First I’d like to say a big thank you to the guys over at Fractal Designs for providing the review sample.

I first saw the Fractal Design Define R3 case a few months ago while doing a new build for a friend. His old clunker of a computer had died on him and he needed a new one ASAP so he asked me to put a new one together for him. Unfortunately since he was in a hurry for it I had no time to check out any of the new parts thoroughly, including the Fractal Design Define R3 that he had ordered. Ever since putting it together though, the Fractal Design Define R3s design has always kind of fascinated me. You see, this case is what I would call a little bit bi-polar or has split personalities. It has that charm about it where it can be all calm and whisper quiet, giving a sense of elegance. But then if that’s not quite good enough you can remove the internal padding and get the absolute maximum airflow to cool your system and even add a water cooling set up with the many possibilities this case has to offers.

Specifications

• Dimensions (mm) 207 x 521 x 440 (W x D x H)
• Material Steel, plastic
• Colours available Black, white, titanium, silver
• Front Panel Power and reset switches, 2 x USB 3.0, eSATA, stereo, mic,
• Drive Bays 2 x external 5.25in drive bays, 8 x internal 3.5in drive bays.
• Form factor(s) ATX, micro-ATX, mini ITX
• Cooling 2 x 120mm front fan mounts (one fan supplied), 120mm rear fan mount (fan supplied), 2 x 140mm/120mm roof fan mounts, 140mm/120mm side panel fan mount
• CPU cooler clearance 160mm
• Graphics card dimensions supported 280mm

Packaging

The Fractal Design R3 case comes in this really tuff black box that’s propped up and given extra strength by the foam that’s packed around the case. The front of the box features a picture of the Fractal Design Define R3 case with a list of some of its specifications displayed as well. Around on the back you’ll find a similar thing again however this time it displays the inside of the case and points out some of its internal details. Over on the sides you won’t find much in the way of information however there is a list of the colours the case comes in.

A closer look at the case

After unpacking the case you’ll notice that the front door comes covered in a protective film, similar to the ones found on most modern day electronics. It’s really only there to prevent sticky fingerprints covering the door while it’s being inserted/removed from its box, so I quickly ripped it off.

Once the plastic has been removed from the front door you’ll immediately notice the sleekness that this case portrays. The edges of the case give it a straight/sharp look while the front door for example has a polished finish giving it that reflective smooth look, which adds to the depth of the case. The first thing that came to my mind as soon as I saw the front door was, “Oh no fingerprint!” As we all know too well what sticky fingers on shiny things can do! As it turns out the front door actually does a pretty good job of not showing up the fingerprints too much and the really stubborn ones can be easily removed with a microfiber cloth.

When opening the front door you’ll see that it appears to be a fairly heavy and strong door which gave me the impression that the overall build quality was quite good. Inside the front door you’ll find the reset button, two slots for your optical disk drives as well as two spaces to mount 120mm fans. You’re optical disk drives can be installed quite easily, simply lift the little lever up on the spacer and it removes quite freely then install a thumb screw in the drives side to hold it in place. The fans can be accessed by the two little grill style doors. In here you’ll notice a mesh covering which can be removed quite easily with 4 screws allowing adequate access to install the fan. The case we received came with one fan already mounted down the bottom.

On top of the case is the power button along with the power LED. There are also audio jacks for a microphone and headphones as well as USB ports including support for USB 3.0.

Around the back you’ll notice that Fractal Design have opted for a bottom mount position for the power supply. Up top you can also see that Fractal design have included another 120mm exhaust fan out the back right next to the hole for the IO shield. Located at the top and bottom of the case are holes with rubber grommets which allow you to run tubing for your water cooling system in and out of the case.

A look inside the case

When opening the case the first thing you will notice is all the sound dampening material that is attached to both sides and also lining the roof of the case. This sound padding does an exceptional job of reducing the amount of noise coming from the case as our test system was literally whisper quiet. You can also remove all the padding if you don’t mind a little trade off for noise vs. Performance. By doing this you will also be able to fit larger CPU coolers as we found the padding got in the way of some of the coolers we tested, forcing us to stick with the stock cooler. Also with the padding removed from the top you have the option to install an extra two 120mm or 140mm fans to help with exhausting the heat or alternatively you can use the space to mount a 240mm radiator for your water cooling system. As you can see this case is quite ready to handle anything you can throw at it.

At the front of the case you will see space for 2 optical disk drives as well as up to eight hard drives that are side mounted for easier installation. Installation of the hard drives are quite simple, you first remove a tray from the case by squeezing the two front tabs together. Then you screw the hard drive to the tray and insert it back into the case using a thumb screw to hold it in place. Fractal Design has even though to include screws with rubber dampening to prevent any vibrations from the hard drive rattling up against the case. The hard drive trays are also capable of mounting both 3.5-inch HDDs and 2.5-inch SSDs.

On the bottom of the case is another space for you to install a fan, this fan would work best as an induction fan. Further towards the back you’ll notice Fractal Design have chosen to go with a bottom mount PSU setup, this makes cable routing a lot easier and with the inclusion of all the cable routing holes everywhere on the motherboard tray you’ll have no excuse for a messy case. A foam layer is placed at the back of the case to also stop vibrations from the PSU to the case. Underneath the power supply on the outside you will find a removable dust filter that will help to keep your power supply clean and dust free. The filter is also washable so removing it and cleaning it every once in a while might be a good idea also.

Installation

We opted to keep the case padding intact and build a very simple system similar to something you would find in an office setting, this way we could also take advantage of the noise deadening.

Installation of the motherboard was extremely easy with the Define R3 offering ample amounts of room to move. HDDs and ODDs were also a piece of cake to install, as I mentioned before you simply slide the tray out, install the HDD and put it back in again and your done. It’s the same deal with ODDs simple pull the lever up on the spacer you want to remove and it removes easily, then slide in your ODD, screw in some thumb screws and you’re done.

However the best part about the installation of this case is its cable management. Once everything is installed you can then begin to organise your power supply cables by routing them one by one out the back of the motherboard tray and back in through the hole closest to their destination. By doing this you can free up the case of clutter allowing hassle free modifications in the future if the need arises. Plus it also helps to make things look neat and tidy which is quite handy especially if you’re the type of person who often has the side removed from your case a lot.

	Excellent noise reduction ability Attractive sleek stealth look Great cooling expansion options Very well priced Space for eight hard drives Front drive bay covers may easily be removed Excellent cable management abilites 2.5-inch hard drive ready HDDs and ODDs easily installed with thumb screws
	Weighs a little on the heavy side Trade off between stealth or bigger CPU cooler Longer graphics cards may struggle to fit
8.5	The Define R3 offers exceptional value. Most eTailers are selling this case between $99 - $119 which means you get exceptional bang for your buck performance. The case gives you the ability to choose between whisper quiet stealth operation or you can scrap that completely and go all out with a fully blown water cooled system. The choices are endless and Fractal Design also offer plenty of mounting possibilities for any cooling system you might require. Add that to the fact you can also install 2.5-inch HDD/SSDs and keep the case tidy with the excellent cable routing system makes you start to realise that Fractal Design have a real winner on their hands here with the Define R3.