Fractal Design Define R3 Arctic White Silent Computer Case Unboxing & First Look Linus Tech Tips
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2011-05-08
·
1,620 words · ~8 min read
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now I unboxed the Define R2 a while back
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but the Define R3 actually came out to replace it quite a while ago so I had
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not had a chance to unbox the Define R3 but now I do this is actually a special
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Define R3 so the Define R3 is available
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in all of the same colors as the old R2 that is black and then black with a
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titanium front and black with a silver front but this one is an all Arctic
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White Version so it is more expensive because the paint finish on it is higher
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end and it does cost more to produce but let's have a look at what the R3 brings
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to the table over the R2 so first of all let's have a look at what fractal design
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has to say for themselves on the front stylish ATX case with focus on combining
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top-notch design and style and funny
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they don't say anything about silence but it is brand with high Ambitions to
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deliver products with an exclusive design good quality and interesting
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functions all at a modest price tag okay we have opening in the motherboard tray
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for easy mounting of CPU coolers we have removable dust filters and anti
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vibration pads below the PSU position
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all eight of the 2 1/ 12/ 3 and 1/2 in
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Drive expansion bays are SSD compatible
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so you could theoretically load this thing up with 8 ssds if you had the
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budget for it all right so let's get this box open up for one thing and then
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here on the other side you guys can sort of read about some of those features
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while I open up up the packaging to show you this case um most of the features
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are pretty similar to the definer 2 first thing we find inside the box is
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actually a user's manual so there's some stuff in there about how to remove your
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side panel I suppose and oh look at that
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so they show you the case label all the parts good for them okay let's flip this
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over and it looks like the packaging has actually been reinforced since the
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Define R2 so instead
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using just an outer cardboard shell with
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foam packaging there's actually another
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cardboard layer as well as overall
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thicker foam around the case packing it
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in so here I'll let you guys have a look at that so that gives it a little bit
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more structure to the package itself
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meaning that once it ships
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from fractal to the reseller to you the
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chances are very good it will still be in mint condition that's what packaging
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is all about on cases cases especially it's very important cuz they're heavy
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and big boxes you know tend to get thrown around by the couriers and so
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it's very important to have a good outer box especially if you have a system
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inside because that adds a lot more weight to it and can put a lot more
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strain on the packaging all right so
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there is is the Define R3 arctic white
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they've done a very good job of matching the white color between the plastic
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components and the metal components so yes this is a colored plastic this is
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painted metal but it's very very difficult to see the seam between them
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first thing let's do is let's have a look and do some external Impressions so
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on the front we see our Define sort of
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look this is what the define R2 looked like it's what the define R3 looks like
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one thing that's improved over the Define R2 is these little 5 and 1/4 in
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Bays so now they're a little bit easier to remove and snap back into place with
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a little blocking mechanism okay we have
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the same um doors in the front where we have
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removable fan filters and mounts for up to two 120 mm fans and the same noise
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dampening foam in the front door this is
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a reset switch which was added over the Define R2 this reset switch was not
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present on the R2 version of the case up at the top we find the same overall
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inputs and outputs we have headphones microphone power switch with a power LED
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around it and then a hard drive led oh no this is the power LED there's no hard
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drive LED my bad and then there's two USB 2 and one EA Port up here we have
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some modu vents modu vents are cool I'll talk a little bit more about them in a
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bit but these two fan mounts can take either 120 mm or 140 mm fans up to you
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so let's take off the side panel actually here we'll have a look at the
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back first so you can see the white finish it also extends to the back so we
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have some black accents so this is pretty much the opposite of the black
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versions of the case where we have a black case with white PCI slot covers
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now this is a white case with black PCI slot covers and black accents so oops if
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I can get the side panel off that would be a good thing there we go all right so
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oh here on the inside you can see right here this is fractal designs noise
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dampening material so it's present on both the side panel as well as a modu
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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
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means that if you decide not to mount a fan here you have noise dampening
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material if you unscrew these screws we're actually in the side panel I
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should have mentioned this you can do either a 120 or 140 mm fan if you
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unscrew the modu vent you can put a fan in there so you can decide whether you
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want Max maximum silence or maximum
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cooling okay I got screws in my pocket here so yeah inside we find black
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accents where the Define are where the black versions have white accents so
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here are the drive sleds now black cap
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compatible with 3 and 1/2 in or 2 and 1/2 in drives uh let's have a look at
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the overall interior so here are the modu vents that you were able to see
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from the outside so you can remove those foam pads and put in fans should you so
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desire at the back we have a couple water cooling grommets in the top whoops
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I pulled that one out oh my bad couple water cooling grommets in the top uh two
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in the back so if you want to mount an external radiator you will be able to
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run your tubing through there looks to be compatible with 38 in tubing Max
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though don't think you'll get one/ in tubing through there we have a 120 mm
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fan in the back seven PCI expansion slots we have a power supply Mount that
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has rubber on the bottom uh it has a
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foam uh spacer piece between between the back of the case and the power supply so
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that means that as long as your power supply has a reasonably silent fan you
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shouldn't be passing any vibrations along to the chassis we can mount
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another fan here in the bottom okay with these clips and that is a filtered fan
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intake there's also a filter which is removable under the power supply intake
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fan if you have a 120 mil fan you can intake from the bottom without any risk
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here's another thing that's been improved from the R2 the silicone Cable
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Management GR are using a much higher quality rubber so on the R2 they were a
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little bit stiff and they didn't return to their original form quite as easily
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so these ones are phenomenal and one of the great things about the Define
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chassis is that you can use these Cable
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Management holes because there is adequate space between the side panel
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and the motherboard tray to run any cables you want back there here is the
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CPU cutout so you can replace your heat sink without actually taking the
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motherboard out of the case and then moving along to the front we have our 5
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and 1/4 in Bays one of which actually comes pre-installed with a 5 and 1/4 to
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3 and 1/2 in adapter so if you only use one 5 and 1/4 in device like most people
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out there you can even Mount nine drives in this case in the standard
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configuration and then of course there's our mounting accessories as well as a
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PCI slot mounted fan controller so
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that's there and then you've got your 8 3 1/2 in/ 2 2 and2 in Drive mounts here
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we have our bundle of black so it's nice to see this that's what gives you a good
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aesthetic in these fractal cases black cables so these are for the front
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switches front lights front USB and the
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front eada so thank you for checking out my unboxing and first look at the
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fractal design Define R3 arctic white
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chassis don't forget to subscribe to Linus Tech tips for more unboxings
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