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Fractal has chosen not to use thumbscrews to secure the top panel of the case in place. This makes it a little more complicated to access the inside of the case. This may actually be preferable to some users, though, as HTPC users will rarely require the same level of unrestricted access as their mid-tower counterparts.
The top panel itself features a thick layer of sound proofing material on the inside which should help to ensure good acoustic performance.
Once the top panel has been removed, it becomes clear that there is a fairly generous amount of space to work with inside, at least for a home theatre PC case.
Installing a motherboard into the case is a simple process. We are first required to screw stand-offs into the appropriate locations before securing the motherboard down with screws from on top.
As the motherboard tray is actually the bottom of the case, it would be impractical to have a cut-out for installing CPU cooler backplates.
As a result, you must install your CPU cooler onto the motherboard before putting it in the case. You also need to be careful when choosing a CPU cooler as there is limited headroom.
We only just managed to squeeze our Arctic Freezer 7 Pro into the case so you would probably be best off looking at the C-type coolers from Noctua and Phanteks if you're looking for a performance option.
It's simple to install hard drives and solid state drives into the system. The white caddies must be removed from the case before the drives can be screwed into place.
We had a little more trouble when installing the power supply into the system as it forced us to remove one of the hard drive caddies, even though the Corsair GS800 is a standard sized unit.
Therefore, this case isn't ideal for those looking to build a home theatre system with multiple hard drives as this reduces it's capacity to two (including SSDs). Additionally, the lack of a space behind the motherboard tray means that cable routing can be quite difficult.
Finally we installed the graphics card into the system which was pretty much trouble free. It was a little tricky to get the power cables into place so we would consider attaching them before putting the graphics card in if we were to build our test system up again.
excellent, I love the appearance of this case, looks fantastic.
I always wanted to build a system like this to fit inside my hifi rack for connection to the tv and fast enough to handle anything, even some gaming.
This looks like a good option. need to work out the cost now.
Very very sexy. im sold.
shame it wasnt all aluminum, id pay extra for that. so much lighter too.
Just a note on the video card situation, i’ve got a matx board in the case and am able to stick a powercolor 6970 inside without the hard drive bays being a hindrance and i’ve still got room to run cables, etc in front of the video card.
I don’t think I’d be able to crossfire the 6970s (don’t know who would want to in an htpc case) there is room between the card and the hard drives (if you mount the hdd facing the other way) but considering the width of the card i dont think 2 could fit
Second, The fan controller in the case has 3 Fan connectors but they only fit 3pin connectors (i bought 3, 4pin fans -_-)
I know Fractal includes 2 Fractal fans but even at high speed they’re only pulling 40cfm (they’re the FD Silent R2 fans) and that wasn’t enough imo so I replaced them with some Cougar Vortex fans.
I contacted Fractal Designs about the 3pin connectors and I must say their customer service is amazing, they sent me a step by step email including pictures on how i could cut the 3pin fan connector to accommodate a 4pin fan which they said would work with the fan controller as they’ve tested it.
Instead of going that route though I found some 4 to 3 pin fan connectors online, even 3pin extension cables that could support a 4pin connector.
Also the molex connector for the fan controller, in my case, was loose so it was a big hassle getting it connected to the power supplies female molex
Third, The slim optical disc drive, Fractal supplies a mounting kit but no slimline sata connection to power your drive you’ll have to buy that yourself you can find them online for as low as a dollar.
The mounting kit is a bit difficult to install, it was for me anyway, since i left it for the last thing to install -_- and because the screws supplied were larger than the holes on the mounting kit (ever so slightly) so I really had to use some force to screw it in
Fourth, CPU cooling, There is not much height to the case to attach a large heatsink, Fractal recommends no higher than 125mm if the fans are attached on the sides; this was difficult for me to find a suitable cooling unit,, hydro cooling units won’t fit btw there’s no room to mount the rad+fan unless you do some modding like having it stick part way out of the case. I was fortunately able to find the Noctua NH-U9B SE2 which fit perfectly inside the case with both fans mounted.
Lastly areas for improvement:
I wish that there was a fan on top of the case to help suck air out (like silverstone does, i believe) I’m not sure on what my temps will be like since I haven’t gotten it up and running yet but it would certainly ease my mind as that whole right side of the case is really congested with hard drives the gpu and psu and there’s only that 1 fan blowing in on the right side but its completely restricted with the grill/the hard drives and the cables; again I don’t know what my temps will be like but it would certainly ease the mind and there is certainly room for a fan in that area.
There’s also room, believe it or not, to stick more hard drives in the case and it would be nice if Fractal had included mounting brackets for this but I can understand why not. I bought a pci expansion slot hard drive mount to mount my SSD and a 2.5″ drive and there’s still plenty of room; there’s even room for a 3.5″
Also the aforementioned lack of a slimline sata cable, it would be nice if Fractal had included this considering the price of the case and Fractal needs to improve Quality Control (the loose molex and mounting holes)
Overall though I’m impressed with the build quality and the looks of the case and I can’t wait to start using it, but i’ve been very frugal in my build using hand me down parts and waiting for all my cables/parts from different vendors.