. Just means they save £1 or whatever on the LED/plastic/wiring that would have been needed.
 
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dante6491 said:
I have had a P180 before and I think the opposite really. Thought the P180 was rather poor, the PSU in a separate compartment was a real problem for cable management and made the main area really cramped. I also can't remember the number of times I cut myself on the case due to sharp edges. Also the cooling was far more restricted with just a single 120mm feeding the main area, which was in turn blocked off by a removable hard drive bay. If you wanted air flow you have to take that out meaning you only have three hard drive bay.

Although I do agree about the top panel on the Fractal, it is rather flimsy. However what is the need for a HDD activity LED these days? There is a widget for vista/7 that does it for you. Just means they save £1 or whatever on the LED/plastic/wiring that would have been needed.
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hi mate

well i like to have a hd led becasue somtimes if the machine hangs i like to see if the hardrives are been accessed just in case i need to do a hard rest but this hardly ever happens but it comes in handy but thats just me, also the antec p183 is a totaly different design to the older p180 there is no longer a fan in the middle of the bottom psu chamber making a lot more room and far better air flow

a lot of reviews give the p183 high marks and the only bad thing i can find about this case is that its does not have a removeable motherboard tray.

I will soon find out when i get one to compaire both of them this tuesday.

i do like the look of the fractal it is very nice and would have been very very happy with it if it was just built and designed a littile better.

maybe the next new case they do will have all this sorted like, thicker paint on the case as it seems to be very very thin, a 120mm cut out for psu as the case does not need a meash grill protector as all psu come with them this would help better air flow, better placement of the psu intake as its out by about 25%, stronger much stronger glue for the sound profing as it does not stick very well to the case in some places.

if they where to sort all that out it would be an exellent case and would have the bigger companies worried but as it stnads its a ok case.

this is just my thoughts and not to get anyones back up i am just given my point of view to help people.

would have went for the p193 if it was not for that hugh fan on the side that sticks out yuk.

but if i am not happy with the p183 the only case left for me that i like is the lian li b10 which i never have owned a case by them so i dont know how good they are also look very much like the fractal design case but at £160 ish ouch.

so i will see what happens

cheers
 
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