Gadgetory

hey guys we are back with another chassis from fractal design this is the define XL black pearl which very much resembles some of antics p series cases thus serving as a perfect example of head on competition the chassis is a larger sibling to the highly popular r3 case that truly showcases what fractal design really care about and that is functionality with great cooling at the reasonable price so with expectations set quite high for this case let's take a look this full tower is priced at one hundred fifty dollars and weights close to 40 pounds the heavy construction is due to a fully steel frame and body with the front panel being the only plastic element on the exterior and with this much steel incorporated into the chassis it feels extremely solid while this is a full tower offering plenty of features it is targeted mainly towards users that require silent operation without any severe compromises the front panel has a shiny mirror finish and a slight hint of brushed aluminum it's held on by magnets and opens up just past 90 degrees with potential of ease being damaged if not properly closed the front intake air flow is delivered through the venting strips on each side of the panel which is covered in noise dampening material and the front has four optical drives with removable covers with a fan bracket that supports a 120mm fan also a 3.5 inch adapter is included with a complimentary bay cover moving on another panel covers the two intake fans that doesn't open too wide but enough to remove the fan bracket that holds the fans now this isn't really an issue when removing the bracket but it could have been made easier it supports to 140 million fans with one included and has a built-in dust filter the panel connectors are at the top to keep the front panel clean with your audio power button with a blue LED two regular USB ports and two USB 3 ports the connector an internal 20 pin cable and unfortunately no USB adapter is included and the reset button is hidden behind the front door the top panel is plain without any fan outs while still having support for the top mounted fan which we'll see later on in the back we are venting for the top fan rear exhaust fan I oh area seven PCI slots with the extra vertical one for the included fan controller water cooling holes and plenty of additional venting and a bottom mount the power supply with a removable dust filter the side panels pack quite a bit of weight to them due to the thick steel and they're also covered in noise dampening material you're also able to mount either 120 or 140 mm fan to introduce more air flow for the internals by taking off the noise absorbing material or if silence is crucial to your needs leaving the noise absorbing pad on the side panel is an option taking a look inside the chassis internals is divided into three main chambers separated mainly for airflow and user-friendly assembly the optical drives are mounted with provided thumb screws unfortunately no to list system here below which a modular hard drive cage which can be rotated for a more optimal airflow over the drives or remove completely to allow direct airflow into the top chamber and obviously mounting for extremely long graphics cards all the hard drive base have silicon grommets to absorb vibration for the 3.5 inch drives and the bracket is backwards compatible with the 2.5 inch drives as well fractal design continues to incorporate this type of mounting system which isn't bad but a 20 small thing would definitely be more convenient moving on the power supply is raised with rubber feet above which we have a plastic plate that can be removed if the power supply is installed with the fan facing up are you a fairly large CPU backplate opening with plenty of rubber grommets around the motherboard tray the case comes equipped with two exhaust fans 180 millimeter fan for the top and 140 millimeters for the rear exhaust now the 180 millimeter fan is angled and channels the air fault through the back this is mainly to provide an isolated enclosure for silent operation while providing plenty of air flow with the large top fan but unfortunately this angle design has several major problems one of which is the tedious removal of the fan it requires you to remove two screws on each side of the chassis and further unscrew the fan from the bracket this also requires a lot of clearance and a potential removal of your cpu heatsink in order to pull out the top pan second the fan is in place in the conventional cut out for you a thin CPU connector meaning you have to route you're a pin cable through the only available rubber grommet at the top and an apron cable extension is required in order to have reach which unfortunately fractal design does not include and lastly no other stuff and mounting options are available at the top meaning potential is lost for any internal water cooling of course this chassis is not targeted towards water coolers but having a lot of room in the top and inside the case makes it ideal for such a setup checking the back we have a cpu cutout door that can be open when needed then we have plenty of cable time mountings and a full inch of room to work with for all your cable management and starting off in the assembly the power supply bracket must first be rotated as our power supply will be facing downward taking cool air from the bottom and when sliding the power supply in place we discovered another major problem and that is the placement of the cat out for all the power supply cables power supply is longer than 180 millimeters will not have clearance unless of course using modified and we are pleased to report installing our system into the defiant excel was a quite a breeze came at no surprise due to the large internal area to work with this side is a small hiccup in the power supply chamber and routing the 8 pin cable and coming around the bag cables can be tucked in behind the bottom hard drive cage but can also be spread around the back with the help of the pole the cable tie mountings and graphics cards the length of 13 inches are supported with the hard drive cage in place so hopefully we won't need to remove the cage for installation of longer video cards and to finish up the CPU cutout is too small for motherboards with high CPU placement but it shouldn't be of a concern for recently released motherboards so to wrap things up the define Excel packs in a lot of features like the minimalist design with noise dampening material all around plenty of storage area and hardware possibilities with a decent cooling configuration right out of the box and all that with an excellent solid construction however it seems as a fractal design has lost the sight of the full potential this chassis is capable of 41 having fan mounts right on the top panel would make the chassis appealing to a larger market especially for water coolers as the main cause of this problem revolves around the angled fan and on top of that this would not allow clearance for some aftermarket coolers and the relocation of the 8-pin cat out requires a long 8 pin cable and an extension should have been available and while most motherboard manufacturers are shifting towards the USB 3 support the USB 3 3 SB 3 adapter should have been included as well the defining cell is a little bit of a disappointment strictly because the chassis has a lot of potential that was not utilized this narrows down the market to only those who want the large enough of closure as a small server that will run quiet and cool without any additions from the user and that concludes our review of the fractal design define XL thank you guys for watching and we'll see you next one