Fractal Design Define XL R2 FD-CA-DEF-XL-R2-BL Black Pearl Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case

Pros: Big
fits everything
good build quality
good cable management
140mm rad support

Cons: has weird gpu holders at the pci bay and my 670 didnt fit

Pros: Overall this case is great. I also have an R4 by the same company and the high quality of both products impresses me.

I use it for my home server, and it is dead silent with stock CPU cooler and 4 total case fans going. It sits in the living room in the corner and is great.

Cons: Rear fan clicks when case is on uneven ground. I have it on a carpeted floor which is not perfectly level. The case warps a little bit from the uneven weight distribution and causes the blades to hit the plastic mounding bracket.

I shoved a shim under the one side and its fine now.

Other Thoughts: I imagine this case will last me for over a decade. In 5 years when I upgrade my media server I can see reusing this case. Its so big that it makes it seem future proof.

Pros: - Stellar air flow, perfect for a overclocked rig
- Great looking case.
- Simple
- Elegant
- Clean
- Professional
- Sound absorbing and insulating material built-in
- Built like a tank
- Great cable and HDD management
- Dust filters (can clean under tap water)
- $129.99??

Cons: - Headphone and Mic jack were swapped
- Needed a 8-pin extension cable (very cheap)
- Door only opens toward the left

Other Thoughts: I upgraded from a CoolerMaster 830 Stacker, and this case is even larger, cleaner, better looking, and more capable.


One small complaint: the headphone jack is actually the mic jack, and mic is headphone jack out of the box. Can be manually fixed but not worth the trouble unless you cant stand a small head phone picture actually being for the mic and vice versa.

One of my favorite parts of this case is the cooling capability and air flow.

Fans set up:
Front: Corsair SP120 Quiet x 2 Intake
Top: Corsair H100i Radiator, SP120 Performance x 2 Intake
Side: Included Fractal fan x 1 Exhaust
Rear: Included Fractal fan x 1 Exhaust
Bottom: Included Fractal fan x 1 Intake

CPU: AMD 8350 @ 4.66GHz
Ambient temp: 23C

Stock AMD 8350 Temps:
Socket Idle: 4-10C
Core Idle: 25-30C
Socket Burn Test 10 runs 100% load: 45C Max
Cores Burn Test 10 runs 100% load: 45C Max

4.66GHz 1.478v AMD 8350 Temps:
Socket Idle: 5-10C
Core Idle: 25-30C
Socket Burn Test 10 runs 100% load: 53C Max
Cores Burn Test 10 runs 100% load: 53C Max

GPU: Galaxy 660 GTX Stock

Idle: 27-31C
Burn Test 10min 100% load: 56C Max

Pros: Solid, well-built
Gorgeous minimalistic design
Tons of room (fits the Corsair H100i)
Very well insulated (thus very quiet)
Plenty of HDD/SSD options
Plenty of options for fans
Bottom-mounted PSU
Easily removable/replaceable PCI expansion plates

Cons: Odd way of mounting HDD/SSD into trays

Other Thoughts: This case is awesome. It is awesome. My wife loves it because it blocks sound so well, so she does not have to listen to my rig whirring away!

Pros: Sturdy
As quiet as one would expect it to be.

Cons: As others have been complaining about this product the motherboard back panel in mine is warped as well.
I am also having the problem of my graphics cards seating right due to this issue.

Other Thoughts: Even though everything else with the case is great, I am still extremely disappointed with fractal design on the back panel issue. I have a Revision 1 at work that I ordered some time ago and had absolutely no problems with that case. It seems the 15 or so dollar difference between the R1 and R2 makes the difference between awesome case and JUNK.
I'm thinking of returning it and going with a case that isnt junk.

Pros: Large, compatible with the largest eATX boards, sexy Swedish design, liquid cooling ready, sound dampening, sturdy.

Cons: No tool-less optical drive.

Other Thoughts: There is a ton of room to work with here, and it makes building a pleasure. There is about an inch behind the motherboard tray to organize your cables, and tie-downs make it a snap. It comes with zip ties!

Front I/O panel is on top of the case and is better that way. Shorter headset cables are not a problem here.

Eight HDD/SSD bays is nice if you need that many. The top cage is removable for better airflow right to your video cards.

Radiator space on top for 240 or 280mm rads. There were complaints about the way the top was set up, so the mounting holes for 240mm radiators have been shifted away from the motherboard. Distance from the top of the case to the motherboard is 75mm, but if you use a 240mm rad, you could squeeze a little bit more up there. They could have made space for a triple up top and I'm not quite sure why they didn't.

Front radiator space is limitless. A nexxxos monsta will fit up front. If you put a radiator up front, you lose the bottom fan for the HDD cage.

Three quiet 140mm fans come with it, and the fan controller is easy to set up. Fan filters on the bottom for the PSU and bottom fan, and the front two fans.

Sound dampening material on the sides, front, and top. It works, too.

Brushed aluminum front panel makes your nerdy girlfriend drop her undies.

Extraordinarily well-built. Cases this large are usually wobbly. There is extra bracing everywhere in this thing, so it's rock solid. Each side panel must weigh 6 pounds each, and the whole case weighs almost 50. I consider this a good thing for a case of this caliber.

Pros: everything fits - room for 280 mm water cooler used Kraken 60 which leaves about one inch from the bottom of the fans to the edge of the mother board - quiet by my standards - My old case had interference problems with tool less card slot system hitting the side of expansion cards, I like the use of screws (thumb screws supplied)

Cons: put two thin #6 washers under each motherboard standoff and all expansion cards fit well - heavy - bottom filter screen must be removed from the rear

Pros: -Dust Filters
-Noise reduction
-Easy access to HDDs
-Easy Access to USB 3.0

Cons: -PSU standoffs
-Motherboard Standoffs

Other Thoughts: Honestly whats drops this two eggs is that the standoffs supplied are too short. The distance from the interior of the case to the motherboard (on standoffs) is so small that PCI cards wont install properly. Also the standoffs for the PSU are pretty flimsy.

Pros: It's freaking huge. Plenty of room for drives, oversized add-on cards and cooling. The build quality is top notch, the cable management is good and the included fans are pretty quiet. Its also heavy enough that I don't have to worry about forklift-less thieves getting at it.

Cons: It's freaking huge. I'm worried people think I'm overcompensating.
Not a con for everybody, but I hate blue LEDs and this case's power LED was bright enough to function as the Bat Signal. Also, no HDD activity LED.

Pros: Best case I've bought so far. This beauty is huge and heavy. Comes with 3 x 140mm fans, I had no problems installing my Seidon 240M Water Cooler on it and it has plenty of room for an even larger radiator.

Cons: Two issues but, not enough to remove 1 egg.
- Audio ports on top panel are either mislabeled or were wired incorrectly because, my Headset wasn't working until I decided to plug the Headphone jack to the MIC port and the MIC to the Headphone port.
- I wish the Fan Control switch was easier to access. It is hidden behind the case door. How about a knob to control fan speed on the front panel instead of a switch for the next R3?