Fractal Design's Define R5 Blackout Chassis: You Asked, They Delivered
Fractal Design revealed its Define R5 Blackout, and it's already available in the U.S.
When companies build quality products, that's good, but when they build what its customers want, then that's great. Today, Fractal Design tweeted that its Define R5 is now available in a "Blackout" edition, which is essentially an all-black Define R5 with a window. Officially, the Define R5 Blackout won't be launching globally until May 18, but starting today it is available at Newegg.com.
The Define R5 cases come in various colors, but the normal black version comes with white hard drive tray mounts, white fans, and white PCI-Express covers. The Blackout variant takes those white parts and swaps them for black, making the entire case black.
Beyond the all-black design, there's nothing different about the Define R5 Blackout compared to other Define R5 cases. It has room for up to ATX motherboards, three dual-slot graphics cards that are up to 310 mm long (or 440 with a hard drive cage removed), eight 3.5" hard drives, and two more 2.5" SSDs. Despite the trend towards optical-drive-less systems, the Define R5 does have room for two 5.25" drives.
The hardware that the case can house isn't what makes it special, though. In fact, in that regard, it's not special at all. The main selling points of this case are the clean and elegant Scandinavian looks and the well thought-out feature set. For example, the top of the case has a so-called "ModuVent" system, which essentially allows you to seal off the top of the case if you decide not to use it as exhaust.
The side panel also has a quick-release system for easy opening, and the front door can be mounted to swivel from either side so that you can ideally place the case on either side of your desk. The case also has a three-speed fan controller built in, and it can support up to a 420 mm radiator at the top and a 360 mm radiator up front. Of course, to mount these you will have to remove the optical drive cage.
If you're interested in the case, and live in the U.S., you can purchase it on Newegg.com today for $129.99. For the global launch, you'll have to sit tight until May 18, when most worldwide distributors should have stock.
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Niels Broekhuijsen is a Contributing Writer for Tom's Hardware US. He reviews cases, water cooling and pc builds.
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apache_lives *EVERY* single fan you get with any of the Fractal cases is wonky, quiet and reliable but wonkyReply
Other then that very impressed! -
SinxarKnights One week after I got my black R5 this happens. I wanted this but without the window. Oh well, I guess it doesn't really matter since only I can see the inside of it anyway.Reply -
kyle382 "you asked and they delivered"...Another huge black fairly standard case with a cheesy window. Its been at least 3 days since someone released one of those.Reply -
M0j0jojo In my opinion Fractal is probably the only company that actually listens to their customers/fans. Though I still like my Cooler Master HAF 912 because of the space inside the case, but still Fractal is pretty nice.Reply -
g-unit1111 Nice! My Define R4 Blackout Edition is still going pretty strong, I bet the R5 is just as good.Reply -
Patrick Tobin I LOVE my R5. Best case I've ever owned. Everything in it is designed around airflow and easy customizing for just about any configuration you could need. I don't care about a window so black out doesn't really matter to me at all but this is a good option for those that don't want the white fans and drive carriages.Reply -
atwspoon Reply"you asked and they delivered"...Another huge black fairly standard case with a cheesy window. Its been at least 3 days since someone released one of those.
The small things are what matter. I can't find a link right now to another case with the "ModuVent" idea for top and side case fans, and that's important for soundproofing.