Air Cooling, Dusty Protection, And Liquid Cooling
Air Cooling and Dust Protection
Despite all of the fans and mesh, the Arc Midi R2 effectively keeps dirt out. All of the largest openings are covered by generously-sized dust filters that are easy to access for cleaning. The front filter snaps into place on the top left and right, and can be pulled back off by pressing both spots simultaneously. Doing so exposes Fractal Design's FD-FAN-SSR2-140 140 mm fan. The same type of fan is used throughout the case, guaranteeing a homogenous rotational speed and noise level. Only the top cut-out is filled; the bottom is ready to accept another fan if you need it.
The bottom dust filter protects the power supply and another (optional) fan on the case's bottom. It's easy enough to pull out the back. Thick and high case feet leave plenty of room under the Arc Midi R2 to pull in air. They sport a nice chrome look, also help decouple the case from the surface on which it stands using soft rubber pads.
A third filter is attached to the Arc Midi R2’s top cover. Taking it out is more of a hassle because you need to free up to thumb screws on the back. Then again, it's also easy enough to clean with a vacuum cleaner from up top. This is possible because the 140 mm fan under the cover exhausts hot air out of the case, which means that the filter is only there to keep dust particles from falling in from above.
If you want a little more airflow, there's room to install as many as two more 120 or 140 mm fans under the top cover.
Fractal Design's Arc Midi R2 comes with a third fan installed from the factory. The basic configuration should be enough to adequately cool typical gaming systems with minimal noise. All three fans have three-pin connectors that are compatible with the integrated three-speed fan controller. The fan controller’s 12, 7, and 5 V result in approximately 1000, 700, and 500 RPM. It should be noted that the fans aren’t connected to the fan controller out of the box. You'll need to make those connections, and, in turn, hook the controller up to your power supply with a four-pin Molex connector.
Water Cooling
Larger radiators and compact water cooling solutions in a 240 mm format are giving air coolers a run for their money nowadays when it comes to cooling performance at a decent noise level. It’s nice that Fractal Design took this into account when the company redesigned its Arc Midi. The case doesn’t just feature the option to install those coolers on the inside of the top cover.
The Arc Midi R2 also features an additional place for liquid cooling radiators in the front, right behind the front cover. Removing the top hard drive cage from the case, and moving the bottom one to the bottom-middle, results in 140 mm of space for the radiator and fans. The installed 140 mm fan can even be taken out and replaced with up to two 120 mm blowers, enabling powerful push-pull configurations for the radiator.
We did stumble upon one caveat, which can be addressed with a little do-it-yourself resourcefulness. The screw threads for the 120 and 140 mm fans are recessed fairly deeply to fit the case fans. If the screws that come with your specific radiator have heads that are too big to fit the recessed openings, and thus sit on top of the cover, then the screws might not be long enough to reach the radiator’s internal threads. This was the case with Cooler Master's Eisberg Prestige 240L.
Our trick for getting the Cooler Master unit installed was using two of the Eisberg fans’ four long screws to attach the rear fans to the radiator, and then attaching the radiator and additional fans to the front cover with the other two. This worked because Cooler Master included a few extra millimeters of thread to account for a thick decoupling rubber pad that the screws normally go through. We wouldn't blame you for getting annoyed if you were mid-build and found yourself unable to secure your CPU cooler.
There’s ample space on all sides of a 240 mm radiator, which should eliminate compatibility problems stemming from its dimensions. Even if the tube connectors stand out far toward the top of the case, the rail for the upper 3.5” hard drive cage can be detached from the 5.25” drive cage above, which affords even more clearance. It’s only held by four screws.
