Fractal Design Define S - Best Water Cooling Case Under $100?
Fractal Design Define S - Best Water Cooling Case Under $100?
2015-04-21
what's up guys today I'm taking a look
at the define s from fractal design now
this is a new case offering that carries
the appearance and a lot of the same
features from the defined series but
with a re-engineered focus on custom
water-cooling support naturally this
means a handful of changes to the
internal layout of the case but that's
not to say the exterior remains
unchanged as well aesthetics wise it's
pretty hard to distinguish the define s
from the r5 if not for the case feet and
larger side panel window that nearly
spans the full length of the case you
get the same matte plastic front but
this time fractal has chosen to remove
the front panel door entirely since
there's no longer an optical drive bay a
design choice that allows for some hefty
radiator support as you'll soon see
popping off the front panel we see a
removable magnetic dust filter which
hides a boatload of vertically
adjustable mounting points for three 120
or 140 millimeter fans giving you two
forty to eighty or three sixty
millimeter radiator support here you
also get one of two pre-installed GP
fourteen 140 millimeter three pin fans
the white blades cue us into fractals
classic black and white color scheme
which is always nice to see though at
this point it's still too early to tell
whether a black out version is slated
for future release I should mention that
while you do get the same great side
ventilation out of the front panel
there's no sound dampening material on
the inside like we saw on the door of
the r5 which gives reason to the define
SS marketing slogan silence redefine
again the water cooling frenzy continues
at the top of the case where free sound
deadening Maju vent covers can be
removed to accommodate all the same
radiator options that we have on the
front in addition to a 420 giving us
great flexibility and many cooling
combinations to play with be aware here
that you do have a combined thickness
limitation of 55 millimeters for the
radiator and fan when using a 140 280 or
420 radiator also on the top we get the
r5 s same front io with mic and
headphone jacks power and reset 2 USB 3
ports and a blue power LED in the center
the define s ships in your choice of
having a solid side panel with a
removable Maju vent cover revealing a
single 120 or 140 fan mount for 80 USD
or an acrylic side panel window for a 10
dollar premium making this one of the
most
or double ATX chassis is tailored for
custom water-cooling at the rear is your
second GP 14 fan with an additional 120
mount and seven wide expansion slots for
plenty of PCI connectivity below the
power supply mount is a removable dust
filter which covers your PSU and an
optional bottom fan that we'll have a
closer look at inside removing the side
panels is done with two captive thumb
screws on each side which stay attached
to the panel so you don't lose them what
they don't tell you is that if you lose
your side panel you will also lose both
thumb screws in the process while the
right side panel is lined with ample
material for noise absorption we get a
rather bare steel design for the
windowed panel now just from a quick
glance at the inside we can immediately
see some big changes to the internal
layout here
that deviate greatly from the define r5
though we still do get mini ITX micro
ATX and ATX motherboard supports with a
pre-installed Center stand off for
easier installation lining the tray are
well placed rubber grommets for CPU ATX
and PSU cables with the ATX grommets in
particular being much wider and closer
together than they were on the r5 which
is a nice provision that's sure to be
more forgiving for cable management on
the bottom are four rubber pads for your
PSU to rest on the fan mount that I
mentioned earlier for either a 120 or
140 millimeter fan and pre-drilled
mounting holes at the front of the case
for a water cooling pump in exciting
first for fractal cases and this is
where we address the elephant in the
room or the elephant not in the room
technically you probably noticed right
away that this case lacks any
traditional hard drive cages and yes
fractal has done away with them
completely in order to free up
significantly more space for water
cooling hardware which is really what
this case is all about
apart from the pump and radiator this
area can also house a wide range of
reservoirs that can easily be installed
on what I'm calling the reservoir this
versatile mounting solution allows you
to adjust the position of your reservoir
to suit your loop configuration or to
avoid clearance issues with other
components a smart design that custom
water cooling builders will certainly
appreciate so what the cage is gone the
drives really have no other place to go
except for behind the motherboard tray
and fractal does a pretty good job of
pulling this off without making too many
compromises on the left are three drive
trays that each support one three and a
half or two and a half inch drive with
rubber grommets for reduced mechanical
noise and vibration simply remove the
tray by its single thumb screw screw
down the
drive and remount for quick and easy
installation for additional storage
there's also two dedicated SSD males
just beneath the CPU cooler cutouts that
functions in much the same way having
only five drive mounts in a case like
this may be a deterrent for builders
with heavy storage needs but for those
in search of an affordable chassis with
remarkable custom water cooling
potential it's arguably a small price to
pay
now the ease of cable management in the
define s will partly depend on how many
three and a half inch drives you have
installed though even with a full house
you still do get an inch and a half of
space to the right of the drives from
top to bottom
not to mention all of the room directly
behind the motherboard which measures
about an inch deep the ever so useful
velcro straps make a welcome return to
the defined series as the case comes
with four of them to help tidy up your
system this along with the generous
number of tie-down points are sure to
facilitate the cabling process so to sum
up what we have here is a case whose
form is familiar but functions quite
differently than its defined series
predecessor obviously the case heavily
targets those in the market for a custom
water-cooled rig but more importantly is
that it offers up a ton of premium water
cooling features at a not so premium
price point making it in my opinion one
of the best value cases available for
custom liquid cooling if you can deal
with the less than average number of
drive mounts this is really an
outstanding choice for your next
open-loop system but let me know what
you guys think of the defined s from
fractal design and if it meets your
expectations for a custom water cooling
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