1
00:00:00,880 --> 00:00:06,720
the first defined series case from fractal design that i checked out the

2
00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:11,519
define r2 was that four years ago

3
00:00:08,800 --> 00:00:16,320
man time flies anyway it delivered what was at the time a great mix of features

4
00:00:14,559 --> 00:00:20,560
for the price and built-in noise dampening which is a really solid value

5
00:00:18,240 --> 00:00:24,960
add but the computer industry moves so fast that to keep up with their

6
00:00:22,080 --> 00:00:29,439
competition defines our three and r4 both came very quickly speaking of

7
00:00:27,279 --> 00:00:33,280
coming quickly by the way look forward to our dragon age awakening video card

8
00:00:31,840 --> 00:00:37,600
showdown which is coming very soon make sure you subscribe so you don't miss it

9
00:00:34,960 --> 00:00:41,680
but unlike its predecessors the define r5 has actually been in development for

10
00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:47,040
over two years so what the heck have they been doing

11
00:00:44,320 --> 00:00:47,040
all this time

12
00:00:52,559 --> 00:00:59,520
the cooler master neptune 240m features an exclusive pump design and their new

13
00:00:56,879 --> 00:01:03,039
celencio fans to provide impressive near silent performance click now to learn

14
00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:07,200
more well one thing fractal finally figured

15
00:01:04,960 --> 00:01:12,159
out is packing material experienced companies all eventually realize that

16
00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:17,920
the cost of rmas and the bad customer experiences that come with them is just

17
00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:19,680
not worth it yes it's hard foam but it's

18
00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:24,320
thicker and much stronger than what you'll find protecting many other cases

19
00:01:21,840 --> 00:01:28,640
in this price range thumbs up onto the chassis itself the outside really is

20
00:01:26,640 --> 00:01:34,479
defined through and through i mean heck i bet if you lined up ours one to five

21
00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:38,000
in a taste test only a fractal product designer could probably actually pick

22
00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:42,560
them all correctly but that doesn't mean that they haven't changed anything on

23
00:01:40,479 --> 00:01:47,520
the top we get the usual front audio a recessed reset switch a fancy looking

24
00:01:44,880 --> 00:01:53,040
power button two usb 2 and two usb 3.0 ports and oh what's this then a new

25
00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:59,439
tool-less top mod event system that allows you to have zero one two or three

26
00:01:56,159 --> 00:02:02,799
top 120 millimeter or 140 millimeter fan

27
00:01:59,439 --> 00:02:04,799
mounts from the back while building i

28
00:02:02,799 --> 00:02:09,679
didn't really like the way they handled the curved corners on the plastic pieces

29
00:02:07,119 --> 00:02:13,840
but looking at it from the front the way that you'll normally see a computer case

30
00:02:11,760 --> 00:02:17,840
it's much less noticeable and aside from the outlines of the pieces you've left

31
00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:23,120
in place the transition actually looks pretty darn good probably because

32
00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:26,080
fractal did a great job of matching the

33
00:02:23,120 --> 00:02:30,080
plastic and metal finishes at least on the black and titanium models i can't

34
00:02:27,760 --> 00:02:33,280
speak for the white one one compromise up here though that i don't really feel

35
00:02:31,760 --> 00:02:37,680
strongly about either way but feel compelled to point out is the

36
00:02:34,959 --> 00:02:41,200
asymmetrical fan mounts it doesn't look as clean to have them off to one side

37
00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:46,160
like that but the benefit is that it gives the motherboard a lot more room for cooling

38
00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:51,120
up at the top on the front is one of my favorite

39
00:02:48,319 --> 00:02:56,239
finishes faux brushed aluminum normally i prefer real materials to fake ones but

40
00:02:53,760 --> 00:03:00,720
the brush plastic looks pretty much just like the real thing is much easier to

41
00:02:58,319 --> 00:03:04,959
clean and in this case keeps light reflections down making the effect of

42
00:03:02,640 --> 00:03:08,879
the brushness very subtle like this and also the much easier

43
00:03:07,200 --> 00:03:14,000
breathing side vents that will keep the two front 120 millimeter or 140

44
00:03:11,440 --> 00:03:17,519
millimeter fan supplied with fresh air the rest of the front i have kind of

45
00:03:15,680 --> 00:03:22,560
mixed feelings about the bitumen noise dampening inside the door is good the

46
00:03:19,840 --> 00:03:28,319
three fan controller is good and the much better and easier to remove front

47
00:03:24,959 --> 00:03:30,239
fan filter are all great additions but

48
00:03:28,319 --> 00:03:35,200
while the idea of reversing the door opening direction

49
00:03:32,560 --> 00:03:39,120
is good the mechanism on our unit only closes if we kind of

50
00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:43,760
swing it shut rather than closing it nicely and i'm not a fan of non-standard

51
00:03:42,319 --> 00:03:47,760
shaped five and a quarter inch bay covers because if you actually install

52
00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:51,519
an optical drive it looks a little out of place on it just like it does on

53
00:03:49,599 --> 00:03:55,599
Corsair's 900d the r5's bottom has more good stuff

54
00:03:53,680 --> 00:03:59,760
though this front accessible fan filter slides in and out nice and easy and

55
00:03:57,439 --> 00:04:04,080
protects her insides from unwanted junk and while there's not much to say about

56
00:04:01,519 --> 00:04:08,319
the side panels the new left modu vent looks cleaner than the old style that

57
00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:13,280
exposed the grille when it wasn't in use imo and the right panel now uses captive

58
00:04:11,280 --> 00:04:17,440
thumb screws with the left opting for normal ones a seemingly strange decision

59
00:04:15,760 --> 00:04:21,359
until you realize that you'll never use them thanks to the new

60
00:04:19,280 --> 00:04:25,759
latching mechanism around the back there's not much of note you've got your

61
00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:31,440
bottom mounted power supply 7 expansion slots and 120 or 140 millimeter fan

62
00:04:28,639 --> 00:04:35,280
mounting slots up at the top riveting let's talk about the inside shall we

63
00:04:33,280 --> 00:04:40,080
speaking of rivets the inside of the define r5 is fractal's most modular yet

64
00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:45,199
with screws to hold in the bottom and top hard drive cages captive ones by the

65
00:04:42,080 --> 00:04:47,280
way and even the optical cage at the top

66
00:04:45,199 --> 00:04:50,800
this opens up a ton of different mounting options for the up to eight

67
00:04:49,120 --> 00:04:55,040
three and a half inch or two and a half inch drive mounts including rotating the

68
00:04:53,199 --> 00:04:59,520
top five 90 degrees pulling them out entirely shifting the bottom three left

69
00:04:56,720 --> 00:05:03,040
and bringing the five down hanging eight or five from the top with the optical

70
00:05:01,280 --> 00:05:08,080
cage removed or even just removing all of them entirely for more cooling space

71
00:05:05,840 --> 00:05:14,080
and which is great because for a silent case there are a lot of spots to mount

72
00:05:11,600 --> 00:05:17,919
fans and radiators in the front with all those aforementioned drive cages removed

73
00:05:15,759 --> 00:05:23,520
you can put up to a triple 120 but a dual 140 looks like kind of the sweet

74
00:05:19,919 --> 00:05:25,680
spot with room for a 120 140 or dual 120

75
00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:31,360
in the bottom albeit not necessarily at the same time as the front rad or a very

76
00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:33,759
long power supply up to a triple 120 or

77
00:05:31,360 --> 00:05:37,919
140 in the top as long as the total thickness of the fans and rad doesn't

78
00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:42,800
exceed 55 millimeters oh and for good measure you can throw a single 120 or

79
00:05:40,240 --> 00:05:46,240
140 into the back the rest of the insides from this side are pretty

80
00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:51,039
standard fare the motherboard trays only remarkable characteristics other than

81
00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:52,880
the uh you know usual big CPU cutout and

82
00:05:51,039 --> 00:05:57,840
well-positioned cable management holes where how surprisingly solid it is even

83
00:05:55,600 --> 00:06:02,960
with all the front bays that it anchors to removed and also the way that the

84
00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:07,280
motherboard area sits slightly recessed something that may cause clearance

85
00:06:04,960 --> 00:06:11,600
issues with those slightly wider than atx enthusiast boards if their right

86
00:06:09,759 --> 00:06:15,680
angle connectors on that edge are in awkward locations on to the build

87
00:06:13,759 --> 00:06:19,520
process the inclusion of a post in the center motherboard standoff is awesome

88
00:06:17,840 --> 00:06:23,919
and keeps the mobo in place while you screw it in the rest of them but the

89
00:06:21,840 --> 00:06:28,880
rest of the standoffs were pretty lame to install actually fractal used to

90
00:06:26,160 --> 00:06:33,120
include a metal standoff installation tool and now it's plastic or nylon or

91
00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:37,759
something which prevents it from sticking to my magnetic screwdriver and

92
00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:42,000
makes it harder to wrench it in tight enough but there's more positive stuff

93
00:06:39,680 --> 00:06:45,360
to make up for this oversight the SSD mounts on the back of the motherboard

94
00:06:43,600 --> 00:06:49,440
are better than the older screw through the mobo tray system i've seen fractal

95
00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:54,880
use and as far as cable management is concerned the define r4 was cruising for

96
00:06:51,840 --> 00:06:56,800
a good to very good ranking with ample

97
00:06:54,880 --> 00:07:00,800
zip tie loops lots of room in the right areas behind the motherboard trader

98
00:06:58,080 --> 00:07:04,639
route cables and included velcro straps and then i noticed a couple things i

99
00:07:02,319 --> 00:07:09,759
haven't personally seen before cable management loops up the right panel side

100
00:07:07,520 --> 00:07:14,400
of the front awesome and two different positions for three

101
00:07:12,720 --> 00:07:19,120
and a half inch drive mounting on the metal rails the standard position and

102
00:07:17,199 --> 00:07:25,120
one that brings them closer to the left side panel for more room behind them

103
00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:27,599
finally the first define that can not

104
00:07:25,120 --> 00:07:30,400
only hold eight drives but also has enough room for all the required cables

105
00:07:29,520 --> 00:07:36,080
brilliant a huge improvement over the r2 that i'm using for my home server right now

106
00:07:34,720 --> 00:07:41,039
which i guess is pretty much the conclusion for this video isn't it what's the define r5 well it's an

107
00:07:39,280 --> 00:07:46,000
improvement over previous defines in every way

108
00:07:42,800 --> 00:07:48,560
it's unlikely to compel r4 or even r3

109
00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:52,479
owners to upgrade but at 100 bucks and change for a non-windowed one like this

110
00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:56,000
or 10 more dollars for a windowed version it's a worthy member of the

111
00:07:54,080 --> 00:07:59,520
product family and a recommended buy from me thanks for watching guys like this video

112
00:07:58,400 --> 00:08:03,840
if you liked it dislike it if you disliked it leave a comment if your feelings are more complicated than this

113
00:08:02,479 --> 00:08:07,440
check out the support us link if you like our videos and what we do you can

114
00:08:05,919 --> 00:08:11,360
give us a monthly contribution you can buy a cool t-shirt like this one or you

115
00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:14,319
can some other thing right change your amazon bookmarks one with

116
00:08:12,879 --> 00:08:17,599
our affiliate code so whenever you buy new computer cases or whatever else we

117
00:08:16,000 --> 00:08:21,039
get a small kickback that kind of stuff helps us out a lot thanks again for

118
00:08:19,039 --> 00:08:26,750
watching and as always don't forget to subscribe

119
00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:34,080
you