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At the back, we see a slight offset at the top before running into the rear I/O area and adjustable fan location. Below those, we find seven expansion slots with ventilation next to them, and room for the PSU at the bottom. To the right, the panel offers a pin and latch system, so the thumbscrews aren't needed once the chassis is on a stable surface. I wish Fractal had made the removable ModuVent panels at the top of the case a little more finger-friendly.
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To be fair, the Obsidian 450D does have an extra 140-mm fan spinning away in its front panel, but the Corsair case also lacks the Define R5’s foam-insulated front door and top panels. As a result, more noise can escape from the Obsidian 450D, period, no matter what cooling method you choose. Thanks to all of the foam, the Define R5 seems to do a better job of muffling the worst sounds from inside the case, especially hard drive noise. The R5’s foam-insulated front door is a much better noise barrier than 450D’s open mesh panel, as evidenced by the three to six dBA gap in noise levels measured at the front of each case. Just as biological structures and computer algorithms spontaneously repeat their geometric patterns at different scales, so do we, unless we’re forced to do otherwise either by legislation or by ideology. Individuals might make small repetitions of a pattern (a rectangular room shape) while groups might make larger versions of the same pattern (a courtyard) and larger groups might make a still larger one (an urban plaza).
Define R5: Water Cooling Radiator Options
The company could have included some corresponding magnetic filters for these top vents, too. I also wish Fractal had made the R5’s drive trays tool-free, and I was let down a little by the case’s occasional hard-drive-related buzziness. With a tower-style air cooler, setting the Define R5’s fan controller on low doesn’t push peak temperatures much higher than when the motherboard is handling fan control duties. SSD temps are the only real exception, and again, they’re probably nothing to worry about. Newly configured front door offers dual side mounting to better fit your work space and now features the same dense xound absorption material as found on the sides of the case for maximum silent computing.
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(c) Longitudinal tension and breaking along the entire line form a “perforated” fractal, here shown at its first stage. This is a natural mechanism for defining an urban colonnade and any semi-permeable urban boundary, such as a row of bollards that protect pedestrian from vehicular traffic. The new and innovative Quick Release System on the left side of the case provides secure mounting of the left side panel, yet grants quick and easy access to the system. If there is anything to complain about with the Define R5, it would have to be the stock airflow. While it did give us near average results on our CPU and GPU, the chassis is in definite need of more airflow for a gamer or heavy user to be happy in the long term.
The new Define 7 Compact takes the strongest features of the contemporary 7 Series design and places them in a conveniently compact frame. It is rare that we find a chassis that is well appointed, strong as an ox, and offers many ways to keep volume from the chassis at bay all at once, but the Define R5 does it all. Fractal Design has broken the mold and shown that they are indeed still relevant, and ready to take the market and its customers head on with this new Define R5 mid-tower. In fact, you practically have to be within an inch or two of the chassis to hear anything from inside of it. Here we find the chassis naming at the top once again, and near the middle, we see the FD-CA-DEF-R5-BK model number is checked off, denoting we have the black model, and not white or titanium.
The Define R5’s motherboard tray is pretty conventional by modern standards, with the requisite set of rubber grommets ringing its border. Interestingly, the motherboard tray is recessed a little bit, which helps to explain the R5’s ability to swallow 180-mm-tall CPU coolers. The motherboard tray also features an enormous cutout to facilitate the installation of CPU cooler backplates. On the right, a much more sparse, fractal-free environment in the modern suburbs of Bruges—which is also far less walkable, and has other negative impacts. The pedestrian networks of medieval Rome have a fractal structure, extending into the buildings and even the rich ornamental details of the buildings themselves. These “place networks” offer pedestrians a dense and overlapping set of choices of movement, views, and other enriching experiences.
Dual side mounted door
Tested: Fractal Design Define R5 PC Case PC Hardware - GameWatcher
Tested: Fractal Design Define R5 PC Case PC Hardware.
Posted: Wed, 15 Apr 2015 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Here we see the side ventilation in the bezel, tight lines around the panel, and some chromed feet at the bottom. We also see a ModuVent panel covering an optional fan location to provide fresh air to the video cards. The chart then moves on to spacing behind the motherboard tray, and it also mentions the Velcro tie straps, the option to switch the front panel swing, and the cool latch system for the left door. The chart also informs us that we will be able to find this chassis in black, titanium, and white, all of which will have the option of a solid panel or a windowed panel. Moving into weights and measures, we see that the R5 is 232mm wide, 451mm in height, 531mm deep, and weighs in at 10.2 kilos while empty.
Under the chassis, we find four round feet placed near the corners, and the feet have rubber pads for added grip and protection. We also find one long dust filter that slides out of the front, and this will also provide you with access to HDD cage screws, and allow you to install optional fans. The right side of the chassis is very much like the left side, with the ventilation in the bezel, and an expansive black steel panel. This panel is secured by removable thumbscrews, and both panels swing in and out like car doors.
FAN slot covers
If there was ever a time to jump in with both feet and try out a silent chassis with all the bells and whistles, this is it. We have high expectations of cases that can be shot with a shotgun and still sit there smiling back at you, and we were in no way disappointed with the chassis you are about to see. Overall, the R5 is the quietest case I’ve tested, but it’s not going to make an otherwise noisy system quiet on its own. Silent-PC enthusiasts will still need to choose parts carefully to minimize overall system noise.
For instance at the scale of a region there are not that many structural choices that are relevant to an individual going about his daily activities. At this scale, the fractal loading of our environment vastly expands the structural options, and builds synergies between them. If I am in a well-connected, fractal-loaded spot at this human scale, I can read the newspaper, I can talk to a friend, I can say hello to a passerby, or I can run one errand or more. This is very likely a key reason that, within urban systems, well-structured pedestrian networks are so important. Around back, we find nine features listed, including the chassis' silent operation, H2O support, ModuVent system, GP14 fans, dust filters, HDD cage modularity, hidden drive bays, front panel, and the quick release panel.
My Corsair Obsidian 450D and the XFX Type-01 Bravo each required varying degrees of elbow grease to get the expansion card screw holes lined up with the back panel. The Define wasn’t perfect in this regard, but it required only minimal muscling to achieve the same effect. The same was true of my motherboard, which needed only a tiny bit of force to line up with the alignment pin in the center of the mobo tray. I don’t like applying undue force to delicate electronics, so this surprise was a welcome one. With the 5.25″ bays removed, one can mount three 120- or 140-mm fans, or radiators up to 420 mm in length, at the top of the R5.
The Define R5 delivers lower temperatures than the Obsidian 450D for some components, while the Obsidian keeps other parts cooler. Considering the Define R5 is down a fan against the Obsidian 450D, that’s impressive. Quite honestly the positives outweigh that one negative like a cinder block on a scale with a feather at the other side. The cinder block being the great building accuracy and the engineered flow is a common thought while I built into this case.
The rendering at the bottom shows the chassis, notes where things are located, and how to remove or access them. If you care about system noise, using the Define’s built-in fan controller isn’t a set-and-forget process. At the controller’s lowest setting, the R5 is quiet at idle, but the decreased airflow means that the components inside get hotter under load—and those components spin their smaller, noisier fans faster to compensate. With the fan controller on high, load noise levels are about the same, but the larger, more pleasant-sounding Fractal Design fans are doing more of the work. Accordingly, it pays to switch the fan controller between its high and low settings as needed. Motherboard fan control remains the best option, but it’s nice that the fan controller is there for those who need it.
It also would have been really slick if Fractal had included a matching magnetic filter for each ModuVent panel, since the top vent is unfiltered when these panels are removed. Corsair includes a magnetic top filter for the Obsidian 450D in the box, so such an add-in wouldn’t be unprecedented. Both blue and gray radiators may require removal or alternate position of internal HDD or ODD cage. The top framework is fully removable for unprecedented ease of access to interior components, and five front ports (including one USB Type-C) means you don’t sacrifice expandability for the small footprint.
Fractal Design’s Define R5 is the latest in the company’s Define series of enclosures. Although I’m not aware of a celebrity designer on Fractal’s payroll, the company still makes a big deal of its design chops, and the evolutionary progression of the Define series is very Apple-like. Aside from the fact that “design” is right there in the name, Fractal’s website and product literature are rich with discussions of Scandinavian design philosophy.
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