Fractal Design Arc Mini Black High Performance PC Computer Case w/ USB 3.0 and 3 Fractal Design Silent Fans

Pros: Zero

Cons: Would return it but I went ahead and loaded it up. Dislike it even more. Problems with poor packing, poor fit and finish and the lack of precision in the location screw holes.

Other Thoughts: All bad.

Pros: I used this case for my parents new PC. It was the third computer I have built, and the first two were gaming beasts in big cases, so those were a breeze. I checked out a lot of MicroATXmini towers and this case had some great reviews and in looking at the pictures it seemed like it would be nice to build in. Let me tell you, it was great. The case is set up really nice, a lot of fan spots in a small case, nice filters, removable HDD cages, and the inside is even painted black. The cable management was really nice, the semi modular PSU was helpful with that as well, but there was plenty of room for cables behind the MoBo tray. I am contemplating using this case for my next rig, I want something small and more portable than my HAF 912 rig. I would recommend this case to anyone. Cheers.

Cons: None that I can think of right now. Even the fans that came with it are nice.

Pros: this is an update to two previous reviews.

Cons: I received a replacement fan controller from Fractal 6 months after building the rig because the controller stopped working. Initially, the fans would not keep the speed that I set and finally they stopped spinning all together.
The replacement worked for 4 months and then started behaving the same as the first.
Although Fractal's customer service and warranty help was good, I didn't want to bother with it. Thus, I purchased a digital fan controller that takes up a 5.25" bay. This is nice because I can change the speed of the fans with out reaching to the back of the case.

Other Thoughts: The case is great. Love the style, the build, the quality, and the fans are good. The fan controller, not so much.

Pros: Excellent fit and finish, looks good, 3 quiet and adjustable fans, lots of room for 3.5 inch drives, good cable management, all the panels come off.

Cons: Trying to get a 3.5 card reader into the adapter was a bit of a chore, and if you push the top mounted on/off switch too hard it will retreat into the top.

Other Thoughts: Isn't it way past time for case manufacturers and motherboard manufacturers to agree on a 12 pin connector for the on/off switch, reset, hd light, speaker, etc instead of having 5 tiny connectors?

Pros: Great case overall. Picked this up elsewhere on sale for US69 (Sorry Egg). Very well thought out. Cable routing holes are very nice, including one right next to the 4/8 pin CPU power connector. Marginal room behind the mobo tray but it can be made to work. Nice fit and finish throughout. No issues with thumbscrews or misaligned holes. Lots of fan placement options. Top and bottom mesh easily remove for cleaning. Included fans are fairly quiet, especially when undervolted and move enough air overall. Silicon grommets on HD and PS mounts nice for vibration reduction. SSD mounts direct to HD tray without adapter. Great features in this price range.

Cons: A few quirks - front fans mount to the removable front panel using plastic clips. Need to remove the fans to clean the front mesh. Could have easily mounted the front fane to the frame, there are some small screw holes there so that may be an option to mount a bracket for the fans.

CPU cutout in mobo tray is too small or not offset correctly and covers 2 of the cooler mounting holes.

Back 120 fan mount is higher up on the chassis than most (due to the extra vertical slot for the fan controller). This causes a slight misalignment with cpu cooler fans/airflow.

Other Thoughts: Bottom fan mount sits right next to the PS so if going modular, cables will likely extend over the top of that fan. Using it for a little fresh air direct to the GPU.

Fit everything with ease.

Asus Gene V w/3570k + 8G GSkill Ripjaws
Noctua NH-D14 (fits great with several mm to spare)
EVGA GTX 670
Samsung 256G SSD
WD 2TB Spinner

Pros: Good watercooling
Ok cable management
Mesh everywhere
Fits h100 perfect

Cons: Big
Cpu cutout doesnt fit
Must clean mesh every 2 weeks
Tjo8e is smaller and all alluminum

Other Thoughts: I hope they refresh this case and come out with an arc mini r2 just like its big brother arc midi r2

Pros: nice cable management. love the rotatable drive cages. solid. easy-off side panels. plenty of air.

Cons: no speaker! rubber feet come off easily. front panel jacks (usb and headphone) very tight. space on the far side for cable management could be just a bit bigger to fit all the cables. pretty big for micro-atx

Other Thoughts: despite all my cons I really do like this case. I would like it a lot more if it was smaller and lighter, but I guess I should have checked the specs more carefully!

Pros: I've been rockin' this case for almost a year now and here are some things I like about it

It's NOT flashy/stupid looking

Very simple and elegant design, which is the main reason I picked it

Super sturdy

Nice cable management inside

Rotate-able HDD cage

Stock fans are quiet/look nice

SMOOTH edges (Cut myself working on Dell machines enough to appreciate this)

Thumbscrews (mine were threaded just fine)

Front USB 3.0 which I use a lot

Removable (kind-of) dust filters

Cons: The only con I can think of is that the front dust filter isn't able to be slid out and cleaned like the bottom one is. In order to clean the front one, you must take off the whole front panel which I've done twice so far. Not enough to knock off an egg IMO.

Pros: This this feels solid from most points possible. The side panels that usually flex a little, don't on this case. Also, the black paint is sturdier than others. I could actually scratch my fingernails on it and I there would be streaks of them on the paint. There are also rubber feet on just about everything.

Dust filters are everywhere on this, not the side though. I find that the mesh ones on the front to be more useful than the one for the PSU and bottom fan based on amount of dust collected.

It came with loads of extras: screws, screws, zip ties, rubber grommets, how-to guide for dummies, and more screws. The three way fan splitter is very handy. The fan controller was not.

Comes with three fans. Although, they are a tad noisy for my tastes. It also would be an easy upgrade to water cooling with the mounting holes for a dual 120mm radiator on top and the predrilled holes.

Cons: The fan controller simply did not survive for very long. Past Three weeks of use, the variable resistor could not transfer enough current to spin one fan making a very annoying noise. Almost goes without saying these days but you cannot mount a fan on the side of the case with a 120mm CPU heatsink. If you do put a fan on the side, there is no dust filter unlike everywhere else on this case.

The hole for the CPU heatsink backplate was almost useless because it was placed too far forward in the mobo tray so that two screws were could not be accessed with the mobo installed in the case.

There are only two 5.25" drive bays; not an issue for me, but others might like more drive bays.

Some of the thumbscrews are VERY difficult to remove either because the threads are not aligned or the screws themselves are mismatched slightly. Also, despite the multitude of screws and zip ties the case same with, there were ZERO case fan screws.

Being a mini tower case, the inside is a bit cramped. I would describe the wire management space behind the mobo tray as 'adequate.' The 24 pin main cable will not fit without a little give from the side panel, but all others were fine.

Other Thoughts: Putting a USB 3.0 on the front may not have been the best choice because many mobos that will fit inside of this do not have a USB 3.0 header.

I know it's not really that important, but I felt a little let down when I saw that it was made in China.

Overall, it's a outstanding case with just enough little things to lose it a single egg.

Pros: Superb design and build quality. Every part of this case feels solid. Good cable management. Stock fans w/ included controller are QUIET. Screw box included was organized, with plenty of extra hardware ect.. Removable and rotatable middle HDD cage is great.

Cons: As someone before mentioned, a couple of my thumb screws' threading was off. This is so incredibly minor in light of how great this case is. There were plenty of well threaded replacements.

Other Thoughts: This case has blown me away. The thought to design and quality are evident everywhere. Do not hesitate.