Fractal Define XL

Monkeydee · **Posted:** Sun Sep 23, 2012 10:53 pm

Well, I think I may have found my next case.
My current Antec 900 II v3 just isn't quite cutting it any more with the RAID10 and an SSD floating around.

http://www.fractal-design.com/?view=pro ... =2&prod=68

Flama22 · **Posted:** Mon Sep 24, 2012 9:35 am

I've always liked the look of all the Fractal cases I've seen but I wonder how quiet they would be. I know that's not a main concern for a lot of people here but it's been getting more important for me all the time to the point where I think I'll have a hard time replacing my Antec Sonata III. Still they are very nice looking cases and if I had to buy at the moment as well there's a very high chance I would get one as well. Let us know how it works out!

CMDR Steve-O · **Posted:** Mon Sep 24, 2012 10:59 am

How much space is there behind the tray for cable management? How's that big ol slanted fan on the top do for airflow, or getting in the way?

Flama22 · **Posted:** Mon Sep 24, 2012 11:09 am

The PSU mounts in the bottom section so I would hope that slanted fan wouldn't really get in the way even with the largest of HSF but maybe I'm wrong?

Monkeydee · **Posted:** Mon Sep 24, 2012 1:38 pm

I totally didn't even think about the clearance between an after-market hs/f with that top fan.

The slanted fan is so that the air can flow out of the back of the case instead of the top which is weird since heat naturally rises. However, that design choice will make it easier to use that case as a foot rest. haha
Looking into how much space is behind the motherboard for cable management and it looks to be not that bad. but i've been seeing a lit of pics where connectors are being hidden behind the optical drive cage because there's a little more space there.

Also, cost on one of these things including shipping from online sources comes to about $200. So it'll be a couple of pays before I pester Rob to try to get one in for me.

Flama22 · **Posted:** Mon Sep 24, 2012 2:39 pm

Monkeydee wrote:

The slanted fan is so that the air can flow out of the back of the case instead of the top

Oh ya. I just assumed it was a top vent with an angled fan to promote the "front to back" airflow circulation some more. I had to look around to find an image of the back and it has short a rectangular grill to vent that air at a sharp angle. I wonder how much air flow that stops and how much noise it might add? I'm actually not a fan of top vents because of the trade-offs with them - added noise hole pointed up at me and easy way for dirt to get into the case when the fan isn't running - but I'm not sure if I would like this solution either. :-\ I guess I'd have to see it in action.

Hali_Newf · **Posted:** Tue Sep 25, 2012 9:16 am

I dont think top vents are an issue. Heat rises, easy for a fan to expel it. If you are worried about dirt, move your case. Any dirt that you would think would get in there would be so tiny it wouldnt do anything - and one should be cleaning regularly with compressed air anyways.

I like the case and can see it being very popular to those that run a shit ton of drives for torrents. I dont see the point in raid much anymore with ssd's being in the market. The cost effectiveness of buying several ssd's to get greater speed isnt worth the $$ when a single quality drive is faster than several spinning drives in raid for the most part.

Not sure what to think about the angled top fan. Id think it would get in the way and its not a space saver. I do however like the zones the case creates and it looks like you can keep everything very very neat with lots of cable management options. how much is this thing?

Monkeydee · **Posted:** Tue Sep 25, 2012 12:27 pm

Hali_Newf wrote:

I dont think top vents are an issue. Heat rises, easy for a fan to expel it. If you are worried about dirt, move your case. Any dirt that you would think would get in there would be so tiny it wouldnt do anything - and one should be cleaning regularly with compressed air anyways.

I like the case and can see it being very popular to those that run a sh...t ton of drives for torrents. I dont see the point in raid much anymore with ssd's being in the market. The cost effectiveness of buying several ssd's to get greater speed isnt worth the $$ when a single quality drive is faster than several spinning drives in raid for the most part.

Not sure what to think about the angled top fan. Id think it would get in the way and its not a space saver. I do however like the zones the case creates and it looks like you can keep everything very very neat with lots of cable management options. how much is this thing?

i got a RAID10 of 1TB WD Black drives for just storage and then I also have a single 240GB Corsair Force 3 for Windows/installed programs/games. And right now that is really cramped in my case and allows for very little cable management.

the cost is about $150-ish plus shipping and tax. places are looking for $30-$40 for shipping because the case weighs a ton apparently.

Flama22 · **Posted:** Tue Sep 25, 2012 1:58 pm

Heavy cases tend to be quieter in my experience. One of the downsides to using aluminum unfortunately but it might be a good sign for this one.

I still find top fans add a lot of dust. I understand that heat rises and having a fan there is a good idea for cooling but the pros/cons just don't add up enough for me to want one anymore. Plus I have to say it's kind of nice opening your case after half a year to make a change and clean up and then seeing it's pretty much totally clean in there already.

Fractal Define XL

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