Fractal Design Define 7 Black Brushed Aluminum / Steel E-ATX Silent Modular Mid Tower Computer Case

Pros: All the options. The modularity of this case is fantastic. The ease of removing the panels, reconfiguring it to/from storage mode, etc. are all a wonderful part of this case. The multiple top panel selection that's included is also great.

The ability to mount bottom fans is also a huge plus for me and something you don't see in nearly enough cases, in my opinion. And then there's the built in fan hub (See also Cons) and all the room to do whatever you want.

The lack of front panel mesh is, to me, a huge plus. I'm not a fan of the mesh aesthetic that is becoming the current rage. I like my airflow to not be quite as much in your face and I've managed to get great airflow in this case that I will detail more below.

All the white was exactly what I wanted.

It's very quiet when the fan hub is set up properly.

All the USB connectors on the front. I use front panel USB a lot and they didn't skimp on connections here with two 3.0, two 2.0 and one USB-C.

Excellent cable management options.

Drive options out the yahzoo and a rare 5.25 device mount area if you must.

Cons: While the fan hub is great, the instructions for using it are quite sparse and need more explanation than the included manual provides. (See below.) The manual itself could also use a bit more exposition though it is a cut above the manuals for the other cases I've used.

It's also a long case. It has to be to provide all of its configuration options, but it's something you should be aware of. Be sure to measure the space it's going to be occupying.

The design of the top filter clashes with the design of the airflow focused top cover. I bought the white case and I wish the filter were black instead of white, then the top would look better when using the optional top cover and the observer would not notice the clashing design. (I wonder if I can buy a replacement filter in black?)

The included fans are 3 pin DC instead of 4 pin PWM fans.

Overall Review: I've been building systems since 1988 and this is hands down the best case I've ever used. I seem to collect different cases and in the past year I've also used the Lian Li Lancool II, the NZXT H200, and the Be Quiet Purebase 500. Those are all good cases for those on a budget, but this more premium case is hands down superior.

I chose not to use the vented top cover and left the solid one on. I reconfigured to storage mode (Something you don't need to remove the front fans to do in spite of the instructions to do so.) I removed the bottom hard drive cage and put two 140mm fans in the bottom pulling air into the case. Since I configured to storage mode, the two plastic panels on the PSU shroud were removed leaving a large opening for airflow from the bottom mounted fans.

The use of the fan hub requires a bit of explanation. The manual recommends you plug it into either the CPU fan header or a chassis header. I plugged mine into a chassis header since I didn't want all the fans spinning up when the CPU fan did. With my Ryzen 5 3600 short quick temperature fluctuations are the norm and I didn't want to hear all my fans compensating. Since I don't have any PWM connected to the hub, software doesn't see the case fans. I did have to go into BIOS and switch from PWM to DC for the chassis fan header, otherwise all fans will run at full speed. Now it's all very quiet.

My CPU cooler, the Arctic Freezer 34 ESports Duo, has it's PWM fans connected to the motherboard CPU header. This case configuration has great airflow and my temperatures dropped 11c at idle and 9c at full load compared to the Be Quiet case my system was moved from.

In the modding potential department, there's a lot to like here as well. For instance, I added an LED strip mounted underneath and at the front of the shroud. This provides beautiful edge highlights in the cutout design and is much more subtle than all the unicorn puke you see these days. Also, in storage mode, you have this wide flat area near the glass that has so much potential for customization. I've not done any yet, but I'm planning something interesting there.

I hope I've covered everything important. Bottom line, I highly recommend this case. It's amazingly versatile and engineered.

My system:
Asus ROG Strix B450-F Gaming motherboard
Ryzen 5 3600 CPU
Arctic Freezer 34 ESports Duo White CPU Cooler
MSI GTX 1660 Ti GPU
Teamgroup Nighthawk White RAM 2x8gig 3200
Intel 1TB NVME
Seagate 4TB 2.5 inch HDD
EVGA 650 B5 modular PSU

Pros: Large spacious case that can fit lots of drives and lots of customizability. Has slot for DVD Bay or other accessories which is becoming very difficult to find now.

Cons: You can't buy extra drive sleds anywhere even 6 months after launch. What good does it do to have all this room, but not enough drive sleds. Fractal, take my money, just give me more sleds.

Overall Review: Very good case with lots of room and options. Better than the define r6 in many ways. If you want lots of drives and a DVD Bay in a good looking case, this is almost your only option. Best thing though, is you can convert to sick water cooling rig if you ditch the extra hdd capacity.