now I unboxed the Define R2 a while back
but the Define R3 actually came out to replace it quite a while ago so I had
not had a chance to unbox the Define R3 but now I do this is actually a special
Define R3 so the Define R3 is available
in all of the same colors as the old R2 that is black and then black with a
titanium front and black with a silver front but this one is an all Arctic
White Version so it is more expensive because the paint finish on it is higher
end and it does cost more to produce but let's have a look at what the R3 brings
to the table over the R2 so first of all let's have a look at what fractal design
has to say for themselves on the front stylish ATX case with focus on combining
top-notch design and style and funny
they don't say anything about silence but it is brand with high Ambitions to
deliver products with an exclusive design good quality and interesting
functions all at a modest price tag okay we have opening in the motherboard tray
for easy mounting of CPU coolers we have removable dust filters and anti
vibration pads below the PSU position
all eight of the 2 1/ 12/ 3 and 1/2 in
Drive expansion bays are SSD compatible
so you could theoretically load this thing up with 8 ssds if you had the
budget for it all right so let's get this box open up for one thing and then
here on the other side you guys can sort of read about some of those features
while I open up up the packaging to show you this case um most of the features
are pretty similar to the definer 2 first thing we find inside the box is
actually a user's manual so there's some stuff in there about how to remove your
side panel I suppose and oh look at that
so they show you the case label all the parts good for them okay let's flip this
over and it looks like the packaging has actually been reinforced since the
Define R2 so instead
using just an outer cardboard shell with
foam packaging there's actually another
cardboard layer as well as overall
thicker foam around the case packing it
in so here I'll let you guys have a look at that so that gives it a little bit
more structure to the package itself
meaning that once it ships
from fractal to the reseller to you the
chances are very good it will still be in mint condition that's what packaging
is all about on cases cases especially it's very important cuz they're heavy
and big boxes you know tend to get thrown around by the couriers and so
it's very important to have a good outer box especially if you have a system
inside because that adds a lot more weight to it and can put a lot more
strain on the packaging all right so
there is is the Define R3 arctic white
they've done a very good job of matching the white color between the plastic
components and the metal components so yes this is a colored plastic this is
painted metal but it's very very difficult to see the seam between them
first thing let's do is let's have a look and do some external Impressions so
on the front we see our Define sort of
look this is what the define R2 looked like it's what the define R3 looks like
one thing that's improved over the Define R2 is these little 5 and 1/4 in
Bays so now they're a little bit easier to remove and snap back into place with
a little blocking mechanism okay we have
the same um doors in the front where we have
removable fan filters and mounts for up to two 120 mm fans and the same noise
dampening foam in the front door this is
a reset switch which was added over the Define R2 this reset switch was not
present on the R2 version of the case up at the top we find the same overall
inputs and outputs we have headphones microphone power switch with a power LED
around it and then a hard drive led oh no this is the power LED there's no hard
drive LED my bad and then there's two USB 2 and one EA Port up here we have
some modu vents modu vents are cool I'll talk a little bit more about them in a
bit but these two fan mounts can take either 120 mm or 140 mm fans up to you
so let's take off the side panel actually here we'll have a look at the
back first so you can see the white finish it also extends to the back so we
have some black accents so this is pretty much the opposite of the black
versions of the case where we have a black case with white PCI slot covers
now this is a white case with black PCI slot covers and black accents so oops if
I can get the side panel off that would be a good thing there we go all right so
oh here on the inside you can see right here this is fractal designs noise
dampening material so it's present on both the side panel as well as a modu
vent here so let's talk about actually here I'm going to bring this down and let's talk about modu vent so modu vent
means that if you decide not to mount a fan here you have noise dampening
material if you unscrew these screws we're actually in the side panel I
should have mentioned this you can do either a 120 or 140 mm fan if you
unscrew the modu vent you can put a fan in there so you can decide whether you
want Max maximum silence or maximum
cooling okay I got screws in my pocket here so yeah inside we find black
accents where the Define are where the black versions have white accents so
here are the drive sleds now black cap
compatible with 3 and 1/2 in or 2 and 1/2 in drives uh let's have a look at
the overall interior so here are the modu vents that you were able to see
from the outside so you can remove those foam pads and put in fans should you so
desire at the back we have a couple water cooling grommets in the top whoops
I pulled that one out oh my bad couple water cooling grommets in the top uh two
in the back so if you want to mount an external radiator you will be able to
run your tubing through there looks to be compatible with 38 in tubing Max
though don't think you'll get one/ in tubing through there we have a 120 mm
fan in the back seven PCI expansion slots we have a power supply Mount that
has rubber on the bottom uh it has a
foam uh spacer piece between between the back of the case and the power supply so
that means that as long as your power supply has a reasonably silent fan you
shouldn't be passing any vibrations along to the chassis we can mount
another fan here in the bottom okay with these clips and that is a filtered fan
intake there's also a filter which is removable under the power supply intake
fan if you have a 120 mil fan you can intake from the bottom without any risk
here's another thing that's been improved from the R2 the silicone Cable
Management GR are using a much higher quality rubber so on the R2 they were a
little bit stiff and they didn't return to their original form quite as easily
so these ones are phenomenal and one of the great things about the Define
chassis is that you can use these Cable
Management holes because there is adequate space between the side panel
and the motherboard tray to run any cables you want back there here is the
CPU cutout so you can replace your heat sink without actually taking the
motherboard out of the case and then moving along to the front we have our 5
and 1/4 in Bays one of which actually comes pre-installed with a 5 and 1/4 to
3 and 1/2 in adapter so if you only use one 5 and 1/4 in device like most people
out there you can even Mount nine drives in this case in the standard
configuration and then of course there's our mounting accessories as well as a
PCI slot mounted fan controller so
that's there and then you've got your 8 3 1/2 in/ 2 2 and2 in Drive mounts here
we have our bundle of black so it's nice to see this that's what gives you a good
aesthetic in these fractal cases black cables so these are for the front
switches front lights front USB and the
front eada so thank you for checking out my unboxing and first look at the
fractal design Define R3 arctic white
chassis don't forget to subscribe to Linus Tech tips for more unboxings
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