Fractal Design Define R2

[Darksaber]

The Define R2 from Fractal Design manages to still turn some heads in the crowded sub 100 Euro case market. It may not look like much at first sight, but Fractal Design manages to stuff it full of useful features, which are simply not present in cases from the competitors.

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[mlee49]

Nice case, better review DS. Thanks for the hard work.

 

[a_ump]

look reminds me a lot of the Antec P180, but the layout, design, and fan placements look a lot better than the Antec similar(imo )

 

[MRCL]

I have that case and its brilliant. A word of warning tho; if you plan to fill it with big graphics cards, huge coolers and plenty of HDDs, make sure you can take some hours of frustrating cable management. The interior layout is excellent, but also pretty cramped.

A Megahalems and a 5850 fit no problem tho. Oh, and the included fans rock!

 

[the_speed]

I just thought to say, the loose sound-absorbing plate is supposed to sit over 5.25bays the case dont have a firewire port but it has a eSATA port on the top of the case, look better next time, it even says eSATA http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Fractal_Design/Define_R2/images/casetopio.jpg
The dust filter for the power supply is pushed in too long
The case can hold 9 3,5drives if you use the including 5,25 to 3,5 inch adapter
the drive bay covers can be removed without taking the front off, but to remove the metal cover behind the lower 5,25bay you need to remove the front i think, i don't remember how i did
And a big tower of this case i think is on its way, and an smaller mATX versions may come soon to

But nice review, its fun to see this awesome (for its price) case, in different countrys than Sweden
I myself is an happy owner of an Fractal design Define R2

 

[Frick]

I've been thinking about getting this case since it came out. It's gorgeous to look at, and the price is pretty sweet.

 

[Ripper3]

I was just about to comment and say that it hasn't got Firewire, it has eSata, but the_speed beat me to it heh.
So might want to rectify the marking down because of the lack of eSata.

I'd love to see this in a mATX version. I love the look of their mITX case too, but I don't see myself needing a NAS, or being able to cope with such a small number of expansion slots.

 

[tuppel]

I would like to say that the fan openings on the top, side and bottom are 140mm (with support for 120 mm). If not, Fractal Design must have changed the design from the Swedish version. Didn't get any dampening material for the bottom fan opening, bastards.

I've had the Define R2 since the Swedish release in October -09. Very happy with mine, some minor kinks that still hasn't been worked out by Fractal Design, but overall a great chassis. It swallows my Thermalright IFX-14 with 99 % ease; the heatpipes on the top touches the dampening material, no worries though.

 

[Darksaber]

I just thought to say, the loose sound-absorbing plate is supposed to sit over 5.25bays the case dont have a firewire port but it has a eSATA port on the top of the case, look better next time, it even says eSATA http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Fractal_Design/Define_R2/images/casetopio.jpg
The dust filter for the power supply is pushed in too long
The case can hold 9 3,5drives if you use the including 5,25 to 3,5 inch adapter
the drive bay covers can be removed without taking the front off, but to remove the metal cover behind the lower 5,25bay you need to remove the front i think, i don't remember how i did
And a big tower of this case i think is on its way, and an smaller mATX versions may come soon to

But nice review, its fun to see this awesome (for its price) case, in different countrys than Sweden
I myself is an happy owner of an Fractal design Define R2

Fixed the Firewire / eSATA mixup - thanks

As for the sound dampening: I did not know that, nor is there a manual included, thus I though this was the right position, added your info to the review. Yes you could install 9, but it is being advertised as 8 and the primary use for the bay is for external drives. You have to remove the entire front to gain access to the metal part blocking the bottom bay. So I did not want to make people think that you can just pop things out and slide it in. Good to know that bigger/smaller versions are being developed, maybe we get to take a look at them as well

 

[Darksaber]

I would like to say that the fan openings on the top, side and bottom are 140mm (with support for 120 mm). If not, Fractal Design must have changed the design from the Swedish version. Didn't get any dampening material for the bottom fan opening, bastards.

I've had the Define R2 since the Swedish release in October -09. Very happy with mine, some minor kinks that still hasn't been worked out by Fractal Design, but overall a great chassis. It swallows my Thermalright IFX-14 with 99 % ease; the heatpipes on the top touches the dampening material, no worries though.

Man I have to slow down with my reviews ^^ but so much to do. Pointed out the 120 & 140 compatibility - thanks.

As for the bottom sound cover, apparently that goes somewhere else, but since my review sample had that piece floating around and no real manual to help, I slapped it on the first spot where it fit.

So your unit is the exact same as mine

 

[the_speed]

Fixed the Firewire / eSATA mixup - thanks

As for the sound dampening: I did not know that, nor is there a manual included, thus I though this was the right position, added your info to the review. Yes you could install 9, but it is being advertised as 8 and the primary use for the bay is for external drives. You have to remove the entire front to gain access to the metal part blocking the bottom bay. So I did not want to make people think that you can just pop things out and slide it in. Good to know that bigger/smaller versions are being developed, maybe we get to take a look at them as well

I understand that it couldn't be easy tho know where it should sit, but that is why i felt that i had to tell you

I see know why you wrote 8 3,5 bay, hadn't slept for some hours

Okey, i dont remember that i took the whole front of but perhaps i did but dont remember

Nice review

 

[the_speed]

Fractal design in soon releasing a new define case called R3 And they also is on their way to release a Full tower of the define called define XL.

Here are some pics from swedens biggest overclocking forum
http://www.sweclockers.com/nyhet/12133-tjuvtitt-pa-fractal-designs-nya-chassin

 

[InnocentCriminal]

Thanks for the link and welcome to TPU!

 

[rpsgc]

An R3 you say? And just when I was about to buy an R2. It's probably going to be too expensive as the R2 right now costs almost as much as a P182 but it's hard finding a deep and short case like this one.

Hopefully faster fans mean different fans = no ticking.

 

[the_speed]

they have a big thread over at sweclockers where the members can talk directly with a worker from fractal design, and in that thread i think i remember that they talk´d about the price, and if i dont remember wrong, it should have the same price as the R2. there was some talk about the price raise of 100 swedish kronor, that´s about 10us dollars i think, and thats because the dollar has gone up.
Sadly some of the fans from fractal has an ticking noise, but its not often. if you get a fan tats noisy, send a e-mail to fractal and explain it tho them, they often ask for your address so they can send you a replacement

I have translated the info about the R3 to English for you guys

Define R3

Define R3 is a little updated version of the model Define R2. Fractal Design has tried to correct all of the problems that people have complained about. The main changes are these:

* More scratch-resistant coating
* A small reset button, hidden behind the front panel door.
* Rubber parts are exchanged for softer silicone. Besides better performance, the change also solves the problem of bad smell.
* The supplied fans are a bit more powerfull, 1200 RPM instead of 1000 RPM.

In addition, the chassis will come in a white version, with inverted color compared to the black models.
For the prototype (witch you can see in the link), was all metal parts painted white, and thus will be changed tho black. The LED on the front is now red instead of blue.

The model is expected to reach Sweden in mid-August.

 

[rpsgc]

I assumed all fans had the ticking noise. So it's just luck of the draw? Otherwise any replacement would share the same problem.

 

[the_speed]

If all fans would had the ticking noise i think fractal would have stopped selling them, and fixed it
Before there where more fans that were defect (had ticking noise) but now i think that fractal has solved the problem so there shouldn't be any ticking fans. mine doesn't tick and i know many others that dont have ticking fans. so if you got ticking fans, i think you just had bad luck, but mail fractal and see what they say
It will always be some defect fans that sneaks out to the customers even noctua has defectives leaking out, but not as often, but the have sold fans for a longer time

 

[rpsgc]

I see. This case has only recently been available here so it might have the new fans. Moreover that also means that this new R3 would take a while to be available here. I don't know if I will wait that long.

 

[the_speed]

 

[hooj]

This case ticks all the boxes for me but why do all the cases with two fans on the front panel have to be close to £100?