Fractal Design Arc Mini R2 Case Review: For Your MicroATX Build
Fractal Design is extending its popular Arc case family with the Arc Mini R2. It's a mini-tower for microATX motherboards, and it’s supposed to provide the same features as the Arc Midi R2 and the Arc XL. Does it deliver a familiar quality level, too?
Our German team recently reviewed Fractal Design's Arc Midi R2 and Arc XL cases, finding them to be solid offerings at their respective price points. Their main critique was of the stock cooling fans.
The Swedish company is now offering a mini-tower version of its Arc cases, built to accommodate microATX motherboards. Despite more compact dimensions, though, it's supposed to offer similar features as the larger versions. This includes modular hard drive cages, an integrated fan controller, spaces for SSDs to be installed on the back of the motherboard tray, and different options for mounting radiators and compact water coolers.
So, does the company make any compromises in the process of introducing its $100 Arc Mini R2?
Packaging and Accessories
As we've come to expect, the Arc Mini R2 ships in a no-frills cardboard box sporting schematic drawings.
Also as expected, the case’s accessories can be found in their own box with a list of their descriptions and a quantity for each printed on it. There are some cable ties, a number of black screws for installing various components in the case, and the motherboard spacers, which are the only pieces that aren’t black. Noticeably absent is a piezo speaker.
Technical Specifications and Control Panel
| Manufacturer | Fractal Design |
|---|---|
| Model | Arc Mini R2 |
| Type | Mini-tower |
| Dimensions (HxWxD) | 40.5 x 21 x 48.4 cm |
| Weight | Approximately 9 kg |
| Material | Steel |
| Plastic (Front and top covers) | |
| Form Factor | MicroATX, Mini-ITX |
| Drive Bays | 2 x 5.25" (External) 6 x 3.5" or 2.5" (Internal) 2 x 2.5" (Internal, back of motherboard tray for SSDs) |
| PCI Slots | Four |
| 3-Level Fan Controller (12 V, 7 V, 5 V) for 3 Fans | |
| Fans | Three-level fan controller (12, 7, and 5 V) for three fans Front: 2 x 12 cm Included: 2 x 12 cm (1200 RPM, blue lighting) Top: 2 x 12/14 cm Included: 1 x 14 cm (1000 RPM) Rear: 1 x 12 cm Included: 1 x 12 cm (1200 RPM) |
| Optional Water Cooling | Front: 24 cm Radiator Top: 24/36 cm Radiator Rear: 12 cm Radiator Bottom: 12 cm Radiator |
| CPU Cooler | Up to 16.5 cm |
| Graphics Card | Up to 28.5/42.5 cm (Both hard drive cages need to be removed for cards longer than 28.5 cm) |
| Power Supply | Up to 29/43 cm, including protruding cables (With/without bottom hard drive cage) |
| Cable Management | Up to 1.9 cm |
| Price | Approximately $100 (Street price, model with side window) Approximately $110 (Street price, model without side window) |
Compared to the two larger models in Fractal Design's Arc family, the front control panel loses two USB 2.0 connectors, leaving a pair of the more modern USB 3.0 ports. There are also HD Audio connectors, a power and (tiny) reset button, and a three-level fan controller that allows the fans to run at 12, 7, or 5 V.
Fractal's signature theme is a monochrome theme. Black over white or white over black. The only exceptions in their lineup will be the Blackout Edition case where(as the name gave it away) is going to be completely black - all the way down to having black drive sleds and fans with black blades.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8rDDyDW0yA#t=143
With advancements of manufacturing, all things tech that is white such as white PCB'd products and plastics won't turn yellow which apparently happens when exposed to UV radiation due to bromine in the plastic to act as a flame retardant.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brominated_flame_retardant
Now due to various issues, the process has been changed, that's why you now see alot of white products NOT turn yellow within a few months.
Personally I love anything Fractal make, they are minimalist and functional!
Also, there is no reason SSDs can't be mounted to the back of the motherboard trays. NZXT utilizes this design on a lot of their cases. You can even do this yourself without issue by just using some velcro if you have enough clearance between the motherboard tray and the case.
I think most people use their optical drives so infrequently, it makes sense to share a USB optical drive among all of your PCs.
I can see internal optical drives going by the way of the dinosaur; again, especially on a microATX build. Why are case designers still including so many 5.25 bays in general? More than one is hardly necessary for the average user. The only people who need multiple 5.25s are those with disk copying/duplication stations. Most of us aren't using our PCs for this purpose and if we are, we aren't doing it in a microATX package.
If it is the same fan controller as R4 (very likely) then it works like this:
12v mode: 12v from molex to ground
5v mode: 5v molex to ground
7v mode: 12v molex to 5v molex
The problem is the 7-volt mod that Fractal Design used. They claim that it´s okay to force up to 15 watt of power backwards into the 5v line. It´s not a good thing to do according to these links:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article6-page1.html
http://www.overclockers.com/forums/s...d.php?t=372297
http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3917
http://www.ithinkibrokeit.co.uk/arti...vmod/page1.php
I have a R4 and FD Norton 600w PSU. When I used the 7-volt mod it destroyed my 4770k AND my replacement CPU G3225… and this is with their own PSU. The computer worked fine just up to the 7-volt mod. I contacted Fractal design about this but they can’t see a problem and they do not have the time to investigate it. I´ve wrote about it here but it’s unfortunately in Swedish:
http://www.sweclockers.com/forum/74-chassin-och-nataggregat/1283945-newton-600w-define-trasig-4770k/#post14450237