Fractal Designs Define R2 - P193 rival? - bit-tech.net Forums

Rocket_Knight64 · 12th Oct 2009, 18:43

http://www.fractal-design.com/?view=...gory=2&prod=32

Looking good for people who did not like agressive fridge look.

As a seeming startup, could be worth a review?

Jipa · 12th Oct 2009, 19:35

That case sure looks promising. I especially like how
- Most of the drive cage area is made for the 3,5" drives (who needs 5,25" drive bays anyway? Or more than two of them...)
- The extra fan holes come blocked with what seems like bitumen

And a full review: http://www.sweclockers.com/artikel/6...sign_define_r2

smc8788 · 3rd Nov 2009, 15:34

I've just taken delivery of one of these with the Titanium front panel from Quiet PC (quite lucky it seems as it looks like everywhere has blown through their stock allocation until December).

First impressions are very good indeed, very similar to the P182 (which is no bad thing), but has a single compartment design with more fan mounts so should provide better airflow. It also has sound proofing material on all sides of the case (except the bottom), including all unused fan mounts as Jipa said, so should be nice and quiet too (will have to wait and see how loud those Fractal Design fans are first).

I might look at getting a proper detailed review up (with pictures!) at some point since there still isn't an English language one that can see, but it might have to wait until my post-Christmas upgrade because I've got a crapload of uni work on at the moment.

Andersen1337 · 3rd Nov 2009, 16:47

There have been some threads over at sweclockers about the bitumen-pieces falling off of the plasticsheets that cover the fanholes in the top. But undoubtedly you get A LOT for your money in this case, black coated internals, space for 30cm/12" long cards, 8(?) 3.5" slots along with 6 120/140mm fanmounts.

However, I wouldn't recommend using the fan-controller that comes with the case. It feels very cheap and the first thing I experienced when connecting the fans to it was one of the cables falling out of place from the fan-controller.

But overall, it's a very nice case, for that amount of money.

smc8788 · 3rd Nov 2009, 17:00

Yeah, I noticed the bitumen sheets were peeling away at the corners on one of the sides of the case, nothing a little superglue or other adhesive substance won't fix. The build quality is generally very good aside from that though. I probably wouldn't have bothered using the fan controller anyway, it seems a bit pointless, and the only other thing I would complain about is that none of the hard drive bays are removable (I doubt I'll ever had the need for 8 HDDs) to improve airflow from the front fans.

I'm glad I decided to go with this case though, as I didn't want to go spend over £100 and didn't like the look of the new P183, while most of the cheaper cases have flashy mesh front grilles with LED fans blaring through which I don't really care for.

Mankz · 3rd Nov 2009, 20:55

Hmm, looks rather nice actually... Its just begging for a 120x2 or even a 140x2 Radiator in the front.

12th Oct 2009, 18:43	#1
Rocket_Knight64 Multimodder Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: With the Berks Posts: 146	Fractal Designs Define R2 - P193 rival? http://www.fractal-design.com/?view=...gory=2&prod=32 Looking good for people who did not like agressive fridge look. As a seeming startup, could be worth a review? __________________ Q9550 E0 @ stock under TRUE : Maximus II Formula : 4Gb Corsair Dominator : HD4870 512Mb (790/1100) + Accelero S1 120Gb G.Skill Falcon : 300Gb VelociRaptor : 1Tb Samsung F1 : Auzentech Prelude AE Aego M 2.1 : Hazro HZ24Wi LCD : G15 v1 KB : G5 Mouse : Lian-Li PC-A17

12th Oct 2009, 19:35	#2
Jipa Licenced idiot. Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Tampere, Finland Posts: 3,070	That case sure looks promising. I especially like how - Most of the drive cage area is made for the 3,5" drives (who needs 5,25" drive bays anyway? Or more than two of them...) - The extra fan holes come blocked with what seems like bitumen And a full review: http://www.sweclockers.com/artikel/6...sign_define_r2 __________________ Abit IP35 - E6750 - 8800GT 1024 MB - 2 GB 800 MHz - enough HDDs - 750 W Silverstone - CM Storm Sniper Asus P5Q-VM - Q9450 - 4 GB - 400 W Silverstone - Fortress FT01 AllTheMods - MetkuMods - LedCalc

3rd Nov 2009, 15:34	#3
smc8788 This is bit-tech! Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Southampton, UK Posts: 2,291	I've just taken delivery of one of these with the Titanium front panel from Quiet PC (quite lucky it seems as it looks like everywhere has blown through their stock allocation until December). First impressions are very good indeed, very similar to the P182 (which is no bad thing), but has a single compartment design with more fan mounts so should provide better airflow. It also has sound proofing material on all sides of the case (except the bottom), including all unused fan mounts as Jipa said, so should be nice and quiet too (will have to wait and see how loud those Fractal Design fans are first). I might look at getting a proper detailed review up (with pictures!) at some point since there still isn't an English language one that can see, but it might have to wait until my post-Christmas upgrade because I've got a crapload of uni work on at the moment.

3rd Nov 2009, 16:47	#4
Andersen1337 Modder Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 61	There have been some threads over at sweclockers about the bitumen-pieces falling off of the plasticsheets that cover the fanholes in the top. But undoubtedly you get A LOT for your money in this case, black coated internals, space for 30cm/12" long cards, 8(?) 3.5" slots along with 6 120/140mm fanmounts. However, I wouldn't recommend using the fan-controller that comes with the case. It feels very cheap and the first thing I experienced when connecting the fans to it was one of the cables falling out of place from the fan-controller. But overall, it's a very nice case, for that amount of money.

3rd Nov 2009, 17:00	#5
smc8788 This is bit-tech! Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Southampton, UK Posts: 2,291	Yeah, I noticed the bitumen sheets were peeling away at the corners on one of the sides of the case, nothing a little superglue or other adhesive substance won't fix. The build quality is generally very good aside from that though. I probably wouldn't have bothered using the fan controller anyway, it seems a bit pointless, and the only other thing I would complain about is that none of the hard drive bays are removable (I doubt I'll ever had the need for 8 HDDs) to improve airflow from the front fans. I'm glad I decided to go with this case though, as I didn't want to go spend over £100 and didn't like the look of the new P183, while most of the cheaper cases have flashy mesh front grilles with LED fans blaring through which I don't really care for.