Fractal Design Define R4 with Window Arctic White Silent ATX Mid Tower Case

Pros: -I'm not very soft nor delicate with my hands or with the way i handle stuff. but this case can endure all that while it keeps my rig look alot more brighter.

Cons: none

Pros: This case is the closest "perfect" case on the market. With its ability to adjust to new components and ideas, it's nothing short than amazing. The sound dampening material is a huge plus, thick and functional.
Over all, anything from air cooling to water cooling, basic to extreme- it covers it all!

Cons: Would've liked better air flow management from the front panel fans, make it not as wide.

Other Thoughts: If you're looking for a slick product look no further! Best buy has this this for $11.98 free shipping. Better price needed newegg!

Pros: it's all the little things...
Very easy to maintain good cable management with lots of space where you need it most. the price was excellent because it was on sale. has good sound dampening. just feels well designed as when you building your fell like complementing the engineer not cursing them out because you just can get your build to work. has some great option for advanced cooling and a decent amount of space for storage.

Cons: again the little things... the MB area feels a little flimsy but im not using a really heavy cooler and

Other Thoughts: no way to say it different it's a really nice case. depending on where your SATA ports are like mine (m5a99fx) may have some cable management issues as you will not be able to route behind the MB as nicely, but it's offset by having so much room behind the MB tray. this case offers a lot for it's price, size and customizable nature. i really wanted the black windowless case, but that seems to be the most popular so this one was much cheaper so i got it... the window is plexiglass, but really i cant complain an cant knock it any eggs because well i knew what i was getting into./

Pros: What's nice about this case is that you can completely gut this thing. It's so customizable you can pretty much do almost any kind of setup you imagine. you can put in 6 140mm fans or 120mm fans or mix it up or use water cooling, and you'll be able to make it happen. Rubber grommets around cable holes are quality. Personally, I like the SSD mounting on the back of the mobo tray. the downside is that you have to take off the mobo to replace it, but I put two back there to start and hopefully won't have to mess with them for a long time. The paint quality is just awesome. The power LED on the from is red, which surprised me, so keep that in mind if it matters to you. I like the fact that it's a little shorter (18" high), but it's wide. Mainly it's wide because you get a full inch behind the motherboard for cables and your SSDs. But despite it's slightly smaller stature, it can comfortably fit anything you want. You may have to do some modding but this case lends itself to that quite nicely.

The front panel is of a good solid quality, also magnetized. behind the door, you have removable filters that you don't have to take off the front panel to get to; you simply push down and it pops right out, so you can clean it, slide it back in, and click it back into place.

Cons: Not really a con, but I feel it's time manufactures got a little more creative with cable management. I've seen Lancool do something cool with a J channel that offers a ridiculously clean build. I'd like to see some more creative ideas like that.

Other Thoughts: I got a 280mm radiator in this thing, but's it's not as easy as it looks. It you are planning on doing a 240mm radiator you'll be able to mount it on the top or the front with absolutely no problem. A 280 on the top is going to interfere with the backplate of the motherboard, fyi. But you can mount it to the front with some modding. Fractal put a cool plastic piece in the front where you can mount 2 140mm fans toolessly. You'll have to break some tooless tabs off the inside, and you won't be able to use holes to mount the fans, but it has clips on the side and that can hold the fans in place, so if you mount the fans to the radiator you can clip them on the front piece and it will hold it all perfectly. To do this you have to do two things. You have to remove the entire hard drive tray system, even the plastic piece under the optical drive bays. I mean you have to take out everything. Then, I drilled a hole and used a coping saw to cut out relief holes in the tooless plastic piece that holds the fans in place -- because the screws on your fans stick out about 2mm, and the tray was designed to be tooless or use screws for the 120s, for the clips to clip all the way around the fans you have to cut out some plastic so the screws allow the piece lay flush against the fans. If you do this the piece will hold them firmly in place. Keep in mind, you can still use the HHD tray, you just have to move it over a little and line it up with an existing hole or simply drill a new one through the bottom of the case.

Pros: Really a great all around case:

-It is easy to work on and live with.
-It can go from a nice quiet work related stuff case to an air moving overclocking beast without sounding like a hair dryer if you know how to tame your fans.
-It looks great!
-Comes with quality fans!
-Great customer support.
-Nice air filters.
-Good fan hole placement.
-Great value for the $$.
-Tons of cool features.
-Very sturdy and easy to take on and off side panels.
-Thick window for sound dampening.
-Outstanding cable management options.
-Very well packaged and protected for shipment.

Cons: Minor gripes:
-I do not like screwing standoffs directly into a steel motherboard tray.
-The thumbscrews were torqued down too hard from the factory.
-Cable openings on the side of the optical drive rack are too small to fit most SATA power connectors through.

Other Thoughts: Mine came with a defective clasp for the front fan cover part. I emailed Fractal Design and got a prompt response. They not only sent me another clasp right away (they sent me 2), they also emailed me a tracking number.

From the quality of the product and the way I was treated by their support staff, I believe I found a brand of cases and fans that I will stick with for years and recommend to anyone.

I am upgrading my CPU/MOBO/RAM soon (waiting on MOBO to arrive) and this case actually has me looking forward to the new build. It really is that easy to work with.

Pros: Small for Mid Tower

Side Panel

COMPLETELY SILENT

Lots of Room on the cable routing side

Great Cable Management

BUILT IN FAN CONTROLLER! EPIC

Cons: Mine was obviously used before or something went wrong shipping because the harddrive cage was bent and I had to unbend and rescrew it, but besides that... This is a BEAST!

Other Thoughts: My i7 960 and 2x 660s stay very cool and quiet in this case. With the fans set to low, YOU CANT HEAR YOUR COMPUTER!

Pros: I don't know how exactly to begin. It's a great case, though it has its flaws:
Has lots of room
Great cable management
Bazillion drive bays
Excellent airflow
Dust filters

Cons: Maybe it's just the white case that shows the flaws of craftsmanship more:
Looks better in pictures
Front is plastic and separates from the rest of the case a little more easily than I'd like
The white of the plastic front is different from the white of the case proper
Almost as heavy as my car

Other Thoughts: While there are almost as many cons as pros, I still recommend this case. It does it's job well, and it does look good... It just looked better in pictures. That being said, I do not regret buying it, and I would buy again, but with metallic or black finish. It was an excellent deal for the price and Newegg's free shipping was superb. It's probably my location, but I received the case 24 hours after I ordered it.

Pros: This thing is heavy, solidly built, spacious, and I love the understated look. Fractal Design has really been improving their designs over the past few years with subtle evolutions each generation.

The inch of space behind the motherboard tray is invaluable to me for clean cable routing.

I very much like how the front fans are accessible by opening the door and simply pushing in the grated panel which drops forward/down, and the fans are right there in an easily removable tray.

My build consisted of:
Corsair H90
Intel i5-3570k
G.Skill Sniper 16GB (4x4GB) @ DDR3-2133
Samsung 840 Series 500GB SSD
Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD4H
Sapphire HD 7970 OC with Boost
SeaSonic X650 Gold PSU

And I still have ample space to fit the rest of my large storage drives in here, and add a second video card down the road if I so desire. All intelligently laid out, this case promoted a very clean build from a wiring perspective.

And best of all, the case arrived in excellent condition. No scratches, dings or dents anywhere. Even though the box took a bit of a ding in shipping, the styrofoam kept the case safe.

The cables inside that pass into the main chamber are all black-wrapped, which aids the aesthetic of my build.

Cons: If you're thinking of throwing lighting inside this case, be aware the power button's red LED light does bleed heavily into the main chamber. I've got 2x purple 12" LED strips inside, and they mostly overpower the red from the power button and my motherboard's error code readout.

Other Thoughts: I'm still not sure if I'd have been able to fit the Corsair H110 in the top; but it looks like it would have been a very tight fit, if at all possible. As is, my H90 fits perfectly on the rear 140mm fan slot.

Pros: Let's work from the outside in. The paint finish is remarkable. It almost feels like automotive paint, it's so good. I like a really understated, but classy look and this case provides that aesthetic in spades. The side window is large and I find the black and white interior really attractive. One small detail I really like is that the front panel is magnetized shut. Everything is just really nice to touch, even the plastic parts. There's a sense of solidity and quality to it, two adjectives I never thought I'd use in describing a case.

Moving inside, there's plenty of space to build in. Although there are only two 5.25" bays, I don't realistically think people will need more than that. I certainly only need one. It's really nice that the hard drive cages are removable; the top one can rotate too. which allows for the most flexibility. Everything is fully tool-less, which is awesome.

Building is very easy. The rubber-lined cable holes are numerous. I'm not sure about the reviewer who said there aren't any cable tie points behind the motherboard. There are a lot of them, which combined with the healthy space between the motherboard and the side of the case makes cable management really easy.

Let's talk about performance. In a word, great. This case comes with Fractal's newest generation of quiet case fans, and this is very evident. I switched to this case from a much older one without upgrading anything else and the noise difference is astounding. Each panel is lined with a really thick mat that does a great job at sound insulation. Furthermore, the two included fans move plenty of air which reduces the workload of my CPU cooler. I'm running an overclocked Phenom II quad core, so it isn't the coolest-running CPU out there. This case handles it with aplomb.

I chose this case because it came out on top of Tom's Hardware's quiet case comparison test. Even if I bought this case at its full price of $110, it would have been a great value. At $85, it's a steal. Nothing can touch it at this price point. Heck, even much more expensive cases probably aren't as good.

What impresses me most is the fact that this case can work equally well as an office workstation or as a gaming machine. I think it looks good in both roles and it can certainly accommodate the hardware for both.

I read a lot of reviews of the Define R4 online. Everyone likes to complain how it wasn't a huge improvement over the Define R3 or that it isn't a revolutionary case. Couple things. The Define R3 was already pretty darn good. Second, these reviewers see so much hardware that they become desensitized. They think, "oh, I've seen this feature done a little better on this other case." Coming from a normal person who buys cases infrequently, the Fractal Define R4 does everything well. Where other cases have weaknesses, I haven't found one here. It holds (a lot of) things well, it cools well, it makes very little noise, and it looks great doing so. What more could you wan

Cons: It's a little ironic that I title this review "Punches Above Its Weight" because this case is HEAVY. It's over 25 pounds because of all the sound insulation, and when you install all the parts, it can get ridiculously weighty. The woman who delivered the package didn't have an easy time with it. I should say that Fractal's box has really nice handle cutouts in it, which makes carrying it a bit easier. Do not use this case for LAN parties.

Second, though Fractal claims that this case is tool-less, it isn't the first time around. Some of the interior thumb screws are fastened so tightly when the case is new that you need a screwdriver to loosen them. Of course, when you put them back in yourself, you probably won't tighten them to such an extent. Chances are, however, that you'll have a screwdriver at hand when you're first building this case anyway.

These quibbles are forgivable and easy to deal with. There is one problem that some users might face, however. Personally, I am using fairly standard components (see below for specifics). I have a fairly average mid-range to budget system with a standard ATX board, and just about one of every other component. However, this case probably isn't ideal for the extreme gamer. As it is, my motherboard takes up most of the allotted space. If you have an oversized motherboard, you may find that it partially covers the rubber cable holes. Also, I don't really think this case is the best for big water cooling either. Though I think there's enough space for a 240mm radiator, there isn't a lot of extra room for it. Again, I don't own any water cooling equipment; this is just my gut feeling. Finally, the extra PCI expansion slot (the +1 in 7+1) isn't oriented so you can hang a fourth graphics card off the end of your motherboard. It's actually perpendicular, so if you have an extension, it's a nice place to put things like wireless adapters if you need the space.

Then again, this probably isn't a problem for the people considering this case. This case is, after all, primarily supposed to be quiet. You could very well run a high-end Z77 board with CrossFire or SLI and the case has no shortage of space for various RAID configurations. You just probably won't want to build your i7-3960X dream rig in here.

Other Thoughts: There are two things I want to note before I finish this review. The first is that this case has a switch for three different case fan speeds: 5v, 7v, and 12v. I happen to agree with other online reviewers that the 7v setting is the best. It cools better than 5v but is still almost silent. At 12v, you get a "whoosh" sound, which still isn't obtrusive. Second, one reviewer mentioned that there isn't an HDD light. If that really is your thing (really? how many people absolutely need to know when their hard disk is working?) you can plug the lead for the power indicator light into the place where the HDD light would normally be plugged in. Voila: HDD indicator.

A little perspective: I bought my last case four years ago. Obviously a lot has changed since then. Although my old case was a decent gaming unit from AZZA, it only had buzzy 80mm case fans, metal break-out expansion slot covers (remember those!?), and plastic 5.25" bay covers from hell. Moving to the Fractal has been like a night and day difference. I can't overstate how impressed I am with this case. I also can't remember the last time I was so excited about a metal box. Of course, this case is so much more than that. You can see what's in my current (slightly outdated) machine below. I do have plans to upgrade in the near future (probably to a bigger HDD, an FX-6300, and a Radeon 7850) and I am fully confident that the Fractal Define R4 will be able to handle anything I can (afford to) throw at it.

My specs:
AMD Phenom II X2 560 Black Edition Callisto (unlocked to X4 B60) @ 3.6 Ghz
Cooler Master Hyper 212+
AsRock 970 Extreme3
8 GB Pareema 1600 Mhz RAM
160 GB Western Digital HDD
60 GB Corsair Force 3 SSD
Sapphire Radeon HD 6670
Windows 7 Home Premium

Pros: Quiet
Looks good
Good airflow, cable management
Included fans are nice
Fan controller

Cons: The ssd hidden installation (read more reviews) Not too much of an issue because I don't have a ton of drives so I just keep mine in one of the bays.
Only 2 fans, a third included would be nice but hey I just bought another one instead (Cougar, very nice)
Not much else really. These cons aren't really terrible things.

Other Thoughts: I have two. I have a server I made from a computer I picked up for free. Just upgraded the case to the black one from this and I love it. Great case, love the cable management and fan controller. I keep my fans at 12 volts and the sound isn't loud at all, would rather cool my computer to it's most.

Pick it up! Especially if you can grab it for 100 or less as aposed to the already good price tag of 125 or something.