I likey, the addition of fan filters on top and psu area be separated are nice, lose Fan RPM control isnt big issue, all fans controller by 1 hub is great, less clutter, I do i have question though I like the idea behind the optional placement of GPU with extra cable not sure about price for it thought. might be good for blower style cards but the aftermarkets kind that have 2~3 fans be pushing air away from it might not like being positioned like that case how close it would be to the side of the case, any chance you test temps with AF GPU like that with in that postion? I just case see 2~3 AF fan setup that pushes air away from it performing to will that close to side panel. I could be wrong though maybe it will just push all that air to side and up the case, One thing that bothered be about my R5 is the Led lights the Blue light serves as the Power led and HDD activity light, making hard to see hdd activity, did the separate the lights? and make different colors less something happens to my R5 between now and my next build or better case comes along i think i want this

Good review and interesting acoustics comparison (btw, on the graphs, its "Dark Base 700, not Silent Base 700"). This one seems to have a lot of clever features and build quality paired with the X2 fans could prove a real winner. I also like that you "get what you need" for a standard build and don't have to buy additional fans, brackets and whatnot like with so many other cases. My only gripe is the price for the TG version which is on the high side compared to the competition and to the FD brand itself. After all they're known to make cases which have good value for money.

FM57:

Solid review Hilbert. That is the best chassis I have seen in a while for eatx mb. Better than my Phanteks even. Very classy in white. I just disagree when you say it is pricey. €150 nowadays is peanuts when you put it against DDR4 for example.

I completely disagree with that statement. Let's say that a €100 is better than this one, will ju disregard that one and buy the R6 simply because €150 is peanuts?

tsunami231:

One thing that bothered be about my R5 is the Led lights the Blue light serves as the Power led and HDD activity light, making hard to see hdd activity, did the separate the lights? and make different colors

I personally solved that issue by connecting PWR LED to HDD LED 🙂 Then the light only shows HDD activity and nothing else.

Hilbert, your sure you dont have noise transfering from somewhere outside, to that room? at least when we're talking about an "empty" room, 28 dBa isnt really "silent" to me. i know im picky on that part (im running NB multiframe with 8dBa, and had to throttle them to really NOT hear them), but a room without anything producing "noise" should be much quieter.

Front panel IO then, arguably it looks a little bland. But you'll find three 3.0 ports alongside audio I/O, Power button with LED (blue), a reset button though. And once powered on, the power LED will turn blue.

Isn't it two usb 3.0 and two usb 2.0? A very thorough review, as always. Since I don't like side windows, it's as you said: My current R5 is still a valid choice.

Kaarme:

Isn't it two usb 3.0 and two usb 2.0? A very thorough review, as always. Since I don't like side windows, it's as you said: My current R5 is still a valid choice.

Totally, correct thanks for noting.

Looks ok, maybe looks a bit boring though, but the white one looks better, that one doesn't look boring. Not a fan of cases with HDD racks, just disrupts airflow & creates visual clutter too. I'm more for sticking them behind the motherboard, I've got two SSD's back there. EDIT: I know you can remove the HDD racks in this case, but I guess you're paying for them as part of the case, and perhaps don't need such a big case if removing HDD racks unless putting in custom watercooling I guess.

Good review of this Fractal case Hilbert. My ARC Midi is still safe as i couldn't justify swapping over to this one,i have the clear side panel option here and it's a cracking wee case for air control...still looking out for a definite winner here!.

Digging this thread out... (yes, I know it's 3 months old): I just ordered Define R6 Black with TG - 140 euro in the Netherlands. Hopefully it arrives tomorrow. I'm going to fill it's HDD cage to the max (6 WD RED's, one DVD-RW and also the two SSD slots on the back). Large EATX mobo (Gigabyte X99 Ultra Gaming), Big Zotac GTX 1080 video card, Corsair H115i 280+mm radiator... Yeah, I am going to fill up this case ! Hopefully cable routing won't be a huge problem. The computer comes from a bigger "full tower" case which is about six years old, that one didn't have problems with space, but this one is much more compact. However I'm tired of that case, it occupies way too much space and has an "asian" type design with a lot of sharp corners... (apparently I had different tastes back then) Will come back with pictures once it arrives ( might do a (re)build log in a separate thread as well )

so I just completed a build in this case yesterday.. I gotta say, I was a bit disappointed after doing two R5 builds and a Define S build recently.. this one was tougher for me to complete the top radiator clearance is complete garbage.. had a real hard time trying to mount and find a suitable position for it.. that took a lot of time on my end to figure out. also the PSU Shroud is more of a pain, at least in my opinion, just the angle at which the cables come out through the back makes it a very tight fit to work... so yea.. if I needed another case, I think I'd go with the R5 instead, it just feels a tad more 'roomy.'