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Hardware Fractal Design Arc Midi R2 Review

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by Meanmotion, 10 May 2013.

  1. Meanmotion

    Meanmotion bleh Moderator

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  2. Siwini

    Siwini What is 4+no.5?

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    Looks great, almost as good as my xigmatek utgard. The only thing I'd like to see is a little bigger window:)
     
  3. Hustler

    Hustler Minimodder

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    For goodness sakes, will you guy's go on a photography course or something and learn about lighting, your photographs of this case (and just about all the other cases you review) make it look appallingly drab.

    Proper shots, which I had to look up after reading this review, thinking it can't possibly look that bad, show up what a nice quality finish this case has.
     
  4. Parge

    Parge the worst Super Moderator

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    Ok, having been an owner of version 1, its worth knowing that one problem with this case that wasn't (and couldn't have been) covered in this review is the fact that after a few days of use the front grill has two round dust patches on the. Sure, easy to clean with a hoover, but I don't hoover every other day so I found it extremely annoying.

    Nice review though.
     
  5. Meanmotion

    Meanmotion bleh Moderator

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    A fair cop. We'll look to improve these for future reviews and will address those in this review on Monday.
     
  6. SchizoFrog

    SchizoFrog What's a Dremel?

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    I like the window, I don't like the tint to it. Could this be some odd thing with just the version you received? I ask as from the images on Fractal's own site seem to indicate no tint or if indeed there is a slight one, for it to be a slight grey colour.

    Image 1
    http://www.fractal-design.com/img_prod/FD-ARC-R2-W-BL_9.jpg

    Image 2
    http://www.fractal-design.com/img_prod/FD-ARC-R2-W-BL_2.jpg

    So can you confirm with Fractal please?

    I also would like to know a little more about the sound proofing, or lack of. Other cases seem to be much quieter and yet many still have fan grills in the front, top and even on the side for GPU cooling. So are there any other factors involved in this? Would sound proofing material placed wherever it can make that much of a difference? Is the Arc Midi R2 just made out of very thin materials that allow sound out?

    I love the look of this case but the mentioned issue are massive to me. The window is important to me and any tinting would affect my purchase, I also do still want a quiet PC and would be using quiet rated fans to cool the case, I would also most likely fill all the fan bays with fans but then run them at their lowest settings, while not having a serious overclock if any, on my CPU and GPU.
     
    Last edited: 11 May 2013
  7. Dogbert666

    Dogbert666 *Fewer Lover of bit-tech Administrator

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    We can drop Fractal an email to confirm if you like, but a quick glance around other reviews seems to suggest the tint looks similar to our sample.

    We'll look more into the sound proofing issues you bring up on Monday. What I can say for sure is that at lower speeds the three included Silent Series R2 fans are very quiet!
     
  8. SchizoFrog

    SchizoFrog What's a Dremel?

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    Cheers Dogbert666, I've had a look as well including some video reviews on youtube and it does seem to be as you say which disappoints me somewhat to be honest. Maybe their own imahes are from a pre-release sample.

    I'll be very interested in what you have to say about the sound proofing... :)
     
  9. phoenixck

    phoenixck What's a Dremel?

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    Good review, you can definitely fit a 240 60mm rad in push pull?
    If I wasn't using the optical bays do you reckon I could fit a 360 rad in push pull with only a few extra holes drilled?
     
  10. Dogbert666

    Dogbert666 *Fewer Lover of bit-tech Administrator

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    Right, in terms of photography, we've replaced a few of the images in this review but the main thing to note is that we'll be investing in some new lighting equipment and paying more attention to this side of things in the future.

    @SchizoFrog, I wouldn't call the side panels thick, but they're certainly fairly hefty and could be thinner so I suspect much of the sound is escaping through the front and roof. If you were to fill all the available fan mounts as you said, your options for sound proofing the case would be quite limited. It definitely wouldn't hurt to put some material around the window and all over the right hand side panel, but you would be sacrificing some cable management room there. A couple of other things worth mentioning is that the dust filtering material on the roof/front is already a foam material that will have at least some impact against noise, and also the integrated fan controller is only rated to control three fans. Still, with quieter hardware than ours I think this chassis would still be able to stay fairly quiet, as we were unable to distinguish the noise of the case fans at lower speeds. Hope that helps!

    @phoenixck, having quickly looked at the case again today, there is easily room in the front for a 240 x 60mm rad in push pull, and likewise in the roof. With the roof one, this would impede upon the rear exhaust fan and the CPU cooler area, but as you'd likely be water-cooling your CPU this shouldn't matter. Also, as the mounting holes are so offset, even most high profile RAM modules should have enough clearance with a push/pull roof rad. As for your 360 rad idea, if you were to remove the rivets holding the optical drive bay and drill extra holes in line with the offset mounting holes for 240 rads, you should be able to fit the 360 no problem. Even with a 60mm rad in push pull, there'd still be enough room beneath it for all eight hard drive cages too, should you need them.
     
  11. SchizoFrog

    SchizoFrog What's a Dremel?

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    Not confirmation from Fractal Design about the window tint?
     
  12. Dogbert666

    Dogbert666 *Fewer Lover of bit-tech Administrator

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    Sorry, yes, they have confirmed there is a tint on the window.
     
  13. SchizoFrog

    SchizoFrog What's a Dremel?

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    OK, cheers Dogbert, now get back to work. :)
    Any new cases coming from Silverstone? Seems an age since they released a case along the lines of the Arc Midi.
     
  14. Dogbert666

    Dogbert666 *Fewer Lover of bit-tech Administrator

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    No worries :) As for SilverStone, ones we know are in the pipeline include the Raven RV04, Mammoth MM01, and Fortress FT04, as well as the micro-ATX Sugo SG10. We'll be sure to try to get them in as soon as possible!
     
  15. SchizoFrog

    SchizoFrog What's a Dremel?

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    Dogbert, maybe you can do something for me? When you do a review or talk to someone from Silverstone, maybe you can ask them why all their inverted cases such as the Raven are always set up the reverse of a standard case with the motherboard on the left instead of the right and the window on the right instead of the left? Especially when nearly every computer desk ever made caters for the standard set up of the tower being placed on the right and side of the user.
    Having now looked at all three of Silverstone's upcoming cases they are all based that way, with the Raven and the FT04 being almost identical except for the front aesthetics and the sound proofing inside.
     
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