A Closer Look - Inside

To gain access to the interior of the Arc Mini R2, simply remove the thumbscrews holding each panel in place. Fractal Design has not re-invented the wheel with its interior layout, but holds on to proven shapes and functions. The motherboard tray has various rubber grommets covering openings that have been placed around the side and bottom of the tray. There are also two holes at the top, which should make cable management a bit easier.


There is around 20 mm of space behind the tray, which should be alright for cable management if you apply some tough love to the side panel after assembly. The coolest addition to the Arc Mini R2 are its two 2.5" hard-drive trays on the back of the motherboard tray. Each is held in place by two screws and is shaped in a basic fashion that requires screws to hold any drive in place, which should work well. Their design mirrors everything else in the Arc Mini R2: simple, but functional.


Fractal Design is one of the few companies to still use metal hard-drive trays, while most other brands out there opt to utilize plastic instead. It is refreshing to see that Fractal Design has not taken that route, and I hope they never will. The six hard-drive trays are divided up into two cages, and you may pull the top cage out after removing two thumbscrews. The way the rails are designed also allows you to rotate the top cage by 90°, which would have the drives facing inward instead.


Another option is to remove the cage completely to, for example, make room for extra-long expansion cards or have some space for a reservoir or a liquid-cooling loop. You can also remove the bottom cage to really go all out. This will reveal two fan placements and really nets a lot of space. It will, however, limit you to 5.25" drive bays and the two 2.5" variants on the back of the motherboard tray.


Neither external 5.25" drive bay uses tool-less plastic locks. Fractal Design still went for thumbscrews in the Arc Mini R2. I am a big fan of this approach as it is still tool-less, but holds any installed devices perfectly.


The bottom-mounted PSU bay in the rear is lined with a thin layer of foam as an anti-vibration measure. Above that are the 4 + 1 expansion slots, with each cover held in place by a thumbscrew. The 120 mm fan in the rear is identical to that in the front and also features a 3-pin connector attached to a nicely sleeved cable.


One of the main selling points of the Arc family of cases is their compatibility with radiators you can install into the ceiling. The Arc Mini R2 continues to offer such compatibility, which allows for water-cooling radiators of up to 360 mm in the top. The only limiting factor for such a long radiator is the fact that one has to use a thin variant. Regardless, the option to install such a beast within a compact case like this one is quite unique. Fractal Design also includes a single 140 mm, white-bladed fan in the ceiling to push hot air out the top of the chassis. You may remove the top panel by taking off two thumbscrews in the back. Doing so reveals all fan-mounting holes. There are holes for two 140 mm or three 120 mm fans here.


All cables within the Arc Mini R2 are sleeved black to go with the case. Fractal Design does not include a separate USB 2.0 adapter for the USB 3.0 plug, but instead attaches the smaller connector as a secondary cable straight to the lead. You then have the flexibility to go "old-school" or modern with the I/O. All other cables are of the default type, and, yes, the cables its fan controller uses are nothing out of the ordinary. Interesting of note here is that each 3-pin cable is of a different length, with a very short cable hiding in the top of the chassis - good for fans that are close to the controller, it allows you to minimize cable clutter. It is obviously good to see three pre-installed fans right out of the box, and there are just enough fan headers to control them properly.