Fractal Define 7

rtwjunkie · Feb 22, 2020

EarthDog said:
ftfy and agreed.

LOL, doh! Thanks.

Axaion · Feb 22, 2020

if the HDD cages suck as much as the R6 ones do, then nope.

Rivage · Feb 23, 2020

13 x 3.5" HDD!
Porn case of the year!

Assimilator · Feb 23, 2020

Rivage said:
13 x 3.5" HDD!
Porn case of the year!

If you have or intend to have that many drives, rather spend the money to get a proper server case with hotswap.

Rivage · Feb 23, 2020

Assimilator said:
If you have or intend to have that many drives, rather spend the money to get a proper server case with hotswap.

have 8x 3.5" drives already. and gonna need soon at least 2x 8-10TB.
Chassis with drives hotswap is nice ofc. But there's a bit different price tag, while Define 7 is cheap to me. Also, i do like the universality and modularity of it. It can be whatsoever, or gaming chassis, or file server, or workstation

RCG · Feb 24, 2020

Brought the Define R1 for my PC build moving from an Antec 900, Next rebuild brought the R5 looks like next rebuild will be a BlackOut R7. I love these cases

AhokZYashA · Feb 24, 2020

good looking, understated, no frills ATX case
i love it,

but it is kinda hard to find the parts here where i live, i havent managed to find TG side panel for my R5, let alone all the small tidbits that comes with it

webdigo · Feb 25, 2020

So how does the inbuilt fancontroller works?
Like is it possible to individually adjust each fan directly with some kind of software?

looks · Feb 25, 2020

rtwjunkie said:
I would have to double down on that and bote for R4 since it still swallowed anything you put in there, quietly and cool as expected, but was overall a little more stiff and strong than the R5. But no argument at all on the R5 being great.

na, i'm still using the r4, it has 2 major design flaws where fractal fixed on the r5, one being the filter at the bottom pulls out from behind, it would be pain if your case is against the wall, the other being the ssd mounting mechanism behind the back panel, if you want to take down the ssd, you would need to take down your motherboard too cause the screws are behind them, the only pro the r4 has over the r5 is the thick and solid side panel, they really thinned out the side panel on r5.

rtwjunkie · Feb 25, 2020

looks said:
na, i'm still using the r4, it has 2 major design flaws where fractal fixed on the r5, one being the filter at the bottom pulls out from behind, it would be pain if your case is against the wall, the other being the ssd mounting mechanism behind the back panel, if you want to take down the ssd, you would need to take down your motherboard too cause the screws are behind them, the only pro the r4 has over the r5 is the thick and solid side panel, they really thinned out the side panel on r5.

Except scooting case away from the wall takes 5 seconds, and I screw SSD’s into the HDD caddies, which are designed to line up screw holes in the bottom of each caddy. No motherboard messing around.

However, velcro works wonders if you really want to use the space behind the motherboard for SSD’s.

Joss · Feb 25, 2020

The biggest design flaw with the R4 was the airflow restrictive HDD cages, R5's were brilliant.

rtwjunkie · Feb 25, 2020

Joss said:
The biggest design flaw with the R4 was the airflow restrictive HDD cages, R5's were brilliant.

My airflow is great, temps always well under control. Proper fan selections in the various case locations mitigates the front cage restrictions.

looks · Feb 26, 2020

rtwjunkie said:
Except scooting case away from the wall takes 5 seconds, and I screw SSD’s into the HDD caddies, which are designed to line up screw holes in the bottom of each caddy. No motherboard messing around.

However, velcro works wonders if you really want to use the space behind the motherboard for SSD’s.

a flaw is a flaw, otherwise fractal wouldn't change these 2 settings.

Darksaber · Feb 27, 2020

Alexandrus said:
The R6 definitely has 2 LEDs, two sets of cables for each LED, just the HDD one is placed in such a way that it looks way brighter. Plus, Power Button, HDD LED and Power LED are all part of the same assembly, basically the power button assembly.
I played a lot with them as I wanted to change them to a different color.
I don't know if that is "exactly" what you said, but close enough.

Actually, I used this Define 7 for a build for a friend who wanted to upgrade from his R5. The Define 7 definitely does not have a separate Reset cable. Me missing that once? possible. Twice? not likely

Keullo-e · Mar 3, 2020

The Define series gets better by every version, but also the price seems to get higher every time.

Ravenas · Apr 2, 2020

Chloe Price said:
The Define series gets better by every version, but also the price seems to get higher every time.

To be fair, I think it's a bargain in comparison to the Be Quiet 900 pro rev 2. $169.99 for the non-XL version (which is still bigger than the be quiet) versus $259. I bought the case, and I have to say it's the best I have ever owned.

Keullo-e · Apr 2, 2020

Ravenas said:
To be fair, I think it's a bargain in comparison to the Be Quiet 900 pro rev 2. $169.99 for the non-XL version (which is still bigger than the be quiet) versus $259. I bought the case, and I have to say it's the best I have ever owned.

You have a point, but my point is that R4 for example was 89EUR or 99EUR back in the day when it was released, this is 150EUR at its lowest (Finnish prices includes VAT).

Assimilator · Apr 2, 2020

Chloe Price said:
You have a point, but my point is that R4 for example was 89EUR or 99EUR back in the day when it was released, this is 150EUR at its lowest (Finnish prices includes VAT).

Yup, it's definitely not linked to inflation. Fractal used to be solid chassis at solid value, they have increased their quality but prices have gone up far more. It's disappointing when companies get so greedy.

Keullo-e · Apr 2, 2020

Assimilator said:
Yup, it's definitely not linked to inflation. Fractal used to be solid chassis at solid value, they have increased their quality but prices have gone up far more. It's disappointing when companies get so greedy.

On the other hand, there's pretty much choices from other manufacturers these days, back in the day Define (R2, R3 and R4) was the one which people always recommended.

Assimilator · Apr 2, 2020

Chloe Price said:
On the other hand, there's pretty much choices from other manufacturers these days, back in the day Define (R2, R3 and R4) was the one which people always recommended.

Which makes the decision to hike the price even more stupid. In another couple of years Fractal's management team are going to be asking themselves "why are profits down" and the answer is going to be "because you tried to be a mediocre premium brand in a market saturated with premium brands, instead of a better-than-average mainstream brand with some premium offerings".

Lian Li found out the hard way that charging premium prices without having anything behind them is a losing strategy, hence their PC-O11 line which is great value at an extremely reasonable price. Essentially, they've gone full circle and I'm willing to bet Fractal will end up doing the same in half a decade or so.

Caring1 · Apr 3, 2020

Nice for those that like the shiny slab front with no air flow look, and limited headroom above the motherboard.
I noticed they tried to make it look better by only using A.I.O's in the pics, not a huge tower cooler.
An optional high airflow front fascia would improve this case too.

Ghedeon · May 31, 2020

Chloe Price said:
The Define series gets better by every version, but also the price seems to get higher every time.

yes i agree altough i can't understand why they make a step in return for the power button lightning and not supporting the hdd light connector any more

Keullo-e · May 31, 2020

Ghedeon said:
yes i agree altough i can't understand why they make a step in return for the power button lightning and not supporting the hdd light connector any more

I used the power LED as a HDD LED when I had a Define R4. Worked just fine.

Ghedeon · Jun 2, 2020

Chloe Price said:
I used the power LED as a HDD LED when I had a Define R4. Worked just fine.

Yes, i thought about that also but it bothers me, because thats a feature for me alone a reason to boght the define 6 and later the define 7 and i am angry because there aren't any information about it in their descriptions on the website. Only if you search through the manual.

As an information, I asked Fractal Design about their reasons , why they changed it.
Here is their Answer:

this was an request of the Customers.
Alot of Customers do not neet the HDD LED and some complained about the Power Light in the Panel. So we also changed this.

With regards

Keullo-e · Jun 2, 2020

Ghedeon said:
Yes, i thought about that also but it bothers me, because thats a feature for me alone a reason to boght the define 6 and later the define 7 and i am angry because there aren't any information about it in their descriptions on the website. Only if you search through the manual.

As an information, I asked Fractal Design about their reasons , why they changed it.
Here is their Answer:

this was an request of the Customers.
Alot of Customers do not neet the HDD LED and some complained about the Power Light in the Panel. So we also changed this.

With regards

Weird. I see the HDD LED much more useful than the power LED.

System Name	Bayou Phantom
Processor	Core i7-8700k 4.4Ghz @ 1.18v
Motherboard	ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming 6
Cooling	All air: 2x140mm Fractal exhaust; 3x 140mm Cougar Intake; Enermax T40F Black CPU cooler
Memory	2x 16GB Mushkin Redline DDR-4 3200
Video Card(s)	EVGA RTX 2080 Ti Xc
Storage	1x 500 MX500 SSD; 2x 6TB WD Black; 1x 4TB WD Black; 1x400GB VelRptr; 1x 4TB WD Blue storage (eSATA)
Display(s)	HP 27q 27" IPS @ 2560 x 1440
Case	Fractal Design Define R4 Black w/Titanium front -windowed
Audio Device(s)	Soundblaster Z
Power Supply	Seasonic X-850
Mouse	Coolermaster Sentinel III (large palm grip!)
Keyboard	Logitech G610 Orion mechanical (Cherry Brown switches)
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (Start10 & Fences 3.0 installed)

System Name	Bongfjaes
Processor	AMD 3700x
Motherboard	Assus Crosshair VII Hero
Cooling	Dark Rock Pro 4
Memory	2x8GB G.Skill FlareX 3200MT/s CL14
Video Card(s)	GTX 970
Storage	Adata SX8200 Pro 1TB + Lots of spinning rust
Display(s)	Viewsonic VX2268wm
Case	Fractal Design R6
Audio Device(s)	Creative SoundBlaster AE-5
Power Supply	Seasonic TTR-1000
Mouse	Pro Intellimouse
Keyboard	SteelKeys 6G

System Name	SUPPRESSOR Mk IV
Processor	AMD Ryzen 9 5900X @undervolt
Motherboard	ASUS Crosshair VII Hero (X470)
Cooling	EK CoolStream PE360 @front w/ 3x NB B12-P; Eisblock XPX; Eisbecher D5 250; Eispumpe VPP755;
Memory	G.Skill Trident Z LGBT (B-die) 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 3000MHz CL14 @4133 CL19 (F4-3000C14D-32GTZR)
Video Card(s)	PowerColor RX 6800 XT @undervolt w/ EK-Quantum Vector N+; +EK CoolStream PE360 @top
Storage	Samsung 980 Pro 1TB M.2 x2; +FreeNAS in Node 304 w/ 4x6TB Seagate IronWolf 3.5" HDD
Display(s)	NEC PA241W @1200p; Dell U2412M @1200p; Dell U2413 @1200p; LG 65SJ950V @2160p
Case	Fractal Define 7 Black /w Dark TG; +2x Be Quiet Shadow Wings 120mm at bottom
Audio Device(s)	Yamaha AG06; UR28M; SB X-Fi Elite Pro; Yamaha HS7; Sennheiser HD 650; HyperX Cloud; AKG C214
Power Supply	XFX XTS2 1000W (P1-1000-XTS2) (Seasonic PD platform)
Mouse	Zowie EC1-A; +Akasa Mouse Pad TXL 1000x500mm
Keyboard	Roccat Ryos MK Pro (Red Cherry MX)
Software	Windows 10 Pro; / AMD Radeon 23.11.1

System Name	Firelance.
Processor	Threadripper 3960X
Motherboard	ROG Strix TRX40-E Gaming
Cooling	IceGem 360 + 6x Arctic Cooling P12
Memory	8x 16GB Patriot Viper DDR4-3200 CL16
Video Card(s)	MSI GeForce RTX 4060 Ti Ventus 2X OC
Storage	2TB WD SN850X (boot), 4TB Crucial P3 (data)
Display(s)	3x AOC Q32E2N (32" 2560x1440 75Hz)
Case	Enthoo Pro II Server Edition (Closed Panel) + 6 fans
Power Supply	Fractal Design Ion+ 2 Platinum 760W
Mouse	Logitech G602
Keyboard	Logitech G613
Software	Windows 10 Professional x64

System Name	SUPPRESSOR Mk IV
Processor	AMD Ryzen 9 5900X @undervolt
Motherboard	ASUS Crosshair VII Hero (X470)
Cooling	EK CoolStream PE360 @front w/ 3x NB B12-P; Eisblock XPX; Eisbecher D5 250; Eispumpe VPP755;
Memory	G.Skill Trident Z LGBT (B-die) 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 3000MHz CL14 @4133 CL19 (F4-3000C14D-32GTZR)
Video Card(s)	PowerColor RX 6800 XT @undervolt w/ EK-Quantum Vector N+; +EK CoolStream PE360 @top
Storage	Samsung 980 Pro 1TB M.2 x2; +FreeNAS in Node 304 w/ 4x6TB Seagate IronWolf 3.5" HDD
Display(s)	NEC PA241W @1200p; Dell U2412M @1200p; Dell U2413 @1200p; LG 65SJ950V @2160p
Case	Fractal Define 7 Black /w Dark TG; +2x Be Quiet Shadow Wings 120mm at bottom
Audio Device(s)	Yamaha AG06; UR28M; SB X-Fi Elite Pro; Yamaha HS7; Sennheiser HD 650; HyperX Cloud; AKG C214
Power Supply	XFX XTS2 1000W (P1-1000-XTS2) (Seasonic PD platform)
Mouse	Zowie EC1-A; +Akasa Mouse Pad TXL 1000x500mm
Keyboard	Roccat Ryos MK Pro (Red Cherry MX)
Software	Windows 10 Pro; / AMD Radeon 23.11.1

Fractal Define 7

rtwjunkie

PC Gaming Enthusiast

Axaion

Rivage

Assimilator

Rivage

RCG

AhokZYashA

webdigo

looks

rtwjunkie

PC Gaming Enthusiast

Joss

rtwjunkie

PC Gaming Enthusiast

looks

Darksaber

Senior Editor & Case Reviewer

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Ghedeon

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Keullo-e

S.T.A.R.S.

System Name	The splurge
Processor	Intel Xeon E3-1230 V5
Motherboard	Asrock E3V5WS
Memory	Kingston KTH-PL421/16G
Video Card(s)	HSI Radeon RX480
Storage	OCZ Trion 150 960Gb
Case	Fractal Design R5 Blackout Edition
Power Supply	Corsair 450
Mouse	Logitech G502
Keyboard	Logitech G15s

System Name	Hakase
Processor	Ryzen 7 3700X @ Stock
Motherboard	ASUS ROG Strix B450-F
Cooling	Noctua NH-U12S
Memory	2x8GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 @ 3000MHz 18-18-18
Video Card(s)	Asus GTX1070 Dual
Storage	250GB 860EVO - 2x600GB Cheetah 15k7 - 2x2TB Constellation ES - 2+3TB Green - 500GB Deskstar
Display(s)	Viewsonic VX2476-smhd
Case	Fractal Design Define R5
Audio Device(s)	Fostex PC100USB > Altec Lansing ATP-3
Power Supply	Corsair CX750M
Mouse	Logitech G Pro X Superlight - Razer ExactMat Control
Keyboard	Leopold FC750R, MX Blue
Software	Win 10 Pro 64-bit
Benchmark Scores	not benching anymore...

System Name	Meshlicious Monster
Processor	Intel Core i5-10600T
Motherboard	MSI Z490I Unify
Cooling	NZXT Kraken Z53 with 2x Noctua Redux 1300 RPM PWM fans
Memory	ADATA 16 GB 3200 Mhz DDR4
Video Card(s)	MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Gaming X Trio
Storage	TeamGroup 1TB NVMe SSD
Display(s)	Asus ProArt 27" 1440P, 75Hz
Case	ssupd Meshlicious with mesh side panels
Power Supply	Fractal Design Ion 660 W Platinum ATX
Mouse	Corsair Dark Core RGB Pro Wireless
Keyboard	Microsoft Sidewinder X4 Keyboard
Software	Windows 10 Home

System Name	4K-gaming
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 5800X
Motherboard	Gigabyte B550M Aorus Elite
Cooling	Custom loop, Corsair ML/LL fans
Memory	48GB Kingston Fury DDR4-3200
Video Card(s)	Asus GeForce RTX 3080 TUF 10GB @ +150/700
Storage	~4TB SSD + 6TB HDD
Display(s)	Acer XV273K 4K120 + Lenovo L32p-30 4K60
Case	Corsair 4000D Airflow White
Audio Device(s)	Asus TUF H3 Wireless
Power Supply	EVGA Supernova G2 750W
Mouse	Logitech MX518 + Asus TUF P1 mousepad
Keyboard	Roccat Vulcan 121 AIMO
VR HMD	Oculus Rift CV1
Software	Windows 11 Pro
Benchmark Scores	It runs Crysis remastered at 4K

System Name	AM5
Processor	AMD Ryzen R9 7950X
Motherboard	Asrock X670E Taichi
Cooling	EK AIO Basic 360
Memory	Corsair Vengeance DDR5 5600 64 Gb - XMP1 Profile
Video Card(s)	AMD Reference 7900 XTX 24 Gb
Storage	Samsung Gen 4 980 1 TB / Samsung 8TB SSD
Display(s)	Samsung 34" 240hz 4K
Case	Fractal Define R7
Power Supply	Seasonic PRIME PX-1300, 1300W 80+ Platinum, Full Modular

System Name	Black Box
Processor	Intel Xeon E3-1260L v5
Motherboard	MSI E3 KRAIT Gaming v5
Cooling	Tt tower + 120mm Tt fan
Memory	G.Skill 16GB 3600 C18
Video Card(s)	Asus GTX 970 Mini
Storage	Kingston A2000 512Gb NVME
Display(s)	AOC 24" Freesync 1m.s. 75Hz
Case	Corsair 450D High Air Flow.
Audio Device(s)	No need.
Power Supply	FSP Aurum 650W
Mouse	Yes
Keyboard	Of course
Software	W10 Pro 64 bit