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Even though this is an extremely compact mid-tower case, fitting a standard size ATX motherboard inside is very easy. Since there is no 5.25-inch bay at the front, it creates plenty of space to manoeuvre the motherboard into position. The pre-installed 120mm fan was close to the rear I/O shroud but there was just enough room so that it did not interfere during motherboard installation.
The same can be said for AIO installation, even with the limited amount of space inside the case we managed to install the Fractal Celsius+ S28 280mm AIO in the front panel location with no interference issues whatsoever. Installing a 360mm AIO in here should easily be possible too.
Since the only viable position to fit the AIO is in the front panel, the 140mm fan that came pre-installed at the front of the case was repositioned in the top panel to exhaust warm air. However, we expect this will only be effective with the alternative vented airflow top panel installed.
Installing storage drives in the 3.5-inch bays is very simple. With a 280mm AIO installed, we were able to position the HDD cage to the very front of the case to make extra space for the power supply and cables. The HDD is secured to the 3.5-inch bay using antivibration rubbers and screws then slotted back into the cage and secured with a single thumbscrew.
Our choice of graphics card for this system is the Gigabyte RTX 2070 Super Gaming OC which measures approximately 285mm in length, so it is not the longest graphics card in the world but certainly not short. There is plenty of space for a GPU of this length to easily fit inside the Define 7 Compact, with a little room to spare up to the radiator.
Installing the power supply was a little tight but it did go in without too much hassle. The fact that it inserts from the rear helps and because we moved the HDD bracket to the very front of the case, this also left us with plenty of space to hide cables or possibly even add more cables to the modular power supply in future, without having to remove the power supply.
Cable management is a mixed bag with the Define 7 Compact. Space behind the motherboard tray is a little tight, which is expected from mid-tower cases of this size. However, the abundant amount of cable cutouts helps with cable routing and the recessed channel to the left-hand side of the motherboard tray came in very handy. We managed to run the majority of the cables here so it works as intended.
The overall process of system installation inside the Fractal Design Define 7 Compact was a pleasing experience. We didn’t come up against any major issues or challenges during the installation and all the components we originally selected for the build fit perfectly. The case feels sturdy and some of the handy features such as the tool-free panel removal and generous cable management cut-outs were certainly useful during assembly.
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