Fractal Design Core 3000 ATX Mid Tower Computer Case w/ 3 Fans

Pros: Subtle aesthetics, plenty of cooling, removable hard drive cage for large VGA.

Cons: No bag of screws, including motherboard standoffs, as I had seen on online reviews.

The standoff mounting points are poor quality, some will tighten properly while others are very loose.

Pros: In terms of design, the case is quite nice. It's not huge but has plenty of room for lots of drives and even more fans (comes with three). The removable middle drive cage is a nice touch and gives the front fan even more breathing room. It's quiet, has tons of airflow, and really looks great.

Cons: Basically, it's Chinese. The case is made very cheaply. The sheet metal work in particular is substandard. Expect to do a little bending and flexing to get various components to line up properly. The side panels on mine were warped, making it difficult to get them on and off. Several screw holes were poorly machined; it took a significant effort and a few stripped screws to get my video card mounted.

The expansion card cutouts in the back just barely accommodate the DVI port on my video card. I'd have to do some Dremel work if I wanted to use that output; as it is now, there's no room for the cable to connect.

It has this incredibly intense, eye-piercing blue LED for a power light, but meh, so does everything else these days. Easy enough to leave disconnected.

Other Thoughts: I'm pretty ambivalent about this case. It's very attractive and has so much going for it on paper, but the execution is just extremely poor. If a bit of quality were put into the manufacturing process it would be an absolutely top-notch budget chassis. However, based on my experience with this build, I'm hesitant to recommend it to others. None of the issues were total show stoppers and everything eventually worked out OK for me, but the quality of this model seems to be wildly inconsistent. If I got another one at random I'm not sure I'd be so lucky.

Pros: This is by far the best case I've ever ordered and used. It's very slick looking. The entire thing is painted black (yes, even the inside of the case). The paint has a smooth slightly rubbery texture, very high quality. Top mounted USB and audio ports, and bottom mounted PSU. Stocks fans are quiet and cool. Both side panels open for easy cable management. Plenty of configuration options for a normal sized case.

Cons: May not have enough room for cable management (space on the back is a little tight -- everything fit for me)
USB 2.0 (can be changed to 3.0 if you're willing to rewire, I did)

Pros: Lots of nice higher-end features for a cheap price point. I appreciate the simplistic design. Good airflow.

Cons: Cheap manufacturing. Sticky side panels and improperly machined screw holes are two big examples I can think of.

Other Thoughts: You get a lot for the price, but you also get cheaper overall product quality. Features like adjustable drive bays and 7 fan slots, complete with fan filters are nice. I wish move fan slots were snap-in instead of screw-in, but that's a nitpick. But the cheap price has to come from somewhere, and that's poor build quality. It took me too long to open up the case, and sliding the panel back in was needless difficult as it was somehow warped, not flat. Mounting the motherboard was difficult because the holes weren't machined properly. I had to use a wrench just to get the mounts in. The drive bays are behind the front fans, but they're removable. I removed one and the airflow is great.

Overall, a good product for the price. May require some finessing when initially installing everything due to poor build quality.

Pros: It's Solid. It looks good - matte finish is well done with white accents inside. Vibration dampers on drive trays. For the price it has great cable management, fans, and overall layout.

Cons: The power and HDD LEDs are a really bright. I mean REALLY bright. Not worth knocking a star off.

Other Thoughts: I was pleasantly surprised. Bought this because I needed better ventilation, and it was on sale with free shipping. It's way more like an expensive gaming case than the budget buy it was - it included a fan controller and extra small parts that most budget cases seem to expect you to have laying around. Drive trays are great, and cage design is good. Room for all cards. and a filter over the PS air intake.

Pros: Cable management
Air flow
3 free fans
Matte finish in and out
Removable HDD cage

Cons: no usb 3.0

Other Thoughts: Got this when it was 40$ with 10$ off one day sale. so $29.99. great deal, for a case that is worth at least 70$.

Pros: This case made my latest build a pleasure to assemble. I haven't bought a new case for a few years now - hiding all of the extra/unused cables behind the motherboard panel was really nice.

Initially I removed the middle drive bay - but then I found it could be rotated so the drives face the front case fan and blow air directly over. Great feature.

The interior black paint is a really nice touch.

The bottom feet push the case off the floor by nearly an inch - I like the extra clearance.

Cons: The side panel is a little more difficult than normal to put back on.

Initially I hooked up all three case fans straight to the motherboard - they were a bit too loud for my needs. After re-attaching them tot he included fan speed controller - they are operating virtually silent on the slowest speed setting. The air flow is more than enough for my setup.

My ASRock Z77 Extreme 4 fit nicely, but it didn't have much support on the front edge (no mounting holes underneath the far right side).

Wish there was an easy way to convert the front USB ports into USB 3 ones.

Minor note, no lock hole for my kensington cable lock - I'm contemplating ringing something up (eventually).

Seems like it could use another dust filter or two on the bottom and side fan mounting holes (no plans to put fans there). I might make a simple filter for each - depending on how much dust starts to accumulate over time.

Other Thoughts: I would buy this case again, especially at the $40 price point (on sale). Very clean/professional look - not too exotic.

Pros: Very well design case for the price. Simple and elegant. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a great case. All their case are excellent.

Cons: No opening for CPU 8pin plug. Other than that perfection.

Other Thoughts: No opening for CPU 8pin plug.

Pros: -Lighter than I expected, but sturdy
-Build went as good as any I've ever done (and I've done a lot of them). Case is not huge but had enough room for me to get to everything and route cables in an aesthetically pleasing way
-Was a new build so I put the CPU cooler on the MB outside the case, but the cutout in the MB tray is the correct size and location so that I could have done it with the board already installed
-Didn't need a 24 pin extension even with cable routed behind MB (partially thanks to a nice long cable on the PS)
-Drive sleds work well and the HDs can be installed facing either side of the case (I faced the connectors towards the side of the case the MB sits on), and the included rubber mounts for 3.5" HDs are an added bonus that minimizes noise and vibration
-Pre-installed fans are fairly quiet but do not move a ton of air (balance was fine for my build). Didn't need the included fan controller.

Cons: Biggest con was I had to RMA 2 defective cases due to bent side panels and drive cages, however newegg processed my RMAs with no extra cost to me (other than time), and I have a new appreciation for Fractal Design's support and service - they were willing to go the extra mile to make sure I was a happy customer and had a fully functional case, and despite the RMA problems I have confidence in their manufacturing and QC after several discussions with their support on my issues. There's always going to be some problems in manufacturing and shipping, what matters to me is how the vendor handles them and takes care of their customers, and Newegg and Fractal Design delivered.
-Some of the pre-assembled thumb screws were in more than finger tight, but nothing a screw driver couldn't easily handle
-A couple of the MB standoffs were too tight a fit to get in with fingers only, but were no problem with a small wrench.

Other Thoughts: I needed a smaller mid tower to fit on a small desk that was able to hold a mid range build that would last a long time, have room to upgrade, look good, be reasonably quiet but have good cooling, and not cost too much, and this case delivered exactly what I needed. Pretty much all the other things I miss about this case are included in the Define R4 - this one was obviously designed to hit a lower price point so some sacrifices had to be made. However it is a good budget gaming case with the right cooling.
Core i5 3570K @ 4.5GHz 1.26v w/ Xigmatek Gaia
Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H
2x4GB Gskill 1866Mhz 9-10-9-28-2T RAM
Intel HD4000 Gfx
Crucial M4 256GB SSD (primary boot/OS drive)
Western Digital 2TB Green (storage)
Seasonic 520W 80 plus bronze modular power supply

Pros: Neweggs service, delivery, and price.
Arrived on time and undamaged.
Well thought out placement inside.
Runs cool with the 3 included fans.
Room for many HDD's with removable bay. Did not use it. Removed the hardware, turned it 90 degrees, ( a option) and the 140mm front fan saturates the CPU cooler. Temp is 24C on my i5 2500K as I type this.
Clean paint, and lots of it.
Brass MB stands, it's the way I do it!
Plenty of fastners, like thumb nuts, 2nd to tooless mounting.
Like the different HDD mounting screws that come with this. Never seen this type before, mounted my hybred laptop drive from the bottom of its plastic tray, adding 2 6-32 taped holes.
Ample room behind the MB to run cables. A modular PSU helps, but there is room for the non type.
Front panel HD audio cable will go all the way to the back of the case and down to the MB header.
Side doors are interchangeable. I do this with most and install a 12mm thick fan to exhaust the rear of mother board.
Very ha

Cons: None. I read all the reviews here and elseware. Spent a week looking over the case to see what needed to be added or changed. See below

Other Thoughts: Went outside the box with this case, as it already had a good list of options and specs.
Upper left corner of the MB tray, is a oval hole that appears to be for the rear and top fan cables to run down the back of the MB tray. I opened the hole up to the top of the tray 1''total. Lined the sides with plastic pinch trim. My solid 8 pin MB power cable slides through this hole, along with the front panel HD audio cable, and the top fan wire. A 4+4 plug would work better. Cables need to be run before the MB is installed. Cables come out high in the corner away from touching the MB or rear headers. Perfect.
I used stool cups on the bottom feet to keep fresh air comming into the PSU, and keep the carpet on the floor as in all 6 of the systems here. They come in various sizes, can be purchased at a hardware or big box home inprovement store. $2 for 4. A small screw through the side keeps them in place. My hand fits under this case on the carpet. 1" dia. cups for this case.