Fractal Design Define S2 Vision Case Review: Excellence at a Cost

Benchmark Results and Conclusion

We brought in the Cougar Panzer EVO RGB, the Cooler Master MasterCase H500M, Thermaltake's A500TG and the Apexgaming X-Mars Junior to our comparison charts, to give you a solid idea of where the Fractal Design Define S2 Vision RGB stacks up against competitors with similar sizes and feature sets.

Triple 140mm intake fans coupled with the 140mm exhaust fan provided more than enough airflow to keep our test system cool and comfy. CPU temperature leveled off at 58 degrees Celsius over ambient. These results put the Define S2 Vision ahead of the Cooler Master MasterCase H500M and dead even with the Cougar Panzo EVO RGB.

GPU temperatures maxed out at 47 degrees Celsius over the ambient room temperature, better than all the other cases used for comparison.

We took sound pressure level readings with two off-the-shelf dB meters from two different angles. With the fan speed set at 1,400 rpm, our test system registered just 29.9dBA at idle. With the test system under load, sound output increased to 32.1dBA, right in the middle of the pack. It should be noted that, although the chassis is fairly quiet, there was an audible "whooshing" sound made by the air being drawn through the front vents. This noise was nothing we considered annoying, but it was present nonetheless.

Cooling efficiency and noise levels are both ways to measure performance. Determining acoustic efficiency, also referred to as cooling-to-noise ratio, is a matter of averaging all five of our tests to determine a base value. Solid thermal performance, combined with a low noise output, make the Define S2 Vision a great candidate for a wide variety of system builds.

Bottom Line

Considering everything the Define S2 Vision brings to the table, we feel that price is its only drawback, even though it is more or less in line with the competition. Waiting for a sale is always an option, or you can pull the trigger on the Define S2 Black Out version that is almost identical to this chassis (minus RGB fans), priced at $190 (£147), which gives you the option to add RGB lighting as your budget allows. Many cases with similar features, performance and RGB lighting are competing for your hard earned money. Fractal delivers an excellent case when all is said and done, but we'd love to see it priced a bit lower.

Image Credits: Tom's Hardware

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