Fractal Design Core 3500 Computer Case
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2015-05-07
·
1,836 words · ~9 min read
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like any of our case reviews this video about the fractal design core 3500
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starts with the package if you know what I
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mean the Corsair flash Voyager go is the
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easy way to move photos music and videos between your Android device and your PC
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click now to learn more of course I meant the Box fractal
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uses a hard foam here that isn't my favorite close cell foam
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would be that but considering the price point of the case and the expected
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weight of a completed system it should keep your goods well protected in
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transit if you know what I mean inuendo aside though once we get the case out of
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the box we're greeted by the traditional clean lined fractal design aesthetic the
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front features a brushed plastic finish 2 5 and 1/4 in Drive Bays a small logo
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that seems to be designed to be easily replaced with something else are we
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targeting system Builders here fractal and long filtered mesh strips that will
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feed the included front 140 mm fan and the optional second mount underneath it
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with fresh air the mesh looks good but it's the first of a number of things I
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noticed about the case that just aren't up to the usual fractal design standard
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much like on my wife's older Ark midi the dust filter system for those front
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intakes can't be easily removed for cleaning and because the mesh is so fine
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you can expect some Wicked dust to visibly build up there I'm also not a
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huge fan of the top of the case as a cat owner top iio is already not my favorite
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thing in the world but having the power and reset buttons so close together and
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so easily accidentally pressed feels like a move from the 2010 case
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manufacturing Playbook rather than the 2014 one and the fan mounts up here
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which support dual 140 or 120 mm fans
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and up to a dual 120 mm radiator just
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didn't seem robust enough to handle the
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weight of our closed looped water cooling system the way it flexes might
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have been F on a $70 case where I'd be thankful to have rad mounts at all but
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this one has an MSRP of $90 the outside
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isn't all bad though the right side panel is solid and black just the way I
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like him while the left one has a large slightly tinted window that I found
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quite tasteful on the bottom we find plastic feet and what is now a more
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traditional pull it out of the back when you need to clean it fan filter then on
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the back we've got a noise isolated Power Supply Mount seven expansion slots
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a second included 140 mm fan and a fan
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control switch whose location is going to put the core 3500 back on board the
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Pain Train let's open her up shall we
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this this fan controller I don't say
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this kind of thing often so when I do I
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hope manufacturers pay attention fractal
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I love you guys but what were you thinking these are some examples of the
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100 more sensible places you could have put this it's got a green PCB that's
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visible from the window the Molex connector sits either next to your power
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supply or it runs across your PCI slots
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and the fan leads aside from being impossible to Cable manage nicely have
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some of the worst sleeving I've ever seen on a fractal product it's this
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inflexible heat shrink stuff that doesn't even go to the end of the
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colored wires the only good thing about the included fan controller is that we
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used an ASUS motherboard in this build which has onboard fan control and the
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wire harnesses come off so we only have to look at the unsightly PCB instead of
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the entire thing actually you can take the PCB out too it just leaves a little
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hole in the case so that's another good thing about it and there's some other
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bad stuff in here too the 5 and 1/4 in Bays don't Inspire much confidence and
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the clearance for both the top mounted and front mounted radiators could be
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better with the top rat installed it is impossible to access the top portion of
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our board we could barely even get it in with the 8 Pin power connector
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pre-installed and for the front mounted rad you need to shift the hard drive
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cage inward for it to fit which will interfere with a second high-end
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graphics card and this could be a problem if your whole reason for
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installing another Radiator in the front is that you want your SLI or Crossfire
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setup to be adequately cooled but like the outside the inside isn't all bad the
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solidity of the 3 and 1/2 in and 2 and 1/2 in Drive cage is among the best I've
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ever seen at least when it's screwed into the front of the chassis the
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included rubber grommets ample space behind the motherboard tray and metal
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Loops for zip ties make Cable Management pretty easy funny note here actually
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fractal includes exactly as many plastic zip ties in the Box as the case has
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metal Loops I I definitely L about that but then I stopped laughing as I was
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working on cable management at the back and realized that the Dual 2 and 1
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halfin SSD mounts on the back of the motherboard tray are the older style
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screwing from the front oh wait I already have a motherboard
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installed I guess I'll use velcro motherboard SSD mounts these just plain
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aren't very good the bottom one can't be accessed if you have a power supply
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installed even though the case's manual tells you to put the power supply in
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first and even if you did have the foresight to install your SSD first the
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connectors are so flat to the back of the motherboard tray that you'd be
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putting quite a bit of strain on them if you tried to plug them in and they
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weren't completely flat many power connectors are like this this was a
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disappointment especially when fractal design has cases with much better
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implementations the good news I guess is that there's a two and a half mount in
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the second optical drive bay that's unlikely to be used so folks with only
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one SSD won't have to use up a 3 and 1 12 mm Mount and they won't have to use
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the back of the motherboard tray so with all that said I guess it's conclusion
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time I've spent a lot of this video on nitpicky stuff I don't like like the
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motherboard standoffs not being pre installed rather than looking at the
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bigger picture and I feel like I should take a step back for a moment it's not
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like the core 3500 is a terrible case if
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you like the aesthetic you could find much worse options out there at this
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price but I guess these little issues were so hard for me to accept because
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fractal isn't new to the case manufacturing game anymore they should
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be experienced enough to realize that if your PCI thumb screws are installed with
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power tools at the factory then putting a f controller in the way of getting a
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screwdriver in there is going to mean that every Builder will need to remove
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that fan controller to install their graphics card for the first time and
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that's my problem here I expected fractal to blow me away with their
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design and Innovation again and that just wasn't the case speaking of cases
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they need to anyway the point is it's only $7.99 a
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completely free for 2 weeks weeks when you sign up be sure to use the link in
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the video description Hulu plus.com Linus so you get that extra week cuz
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they always offer a free week so you don't actually have to give me any
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credit for sending you over there but I'd really appreciate it if you do in
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the extra free week is like also great
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too so that's pretty much it guys thank you very much for watching like this
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video if you liked it dislike it if you disliked it leave a comment let me know
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was I too hard on the core 3500 did I beat it up too much does it look like a
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great case to you I mean I hit myself on the fan I mean the build quality is good
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I mean there's all you know the metals folded over like it's it's not a bad
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case so let me know do you think I do you think I judged it too harshly and
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that's pretty much it guys the link in the video description to support us is
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like I don't know the paper towel or whatever it happens to be thanks again
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for watching and as always don't forget to subscribe