Can't say enough good things about Fractal Design cases

dr-claw

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Oct 15, 2013
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I've recently built a new rig, and this time I bought a fractal design case, since I already had one for my server, a NODE 304 Black. The NODE 304 Black was a bit strange in that the power supply is located inside the box, so that the heat from the power supply blows into the case, but there is a vent located near where the power supply blows out, so it's not such a big deal. Everything else about this case was great. It has big thumb screws, air filters over the air intakes which are fairly easy to remove and clean.

Then I bought a DEFINE R4 Black Pearl case, and wow, I love this case. The front of it is like the monolith from "2001: A space odyssey". Perhaps that's not for everyone, but I think it's sexy. On the inside, the layout is perfect. I don't think I will ever cut myself taking parts in or out of this case, which isn't something I can say about other cased I've had in the past. It features dust filters for any air intakes, the power supply has it's own air intake (through the bottom) and blows out through the back, room for lots of 140 mm fans (two at the front, one at the back, two on the top, and one extra one on the bottom), and covers for any unused fan locations. There's room for plenty of hard disks, and they have their own caddies that come in and out easily. Plus, a whole unit with 5 hard disk caddies comes right out, for better air flow if you don't have a whole bunch of hard disks.

I highly recommend you at least look at Fractal Design for your next case purchase.
 

TommyTanker

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Nov 13, 2013
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Hi DrClaw

I too like the Fractal R4 and will be buying one with my new rig I am building. My question is that I am looking for a very quiet case so should i replace the Fractal fans with Noctual ones or better Fractal case fans that you can buy online???

Thanks
 

dr-claw

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It comes with two 140 mm fractal design fans. They seem fairly quiet to me, but I'm not very sensitive to noise. You can replace them if you want, they are attached to the case with standard fan screws, not screwball stuff. The back, bottom, and side fan positions allow for either 120 mm or 140 mm fans, while the two on the top and two in the front only allow for 140 mm fans, unless there is something I'm missing. The one on the bottom and two at the front have air filters in front of them, so those are the positions you'd probably want to use for air intake. One other nice thing about this case is that it comes with covers for the fan positions, so if you don't have a fan at every spot, you can cover the holes. It also does a good job of tucking cables away for better air flow.
 

TommyTanker

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Hi Dr Claw

I purchased my Fractal R4 last weekend and what a work of art it is. Simple and stunning case. While they were building it in the shop for me 3 or 4 customers enquired what case it was. With it up and running its as quiet as a dream, i dont hear a thing. Im using the 2 standard case fans and bought an additional Quiet Fractal fan for the front. So 2 fans on intake at the front and one at the back for exhaust.

My i5 4670k runs at mid forties for BF3 (Not OC). Case stays quiet and cool. The 3 switch lever at the front of the case makes it easy to switch up the fans for Gaming and then gear them down for net browsing.

i5 4670k
GeForce GTX 780 Ti
Hyper Master Evo 212 CPU cooler (couldnt get a Noctua)

 

dr-claw

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Personally, I'm not using the switch at the front. The middle position is possibly bad for your power supply, since it powers your fans with +12 and +5 and doesn't use the ground. I read somewhere that power supplies don't like this, but that might only be true of older power supplies. However, I recommend only ever using the top or bottom positions. I think a dial/knob/potentiometer would have been a better choice for fan controllers.
 

TommyTanker

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So are your fans configured to the motherboard? When the case its hotter the fans automatically blow harder?
How do I configure the fans to be automatic ? I take it re-wiring is required?

 

dr-claw

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Yeah, my fans are connected to my motherboard, except the power for the CPU cooler pump, which I have connected directly to the power supply. I'm not sure what effect reducing power to the cooler pump will have, and a I don't want to risk overheating my CPU just to save a little bit of power. My motherboard is the ASUS Z87-Plus which comes with AI Suite 3, which has graphs you can adjust to specify what % power you want to give to each fan at what temperature. I initially let it auto set everything, then I went in a cranked up the fans a bit, since the noise doesn't bother my and I'd like to keep my gear nice and cool.