A Closer Look - Inside

To access the interior, simply take off the thumb screws holding each panel in place. Unlike the Define series, you will not find any sound-dampening materials within the Meshify C. The glass panel has a black layer on its edges to make it look nice and clean around its mounting points, while the center just has enough of a tint. The interior of the Fractal Design Meshify C is actually quite simple at first sight. As the chassis lacks drive bays in front, it is a lot shorter than most mid-tower alternatives. Fractal Design spread the hard-drive-mounting possibilities around a bit to make sure they are all out of sight. Turning the chassis around, it becomes apparent where these are, as a look behind the motherboard tray reveals.


You may mount three SSDs or 2.5" drives behind the opening for the CPU cooler, for example. Fractal Design also equipped the Meshify C with Velcro strips to help with cable management, and there is a shroud for the bottom-third of the interior to cover up the PSU and 3.5" drive bays.


While there is only around 20 mm of space across the majority of the motherboard tray, you have almost 40 mm to work with here because of the trench towards the front of the chassis. Due to the lack of sound-dampening materials, cables should be easy to route, and assembly most likely won't bear any surprises either.


Taking a look at the shroud, it is made out of metal and comes with a separate cover you will have to remove to install a 240 or 280 mm radiator into the front of the chassis. If you do, you will also have to move the hard-drive cage below the shroud. There is even an air vent on the metal cover, which would allow the PSU's fan to pull air from inside the case out the back. This could be of interest if you have an LED-equipped power supply, as it could more effectively utilize its lighting elements.


You will find the two metal 3.5" drive trays below the shroud. You may also install 2.5" drives into these if you like. Fractal made sure you can move the entire cage towards the rear of the chassis to make space for a 360 mm radiator at the front without having to sacrifice these trays. If you still have to remove the cage for some reason, there is a 3.5" mounting hole on the floor for you to add such a storage drive. Above that is not much else besides the aforementioned fan. There is a separate cover in the shroud should you need to access the area below it for fans or that 360 mm radiator.


The PSU bay in the rear is below the shroud as well. The PSU is meant to rest on four foam spots as an anti-vibration measure. Above that are the seven expansion slots with their individual thumbscrews that hold each white cover in place. You will find a 120 mm exhaust fan in the very top, which makes for a total of two pre-installed cooling units within the Meshify C.


Taking a quick look at the ceiling from the inside, it becomes apparent that the mounting holes for the fans or radiator are offset to make sure they don't interfere with any components, including heatsinks, on the motherboard.


All the cables within the Fractal Design Meshify C are of the usual variety; you should have no problems connecting these to a modern motherboard. All the leads are sleeved black to go with the enclosure's overall color scheme.