Test System

Assembly

Adding a motherboard is done by traditional means, with pre-installed spacers and included screws. There are plenty of cable-routing and hiding possibilities to keep the interior nice and clean. With the optional Flex VRC-25 kit, you will easily be able show off your GPU as well.


The 3.5" drives are placed on the larger trays in the same fashion. As these units rest on rubber rings as an anti-vibration measure, Fractal Design has included special screws for these. There are enough screws to fill all six bays, which is nice to see.


You may add an SSD by using the specific mounting plate or a 3.5" drive tray. Both employ the same method of assembly as the drive is secured to either with traditional screws. Once filled, simply put your choice back into the case and use the thumb screw to ensure it stays there.


Due to the shroud, you have to slide your power supply in through the opening in the back of the Vector RS. Before doing so, simply mount the PSU frame to your unit, which then attaches to the case frame. There is plenty of space, which means you can easily use really powerful units without worry even when using potent liquid cooling.


With everything installed, the Fractal Design Vector RS sports a really clean look. All the cables are nicely grouped and routed, and the opening for the motherboard tray gives you unobstructed access to the CPU mounting bracket. I installed the in-line RGB controller so that I could get to it as easily as humanely possible. While it is great of Fractal Design to give us this control element, I would love to see it built into the I/O of such cases in the future.

Finished Looks

Once turned on, the Fractal Design Vector RS lights up with a continues RGB strip that runs straight up, across the top edge, and straight down the top panel. This is such an unusual sight for a case of this brand as it is the very first time Fractal embeds RGB straight into their chassis designs. For example, the Define S2 utilized RGB-equipped fans, while the entire chassis lacked additional lights. If you look closely, there is a small visual disconnect between the LEDs in the front and those in the top of the Vector RS. This is minor but noticeable, along with the slightly lower perceived brightness in the top panel. A white power LED lights up as well to let you know that the system is up and running.


As this is the Vector RS Blackout Dark TG variant, it is a bit harder to see all your components through the window, but they still shine through a bit. Those who use RGB-equipped CPU cooling and GPUs will see a lot more without it being too distracting, which is due to the heavy tint of the Dark version. If you like having all that flashy hardware clearly visible, simply go for the Vector RS Blackout TG instead.


Thanks to the embedded RGBs, you may toggle through the in-line controller to trigger various illumination levels, animations, and color combinations. On top of that, there are eight solid color options to pick from.