Fractal Design Define R4 Black Window Silent ATX Midtower Computer Case

Pros: Build quality is fantastic Very sleek looking case; love the minimalist design + the window. Soundproofing foam throughout the case. Enough room to fit 99% of builds. Plenty of space for closed loop CPU water coolers (I believe even the 140mm coolers like the H110 will fit), multiple graphics cards, extra case fans, etc. Plenty of space for tall CPU heatsinks as well (made an NH-D14 look very ordinary!). Nice cable management Built in fan controller, though a bit minimalistic, is nice. It's at least sufficient for the stock fans.

Cons: 2 minor things: 1) I wish the front panel connectors were longer. If they have to reach to the back of the case, you won't be able to hide them easily, as they're only just long enough to reach the bottom rear of the case, and on some motherboards that's where they'll need to go. 2) I didn't really like some of the screws the case came with. I had problems with the motherboard risers being too tight for the motherboard screws that were included. Also not a big fan of the design of the motherboard screws they include. This wasn't a big enough issue to dock an egg for, but I recommend using your own motherboard risers and screws if you already have them laying around.

Overall Review: Really love this case. Easy to build in and looks awesome! Very highly recommended to anyone wanting a mid tower as long as you don't need to put tons of large (360mm) water cooling radiators in it.

Pros: great case! nice and quite, esp when setting up the fans to scale down in power based on CPU load, when all fans go full blast sounds like a jet, but idle and mild load its nice and bearable to use!

Cons: will not fit the new efficient PSU's that are longer then standard You either give up that bottom fan, or use 120mm not 140mm and make your own holding area for that fan Should come with a magnetic screen cover for side fan, been using that stops small particles, fine ones still go through the mesh

Overall Review: I have had this case for quite some time, I had to upgrade the PSU to one of the new more efficient units, and the main issue with this case was that the bottom fan can not be 140mm, even at 120mm fan with a modular PSU you make your own new holding positions, as some PSU's are much longer like the Corsair HX750i, about 2 inches longer then old one that was replaced OCZ GAMEXStream OCZ700GXSSL

Pros: Solid Construction, Design, and Durability. Aesthetically appealing. Phenomenal Acoustics. I've never owned a chassis that silenced my components as well as this. Excellent thermal management. The included fans circulate airflow remarkably well. Their RPMs can be gauged as well. Front panel USB 3.0 + Audio header placement is excellent. External 5.25 bays are limited, but will do for a general purposes. Excellent cable management options. 2.5in HDD/SSD mounts are easy to use. Supports full size ATX motherboards and graphics cards. Once your components are installed, you'll realize this chassis is very spacious. Bottom mount PSU, excellent for heat flow. Supports top-mount 200-220mm (rectangular diameter) radiators for water cooling systems (Perfect for the H100) Front air filter is easy to remove and clean.

Cons: It's a bit heavy, but after purchasing this, you will understand why.

Overall Review: I moved the rear mounted fan to the front of the chassis to pull air into the tower. The process takes a few minutes- it's well worth it. Cables can be draped together from behind the hard drive cage for cable management.

Pros: Was delivered fast with no damage. (important) A very solid case that has plenty of room inside for any kind of rig you build. I like the tool less internal bays and all the places to run cables and cords for decent cable management. The fans are quiet, and the sound damping material really helps.

Cons: There are 2 cons for this case, one is minor, and one is annoying. The side panels are kind of a pain to get on and off, they do not seem to line up in the slots easily and the panels themselves are a bit weak and flex too much. The other con, and just a personal thing, but wanted to include it, is that this case is HEAVY after all components are installed. I feel it is a tad bit overpriced, and would be just about perfect if not for the weak side panels that have a hard time lining up and sliding on easily.

Overall Review: This is the heaviest case I have worked with, but also one of the most solid, well built and best laid out case at the same time. I you build a PC with this case, I would expect or plan on not moving it around too much, it might throw your back out if you are not careful. It's a trade off with this case...it is quiet, and solid and makes and easy and neat build inside, but heavy at the same time. So just be aware of this, otherwise enjoy it and use it together, use it in peace my brothers.

Pros: I have two PCs and I decided to go with a "Whtie Knight / Dark Knight" theme for both. I chose this case because it fit the "Dark Knight" theme perfectly. And it does. It looks beautiful and has an incredible amount of features and air flow for the price. It can also accommodate a 120mm closed liquid loop which I plan on buying as a future upgrade. It has some of the best cable management features I've seen on a case this side of Corsair. And the build quality on this thing is second to none, this case is practically indestructable.

Cons: The biggest con is that the paint on the case can be easily scratched, and that the rubber cord dividers can easily get taken out when you are building or rebuilding. I wound up completely removing the one in the upper left hand corner protecting the motherboard's voltage cable because it kept coming out during the installation process.

Overall Review: I like this case so much I'm thinking of getting the white version for my Intel rig along with an NZXT Hale 90 in keeping with the "white / dark" theme of my two rigs. The rig itself: CPU: AMD FX-8320 Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 BIOS REV F9 RAM: 16GB Corsair XMS 3 DDR3-1600 MHz 1.5V (will be upgrading to a 2 x 8GB config) SSD: 120GB Samsung 840 Evo HD: 1TB WD Caviar Blue Optical: Plextor B940 GPU: EVGA Geforce GTX 760

Pros: If you're building a PC, chances are the selection you will make a mistake on is the case. Sure, you might like for it to look like a spaceship, but you might not be so keen on it sounding like one. Looks aren't everything, and while colored LEDs, windowed panels, and LCD screens all look cool, at the end of the day all you should want in a case is the three C's of cases: Cooling, Conditioning, and Convenience. The Define R4 stands up to all three categories quite well, and the minimalistic design is actually quite attractive if that suits your taste. COOLING - It's hard to separate Cooling and Convenience on this one, since part of what makes the cooling so great is that you have so many options for it. While the Define R4 only ships with two 140mm fans, as many as five more fans can be added, or alternatively folks going for water cooling can swap out fans for a couple radiators. Regardless of your setup, the general airflow will run from vents on the side of the front panel through the case and out the back and base. Since the case is fairly large for a mid-tower, there's plenty of room to push air through and keep things cool. In my tests, the Define R4 kept internal components 3-5 degrees (C) cooler than my last case, using two 140mm front panel fans and one 140mm rear fan on the 12V setting. Speaking of which, yes, you can directly control case fan speed by adjusting the voltage with a switch on the front panel. 12, 7, and 5 volt settings are available and allow the user to balance cooling and fan noise as they see fit. CONVENIENCE - Pretty much whatever you want to do with your PC, Fractal Design has already thought of and built the Define R4 to accommodate. The tower officially supports ATX, Micro ATX, and Mini ITX motherboards, but you could technically go larger if you don't mind covering up a rubber grommet or two. The case design is, in a word, fantastic. Fan assemblies, drive trays—everything is modular to the extreme, leaving numerous configurations possible as well as making the case easy and convenient to clean (very important for airflow). If you're rocking a foot-long graphics card, no problem—just remove a couple thumbscrews and slide out the upper drive tray. Want to add in a couple SSD's without taking up space alongside regular HDD's? Mount them behind the motherboard tray. The space is there and the design allows for just about anything you could want in a PC case. Space is even left on the sides for hiding cables, which are held in place by rubber grommets and included zip-ties. CONDITIONING - Chances are you're considering this case for its noise dampening, which is effective, but only to a certain degree. Foam and other sound dampening insulation makes a big difference in noise, but if you have a loud machine, don't expect the Define R4 to make it whisper. It will bring it down a couple notches to use its "inside voice," though.

Cons: Although it's not so much a con on the case itself as it is my motherboard, two of the Define R4's front panel USB ports use a double USB3.0 connection which my motherboard lacked, and apparently a good deal of other motherboards do, too. I have USB3.0 ports built onto the mobo itself, but nowhere to add more--only USB2.0. Also, the USB ports are very, very snug. At first I was afraid of damaging something I had to push so hard to insert a USB device. They seem to be easing up with time, though. Certainly these issues are not worth knocking down the overall score.

Overall Review: If you already have a PC case, it's probably not worth switching to the Define R4 for the noise dampening benefits alone, but the terrific design, cable management system, and budget-friendly price really set it apart as one of the best mid-tower cases on the market today. It doesn't provide a lot in the way of frills (although it should be noted there is a windowed version to make things a bit more exciting, at the cost of some noise dampening), but those going for function over form will find very little to complain about and an awful lot to love. I can safely say that this will be my first recommendation to PC builders...until the Define R5 comes out!

Pros: Tired of cases that resemble a kids happy meal toy and are looking for an elegant case that is solid as a tank, but a precision finished like a Mercedes, look no further. Thick panels lined with quality high density sound dampening material, top quality construction, and outfitted with 14cm case fans makes for a very quiet case. Can easily be configured for an excellent gaming rig with a few adjustments. Room for 3 added case fans, and suitable for both medium ranged water cooling and roomy enough for any air cooling solution. Cable management is superb with generous space on the back panel, and the added rubber cable grommets as well as rubber hard drive mounts are just the kind of touches one would expect from a case costing a lot more. In addition to being solid and well constructed, features like a built in fan speed controller and well placed controls, easy access fan screens and configurable hard drive racks, black interior, all for a price that few cases could ever touch.

Cons: Not a con for my needs but it should be noted that this is a very solid and roomy mid tower that weighs in at just over 27lbs. without components and It is more like a piece of furniture than what most people might be used to in a case this size.

Overall Review: I did a lot of research looking for the perfect case for my needs, which was for a very quiet medium high workstation capable of video editing, gaming, that sleeps in the same room I do on a modest budget. At this price point and of all the parts of my latest build, this is the one thing that didn't have a coupon or discount and the one purchase I was most pleased with. Yes I broke down and got a case with a window to see where all the money I spent went, how audacious of me. Built with X4 3.4 deneb-OC'd, Asus Sabertooth mobo, 6950 Radeon, Samsung 128-SSD, 8gig Sniper 1866, 500g WD (until the 1T raptor is affordable) Cool Master Hyper 212evo.

Pros: Really slick-looking. Absolutely silent. Easy to clean. Doesn't get dusty inside very quickly. Comes with tons of extra screws, cable organization possibilities are unmatched. Easy to do a really professional build. Plenty of room for everything. Cooling is more than sufficient, even for server-quality components.

Cons: The front panel comes off way too easily (as in, don't try to pick it up without tilting it forward and grabbing it in the middle of the underside). It's always had grounding issues on the front panel which has caused static on both the microphone and the headphone jacks, along with occasional headaches when trying to turn it on. The USB3 ports have never worked, but that could just as easily be a mobo issue (I don't have any other hardware to test with). After less than a year, the headphone jack is worn completely (loose in place and no audio, or one ear only sporadically) and needs to be re-soldered. Also, as one other reviewer mentioned, one of the mobo screw holes was drilled at a slight angle. Super annoying when I was trying to put it in. Not worth shipping back for warranty, I just re-drilled it myself.

Overall Review: Bottom line: Awesome case, undercut by poor execution in a few important areas. Would buy again, but don't expect the highest quality right out of the box.