Hardware Fractal Design Define R3 Review

I've recently built two systems using the R2 and this week have upgraded my own system to the R3 and have found the imrovements subtle but very much in the right direction. I have been able to build the system using less fans with the same cooling results and am loving the move from my old akasa eclipse which while fugly was a very very good case

 

At last a case that does what I want. Quiet with plenty of 3 1/2" bays. (Never understood why case designers put so many 5 1/4" bays in cases, does anybody use more than 2?). So I dive over to quietpc and find there all out of stock for 5 weeks except one model with 5 available. Looks good so I don't mind, I am willing to part with my cash. I then spend 20 minutes trying to buy the damn thing because paypal is down. No message on paypal to say "were having problems" just a strange message about referring the page being wrong, which is worrying when its paypals home page. I gave up in the end and paid by card and then spent far too long trying to find out why paypal wouldn't let me in. By the time I managed to pay for my order there was only 3 left. I wonder how many sales were lost across the globe by paypal having a little lie down?.

I would also be interested in how many of these cases were ever actually available. It's fine pointing us to a supplier but if the stock hasn't arrived yet its a bit of a waste of time.

 

This was on my list the otherweek when i went shopping for a new case. I eventually decided on the behemoth corsair obsidian 700d cos of the seperate cooling zones.

BTW when are you gonna review the 700d?

 

I've just bought an Antec Mini P180, and I'm starting to question my decision

 

Two suppliers are listed at the start of the article, one of which currently has stock.

 

I use this as my server case, really nice build.

 

the spirtiual sucessor to the p180 at last? looks like it too me

 

this has to be my next case. I for one am growing tired of the overly "extreme/enthusiast" cases flooding the market. Excellent performance and an elegant design, what's not to like?

 

Good now just take that stupid fan grill off the side panel and I'll buy 2

 

I just built a new system in this case and I have to say it's a very well thought through and well built case. I have only one issue with it (rather theoretical) - why on earth they went all the way for the screw less design and then skipped on designing front fan bays better, I mean, they attach easily to the tray and then you have four screws each to put it in place. Otherwise I recommend it. Very silent as well.

 

Anyone buying this case for silence, remember you will need to use the top two fans to keep the case at decent temperatures. The R2 I had got so hot with just 3 fans running (front, side and rear) - IMO really poor airflow and the metal is really thin on the top.

 

I have no such problems. Have Corsair H70 with two Sharkoon Silent Eagle 1000 on it, then two the same fans for front intake and one on the side to take the air away from my Zotac GTX 470 AMP. Entirely silent set up no problem overheating or even being too hot. I also run folding@home on both heavily overclocked i3 and the GPU, I can leave it 24/7, no issues. Still have two top covered for silence.

 

Got an R2 with 3 fans as well and don't see a problem with heat?

1x front intake
1x back intake (intake cos of Corsair H50 CPU cooler)
1x top exhaust

Room is a bit warm tonight, but the temps are CPU 33c, GFX 37c, HDD 31c

 

Did you read the review? They've upgraded the fans they use in the R3 which made a huge difference to its cooling potential. They kept our relatively high end system cool without the need to add an extra fans.

 

Ordering one immediately when I have the funds.

 

I can testify to that, plus the fans are very, very quiet too. On par with the Sharkoons Silent Eagle 1000 I'd say, as I have both in this case and can't tell which one is running louder (relatively of course )

 

LOL!

 

Looks like a good alternative to the poorly cooled corsair 600t. This maybe a silly question but how do the front intake fans take any air in with that big door in the way?

 

The air is drawn in from the sides of the front door and causes no obvious restriction to the front fans, i.e. you dont hear an increase in RPM/noise from the fans on closing the door like you do if you restrict the front of a fan normally

 

Does anyone know why the Arctic White version is more expensive than the others?

Quite PC has the white at £99.99 while other colours are £89.99. Scan on the other hand have the white R3 at £110.50 and other colours at £88.10 (that's nearly £24 difference!).