Gadgetory

fractal design is given consumers a lot of choices when it comes to simple and elegant cases at an affordable price the latest addition to the defined series is the r4 it brings plenty of useful upgrades from the very popular r3 case and then just over $100 you get plenty of options so let's take a look the front panel with its reflective aluminum a looking surface should automatically ring frightful design they have been very consistent throughout the entire lineup and rightfully so it is elegant clean and also functional it opens just plus 90 degrees which could be a problematic but unfortunately it cannot be switched to be open from the other side which is a bummer the doors card a noise dampening foam and so are the side panels to really silent your rig and next up we have two optical Bay covers that are easily removable and below that another panel that covers the front intake fans now notice the panel just pulls down which makes accessing the fan bracket a lot easier the bracket itself removes with ease just by pulling down on this one clip and this is a very smart way of integrating front intake which can easily be reassembled for cleaning and replacement of the fans then the bracket does have a built in dust filter and supports both 120 and 140 member fans the bigger fan is held in with clips but you will have to mount the smaller one with the screws the sides of the front panel have plenty of venting however there is plenty of resistance so you should not be expecting optimal air flow from the front and also an extra addition would be this three speed fan controller would support for three fans so let's check out the connections at the top we get our power and reset buttons audio jacks and four USB ports and continue with the top we have two fan mounts for both 120 and 140 millner fans and they come with noise dampening panels pre-installed now for any users a single exhaust fan at the back is long in the cutted so utilizing the top exhaust slots will drastically improve your cooling potential however we still don't have this hybrid system between silence and airflow so you will have to choose between either of the options and the case comes with pre-installed rubber feet which is always nice you will avoid scratching the floor and prevent any unnecessary operational noise and looking at the back we get our usual scene with the exhaust fan io area 7 PCI slots and one additional vertical one for mounting accessories and a dual dust filter for the bottom so what does the inside look like and what let's find out and first one list are the two optical drives and we do miss the two low system next is the module hard drive cage that can be either removed or rotated simply with the two thumb screws it is a very simple solution and that is functional and hassle-free the drive brackets are also not Tula's but nevertheless work very well incorporating rubber grommets and 2.5 inch drive support as well and a single 140 millimeter exhaust fan is included so if you are planning on keeping your system cool adding those top pants would not hurt and another fan mount is available at the bottom supporting both 120 and 140 millimeter mounts clearance of which would depend on the length of your power supply so anything up to 170 millimeters will still have clearance for both mounts and coming around to the back we have a decently large CPU car oh that could be larger and also plenty of cable tie notches to clean up all your cables during assembly also available are these mounting cutouts for two SSDs now it's quite common to mount yours as these right behind the motherboard tray but perhaps using velcro would be a little bit easier simply because removing one drive would require you to remove the entire motherboard and that could introduce a lot of hassle into your build now there's a lot of room to work with when it comes to your graphics cards even with the cage installed our 11 1/2 inch card fit in just fine and sort of that is the maximum clearance you can get without removing the hard drive cage and so everything in place that defined our four handles very well as a silent slash enthusiast enclosure it is user friendly during assembly and cleans up very well both on the inside and at the back the module cage system is pretty clever and is absolutely hassle-free with the two thumb screws support for long GPUs is sort of a must for a case of this caliber and most of you should not have any clearance issues even with the hard drive cage installed now the silent component does add value for those who are looking for a silent build however as was the case with Excel and XLR 2 there is no hybrid between airflow or silence it would be awesome to see some sort of system for the top exhaust that could integrate a silent solution without compromising air flow but the new r4 is one top notch case and we're giving in the hardware connects damn good award so thanks guys for watching hope you enjoyed the review and we'll see you in the next one