Fractal Design Define S

Darksaber · Apr 12, 2015

The Fractal Design Define S sports the same build quality and look as the Define family of enclosures, which we have come to love, but bears one very big difference: It is geared toward those building a custom liquid-cooling loop. With dedicated mounting possibilities for radiators, pump, and reservoir, the Define S shines where most other mid-tower cases fail by offering more than just a mounting possibility for pre-assembled liquid-cooling solutions.

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Sihastru · Apr 21, 2015

There's something wrong with the case.

There, I fixed it!

Caring1 · Apr 21, 2015

Sihastru said:
There's something wrong with the case.

There, I fixed it!

That's better, it didn't look right before, all that wasted space.

Jetster · Apr 21, 2015

I love Fractal cases. So simple and functional

ZeroFM · Apr 21, 2015

Caring1 said:
That's better, it didn't look right before, all that wasted space.

now think what happen with HDD when shorter case !!!

Caring1 · Apr 21, 2015

ZeroFM said:
now think what happen with HDD when shorter case !!!

Behind the motherboard and on the base of the case.
Plenty of room for SSD's and a PCI-e drive

Frick · Apr 21, 2015

I'm not a fan of vertically mounted HDD's like that. Three is better than the normal 2 though, but then there's no 5.25 bay... I usually love Fractal stuff, but this is not for me.

It looks really good though.

SmokingCrop · Apr 21, 2015

Caring1 said:
That's better, it didn't look right before, all that wasted space.

It's wasted space for that particular reviewers-build. It's not wasted space when you want to use it to put a big reservoir or so there.

WithoutWeakness · Apr 21, 2015

SmokingCrop said:
It's wasted space for that particular reviewers-build. It's not wasted space when you want to use it to put a big reservoir or so there.

Exactly. That space is for thick rads with push-pull fans or mounting a vertical reservoir to the motherboard tray. This isn't designed for people running 1 GPU and an AIO CPU cooler in mind. This is Fractal's case for full custom liquid cooling loops with 3 or 4 radiators.

MxPhenom 216 · Apr 21, 2015

Sihastru said:
There's something wrong with the case.

There, I fixed it!

Caring1 said:
That's better, it didn't look right before, all that wasted space.

Fail. There is a reason the front has so much extra space. its so people and run radiators + reservoir mounted to the back well with the brackets the case came with.

R00kie · Apr 21, 2015

Goddamnit, where was this case when I bought my CM690 III? Really wanted them hard drives out of the way of the airflow

radusorin · Apr 21, 2015

Wow, it feels like they read my mind wen i was looking at R5. (that is spooky). The only thing missing is the front door for better dust filter cleaning. If i can get this cheaper than the R5 it's going to be my next case for sure. Love it.

Sihastru · Apr 22, 2015

MxPhenom 216 said:
Fail. There is a reason the front has so much extra space. its so people and run radiators + reservoir mounted to the back well with the brackets the case came with.

Yeeeaaah.... but no... The reason is that they used the same tooling from the R5, but with a different front and mid plate. You'd think it's built for complex custom water cooling loops, but it's not. In reality you can't fit triple front + triple top + single back radiators at the same time as they interfere with each other. You can have a triple on top + a dual in front, or a dual on top + a triple on front. And with that limitation in mind, most people will just ignore this case since they can do the exact same build in a Define R5 with minimal tweaking.

So Fractal disappoints this time as they've chosen to save money rather then actually design a water cooling friendly case. Fail indeed.

MxPhenom 216 · Apr 22, 2015

Sihastru said:
Yeeeaaah.... but no... The reason is that they used the same tooling from the R5, but with a different front and mid plate. You'd think it's built for complex custom water cooling loops, but it's not. In reality you can't fit triple front + triple top + single back radiators at the same time as they interfere with each other. You can have a triple on top + a dual in front, or a dual on top + a triple on front. And with that limitation in mind, most people will just ignore this case since they can do the exact same build in a Define R5 with minimal tweaking.

So Fractal disappoints this time as they've chosen to save money rather then actually design a water cooling friendly case. Fail indeed.

You can definitely run a 360 in the front and 360 in the top, but the top one is limited in thickness. and who the hell would run 2 triples and a single rad.

Ciric · Apr 22, 2015

SmokingCrop said:
It's wasted space for that particular reviewers-build. It's not wasted space when you want to use it to put a big reservoir or so there.

This
+with 60mm rad @ push/pull, the space is gone :laugh:

Sihastru said:
Yeeeaaah.... but no... The reason is that they used the same tooling from the R5, but with a different front and mid plate. You'd think it's built for complex custom water cooling loops, but it's not. In reality you can't fit triple front + triple top + single back radiators at the same time as they interfere with each other. You can have a triple on top + a dual in front, or a dual on top + a triple on front. And with that limitation in mind, most people will just ignore this case since they can do the exact same build in a Define R5 with minimal tweaking.

So Fractal disappoints this time as they've chosen to save money rather then actually design a water cooling friendly case. Fail indeed.

I Would choose this over the R5 any day.
The clean front with no 5,25" bays alone is enough to make that choice

Sihastru · Apr 22, 2015

MxPhenom 216 said:
You can definitely run a 360 in the front and 360 in the top[...]

Nope.

Ciric said:
The clean front with no 5,25" bays alone is enough to make that choice

This seems to be the only redeeming feature of this case.

SmokingCrop · Apr 23, 2015

MxPhenom 216 said:
You can definitely run a 360 in the front and 360 in the top, but the top one is limited in thickness.

you still won't have the space to mount a fan.
check: 23m35s

But It's still great value.

Caring1 · Apr 23, 2015

SmokingCrop said:
you still won't have the space to mount a fan.

If you install a top radiator, then the fans can be mounted externally for a pull arrangement.

WithoutWeakness · Apr 23, 2015

SmokingCrop said:
you still won't have the space to mount a fan.
check: 23m35s

But It's still great value.

You would need to use a slim (~25mm) radiator in the top. There isn't enough room above the motherboard for a thick rad plus fans unless you mount the fans externally. They tried sticking a thick radiator in the top of the case. If they took the thin 360mm radiator that they put in the front and mounted it up top it would fit. They could then mount the thick 360mm radiator in the front with a single set of push or pull fans alongside the reservoir mounted on the motherboard tray. They could do push/pull on the thick radiator if they mounted the reservoir somewhere else like they demonstrated around 22m10s.

Here's what Fractal has posted on the product page showing the thin radiator up top:

2big2fail · May 29, 2015

Could someone comment as to whether the Define S can fit a thick 420 rad in the front (without top radiator)? Or even better the clearence from the case floor to the ceiling?

System Name	Corsair 2000D Silent Gaming Rig
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System Name	H7 Flow 2024
Processor	AMD 5800X3D
Motherboard	Asus X570 Tough Gaming
Cooling	Custom liquid
Memory	32 GB DDR4
Video Card(s)	Intel ARC A750
Storage	Crucial P5 Plus 2TB.
Display(s)	AOC 24" Freesync 1m.s. 75Hz
Mouse	Lenovo
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Fractal Design Define S

Darksaber

Senior Editor & Case Reviewer

Sihastru

Caring1

Jetster

ZeroFM

Caring1

Frick

Fishfaced Nincompoop

SmokingCrop

WithoutWeakness

MxPhenom 216

ASIC Engineer

R00kie

radusorin

Sihastru

MxPhenom 216

ASIC Engineer

Ciric

Sihastru

SmokingCrop

Caring1

WithoutWeakness

2big2fail

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Video Card(s)	XFX 6950XT Speedster MERC 319
Storage	Kingston KC3000 1TB \| 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
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Storage	Samsung 970 Evo 1TB
Display(s)	Asus RoG PG279Q Swift
Case	Fractal Design Define S2 Gunmetal
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Power Supply	Corsair HX750i
Mouse	Logitech G903
Keyboard	Corsair K70 (Black)
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Storage	960 EVO 500GB(boot) + Mx300 1T + Barracuda 3TB
Display(s)	Acer Predator XB1 XB271HB G-Sync 144hz + AOC e2752Vq
Case	Fractal Design Define R5 Blackout Edition
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Processor	R9 3900X
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