Fractal Design Arc Midi Tower

Darksaber · May 8, 2011

After the Define and Array cases, the gloves come off and Fractal Design is jumping into the fray with a classic chassis aimed at the higher end mid-range market. We take the Arc for a spin to see if it keeps us and our hardware afloat in the battle or if the existing players in this price segment have the bigger guns.

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Pigbristle · May 18, 2011

I have my pc under my desk, so the BACK fan controller is waste of space to me.
Wouldn't it be a much better idea, to have a small button to the right of the front/top usb3 socket that adjusted the fan speeds.
And I can't even see it costing extra.

Darksaber · May 18, 2011

Pigbristle said:
I have my pc under my desk, so the BACK fan controller is waste of space to me.
Wouldn't it be a much better idea, to have a small button to the right of the front/top usb3 socket that adjusted the fan speeds.
And I can't even see it costing extra.

Valid point, never occurred to me. But the controller is large enough so that you can feel for it and set the speed without having to see the controller. Besides, how often would you change the speed on the fans? 99% of the people would just leave it on the lowest setting.

Nonetheless, it is good th have the option anyways.

Athlon2K15 · May 18, 2011

good review clean cut case....some of your image code is messed up on the last page btw

theJesus · May 19, 2011

Excellent review, as always. I really like that you tried it with both a regular heatsink and with a radiator.

I think I really like this case, but I have to agree with you about it being priced in a very competitive segment. There are just so many great cases it has to compete with and there isn't much to really set it apart from the pack. With the amount of cases at similar prices offering similar features, it all comes down to aesthetics and personal preference over minor details I think.

Pigbristle said:
I have my pc under my desk, so the BACK fan controller is waste of space to me.
Wouldn't it be a much better idea, to have a small button to the right of the front/top usb3 socket that adjusted the fan speeds.
And I can't even see it costing extra.

Really wouldn't be hard to just drill a hole for the knob wherever you want it and then mount the controller there. Of course, it costs enough that I understand a lot of people will think "I shouldn't have to mod it." Personally, I enjoy doing little mods like that (simple, gives it a personal touch, and hard to screw up).

AthlonX2 said:
good review clean cut case....some of your image code is messed up on the last page btw

I noticed that as well.

W1zzard · May 19, 2011

AthlonX2 said:
some of your image code is messed up on the last page btw

fixed

Melvis · May 19, 2011

Good case, i like it, but shame the PSU is at the bottom =/

TheLostSwede · May 19, 2011

Melvis said:
Good case, i like it, but shame the PSU is at the bottom =/

Wow, you must be the one person in the world that doesn't like it at the bottom... oh well...

Pigbristle · May 19, 2011

Darksaber said:
Besides, how often would you change the speed on the fans? 99% of the people would just leave it on the lowest setting.

I disagree, if you had switch at the front (easy access), I think 99% would speed up their fans every time when in gaming mode, & slow them back down when surfing the net.

But I kind of agree that because its stuck at the back (awkward to get at) 99% will probably leave it on low setting.

Don't get me wrong, I really like this case but at the end of the day, is there really any excuse for putting fan controllers on the back of their cases?

theJesus · May 19, 2011

TheLostSwede said:
Wow, you must be the one person in the world that doesn't like it at the bottom... oh well...

I used to hate bottom-mounted power-supplies, but now I'm somewhat indifferent. BTW, your post sounds kinky when taken out of context

Pigbristle said:
I disagree, if you had switch at the front (easy access), I think 99% would speed up their fans every time when in gaming mode, & slow them back down when surfing the net.

But I kind of agree that because its stuck at the back (awkward to get at) 99% will probably leave it on low setting.

Don't get me wrong, I really like this case but at the end of the day, is there really any excuse for putting fan controllers on the back of their cases?

I'm pretty sure most people that really care about fan control will use a bay-mounted fan controller or just connect the fans to the motherboard and use software like SpeedFan.

Pigbristle · May 19, 2011

theJesus said:
I'm pretty sure most people that really care about fan control will use a bay-mounted fan controller

So what your saying is I have to go out & buy a new fan controller, whilst throwing the one I just paid for in the bin?

theJesus said:
or just connect the fans to the motherboard and use software like SpeedFan.

What's easiest,
1. Flick a switch on the top of your case
or
2. Have to open up SpeedFan program, alter fan settings, save & close program.

I know which one I would rather do.

Melvis · May 19, 2011

TheLostSwede said:
Wow, you must be the one person in the world that doesn't like it at the bottom... oh well...

Naaa we had a thread here to see what people liked more, and the top still won

MilkyWay · May 19, 2011

Shame that the front panel is plastic (looks like anodised aluminium in the pictures) otherwise nice looking for its size.

I don't really understand why Fractal insist on having fans on the side panel but i guess it is good for options, if they do insist on adding side fans they should have filters at least.

W1zzard · May 19, 2011

Pigbristle said:
What's easiest,
1. Flick a switch on the top of your case
or
2. Have to open up SpeedFan program, alter fan settings, save & close program.

fans that automagically are controlled to be as quiet as possible while keeping the system stable

Darksaber · May 19, 2011

MilkyWay said:
Shame that the front panel is plastic (looks like anodised aluminium in the pictures) otherwise nice looking for its size.

I don't really understand why Fractal insist on having fans on the side panel but i guess it is good for options, if they do insist on adding side fans they should have filters at least.

There are actually no fans in the side panel - just the option. I installed the one which was in the ceiling in the side, since the ceiling was filled by the radiator.

cheers
DS

Bjorn_Of_Iceland · May 19, 2011

Thanks for reviewing this case! Am going to get one noce jap has em ^^

theJesus · May 19, 2011

Pigbristle said:
So what your saying is I have to go out & buy a new fan controller, whilst throwing the one I just paid for in the bin?

No, I'm saying that a lot of people would be using some sort of option that supports controlling multiple fans individually. And no, you are not paying extra for that little controller, it's just some extra gimmick they tacked on.

Pigbristle said:
What's easiest,
1. Flick a switch on the top of your case
or
2. Have to open up SpeedFan program, alter fan settings, save & close program.

I know which one I would rather do.

or
3. Set automatic fan control in SpeedFan so it speeds or slows your fans according to temperature thresholds that you set so you never have to worry about it.

I know which one I would rather do.

W1zzard said:
fans that automagically are controlled to be as quiet as possible while keeping the system stable

Beat me to it :laugh:

Pigbristle · May 19, 2011

theJesus said:
3. Set automatic fan control in SpeedFan so it speeds or slows your fans according to temperature thresholds that you set so you never have to worry about it.

Admittedly this would seem the best idea (makes me wonder why then, so many enthusiast opt for fan controllers?)

And the fact you say "you are not paying extra for that little controller", I would say is questionable?

But I'm not here to argue, so I'll leave the people to decide the answer of my original post...

Were do you prefer your fan controller, on the front of the case or on the back?

cheers

hsew · May 19, 2011

I'm getting fed up with manufacturers putting only one USB 3.0 port on the front panel. In many cases it is acceptable because most cases on the market today don't utilize a USB3 header, but seeing as this one DOES, it boggles the mind to see only ONE port.

Are there any cases BESIDES the Cooler Master Enforcer that offer 2 ports on a header?

Casecutter · May 19, 2011

MilkyWay said:
Shame that the front panel is plastic (looks like anodised aluminium in the pictures) otherwise nice looking for its size.

Amen, I was loving it until plastic... and for $120 USD please. The Gigabyte Poseidon had a super nice aluminum front bezel years ago that had much the same façade.
I just think faux plastic leaves me disillusioned for what appears to be a classy-chassis.

Would be keen on it, if it could be had for say $75 USD… delivered to my door. :rolleyes:

fullinfusion · May 19, 2011

Nice little case! nice review Dark :toast:

Thrackan · May 20, 2011

Question!

Can you place a fan between the top panel cover and the top panel itself?

DeerDance · May 20, 2011

It seem to be almost identical to the core 3000 - more budget case, except cheaper outer design and rubber on cable management holes...

WarEagleAU · May 22, 2011

Great review. I love Fractals streamlined design and haven't really seen a case that I dislike. The fact that this midtower handily accomodates (This is spelled right stupid FF4) is a definite plus. Bad location for a fan controller but appreciated nonetheless.

theJesus · May 22, 2011

WarEagleAU said:
Great review. I love Fractals streamlined design and haven't really seen a case that I dislike. The fact that this midtower handily accomodates (This is spelled right stupid FF4) is a definite plus. Bad location for a fan controller but appreciated nonetheless.

No, there are definitely two "m"s in "accommodates"

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	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

Processor	Intel Core i9 11900K
Motherboard	MSI Z590 Carbon EK X
Cooling	Custom Water
Memory	Team DDR4 4000MHz
Video Card(s)	ASUS TUF RTX 3080 OC
Storage	WD WN850 1TB
Display(s)	43" LG NanoCell 4K 120Hz
Power Supply	Asus Thor 1200w
Mouse	Asus Strix Evolve
Keyboard	Asus Strix Claymore

System Name	Desktop\|\| Virtual Host 0
Processor	Intel Core i5 2500-K @ 4.3ghz \|\| 2x Xeon L5630 (total 8 cores, 16 threads)
Motherboard	ASUS P8Z68-V \|\| Dell PowerEdge R710 (Intel 5520 chipset)
Cooling	Corsair Hydro H100 \|\| Stock hotplug fans and passive heatsinks
Memory	4x4gb Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 \|\| 12x4gb Hynix DDR3 1066 FB-DIMMs
Video Card(s)	MSI GTX 760 Gaming Twin Frozr 4GB OC \|\| Don't know, don't care
Storage	Hitachi 7K3000 2TB \|\| 6x300gb 15k rpm SAS internal hotswap, 12x3tb Seagate NAS drives in enclosure
Display(s)	ViewSonic VA2349S \|\| remote iDRAC KVM console
Case	Antec P280 \|\| Dell PowerEdge R710
Audio Device(s)	HRT MusicStreamer II+ and Focusrite Scarlett 18i8 \|\| Don't know, don't care
Power Supply	SeaSonic X650 Gold \|\| 2x870w hot-swappable
Mouse	Logitech G500 \|\| remote iDRAC KVM console
Keyboard	Logitech G510 \|\| remote iDRAC KVM console
Software	Win7 Ultimate x64 \|\| VMware vSphere 6.0 with vCenter Server 6.0
Benchmark Scores	Over 9000 on the scouter

Processor	Ryzen 7 5700X
Memory	48 GB
Video Card(s)	RTX 4080
Storage	2x HDD RAID 1, 3x M.2 NVMe
Display(s)	30" 2560x1600 + 19" 1280x1024
Software	Windows 10 64-bit

Fractal Design Arc Midi Tower

Darksaber

Senior Editor & Case Reviewer

Pigbristle

New Member

Darksaber

Senior Editor & Case Reviewer

Athlon2K15

HyperVtX™

theJesus

W1zzard

Administrator

Melvis

TheLostSwede

News Editor

Pigbristle

New Member

theJesus

Pigbristle

New Member

Melvis

MilkyWay

W1zzard

Administrator

Darksaber

Senior Editor & Case Reviewer

Bjorn_Of_Iceland

theJesus

Pigbristle

New Member

hsew

Casecutter

fullinfusion

Vanguard Beta Tester

Thrackan

DeerDance

WarEagleAU

Bird of Prey

theJesus

System Name	Night Rider \| Mini LAN PC \| Workhorse
Processor	AMD R7 5800X3D \| Ryzen 1600X \| i7 970
Motherboard	MSi AM4 Pro Carbon \| GA- \| Gigabyte EX58-UD5
Cooling	Noctua U9S Twin Fan\| Stock Cooler, Copper Core)\| Big shairkan B
Memory	2x8GB DDR4 G.Skill Ripjaws 3600MHz\| 2x8GB Corsair 3000 \| 6x2GB DDR3 1300 Corsair
Video Card(s)	MSI AMD 6750XT \| 6500XT \| MSI RX 580 8GB
Storage	1TB WD Black NVME / 250GB SSD /2TB WD Black \| 500GB SSD WD, 2x1TB, 1x750 \| WD 500 SSD/Seagate 320
Display(s)	LG 27" 1440P\| Samsung 20" S20C300L/DELL 15" \| 22" DELL/19"DELL
Case	LIAN LI PC-18 \| Mini ATX Case (custom) \| Atrix C4 9001
Audio Device(s)	Onboard \| Onbaord \| Onboard
Power Supply	Silverstone 850 \| Silverstone Mini 450W \| Corsair CX-750
Mouse	Coolermaster Pro \| Rapoo V900 \| Gigabyte 6850X
Keyboard	MAX Keyboard Nighthawk X8 \| Creative Fatal1ty eluminx \| Some POS Logitech
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64 \| Windows 10 Pro 64 \| Windows 7 Pro 64/Windows 10 Home

System Name	Overlord Mk MLI
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard	Gigabyte X670E Aorus Master
Cooling	Noctua NH-D15 SE with offsets
Memory	32GB Team T-Create Expert DDR5 6000 MHz @ CL30-34-34-68
Video Card(s)	Gainward GeForce RTX 4080 Phantom GS
Storage	1TB Solidigm P44 Pro, 2 TB Corsair MP600 Pro, 2TB Kingston KC3000
Display(s)	Acer XV272K LVbmiipruzx 4K@160Hz
Case	Fractal Design Torrent Compact
Audio Device(s)	Corsair Virtuoso SE
Power Supply	be quiet! Pure Power 12 M 850 W
Mouse	Logitech G502 Lightspeed
Keyboard	Corsair K70 Max
Software	Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores	https://valid.x86.fr/yfsd9w

System Name	Thakk
Processor	i7 6700k @ 4.5Ghz
Motherboard	Gigabyte G1 Z170N ITX
Cooling	H55 AIO
Memory	32GB DDR4 3100 c16
Video Card(s)	Zotac RTX3080 Trinity
Storage	Corsair Force GT 120GB SSD / Intel 250GB SSD / Samsung Pro 512 SSD / 3TB Seagate SV32
Display(s)	Acer Predator X34 100hz IPS Gsync / HTC Vive
Case	QBX
Audio Device(s)	Realtek ALC1150 > Creative Gigaworks T40 > AKG Q701
Power Supply	Corsair SF600
Mouse	Logitech G900
Keyboard	Ducky Shine TKL MX Blue + Vortex PBT Doubleshots
Software	Windows 10 64bit
Benchmark Scores	http://www.3dmark.com/fs/12108888

System Name	Acer Aspire V3-771G-53218G75Maii
Processor	Core i5 3210M (2,5-3,1Ghz)
Memory	8GB DDR3 SODIMM
Video Card(s)	Geforce GT650M
Storage	Samsung 830 256GB - 750GB Toshiba drive
Software	Windows 7 x64 Home Premium (non-acer-bloatware)

System Name	Pandemic 2020
Processor	AMD Ryzen 5 "Gen 2" 2600X
Motherboard	AsRock X470 Killer Promontory
Cooling	CoolerMaster 240 RGB Master Cooler (Newegg Eggxpert)
Memory	32 GB Geil EVO Portenza DDR4 3200 MHz
Video Card(s)	ASUS Radeon RX 580 DirectX 12 DUAL-RX580-O8G 8GB 256-Bit GDDR5 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video C
Storage	WD 250 M.2, Corsair P500 M.2, OCZ Trion 500, WD Black 1TB, Assorted others.
Display(s)	ASUS MG24UQ Gaming Monitor - 23.6" 4K UHD (3840x2160) , IPS, Adaptive Sync, DisplayWidget
Case	Fractal Define R6 C
Audio Device(s)	Realtek 5.1 Onboard
Power Supply	Corsair RMX 850 Platinum PSU (Newegg Eggxpert)
Mouse	Razer Death Adder
Keyboard	Corsair K95 Mechanical & Corsair K65 Wired, Wireless, Bluetooth)
Software	Windows 10 Pro x64