So, I bought myself a Fractal Core 1000 today. First thing, the picture in that link isn't actually the 1000, I'm pretty sure It's the 3000 which goes for about £50. This et this are of the actual Core 1000. First off, it's £30 so what are you going to expect? Not much that's for sure. There's only space for 2 full sized HDs and 1 2.5" SSD because the HDs are mounted vertically to allow for GPU space although my GPU doesn't extend into the actual bay. The HD bracket is removable which is a nice touch for a case of this price. There's a 120mm fan included at the front and a space for a 92mm fan at the back. Build quality is excellent for the price. Beats the Asgard and various Cooler master £30 cases but then this is specifically a uATX case, and quite a small one of those as well so less material involve. It's a bit fiddly to install stuff in the drive bays thanks to the proximity of the screw holes to the corner of the case but should be fine with a thinner screw driver than what I had. The HD mounts have rubbert grommits, there are thumb screws everywhere. The front panel cables are exactly the lenght of the case and no more so if you're obsessive about cable routing you wont be best please. All in all, for a £30 case it's pretty epic. Would definitely reccomend a modular PSU in it though and as the for the drive mounting I can see the reason for the bottom one as it does allow extra space for the GPU but above that there should be a cage for 2 or three drives as really it's just a waste of space. By way of quick comparison. The previous case I had was This which I paid £30 for at YYT and you don't even want to imagine. As a quick example, sometimes my leg will push the PC against the wall, in the old case the room vibrated, in the Fractal it doesn't make any extra noise at all.
I'm glad you have posted this. My mums's computer is in need of a new case so I'll be looking at this as a future option.
I got one of those too, my only complaint was the front mesh panels which are really flimsy. So I bought a couple of plain black aluminium bay covers to screw in and it's miles more secure now. Good case in general though
Can definitely reccomend it if it's uATX. Yeah I've spent my life in £30 cases and this is certainly amongst the best. I agree mind the front panels are super flimsy (although the larger piece of mesh covering the lower portion, IE not the drive bays feels solid as a rock). If I can find one alu drive bay to cover the one I'm not using I'll get it. One little rant though. WHY have the power button/audiojacks/USB port anywhere but on the top. I've literally never known anyone whos PC was not on the floor...
Sorry in advance for the thread ressurection... Fractal have just sent us two new fronts for the Core 1000 which fixes the issue of the weakly fitting 5.25 bay covers. They're redisgned the clips so they are properly sturdy now. Here's a pic showing the clips -
Ahh nice! Yeah I lightly pressed one of them and it just caved in, luckily it was the one I was taking out anyway!
