Fractal Design Define XL R2 Cases FD-CA-DEF-XL-R2-TI (Titanium)

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Price: $119.99 $113.67   

Product Feature

• High density noise-reducing material for an optimal silent case
• Patented ModuVent design allowing the user to choose between optimal silence or maximum airflow
• The case can fit water cooling equipment in the front top rear and bottom without major modifications.
• Both HDD cages can be removed or repositioned - Top HDD cage can be removed or repositioned for increased airflow whereas bottom HDD cage can be repositioned further into the case to allow for front radiator mount.

Product Description

Fractal Design builds on the success of its awarding-winning Define XL computer case with the Define XL R2. This updated chassis carries on the family tradition of providing superb cooling and ventilation capabilities with exceptional expandability, in a sleek and stylish Scandinavian form.

Fractal Design Define XL R2 Cases FD-CA-DEF-XL-R2-TI (Titanium) Review

This is an excellent case for people who want a larger enclosure.. and it is a big one! Read on for some thoughts on water cooling, and how Fractal handled some small deficiencies in the very first batch of these cases.

For all you water cooling aficionados out there, the top of the case supports thin radiators in 120/140/240/280mm sizes with a single set of fans, although there isn't quite enough clearance to do push-pull unless you have some help from your motherboard. By "thin" radiator, I mean 20 - 25 mm thick radiators such as the ones found in commercial closed-loop coolers like the Corsair H100/H110, NZXT X40/X60, etc. This isn't the ultimate water-cooling case ever built, but it gives you some good options and it has some features to keep the whole build relatively quiet.

Here's what's more interesting and how I will be building my case: The front of the case officially supports a 240mm radiator mounted vertically if you remove the top drive cage and move the bottom drive cage deeper into the case. Well, that wasn't quite good enough for me since I want to mount my Kraken X60 (280mm) at the front of the case instead... the following instructions are completely unsanctioned by Fractal, but here's what you can do:
1. Remove both drive cages. It might be possible to remount the bottom drive cage farther back in the case, but I'm going all-SSD in this build: the generous 25 mm of clearance on the back of the main compartment wall means I can velcro my SSDs to the back wall of the case outside of the flow of air in the main compartment! That means both HDD cages can come out completely! It's almost a shame because these HDD cages are very well built with removable metal trays that let you mount 3.5" or 2.5" drives, but Fractal gives you lots of good options.
2. In addition to removing the top drive cage, there is a plastic rail that is used to secure the top HDD cage to the base of the (non-removable) 5.25" optical drive bays.In order to get my 280 mm radiator mounted at the front of the case, I had to unscrew this plastic rail, otherwise the 280 mm radiator just barely fails to fit. 4 Phillips head screws hold the rail on, and once it is out my 280 mm radiator fits perfectly under the optical drive bay!
3. Mounting: I haven't finished my build yet, but I will have to do some small customizations to make sure the radiator stays secure to the front of the case since there are no officially drilled screw holes for the 280 mm radiator at the front. This shouldn't be too bad since there are lots of potential locations to secure the radiator near the front of the case, and one end can rest on the floor of the case.

Note: For those of you who have seen the earlier XL cases, I think the biggest differences are that the interior is now a single huge compartment, and that the top of the case is now slotted for two 140 mm or 120 mm fans that can also accommodate closed-loop radiators with a single layer of fans. IMHO, the single compartment allows for better airflow and it allowed me to do my 280 mm radiator trick as well. You do lose some 3.5"/2.5" drive bays from the earlier XL though.The XL R2 has 8, and I believe the first XL had up to 10.

Now, not everything was perfect with this case, but Fractal's handling of the issues was superb and merits its own discussion. I purchased my case from the first commercially shipped batch of cases in very early March of this year. While many later purchasers likely won't have these problems, there were two problems with the very first batch of cases:
1. The motherboard standoffs should be 8.5 mm, but the first batch of cases shipped with only 6.5mm standoffs. This resulted in some people being unable to fit video cards and other PCIe cards into the PCIe slots properly. This error didn't seem to bother everybody, but many people had issues depending upon the motherboards and video cards they used.

2.The audio cable coming from the front headphone and microphone jacks is reversed compared to the labeling of the jacks on the front of the case (i.e. microphone labeled jack is really the headphone jack and vice versa). This doesn't affect me since I never hook those jacks up in the first place, but it could be annoying for some people who use them regularly.

So: After hearing about the standoff issue I emailed Fractal support. They had me fill out a simple form, and within 2 days they had shipped me the proper motherboard standoffs, a patch cable that you can use to fix the mislabeling of the headphone/microphone jacks, and... a bonus 140 mm case fan! Great service and the whole process only took about 4 days! So, even though there were a few bugs in the first batch of cases, Fractal did an excellent job of making them right, and I think they deserve some commendation for that when many other outfits in this industry don't stand behind their products like Fractal did here.

Other thoughts:

The bitumen sound proofing layer is applied to the side panels with sound-dampening foam on the back of the front door and covering the 140 mm fan ports on the top & side panel. The foam on the 140 mm fan mounts is easily removable.

The overall build quality of the case is excellent and this case is very very much worth the price (in fact, it is better built than many more expensive and flashy cases on the market). Cable routing is done very well too with plenty of pass-throughs for cables. You may want an extension cable for your ATX CPU connector, however, since the PSU is mounted at the base of the case.

While the door does block some airflow, there are intake vents running the entire height of the case right behind the door, so there definitely is a path for air to enter the case from the front. Additionally, there is a bottom-mounted 140 mm fan that draws air in through the base. There are some very nice feet (you can see them in the pictures) that provide good clearance for airflow under the case.

It looks *slick*. I'm not a teenager any more and I don't need giant windows and LED light shows in my system. This case is meant for my home office, but you could take it into any Fortune 500 company and it would only look out of place by being much more sophisticated and professional looking than the junk pushed by the HPs and Dells of the world.

This is my first Fractal design case,but I've used plenty of other brands over the years (Antecs especially). I give this case an enthusiastic recommendation, and from what I've seen in the reviews, the rest of their case line is pretty stellar too.

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