Fractal Design Define C ATX Mid-Tower Gaming Cabinet Case with Two Pre-Installed Dynamic X2 GP-12 Fans and Easy Clean Filters (FD-CA-DEF-C-BK), Black

I wanted a soundproofed ATX tower that was as narrow and shallow as possible, but that would still accommodate my NH-D15 cooler. I considered the Meshify C - gorgeous - but its panels were bare metal, and then I found the Define C.There is support for up to 3 x 120 or 2 x 140 fans in the front, 2 x 120/2 x 140 in the top (or AIOs of those sizes), and a rear 120. Two top panels are provided - a magnetic mesh, and a solid plastic clip-in panel. The fan support is very impressive for a case so small.The case is almost perfectly designed and is very nice to work in - cable routing is a breeze because of the "all the thick stuff at the front" intent, and there are three Velcro straps to lock everything down (allowing side panel closure without your mate having to sit on it). Thumb nuts are captive - though very tight - and there is both a removable hard drive cage at the front and a removable SSD mounting plate across the back; a removable flap above the HDD cage area can be closed off for anything other than three 120 fans. The PCI area has been relieved to allow a screwdriver full access, and there is enough room above the motherboard for reasonably easy cable insertions.A couple of tiny flies in the ointment (not enough to take a star off):- the top plastic panel is a bit tinny compared to the more substantial side- and front panels.- I would have liked to see a larger cut-out in the PSU shroud near the bottom right corner to allow for USB 3.0 headers to pass through - once the board is installed, this is impossible, and I'm not sure it would have been possible prior to installing the board; I sent my USB 3.0 through a large grommet.- the vent above the power supply exposes the (ugly) sticker on the back of most PSUs; if it had to be there (for passive power supplies, I assume), I would have preferred a removable solid plate like the one covering the HDD cage.- I paid £75 for it - a bit high, but it's now fallen below 70 (and I had a very similar case from Corsair for £55 that was nowhere near the same quality).All in all, very happy - I can have a quiet AND well-ventilated system with a much smaller footprint. The extra money goes toward the design and soundproofing - if that matters to you, it will be well spent.

Gebruikt in combinatie met een AMD Ryzen 3600 en de standaard ventilatoren vervangen door grijze Noctua exemplaren (was niet nodig maar puur voor de looks) luidste component is nu de processor koeler.

Though it is true that it had been quite a few years since I last built a desktop computer(Pentium II, anyone?), I was amazed at the build quality and modular design of this case. Everything is made with a purpose in mind: grommets and channels for cable management, quiet fans and removable fan filters, sound dampening material on both sides. Overall very satisfied with this case! Things to improve: I wish the front USB ports were facing forward rather than up, and a third fan (a second front fan) would have added a little bit more value to the case. EDIT: After a few weeks of use, one more thing I would improve is the HDD cage where the removable trays are a little loose which can cause a bit of buzzing noise when the drives are in use.

This feels like a nearly perfect case!I really like the fractal design Define series - the steel doors are made of thick steel that doesn't flex.They have a design that makes them easy to get on and off, there are no annoying tabs to line up when putting the doors back on.I like the clean look of the front panel.Working in the case is a pleasure with no sharp edges, and ample room for cabling in the back.I picked the C for a combination of it's size and sound absorbing qualities. The C is just about 18" tall and fits under my desk, whereas I don't think I could have fit a taller case. The C is also of limited depth, which means I can push it farther back under my desk, which is a plus so I don't hit it with my chair.From a noise perspective, the case is perfect. Since the case is near me, I did not want to remove the top piece as it has sound deadening material, and I worried that an open top case would make me more likely to hear the components inside.While the case can accommodate liquid cooling, I went for Air Cooling using a Noctua NH-D15S which fit in the case perfectly.The case comes with one rear 120 and one front 120 fan from Fractal and I added 2 more 120 fans to have 3 fans in front, this lowered temps on both the CPU and GPU. It's pretty normal for components to report temps of 33C during office use, and even doing video transcoding (GPU Based) temps seemed to stay in the 50's for the GPU and CPU, and I really couldn't hear anything over the rest of the noise in the house, with the case on the floor and me at my desk.This is not to say the case is 100% silent, I know if I get on my hands and knees I can hear the gentle whir of air, but the room's gotta be really quiet, AC/Furnace has to be off, etc for me to even hear that. Both my Power Supply and Video Card have the option to turn off fans completely under low load, but the case is so quiet, I opted to keep the fans on for both since I can't hear them anyways.The lack of Optical Bays doesn't bother me - in fact my intention is to never use a sata cable in this case - NVMe PCI storage goes cleanly on the board and leaves the case free of the traditional rats nest of wires going everwhere.That said this case does have room for 3x 2.5" and 2x3.5", so it could hold quite a bit of storage internally if that was needed for something like video editing.I have built several PC's in my lifetime and one of my biggest long term complaints over the years has been PC Case side panels. It's not something you often think about when you are making a decision on a case, but it turns out to be really important in the long run. The fractal design define series doors are perfect! They are heavy steel that doesn't bend and flex when you take them off, and they don't have any of those annoying tabs you need to line up. I can get them on or off in seconds. This is such a small detail to write about, but if you've ever built a PC and had to manage trying to line up tabs on the bottom and top while sliding a panel forward you'll appreciate this feature for sure.Prior to this I had an NZXT 500 case and while that case looks nice, it wasn't nearly as nice to work with, and it felt cheap in comparison to this one (It's also a bit cheaper case so that's fair) oh and the NZXT case was MUCH louder.Summary:I whole heartedly recommend any case from the fractal design "define" series!The series has models in multiple sizes with and without windows, so there's bound to be one that fits your needs!

Mon ancien Fractal Define Mini (première version) ne suivait plus le rythme en terme de ventilation (options pour des AIO très limitées), il était temps de changer. Je me suis orienté vers ce Define C, car même si je suis en µATX, c'est celui qui se rapprochait le plus du format de mon ancien Mini. Le Mini était un gros boitier pour un µATX, le C est un boitier compact pour un ATX. Le C est légèrement plus haut que mon Mini, mais sensiblement moins profond, notamment grâce à la suppression de l'emplacement pour les lecteurs optiques.Niveau qualité et montage c'est du tout bon, le tout est carré et logique comme toujours avec Fractal, les matériaux sont bons (quoique le boitiers est beaucoup plus léger que mon Mini, on sent que les parois sont plus fines par exemple), les portes latérales sont toujours recouvertes d'isolant phonique, les filtres antipoussières sont là (y compris un optionnel pour le dessus du boitier si vous décidez de mettre des ventilos)...Au rayon des critiques, car rien n'est parfait :- je trouve bête de devoir retirer la façade pour avoir accès au filtre poussière qui est derrière, ça complique sérieusement la tâche surtout si vous avez installé le panier à disques durs dans la section basse (il faut accéder à un téton en plastique pour déclipser la façade, qui est planqué derrière le panier).- le filtre poussière magnétique fourni pour le dessus a tendance à chevaucher les vis des ventilos si ceux-ci sont des 140mm, du coup il n'est pas super bien appliqué (uniquement esthétique).- si vous souhaitez installer un radiateur en aspiration en façade, attention, cela limite drastiquement la longueur de la carte graphique. J'ai un Corsair H115 en façade (format 280mm, impossible de le mettre en extraction sur le haut du boitier), et à vu de nez, la longueur de la carte ne doit pas dépasser 27/28cm.- si vous souhaitez retirer le panier à disques durs, assurez-vous le de faire au tout début du montage, car il se retire en passant par une trappe sur le haut du compartiment bas. Si vous avez installé des ventilateurs de façade et votre carte graphique, il faudra tout redémonter pour retirer le panier (ou le remettre).- je regrette que Fractal n'ait pas conservé l'emplacement de ventilateur sur la porte de gauche comme sur mon ancien Mini. Avec un 140mm à cet endroit, ça permettait d'alimenter la carte graphique en air frais, ça faisait une belle différence.Passé cela, c'est encore un beau boitier que signe là Fractal, sobre, silencieux et (presque entièrement) bien pensé.