Find our case review playlist here: kzread.info/dash/bejne/ipmI2rejhdXdZKQ.html Find the written review here: www.gamersnexus.net/hwreviews/3558-fractal-define-7-case-review

@TheSickness

4 жыл бұрын

@GN appreciate how thorough you guys get us the information on new stuff and hold manufacturers accountable for their claims. On that note, the Corsair A500 Cooler, seems to have some mounting issues on some boards, potentially not conforming to Intels Socket specs. Heatpipes clashing with caps and like on Jay's vid clashing with RAM sockets. If that is so, people should know about it and you guys are the most trustworthy and industry changing reviewers around. Please check out this vid from AV Techy explaining the issues he found. kzread.info/dash/bejne/Z5ak2pqfn9aqh7w.html I just love watching Steve rip companies a new one 😈😜 Thanks and have good one

@mixedd69

4 жыл бұрын

@GN can we hope for a Phanteks P600s review?

@nc0gneto

4 жыл бұрын

Curious how the case would perform with the door closed but no front filter. Additionally with a top mounted radiator and fans mounted in pull config, seems like that would negate the closed door.

@JamesDittoOG

4 жыл бұрын

Just as a side note, removing the door completely on these cases is only 2 screws. So you can flip to the other side or just remove completely with no real issue.

@oxyfueled1

4 жыл бұрын

The Fractal Define 7 XL are for biggger mobo's

I do appreciate how Steve doesn't add tonnes of '?!' things in his titles. And is 'X the new Y'. Thanks man

@GamersNexus

4 жыл бұрын

I have a very strong rule of "no question marks" for our writing. We will break that rule for Ask GN, but try not to otherwise -- especially for titles.

@thepolticalone961

4 жыл бұрын

@@GamersNexus ye I appreciate that man. That's why I watch all your vids because you do solid work. Keep up the good work

@jace4817

4 жыл бұрын

@@GamersNexus I love that you "break" the rule for the segment that is based on asking questions. There is no grey for you guys, it is all black or white.

@TheVillainOfTheYear

4 жыл бұрын

@@GamersNexus Yessssss... If a headline has the word "just," or a need for any punctuation, it's garbage.

@jrsomethingnumbers9704

4 жыл бұрын

Fractal Define 7 Case REVIEW: EXCELLENT Build Quality, Thermal CHALLENGES?!

Lowering fan rpm doesn't reduce coil whine. A sound-dampened door does.

@MidWitPride

5 ай бұрын

3 year old comment, but as Fractal has not announced Define 8 and this old case is still the best large 5.25 supporting case with a lot of room for 3.5 bays, so a lot of people will be checking these old reviews. What irks me is that many case reviewers only stare at the dB values, not the frequency. 40dB that is a low frequency hum is much less distracting than a 35dB high pitched or oscillating noise. Sound dampening cases don't lower dBs, but they can make the noise less annoying. Same applies to case fan reviews. Just because some fans have great "noise normalized results" where they measure their dBs at certain RPMs and cooling capabilities doesn't mean the fan motor isn't doing some other weird sounds at certain RPMs, which many of them do. Channels with like 2k subscribers do much better job at informing the buyer about the noise levels of the fans than pretty much any of these large channels do, and all they do is use a decent microphone in a quiet room to record the fan in action at various RPMs. To really bring the case/fan reviews to next level these big channels need to start including some kind of noise frequency chart at all the RPM ranges with a recorded high quality sound sample both in the case and in the open air by itself. dBs should be seen as just one data point, rather than the all encompassing "noise value".

I do highly appreciate that Fractal is still leaving an optional slot for optical drives.

@MarkOfBitcoin

4 жыл бұрын

Yes, that wasnt really covered in thr review, but for me, an optical drive is a must have as i watch my old DVD's on my pc. I have the R6 and it honestly works fantastic. Would be interesting if you can still have an optical drive while converted to a open format. Technically you can't on the R6 without a bit of nodding, but I managed it.

@henkki1000

4 жыл бұрын

Yeah, that's the whole point of that case. Having options in every possible regard. So they pretty much have to keep one optical drive slot.

@Nicolas-zo6rg

4 жыл бұрын

What is an optical drive?

@TekNeil

4 жыл бұрын

Me too. Hot swap bay for a big ol backup drive.

@MarkOfBitcoin

4 жыл бұрын

TekNeil oh, nice! Never thought of that!! That could even work for a Sata optical drive, right? Is the spacing the same?

Man, an optional mesh front panel with door would nail it IMO

@GamersNexus

4 жыл бұрын

Hopefully enough people want this that Fractal actually considers it. It's not enough if only we're asking for that. They have a very responsive twitter account!

@LyK0sa

4 жыл бұрын

The meshify C is a few years old now, and was very well received by all, so I'd be surprised if there wasn't a refresh of some sort in the pipeline.

@uss_04

4 жыл бұрын

That door would really do it. Its easy enough to replace/remove on the R6. Just doesnt look very good with the door open.

@ThePirateParrot

4 жыл бұрын

I mean they will just meshify the frame at some point I'm sure

@BenK12345

4 жыл бұрын

like he said though, it does leave you with an extra piece you never use. the plastic front panel for my h500(blank) is just collecting dust in the attic. almost feels like case makers should leave the front completely open and sell front panels separately

A great review overall, but one perspective that I feel is missing: while noise dampening and doors/closed panels don't win out in noise normalized thermals for controllable components (i.e. fans and fan-equipped coolers) they should have a lot of value for non-controllable noise sources such as HDDs - which this case obviously is built to accommodate. Slowing down your fans in an open-air case won't make your stack of HDDs in your home server any less noisy; closed off panels and noise dampening material on the other hand will (even if said drives are going to run toastier than in the open case).

As someone who’s owned several Fractal Design cases, the filters are some of the best designed for actually keeping dust out of your system. I’ve got one that’s run for years and I just clean the filters once in a while and the parts inside look new without any dust. The sound dampening and lots of drive cages are huge bonuses for me who runs several NAS boxes next to me in my office.

@2PM.2024

Жыл бұрын

ive only had define 7 compact now for 5 months with ryzen 7 5800x, rtx 3070ti etc. used as music prod studio and nerd out gaming. really havent cared much for it and just let it be ... and yes you are right as i opened it now to stick in my last two 16TB hdds as i had to stack em .. but pc is clean like a baby inside.... and it never gets warm like they hint on here.. NEVER. im just gonna buy Define 7 xl .. love this case

Fractal, I love you for keeping optical drive bay options! Keep it up.

@ploed

3 жыл бұрын

This. The only company right now with decent and functional cases.

@eRaZerrOfficial

3 жыл бұрын

Wellcome to 2005

@ackman3981

2 жыл бұрын

@@eRaZerrOfficial - Nothing wrong with that.

@BrandensOutdoorChannel

5 ай бұрын

i still have blurays and dvd's. i like to rip my old cd's into itunes.@@eRaZerrOfficial

I would be very interested in a video with focus on finding an "optimal" silent PC while still being good on performance. Can you get good performance and reduce noise by adding more fans and let them spin slower? Is there a cooling difference between 3 and 6 fans? Can you make the meshified case quieter due to fans spinning slower. The R6 and the S2 are basically the same case, could make a good comparison base. Hope you like the idea =)

@wibblewobble1934

Жыл бұрын

Just replace the fractal fans with Noctua ones, they're able to pull more air through the front whilst staying quiet.

Another beautiful case by Fractal, maker of beautiful cases for smart and handsome people

A case with a 5.25" bay. I'm speechless!

@DarkPa1adin

4 жыл бұрын

It's a rare thing these days. That's the reason I got the r6 (still unused)

@user-el4su7tl6f

4 жыл бұрын

good to know I'm not alone

@WayStedYou

4 жыл бұрын

XL even has 2 5.25 bays

@chibichabot9293

4 жыл бұрын

It's for adding a cup holder

@Kougeru

4 жыл бұрын

@@chibichabot9293 bluray rippers are great to have

The fan hub makes me think, "why has no one else done this before?" That's the nicest fanhub location I've seen in any case.

I really like Fractal's understated designs and especially the fact that they consistently offer windowless versions. I'm sure there's an audience for the now-ubiquitous transparent side panels but I'll never be comfortable with having something fragile, easily scratched, and almost instantly dusty or smudged in my PCs.

@jintsuubest9331

4 жыл бұрын

Yes, do agree a steel panel over a glass panel, but...... glass for the most part is more scratch resistant than most metal

@PlutoniumJesus

4 жыл бұрын

The stupid case window trend is also a big reason why computer parts are becoming increasingly infested with gaudy and wasteful RGB lighting; people feel a need to decorate the internals since they are visible.

@jondonnelly4831

4 жыл бұрын

@@PlutoniumJesus I love looking at my water cooled build, back in the day I cut my own windows out. Though at work or in a server i simple don't want it and I'm glad Fractal make a version non window version.

@uss_04

4 жыл бұрын

Maybe they’ll one day bring back side intakes as a first party accessory.

@SkylerWallaceUS

4 жыл бұрын

I really want to see side intake make a return. Not like the old Cooler Master cases where there's an opening for a single fan... But an entire ventilated strip or even an entire ventilated side panel with a bracket for fans to attach.

This is a very detailed review, but there seems to be a huge focus on the thermals and performance of this case. The Define series have always been oriented towards silence, it would have been nice to review the case from that perspective instead and see how it ranks as a silent case.

@ackman3981

2 жыл бұрын

Not everyone is going to use their pc as they did to get their thermal results. So they will never get to the temps that they got.

Can you guys consider adding the fan configurations for the better thermals instead of saying that the stock one is bad? It'll be helpful for people considering the case.

@raatma

3 жыл бұрын

Second this, just bought the case and would like to know optimal fans and configs

@bottomtext5872

3 жыл бұрын

@@raatma Personally I'm looking to pick this case up, like the understated looks and love the 5.25 bay. Any experiences?

I must say I really love the whole door solution on the Define cases. To be able to switch between a noise focus on easier workloads and being a decent (if not perfect) meshified case when the workload demands it is really one of the strongest selling points for me.

@reistje

4 жыл бұрын

Interesting, I'm basically the opposite. I would never get a $200 case and then open and close the door for performance, then I would have just gotten a better airflow case. I just don't like it as a "solution".

@mmremugamesmm

4 жыл бұрын

@@reistje Phanteks P600s airflow or silence

@jace4817

4 жыл бұрын

@@reistje The problem I have is that meshed cases are bad at keeping noise down during "easy" tasks. And Im very picky when it comes to sound. At the same time a restricted case becomes "bad" at keeping volume down during demanding tasks because it becomes hotter and the fans have to ramp up to compensate. So they are both good at one thing and bad at an other. This case can "switch" which others cant. Also takes like 1 second to reach over and open the door for me so "meh". ¨

@CosmicCleric

4 жыл бұрын

@@jace4817 @Richard The solution is a motor that opens/closes the door automatically, based on temps.

@stupidburp

4 жыл бұрын

You can also swap the hinges on the door if you want it to open the other way. Or even leave the door off if you like. Personally, I always leave the door on and closed for minimum noise. But I tested my R5 at max load and temps stayed fine even after extended time with the door closed. My CPU and GPU did not need to throttle down. Unless your system runs hotter then mine, you should be able to leave the door closed all the time without any worries. I have an air cooler on my CPU and GPU with fans blowing into the case and a rather mediocre fan setup. I am about to add some extra fans to bring it up to 4 case fans but did not even strictly need them. I was getting by with just 2 fans.

I complained to them in their support section about half a year to a year ago about how it didn't make sense how on the white R6, the front brushed metal part wasn't the same color as the rest of the case, and now they fixed it with the white case and I couldn't be happier. So happy to see a company that respects their customers this much.

Oh wow, you're actually first, at least according to my humble sub box. Even Fractal themselves published their showreel one minute later.

@SkyForce6700

4 жыл бұрын

Swedish site Sweclockers beat Gamersnexus by 1 minute lol 😁

@adog3129

4 жыл бұрын

there's probably an embargo on it. so it's not about who made their video faster (they all had plenty of time), it's just about who hit the upload button the soonest after they were allowed to do so.

@SteelSkin667

4 жыл бұрын

@@adog3129 I know how these things work, but it's still fun to see who pulls the trigger the fastest.

@adog3129

4 жыл бұрын

@@SteelSkin667 ah

Finally, another case where you can get a solid side panel.

@ZenStrive52

4 жыл бұрын

I want acryclic or mesh side panel

@SteveAkaDarktimes

4 жыл бұрын

I yearn for Solid metal sidepanels. Hate how everything is glass today.

@danielpackalen6609

4 жыл бұрын

I am hoping for a Mesh version of this, since there's litteraly no reason for a "silent" case anymore. With more airflow and noctua fans u got a silent PC anyhow :P

@seedz5132

4 жыл бұрын

@@danielpackalen6609 NAS applications. I have a FreeNAS box built into a Define R2 XL silent edition, 8 SAS 7k200 and 2 SAS 15k RPM drives can get loud in an open case. The only thing i can hear is the back fan if i set it to max speed, as the dual socket workstation mobo i'm using doesn't regulate fans other than CPU ones, and doesn't have enough fan connectors anyway. (2 120 + 1 80 front, 2 92 for CPUs, 1 140 bottom, 2 120 internal for PCIe cards and RAM / chipset area mounted with wires attached to the CPU rads, 1 140 back) oh, and yeah, i need some airflow over PCIe cards, as they don't come with fans and get pretty hot : dual SFP 10Gb NIC, 4 SATA M2 to PCIe card, NVMe to PCIe card, LSI HBA card

@acebeast5935

3 жыл бұрын

@@seedz5132 how are your hdd temps?

Interesting review, But I feel Steve has missed out on what some people find important in cases. Noise levels for me are very important, my PC is in my bedroom, it is on 24/7. I dont mind it been noisy when I have my headphones on and gaming, but for general desktop use and when its idle I want it quiet. Whilst this video was playing I flipped open the door on my fractal R5, just to observe the noise level differences and it was immediately apparent. So its obvious to me, they kept the door for noise control, and I agree with that policy, it is shocking that it adds 10C to the CPU, but as you mentioned the door can simply be opened in situations where that might be a problem. Also there seems to be a lack of focus on a lot of things that are important in cases. Drive mounts, I only seen a quick snapshot of a few seconds of a drive bay been fitted, does this case have drive bays where hdds can be slid in and out conveniently like the R5? doesnt look like it so a big step back in my opinion. Things like which LED's exist, didnt see a mention, the R5 only has one LED instead of two so i had to buy an external LED so I could see i/o activity. Ease of installation so e.g. length of cables for LED's, switch, what screws, standoffs etc. are included. How heavy is the case, how thick are the panels, clarification required if the alternative top panel is included in retail, you assumed it would be, assumptions can get wrong. The fan hub should have been tested as some people will use it, and it may prove to have quality issues, or other unexpected problems. Also is there a side panel fan mount? For several years I never used it in cases, then I brought my first NVME drive, stuck it in the slot between GPU and CPU (MB vendors what are you thinking with this placement that is a heat spot), the controller was idling at almost 70C, never mind under load, fitted a side fan, and problem solved. Your cpu reviews and gpu reviews are generally very good so hopefully in future case reviews you touch up on this stuff.

@xattr8403

4 жыл бұрын

well I feel you mate, but this channel is rather focused on teens who dont care much about noise as they have headphones on non-stop. and steve basically just cares for airflow, thats why all that excessive temperature testing. its better not to take these videos too seriously.

@SteveAkaDarktimes

4 жыл бұрын

he made a video where he tested Noise vs temperature, and basically found out that simply slowing down the fans achieves the same low levels of noise to be near inaudible while still getting better temperatures. it makes absolutely no sense to have fans spin at 100% behind a closed panel for noise.

@xattr8403

4 жыл бұрын

@@SteveAkaDarktimes if that video exists I disagree with it.

@fenrir0870

4 жыл бұрын

@@SteveAkaDarktimes There are other noisy components inside. Like 100% load gpu, or few hdd. Slowing down fans won't help you with these.

@Lishtenbird

4 жыл бұрын

@@SteveAkaDarktimes Higher-pitched HDD whine drives me crazy, and reactive GPU whine isn't any better if you're using it for work and not headphoned gaming. There are plenty of reasons for noise dampening in cases besides fan noise, especially for younger people with more sensitive hearing.

Inadvertantly I seem to have become a collector of cases. This one is my current personal favorite and I took care of the airflow issues not by opening the front door, but by putting two 140mm fans in the bottom. In combination with my Arctic Freezer 34 Esports Duo cooler, my temps are lower than any case I've had in recent years and not being a fan of the mesh look, this case is perfect for me. Oh and incredibly quiet too.

@Spades20XX

3 жыл бұрын

May I ask which fans you bought? I’m thinking about buying extra fans for airflow as well

@gdif1961

3 жыл бұрын

@@Spades20XX I actually just took the two 140s from my currently unused Be Quiet Purebase 500.

Front panel with mesh would be wonderful. I still love the 5.25" drive bay option and I would say don't change anything except to make the solid front panel door a mesh one. I would be soo happy if they sold that for the R6 as an accessory. I would buy it in an instant. Great review as always.

Got two of the charity shirts for my kids. Love your content!

I appreciate the donations, very nice of you guys.

Bought meself Meshify C without glass , I'm so happy with it, it's so damn nice, paired it with two 140mm black noctuas on the front and 1 120mm on the back and the airflow is perfect and ultra quiet. It my best build ever.

For whatever reason I imagined a thermal sensor that opens the door when the case interior gets too hot and it made me laugh a bit

@MirrorsEdgeFan.

4 жыл бұрын

Good one!

@metallurgico

4 жыл бұрын

In Win could make it lol

@KoRRo989

4 жыл бұрын

i thought about doing it on my r6. i use an aquaero on the 5.25 bay and with it i think it would be possible to control an rc servo or something like that to open the door based on the temperature. Unfortunately i never had the time to try it for real.

@TheRealFobican

4 жыл бұрын

Open the Doors to t-junction furnace.

@P4NCH1

4 жыл бұрын

If you add a sensor and replace the magnets with electromagnets that will change their polarity depending on the temps, with a little DIY should be possible :)

Fractal cases are by far my favorite. Gorgeous design and great utility

this case looks amazing! I'm currentily using the r6 and loving it. At first i wasn't totally convinced by the r6 but it was basically the only case that had all the things i wanted: space for 2 360 rads, a big tube reservoir and a 5.25 bay for my aquaero fan controller while remaining as compact as possible. it is a very thight build and it required a small mod to the 5.25 bracket but it works, it is almost dead silent with light loads and the door closed and the cooling is good enough with the door open even with aggressive oc. This define 7 keeps all the good stuff from the 6 while improving cable management a bit and massively improving the aesthetics of the vented top. It's definitely not enough for an upgrade but i would definitely recommend it to someone looking for a similar build. based on my experience i agree with Steve that a bigger gap at the front to let the fans breathe more easily would be nice and a mesh front would be nice for someone that doesn't like to open the door but overall i think it is already good as it is.

For the production system, I believe they also launched a Define 7 XL that might fit the wider motherboard!

About Noiseblocking vs. Airflow: one thing that should be noted is, that there are cases (not pc case) where noise comes from other sources than (heatrelated) fans. eg: coilwhine, pumpsound. So i woudnt be that strict that mesh/high airflow is the new religion to go for w/o considering other scenarios.

@mythicalsnake8656

3 жыл бұрын

Completely agreed. In a perfect world, yes striving for airflow-based systems is the best thing to do - but if you don't want to worry about potential frequencies that could annoy the hell out of you, noiseblocking perfectly makes sense - and if the case offers 'decent' or 'ok' cooling performance, then that's a huge win.

@marekholub8668

2 жыл бұрын

I'm actually really glad I got the Define 7 compact. I've bought used 1070Ti (shortage is annoying) and it whines under full load. I hate that sound when my side panel is off but it's OK when the case is closed

@phantomflame0658

2 жыл бұрын

@@marekholub8668 Nice good to know, I want to upgrade to that case. How are you liking it so far? As stated there is more to noise than just fans. My meshify C has 5 bequiet silent wings 3 pwm fans, but that's not the problem. The problem is coil whine from my rx580 lol and it drives me insane. I bought into the "mesh case with slow fans" idea but now I'm realising it's a bit bullshit in the real world

I run my systems at stock, and I don't go with space heater components, so I can run my systems with case fans on silent profiles and still have reasonable thermals with Fractal's Define cases and Noctua heatsink and fans. I hear practically nothing but a soothing woosh under heavy loads. Couldn't be happier with them.

Thx for making my day a lot better, as usual.

Apparently the Define 7 XL supports "E-ATX"

@TheJustinist

4 жыл бұрын

Hell, it supports up to SSI-EEB (including EE-ATX like the EVGA SR3)

@fredEVOIX

4 жыл бұрын

check dimensions twice, it's not because it supports larger mb that it would be easy to wire them

@jonathanoxlade4252

3 жыл бұрын

Gonna need a big case now dont you think new gpus are like nearly 320mm yet what if they get longer than that 400mm this case could easily handle a lengthy gpu if it can handle a 480mm radiator the max gpu length is gonna be 480mm lol

@lunchbox1553

3 жыл бұрын

@@jonathanoxlade4252 This case can handle a 524mm gpu with room for fans.

Using this case with fans like lian-li's uni fans that have good static pressure as the front panel fans seemingly helps a lot with thermals. I dropped about 8C off by going from the stock fans on my EK 280mm aio mounted up front to the uni fans. Still very quiet and I've been peaking at about 30C above ambient on a 5800X

I still run my R4 with two front intakes, one side intake, and two rear exhaust. Any area that doesn't have a fan has the foam covers that came with it. I leave my door closed most of the time because the temperatures are reasonable in most cases. The door is harmful to noise under load, however on simple tasks and especially when idle, it does make a difference. I never turn off my computer and at night you can tell when the door is open and closed, even though the fans spin pretty slowly. I do agree that it's annoying though. If this case was not in my bedroom, I'd just take off the door. Funny enough though, the reason I bought this case all the way back in 2014 was that this was built to be a CAD computer and I needed the space and the versatility, but it was going to be in the living room so I also wanted it to be very quiet at night and when people were hanging out there not actively doing work on the PC. The irony is that now it's in my bedroom and in its place I have a NAS with two twin-rotor delta fans spinning at 10,000 RPM!

I now have this case and absolutely love it, especially with the various modifications I have made. I now have 4 Noctua 140s, 3 front with spacers to reduce noise and 1 rear along with another Noctua 80mm in the rear behind the vertically mounted GPU to pull air past the chipset (which does seem to help) and both on home made custom brackets. The GPU is vertically mounted to give the x570 chipset room to breathe rather than aesthetics (does look good though) but still leaving 50mm in front of the GPU for the fans, I love that the width of this case that gives the extra room for these modifications. I also made a scoop to sit behind the bottom front fan to force the air up above the PSU shroud towards the GPU and chipset. I did try to put in an extra exhaust fan in at the rear top with the perforated top panel, after blocking off the first 2 fan positions but it was too noisy and didn’t seem to affect thermals much. I also reversed the door hinges so it is sucking cooler air (and looks better) for when I am working on something heavy 😏

@LinusBerglund

Жыл бұрын

I did the same! I am using arctic fans ( 2x p14 argb and one f14 in the front, and one f14 in the back. One noctua nf-a14 in the bottom) , and unmounted the front door completely. I also did an angle-grinder-mod to the exhaust fan to reduce resistance which lowered CPU temperatures by one degree. The fan distance thingies did lower noise by quite a lot, or at least lowered the pitch of it.

I had an R6. Loved the case, my biggest pet peeve was the PSU shroud. If they would only had made it removable during installation. It would have made it alot easier to install more cables at a later date for modular PSUs.

I just wanted a quality clean looking black box with no glass or stupid RGB so my options extremely limited. So far I am very satisfied with the Define 7. As for cpu cooling, I have had no problems keeping my CPU/GPU (5600x/3080ti) under 80c even under the most intense workloads.

The best case in GN's opinion is just a table fan and Antarctic temperatures, while costing 60 dollars.

@TheRealDrae

4 жыл бұрын

I mean, that's literally the best case.

@tanishpatki4711

4 жыл бұрын

@@TheRealDrae hell yeah! Livin' the ice cool unthrottled lifeee

@GholaTleilaxu

4 жыл бұрын

The best PC case, for me anyway, would be a truly modular one, a case that would let the user change its dimensions according to need, while also coming with both glass panels and sound dampening ones and all the modern features and connectivity options like USB 3.1 type-C, fan hub, _no_ RGB :)

@Vatharian

4 жыл бұрын

@@GholaTleilaxu Many tried, none succeeded. the older I am, the more furious I am this has note materialized yet. For example - I'd make this case 2" longer for true EATX boards, or just plain and simple SSI-EEB, around 3 cm longer yet on the front, to allow placing of a radiator in front of hard drives, and made it 2-3 cm higher, so thicker than 30 mm rads would fit on top panel. I have built my current set of cases (as I have total of 7 PCs under my desk) out of salvaged parts of other cases, mainly backside for PCI/IO and tray positioning, and extruded aluminium beams. Honestly, rackmount 4U cases convertible to towers are kind of close to sweet spot, they are usually extremely long, use very thick fans, which can be replaced with radiators, have enough space to fit everything, and usually come with dual PSUs on 1kW+ range. Downsides are they are HEAVY, never have more than 7 PCI slots, and usually require total rewiring.

@pcxdrone

3 жыл бұрын

@@Vatharian just buy a damn case

Annnnd shirt ordered. Love the design and happy its helping a good cause.

I know it won't happen, but it'd be interesting to get actual test data of cases with the problem I have: Having to run multiple buckets of spinning rust inside them. The reason I went for silence focused cases (like my Define R5) in the first place wasn't because of fan noise, but trying to cut down on HDD noise, and I feel like highly damped cases, with noise absorbing panels, have been a significant help there.

@--Lam

4 жыл бұрын

Wrote my comment before finding this. This is exactly the reason I have an R6. Those are cases to put a nice RAID in, and that door with noise dampening material makes a big difference.

@PainterVierax

4 жыл бұрын

Maybe one day GN will listen and do a proper spectrogram comparison.

@jubuttib

4 жыл бұрын

@@PainterVierax/videos I honestly don't expect them to do that, at least without the help of an external source, because actually quantifying the differences spectrograms into real life perceived differences is not an easy job to accomplish. That sort of stuff would be more suited for university studies etc. But checking how loud the perceived and measured noise of 2-3 HDDs is would be nice, even if not that many people are spinning that much rust these days.

@PainterVierax

4 жыл бұрын

@@jubuttib I agree, perceived loudness is hard to quantify, even more if you add the fact that an intermittent or changing sound is more annoying than a constant one. But it doesn't need to be quantified (Even with their actual noise measurement, they rarely reminds that Db is a logarithmic scale), it's enough to provide just a raw comparison and an acknowledgement that all of their remarks against silence-focused cases compared to more open cases are not seriously founded.

@jubuttib

4 жыл бұрын

@@PainterVierax/videos Ah yes, as a one-off showpiece video to demonstrate that there is a difference it would work well (IMO). I took it as an "let's include this in every review from now on" thing, at which point you'd need to quantify it somehow to make it useful info for a purchase.

Surprised you didn't mention coil whine and high frequency noise in general here (as you've done sometimes on other occasions). It's true that more open case designs for better airflow reduce fan noise via lower required speeds thereof, but that won't reduce coil whine noise, which the door and it's dampening material does (or should do? Some testing on that specific issue would be nice). If, as you acknowledge yourself, the case doesn't advertise itself for great airflow, why criticize it so much for that without at least tackling this aspect, which is s.th. the case is specifically designed for.

Great review as always

I have been waiting for this, my r5 has served me well! For sure gonna get this or maybe a meshify version - the question is only when :)

Customer: My PC is running hot Helpdesk: Open the door.

EATX and SSI-EB support is for the XL case ;)

@meibing4912

3 жыл бұрын

Will not fit all EATX boards!

@FullJikama

2 жыл бұрын

@@meibing4912 it fit EVERY eatx motherboard

Bought the Cooler Master H500 linked in the description based on Steve's review in December 2018. ABSOLUTELY LOVE this case!!!

Great Review, and thanks for supporting Aussie animal hospitals! You guys are awesome (an Aussie).

Again you forgot to mention the main reason (IMHO) why the door helps with the case acoustics: no matter how slow you run your fans, a mesh case won't solve HDD noise. Put 6 7200rpm HDD spinning inside a case and then test the noise. The closed door and top and side panels helps quite a bit. You test a Define 7 with a benchmark geared towards a Meshify C, no wonder why it performs comparatively worse. But you can't put 6+ 3'5 HDDs in a meshfy C, nor would it be silent with they seeking. Each case is geared to different users and have different strengths.

Fantastic design on the shirt and going to a great cause. In for 1 shirt!

@icediverfull

4 жыл бұрын

I have the Same Profile picture as you on another Platform lol

Amazing job guys! Your review was very helpful.

I know one voice is not enough but I bet the majority of Gamers Nexus fans and audience would appreciate an addition of one more standardized test of the cases. The enthusisast watching the reviews barely care about included fans and most of us would be adding premium fans anyway. While you do have a standardized test with two front NF-A14 fans and one 120mm in the back, which is great, the test only measures the cooling. We would like to see an addition of a noise test with the same standardized setup. Some cases have really good cooling potential while staying quiet but it's impossible to compare with just the stock fans. Also, an access to all cases ever reviewed in one sortable list would be amazing. It seems only cases that are recent or relevant show up in your review charts. Having access to all would allow seeing the evolution of cases or if we're making any progress at all in terms of performance. Cheers!

I want a mesh case with optical drives.

For me the Define R5 is still the best one. It doesn't have that stupid PSU shroud that hurts airflow (bottom intake fan FTW) and accessibility, plus seems to have a more solid mount for HDDs that should reduce their noise when seeking.

Love the T-shirt. Respect from Australia :) Keep up the good work.

dude o_o I've gotten notification from you, BPS and Canucks literally at the same time

That take on front doors really resonated with me, makes me wonder by roller blind style fronts never really caught on? They offer the best from both worlds: A cover for front bays, but can easily be opened without leaving a door in the way when staying open. Mesh style roller blind front would probably look really cool with some high build quality and materials.

@zeeninetynine

Жыл бұрын

Genius! A nice industrial style shutter with graffiti! You could also leave it half open etc.

I want a Meshify Define 7... get on that Fractal Design!

@blakecasimir

4 жыл бұрын

I'd like to see a compact version... But I doubt it would be much different than the Meshify C??

The obvious solution to the temps is to use faster PWM fans. WIth high speed (c.1800 RPM) 14cm (or c. 2000 RPM 12 cm) units the case would probably match the thermals of more air-flow oriented designs and still be quieter at maximum loads, but have the option for quietitude the rest of the time. This is assuming you want a filtered, positive-pressure setup, which in most home environments is a no-brainer for a long-term build.

I have this case, the solid sidepanel gunmetal version. I hate anything glass or RGB, so that's 95% of all cases done before we've even started. As for CPU temps, I have to try really really hard to get my 10700k to 80 C with 22 C room temperature and I'm only using a Dark Rock 4 cooler. If you're not into massive overclocking, like me, the thermals are fine. Noise is way more important to me and that's where this case absolutely shines.

man all we need is a new meshify c that would be awesome

Try to lower the front 2x140mm fans under the 5.25 bay similar with fractal r6 front fans positions or 3x120mm under the 5.25 and test again CPU temp if you can

@Torrumaka

4 жыл бұрын

I would love to see the result of that.

Thanks Gamers Nexus for a great review and I did buy one. I've been using this case (non glass side version) for about 7months now with a gigabyte x570 master MB, 3900x cpu, 2070 super gpu. I have two m.2 nvme drives, 3 ssd's, and one mech 6 tb drive and also an optical drive. I use the mech drive to store clonezilla images. The system is air cooled. (noctual 14 I think, with two fans) I can boot to windows10, arch linux, or linux mint. I live in Canada but the summers are stifling here on L. Ontario. Thus I put the steel mesh top on with an extra exhaust fan in Summer. And now in Winter I took off the mesh top and fan and put back the solid lid. This process was fast and easy. My cpu as I write this is 33.9C. At it's worse in the summer it can reach the lower 70's c for demanding rendering. In Winter now I've seen about 60c doing things I consider heavier. I keep the door maybe 1/5 open or so and on my desk and it doesn't present a problem or an eyesore and especially an earsore.I'm about 1 meter from the desktop case and the sound is a low noctua fan sound. This was my first build and the space and quality of the case was helpful. I can imagine using this case for a long long time. I'm from the early 90's computer days and I have to say I still appreciate the optical drive. I've been lifting the .iso version from my dvd movies and playing that .iso file with VLC. It's exciting to me to be able to have an exact copy of my dvd and to be able to play and store them in a powerful modern computer. Space and speed are no longer a problem and I really get a kick out of the advances. Obviously I'm a geezer lol. Anyway this case has the space for an optical drive and the front door hides it.

Not just optional optical drive, but expansion of any kind. I genuinely love to see it. Part of the reason I've stuck with my HAF 932 for so long is because I can buy stuff like a USB C front panel expansion and put them in to keep my IO modern. I have a little drawer to store USB drives in as well. I don't have any optical drives installed, though. Big thumbs up for this case from me for expandability. 👍

@mjc0961

4 жыл бұрын

Agreed on the tint as well. I have never understood the point of tempered glass with a tint so dark that you can only see interior lighting and not your actual parts. If you're going to make the panel so dark I can't see through it, give me a steel side panel with mounting for a fan pointed at the graphics card so I can at least get a thermal advantage in exchange for not being able to see my build.

I love fractal cases

Something I noticed with my own fractal case (Define C TG) was dramatically better air flow when I plugged the space below the two fans (I installed two 140mm fans on the front). I fashioned a piece of Plexiglas about 1" tall which blocked this space, otherwise air just recirculated out of this gap. I wonder if you guys will ever do such an analysis. Makes me wish case manufacturers included some plastic baffles to screw below the fans to properly pressurize the case.

@captteemo9133

9 ай бұрын

what space exactly?

@captteemo9133

9 ай бұрын

Do you think it will help on this case too?

I already leave the like for that t-shirt! I'd really want one, it's a very cool desing and for a good cause on top of that, but from Argentina and not having a credit card its imposible to buy one T_T now I'll continue with the video

great review steve!

Still rocking my Define R4 & still love it!

@Akkbar21

4 жыл бұрын

Me too

@MegadetH666ksa

4 жыл бұрын

R5 here. i hate it though.

@sulphurous2656

4 жыл бұрын

I wish I could find those still.

@Wasmachineman

4 жыл бұрын

Same! Wish it was more water cooling compatible though, i'm looking into buying a 5700XT or 2070S and upgrading to open loop water in the near future.

@chadmckean9026

4 жыл бұрын

I have one also, it has it's problems though, keeping the acrylic clean sucks, psu filter is pulled out the rear and is finicky on going back in and the door opens from the wrong side, but at the end of the day it has filters and they are not hard for me to get at and clean edit: looks like they do make glass side panels for the R4 you can buy for 1/2 the cost of the original case, but i do not want to change the window size...

Fractal seems to "get it" for the most part. Compared to some case manufacturers, they always lean in a simple but lots of options direction. Topped off with a good fit and finish. Not much to complain about. Perhaps mention noise levels more when also mentioning temps in other areas of the review, I felt some bias BEFORE knowing noise results. I know thermals is a common issue in front panels currently, but maybe its becoming a dead horse?

That was a really good review - thank you

I have the R6 and 7 XL and have great temps with a full closed loop build in both. I did love building in this case as the quality and design details give you good options for the price.

I love my R6. The only mid tower case I could find, for us losers who still like an optical drive, but that can still fit a 240 rad on the top.

@goku445

4 жыл бұрын

I'm thinking of buying one. R6 with usb-c. Do you think it's worth waiting for the 7? I prefer silence but also I'm planning on buying a 5700 which can run quite hot...

@overlord580

4 жыл бұрын

@@goku445 Why would you buy hot running gpu?

@jintsuubest9331

4 жыл бұрын

@@goku445 Tl;Dr, no, do not get r6 nor r7. Get something else unless you can get it at half the price. Unless you have very specific need, both r6 and r7 is not worth the price tag. There are better case (thermal wise) out there... refer to this video. I run r6 as my daily driver, with TG panel and solid front. Would trade the TG panel for more harddrive cage and/or mesh front if it is an option. It is not when I buy the case. One big different between r6 and r7 is the top panel. R6 use a stupid button mechanism and questionable tight fit solid panel mesh thing. GN complained about that before in the r6 review. R7 is straight up improvement. Another big one is the fan hub obviously. Working with fan hub before, having them layout and all facing one direction and hide away is nice. Not significant but it is still an improvement. The harddrive cover is sometimes not easy to work with, but not end of the world. Overall a nicely build case that never really focus on thermal. Imo, thermal first, price + quality + qol feature second, don't care looks.

@dr69dav

4 жыл бұрын

@@goku445 The R6 is nice and roomy, and seriously versatile, like i said i could fit optical drive, with a 240 rad and 2 front fans + 1 rear (included). Plus there was options for a tonne of hard drives. Looks great and you can pretty much do whatever you like . you can hinge to door how you like or just take it off for more air. I would wait till the 7 comes out and you should get a pretty good deal. I only paid £119 (UK) for mine. I don't tink i will ever need a case upgrade, seriously good build quality.

@dr69dav

4 жыл бұрын

@@jintsuubest9331 I like the "top panel button mechanism". Personally do not see an improvement to the R6 worth the 1/4 price increase that i paid for an R6. I guess it's pretty subjective though. I do not need to squeeze a few extra degrees, and an optical drive is a rare option these days, seems only fractal still cater for this is a mid tower

It's a shame the Define 7 (and the r6) effectively nixed the effectiveness of bottom panel fan (which I would have thought is the entire purpose of that full-length filter) with the PSU 'tunnel', as this can help with temps (CPU and GPU) with little effect on noise levels. The R5 is still widely available here in early 2021 and I just bought one for that reason (OK, no USB 3.1, but I'll use a PCI-E card if I ever need it).

@zeeninetynine

Жыл бұрын

I was searching for R5 for around a month and there's just none there available any more and not even coming up on eBay much (not in the UK), so I am gonna get the 7. What USB you have depends on the motherboard, not the case unless you meant the front panel but a PCIe doesn't help that.

As always, fantastic and in-depth review. Even given your justifiable preference towards performance, I really appreciate how you still judge whether a case plays well to what it's marketed as, not just "are the temps better". On the note of the temps, though, do you have an idea as to what made The Define 7 significantly worse than the old Define R6 for CPU thermals (6°C)? The front panel & dust filter look quite similar in style, and the noise results are very similar.

Fractal Josh, great upgrade from the R6. Thank you for keeping the optical drive bay (some of us still use them, lol). Looks like I have a new choice for my next build :)

Trust me, the filter even though it obstructs air flow by a lot is rly nice. I have my fractal design case for about a year now and never had to clean the internal components. Only the filter every 2-3months.

It will be interesting to se if Fractal will come out with a "Steve-edition" of this case.

@xattr8403

4 жыл бұрын

if they do it would have tornado like airflow and we all would become deaf from the noise.

Man, that door on the front brings back memories of the old Antec Sonata III case my dad had.

I always ran my define cases without front filter, and door closed. Works good.

You still going strong with "you just slower the fans" and you have a quiet case... What about coil whine? Is that not annoying, does anybody guarantees for coil whine?

@Lishtenbird

4 жыл бұрын

Yup, plenty of non-fan noises out there that can only be "shut inside". Just becomes a matter of priority, which are worse for whom.

@Sareth94

3 жыл бұрын

@@Lishtenbird coil whine is up to the 'silicon lottery' though, isn't it? SSD's are silent, Harddrives go into sleep when not used, modern GPU's and PSU often have semi-passive cooling (turning fans off when under low load), so the most common noise in idle or browsing will be the CPU & case fans - and even those will likely slow down or even stop entirely when a custom fan curve is put together.

@tszyn

3 жыл бұрын

You're right on the money. I have a Fractal Define with full damping, placed against a wall under a heavy desk, and I can still hear a bit of coil whine from my GTX1070 whenever the framerate goes above 90 fps or so. It's a kind of "bzzzt" noise, which is more annoying than white noise from fans. Why do none of the "big" tech KZreadrs talk about coil whine?

OH, is there an XL version review?

Awesome review, thanks bro.

Best review! Video didn't even start yet.

When the case gonna be on amazon and Newegg? I’m ready to buy it

@BoopSnoot

4 жыл бұрын

I'm not buying another cat-unfriendly case. Sick and tired of my cat stepping on my Fractal Define's power button and turning the computer on or standing on it for a while and turning it off.

@E5rael

4 жыл бұрын

Yeah, my cat likes to do that, too. T_T

@KmSiDevastate

4 жыл бұрын

I'm looking for the same answer. I can't find it on Newegg, Microcenter, or Amazon yet.

@fractaldesignsupportna545

4 жыл бұрын

@@KmSiDevastate They are currently available at Newegg, they just don't show up at the top of the page when you search for them.

So I guess the question is "how long until we get the Meshify S3?"

@ADHR26

4 жыл бұрын

Hopefully not too long, I'd certainly buy one if it came out before I built my next PC near the end of the year.

@JMPopaleetus

4 жыл бұрын

Fractal likes to reuse tooling. So I would expect a new Meshify based on this imminently.

I actually like cases like this because I like modding front panels with custom cutouts like I did on my corsair 270R that end up improving airflow along with the cool cut out designs.

damn, I was hoping the shirt would still be in stock, that was a super cool design, it's only the night of the video and I get home late :C

Nexus Jesus: Praises the case. Me: Goes to buy the case. Case: Sold out !

Dammit, they released the 7 literally days after I bought an R6!

@Totej

4 жыл бұрын

Both are great cases!

@ArtumTsumia

4 жыл бұрын

@@Totej I honestly might still buy an R6. I'm not certain the tests on both cases are 100% comparable but the R6 seems to perform better 'stock' than the 7. Granted. that might not be completely fair since the fan layout is slightly different. Pretty sure it's the exact same fans between the cases, yet noise level seem up, possibly due to positioning and/or heat. There's also the larger volume of the Define 7, so a smaller percentage of that air is going to move overall and temps will go up. . Still a nice case that's ostensibly worth the premium, but the R6 USB-C revision is competitive with slightly different color design and the performance differences probably don't make much of a difference in practice since anyone pushing their systems won't be using stock cooling.

@JJSideshowBob

4 жыл бұрын

Don't worry, the R6 is still a superb case and not quite as expensive (depending on how much it cost you ofc)

@ArtumTsumia

4 жыл бұрын

@@JJSideshowBob I opted for the R6 myself and I'm glad I did as it's already got far more room than I expected. The 7 XL is probably more worth the consideration over the base model so long as you can find the R6 at a good price.

Would love to see you review the Phanteks Evolv X again. I believe when you did it, it wasn't out yet, so if I'm right, I think there were some changes worth looking at again. This case is similar, but the airflow in the Evolv X is really good.

Great review of this case thank you. I had just read a quick review of the Fractal Define 7 XL a few minutes before coming here and watching your full review of this case the Fractal Define 7. I must say I am impressed with the amount of included 3.5 drives the XL supports right out of the box being it supports 6 3.5 drives. This case supporting 4 out of the box is also pretty sweet. I personally need at least 4 3.5 drive support so either this case or the XL would be perfect for my needs in that regard. As for the cooling as stated it is just average or slightly above average when in stock setup but if you remove the dust filter or just open the door the temps get much better. When you said if they came out with a mesh version of this case that would be very welcomed. It got me to thinking though that if Fractal never comes out with a mesh version just how easy would it to be to make this a mesh front designed case. My idea would be to cut out the front door so the cut out would be framed by the sides of the front panel and then either use mesh or some sort of cloth (black) the allows for good air flow but mount it so it is on the inside of the front panel so when the front panel is closed you still get the front panel effect but the center is the mesh or cloth which is framed by the rest of the front panel that was not cut. It would be much easier if Fractal just made it so either you could buy a pre made mesh front or include it in the case for those that want to make a higher air flow case and of coarse maybe raise the price by $5USD to cover the cost of the eaxtra mesh front panel. Either way because of the great drive support and rad support my next case will mostly likely be the XL version of the case and if I have to I will do my own front panel mod as I stated above that could be done to the case.

@TheeRocker

4 жыл бұрын

THe Noctua D15S does great for his thermal concerns, which are really OC'ers concerns. And they are still fine temps less than 50c CPU... The XL case is a good choice, I just bought the one, lol...

When temps start to rise, Fractal Josh is alerted and shows up to open the door and remove the dust filter to increase airflow.

When the video is brought and sponsored by yourselves, do you just pass money from one hand to the other or do you ask Patrick to give them to you?

@BoopSnoot

4 жыл бұрын

The important thing is to start slow with stretching exercises and limber up before patting yourself on the back.

Another excellent GamersNexus case review. I hope Fractal will listen to what Steve said about the front panel for a future version of Define 7 - be it a Meshify S3.

Thank you for the door and dust filter restriction info. I wasn't thinking it could restrict airflow sooo much. There are ventilation holes for a reason, but it seems they don't fill their functionality at all. I've just stress-tested stock Ryzen 1700X in my R6 case. 10 minutes of CPU-Z stress test, each. There's a front 140mm Be-Quiet! PureWings 2 fan spinning at 550-600RPM blowing right onto RAM sticks and CPU cooler. Stock configuration = 66C Door opened = 66C Door opened + no filter = 62C Door closed + no filter = 65C Looks like the front of this case needs some static pressure optimized fans. Can't wait to get rid of Be-Quiet! fans and mount Arctic P12 or P14. However, having 3 hard drives installed, the sound coming off spinning platters is well noticeable when the door is closed/opened.

Calling it: Fractal Meshify 7

@AVerySillySausage

4 жыл бұрын

Fractal Meshify 7C is what I'm waiting for.

Sooo, the usual?

My favorite KZread to watch case reviews. Bar none the best tester on KZread

I love those shirt designs. I just bought one of the charity drive t-shirt. But I would love if you'd make posters of your most recent t-shirt designs. I'd buy some to cover the beige hell that is my cubicle at work!