Fractal Design Arc Midi R2

Darksaber · Jul 10, 2013

The Fractal Design Arc Midi R2 is the second generation of the water-cooling friendly Arc series, and it brings many more or less obvious improvements along for the ride. Will these be enough to make an even better impression than the original?

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Frick · Jul 10, 2013

The prices here goes as follows:

Core 3k - €64
~~Arc R2 - €70~~ That was the first Arc, the R2 is €82.
Define R3 - €76
Define R4 - €87

I really REALLY wish there was a version without window. I don't like windows. Looks very good otherwise.

Yellow&Nerdy? · Jul 10, 2013

Nice review. It looks like a nice case, pretty simplistic. The only gripe I'd have is the plastic front, which may or may not seem a bit cheap, but I guess is acceptable taking the price into consideration. Also probably the best watercooling options for cases around that price range.

70€? Most retailers I've seen have it for around 90.

Frick · Jul 10, 2013

Yellow&Nerdy? said:
70€? Most retailers I've seen have it for around 90.

Yeah I used a price comparing site (whatever you call them) and the one at Pixmania is the first Arc Midi. €82 for the R2. Not sure it's worth it over the Define R3 actually.

Assimilator · Jul 10, 2013

Shipping a PC case in 2013 without 4 USB 3.0 ports? That's a paddlin'.

Apart from that, I love this case. Just a question on the review:

Darksaber said:
page 3:

Above that are the 140 mm exhaust fan and two small openings for water cooling tubes that are routed out the back of the chassis.

Either I'm blind or there are no openings for WC tubing there...

Durvelle27 · Jul 10, 2013

I have this case and I love it. Was a nice step up from my old Cooler Master Storm Scout

Farmer Boe · Jul 10, 2013

Great review. Further reinforced the decision I made to buy one for my gaming rig. Works awesome and looks amazing when all setup. I guess I'm now a Fractal fan boy since all my systems are in Fractal Design cases!

Frick · Jul 10, 2013

Oh yes I forgot: Is there a dust filter on the bottom, by the PSU?

Durvelle27 · Jul 10, 2013

Frick said:
Oh yes I forgot: Is there a dust filter on the bottom, by the PSU?

Yes there is

evaseeker · Jul 10, 2013

Assimilator said:
Shipping a PC case in 2013 without 4 USB 3.0 ports? That's a paddlin'.

Apart from that, I love this case. Just a question on the review:

Either I'm blind or there are no openings for WC tubing there...

i dont think there is, i hope it is proven either that we are blind or it is corrected in the review :cool:

de.das.dude · Jul 10, 2013

small typo. in dimensions you wrote 230 x 460 x 515m ( W, H, D)
should be in mm

Sp33d Junki3 · Jul 10, 2013

it is a great case. In canada you can get it on sale for $65 sometimes. Which is great. I got mine for $90 CAD, well worth it.
Smoked side window makes white LED lighting look even better.
I will say this, in all my years owning 20+ cases, this one is by far the best I ever had. It even beats the Switch 810, in terms of build quality and simplicity.

hp7909 · Jul 16, 2013

Subtle logo replaces the large one

Preferred the (old ones) larger logo cos it filled up the space above the 5.25" opening. Great case nevertheless considering not much changed from original

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	White DJ in Detroit
Processor	Ryzen 5 5600
Motherboard	Asrock B450M-HDV
Cooling	Be Quiet! Pure Rock 2
Memory	2 x 16GB Kingston Fury 3400mhz
Video Card(s)	XFX 6950XT Speedster MERC 319
Storage	Kingston A400 240GB \| WD Black SN750 2TB \|WD Blue 1TB x 2 \| Toshiba P300 2TB \| Seagate Expansion 8TB
Display(s)	Samsung U32J590U 4K + BenQ GL2450HT 1080p
Case	Fractal Design Define R4
Audio Device(s)	Plantronics 5220, Nektar SE61 keyboard
Power Supply	Corsair RM850x v3
Mouse	Logitech G602
Keyboard	Cherry MX Board 1.0 TKL Brown
Software	Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores	Rimworld 4K ready!

System Name	Just A Gaming Rig.
Processor	AMD FX-8320 @4.1GHz, 1.268V
Motherboard	ASUS M5A97 Evo R2.0
Cooling	Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo
Memory	8 GB Crucial Ballistix Sport 1600MHz
Video Card(s)	Club 3D R9 280X 3GB royalQueen, @1115/1615MHz
Storage	OS+Often used stuff: Kingston SSDNow V300 120GB, Mass storage: WD Blue 1TB
Case	Zalman Z3 Plus
Audio Device(s)	Integrated
Power Supply	Corsair CX600M
Software	Windows 8.1 64-bit

System Name	White DJ in Detroit
Processor	Ryzen 5 5600
Motherboard	Asrock B450M-HDV
Cooling	Be Quiet! Pure Rock 2
Memory	2 x 16GB Kingston Fury 3400mhz
Video Card(s)	XFX 6950XT Speedster MERC 319
Storage	Kingston A400 240GB \| WD Black SN750 2TB \|WD Blue 1TB x 2 \| Toshiba P300 2TB \| Seagate Expansion 8TB
Display(s)	Samsung U32J590U 4K + BenQ GL2450HT 1080p
Case	Fractal Design Define R4
Audio Device(s)	Plantronics 5220, Nektar SE61 keyboard
Power Supply	Corsair RM850x v3
Mouse	Logitech G602
Keyboard	Cherry MX Board 1.0 TKL Brown
Software	Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores	Rimworld 4K ready!

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	Razer Pro Type Ultra
Software	Windows 10 Professional x64

Fractal Design Arc Midi R2

Darksaber

Senior Editor & Case Reviewer

Frick

Fishfaced Nincompoop

Yellow&Nerdy?

Frick

Fishfaced Nincompoop

Assimilator

Durvelle27

Moderator

Farmer Boe

Frick

Fishfaced Nincompoop

Durvelle27

Moderator

evaseeker

de.das.dude

Pro Indian Modder

Sp33d Junki3

hp7909

New Member

System Name	Black Prometheus
Processor	\|AMD Ryzen 7 1700
Motherboard	ASRock B550M Pro4\|MSI X370 Gaming PLUS
Cooling	Thermalright PA120 SE \| AMD Stock Cooler
Memory	G.Skill 64GB(2x32GB) 3200MHz \| 32GB(4x8GB) DDR4
Video Card(s)	ASUS DirectCU II R9 290 4GB
Storage	Sandisk X300 512GB + WD Black 6TB+WD Black 6TB
Display(s)	LG Nanocell85 49" 4K 120Hz + ACER AOPEN 34" 3440x1440 144Hz
Case	DeepCool Matrexx 55 V3 w/ 6x120mm Intake + 3x120mm Exhaust
Audio Device(s)	LG Dolby Atmos 5.1
Power Supply	Corsair RMX850 Fully Modular\| EVGA 750W G2
Mouse	Logitech Trackman
Keyboard	Logitech K350
Software	Windows 10 EDU x64

System Name	Prime Shiz
Processor	Intel i7 4770K 4.4Ghz 1.31v
Motherboard	MSI Z97A Gaming 6
Cooling	Noctua NH-D14
Memory	G.Skill Ripjaws X 1866MHz 16GB @ 2200 CL10
Video Card(s)	MSI GTX1070 GAMING X 8GB
Storage	Crucial BX100 250GB, Corsair Force 3 240GB, Crucial BX100 500GB
Display(s)	Asus VS24AH-P
Case	Silverstone Fortress FT02 USB3.0
Audio Device(s)	Asus Xonar Essense STX
Power Supply	EVGA SuperNOVA 650 G2
Mouse	Mionix Naos 3200
Keyboard	CM Storm Quickfire TK reds

System Name	Monke \| Work Thinkpad\| J1nnx took Old Monke
Processor	Ryzen 5600X \| Ryzen 5500U \| FX8320
Motherboard	ASRock B550 Extreme4 \| ? \| Asrock 990FX Extreme 4
Cooling	240mm Rad \| Not needed \| hyper 212 EVO
Memory	2x16GB DDR4 3600 Corsair RGB \| 16 GB DDR4 3600 \| 16GB DDR3 1600
Video Card(s)	Sapphire Pulse RX6700XT 12GB \| Vega 8 \| Sapphire Pulse RX580 8GB
Storage	Samsung 980 nvme (Primary) \| some samsung SSD
Display(s)	Dell 2723DS \| Some 14" 1080p 98%sRGB IPS \| Dell 2240L
Case	Ant Esports Tempered case \| Thinkpad \| Antec
Audio Device(s)	Logitech Z333 \| Jabra corpo stuff
Power Supply	Corsair RM750e \| not needed \| Corsair GS 600
Mouse	Logitech G400 \| nipple
Keyboard	Logitech G213 \| stock kb is awesome \| Logitech K230
VR HMD	;_;
Software	Windows 10 Professional x3
Benchmark Scores	There are no marks on my bench

Processor	i5-13500
Motherboard	MSI MAG B760 Tomahawk WiFi DDR4
Cooling	Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 White
Memory	Corsair Vengeance LPX 4x8GB 3200
Video Card(s)	EVGA RTX3060 12GB
Storage	250GB NVME (main) 1TB SSD (Game) 1TB HDD (Storage) 2TB HDD (ext Backup)
Display(s)	Benq 27" GW2765 + Asus 27" VE278 + 55" Hisense
Case	Cougar MX600 White
Audio Device(s)	Audiotrack Prodigy Cube DAC + Edifer S330D + Plantronics RIG 400
Power Supply	Corsair AX760
Mouse	Logitech G403 Hero
Keyboard	EVGA Z15 Brown Tactile (Blue Oring, Lube, Silence Pad)

System Name	mASTERsYSTEM
Processor	AMD 4800+ @ stock
Motherboard	MSI K9N Neo V3
Cooling	ACF 64 Pro
Memory	4GB Corsair DDR2
Video Card(s)	HIS HD 4850 IceQ 4
Storage	Samsung F1 500GB (x2)
Display(s)	Dell SE198WFP
Case	Lian-Li PC-7S
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	Enermax Liberty 400W
Software	Vista HP